At a recent meeting with a new client, a request to share my thoughts about logo samples (provided by another designer) under consideration for the client’s new business identity prompted a mini-lecture on my part about the design discipline of typography. While not delving into some of the more arcane aspects of typography, I did touch on a few topics non-designers never consider much less encounter during the course of their lives.
On the drive home after the meeting, I began to think about how we are awash in an ocean of typography yet, paradoxically, its ubiquitous presence renders it (in a sense) invisible to the public at large. I realized to even broach the topic of typography, to indicate letter forms have a history and are designed for specific purposes or to evoke or convey certain moods, feelings, associations is—for most people—to cross into the realm of providing too much information. Sometimes, a simple “that doesn’t work” or “it looks nice” is all the information a client really wants (or needs).