And so to hear Bruno Maag speak at London Design Week’s Sound and Type lecture in the glamorous environs of the Soho Hotel Screening Room.
Comic Sans has a characterful letterform that connects, perfect for supporting letter recognition in early learning (and useful for dyslexics too).
So how do you engage audiences visually and emotionally with your brand? What are the essential elements that make your brand unique? How do you create bespoke tools that set your brand apart?
The challenge presented to branding in the global marketplace is maintaining the brand look and feel across all touchpoints in all markets.
Think ‘international’, and designers reach for their tried and trusted sans serifs, but where’s the emotional connection in the international style?
Remember that the ‘modern’ typeface Helvetica was cut in the 1950’s (itself based on the grotesque faces of the late Victorian 1900’s), putting Helvetica well into middle-age.
Instead, make an informed choice of typeface, one that expresses your brand values and connects visually and emotionally with your audience, a typeface that can be placed right at the heart of your brand.
Global companies, such as HP, see investment in a bespoke typeface as a key part of supporting their brand experience worldwide.
But relying on the Western European character set no longer cuts it. Fonts need to accommodate Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek, Indian and Thai characters.
Designing a font for the Chinese market means creating 27,500 glyphs alone and can take up to two years.
And that’s before you take into account Hong Kong and Taiwanese Chinese.
Font design is a major investment, but the recognition value that an appropriate font brings to a brand makes it arguably worthwhile.
Just don’t use Comic Sans unless you’re designing a comic.
