Colors
I don’t know about you, but oftentimes I feel stumped about
what colors will work well together in a successful color scheme when I go to
flesh out graphics, like logos. I found
this really great online resource that offers endless color schemes that you can
browse and select. It gives you the
exact RGB values so that can be super helpful when trying to replicate those same
exact colors in Photoshop, or other editing programs. When you visit the website, you’re given the
option to download a variety of color programs, but I clicked on the “download”
button below the header “ColorSchemer Studio 2” (there is a Mac version at the
top and a PC version further down).
Although it SAYS that the program costs $49.95, when you click
“download,” it allows you to download a fully functional trial version. I can see this tool being very helpful when
choosing colors for our logos, brochures, etc.
There is even a web-safe color option if you are interested in
integrating only colors that will present well in web formats (probably a good
idea!) This program also allows you to
browse color schemes compiled by other users, and search for certain
keywords. I searched for “calm,” and a
list of about 20 results came up, giving me 20 “calm” color schemes. Of course, since anyone can upload their own
color schemes, if you choose to use any of them, just be cautious because there
is no guarantee that the creator made wise color decisions for his/her scheme.
http://www.colorschemer.com/
My favorite feature offered by Color Schemer is the
PhotoSchemer. This feature allows you to
drag and drop a picture saved on your computer to the ColorSchemer, and it then
offers you a color palette based on colors within it that might be useful should
you consider adding text or building off that same color scheme. The possibilities are endless!
Typography
In class we’ve talked some about typography and how powerful
the display of words can be for learners.
Every choice we make as designers has an impact, from the font itself, to
the kerning, leading, tracking, and point size of the individual letters. We all associate certain emotions, attitudes,
beliefs, or even ideas with certain fonts.
Below I’ve included a few different kinds of fonts.
On a font-related
sidenote, two of my favorite online font libraries are www.dafont.com and www.1001freefonts.com. These sites offer free font downloads for
both macs and PCs.)
Food for thought
(Of course, don’t feel like you need to
respond to every single question!) :
What do YOU associate
with some of these fonts? In what contexts do you think they might be
best suited? What about color schemes?
Similar to Caitlin’s
question in the last blog posting regarding the influence that a logo has on
your view of a company, does the font(s) associated with a company influence
how you view them as well?
Do you think that
everyone has a different association with fonts/typography or do you think some
fonts hold shared meaning and associations?
Why did you make the typographic and/or color
decisions you made when designing your logo?
This program sounds like an awesome find. I don't have a ton of experience with photo editing software or color programs, but a couple of things stood out to me.
ReplyDeleteThe ability to know the exact RGB value would be extremely useful with matching colors. There have been situations where I have spent time adding certain colors to images on Paint, and then when I put it on the original work the colors didn't match.
This program sounds very user friendly by giving someone colors that you know are going to be web safe. Finding the proper web colors might be challenging for me without some assistance, so I love this option.
I was reading some information the other day on brochure making and it was discussing the importance of using actual images. This program would be great for that because it would help you to connect your images to the proper text color.
In regards to the text: I think #1 reminds me of a comic book or graphic novel. I connect #2 to a female. The style of text reminds me of notes I would get in high school from girls. #3 looks like fire coming from the base. #4 reminds me of something I would have seen in the 80's. #5 looks like the skyline with buildings in the background. #6 I can see in horror books. #7 makes me think of the lettering that you see on expensive, fast cars. #11 looks like the font used for Disney.
The type of font used would not have as much of a negative impact on me as what a poor logo design would. I have never really thought about the font that a company uses, but I know this is something I will be looking at now with a closer eye.
I believe that there are fonts that people associate different things with, but in the same regard there are some fonts that most people associate the same thing with, such as Disney.
When I was working on the logo I tried to connect colors by what worked well with each other. We did use some colors that were associated with JMU.
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ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHave any of you played the logo game??
Font #1 Reminds me of something that would be used for a comic book, or a funny tv show/movie (like Napoleon Dynamite). This font would be best for a headline, otherwise it would become too difficult to read. The first thing I think of when I see #2 is some sort of scrapbooking font. It would also be too difficult to read for longer texts. #3 makes me think of something artsy or masculine and could be used for nature magazine. #4 doesn’t really remind me of anything, but I don’t like the “a’s” and “e’s.” I also don’t like #5, but it reminds me of a scary or weird movie font. #6 also looks like it could be used for a scary book/movie title. #7 reminds me of something fancy. #8 makes me think of something playful or even girly. #9 reminds me of something fancy. #10 could be used for more of a variety, and #11 definitely makes me think of Disney. The more playful fonts would be better with brighter colors, while the serious/scary fonts would be better for darker color schemes.
The fonts definitely play a large part in how I associate a company. For as soon as I saw font #11 I couldn’t think of anything else besides Disney because I have become so associated with their logo. I guess I’ve never really sat down and thought about it, but fonts do tell a lot about a company without knowing what it is (or the genre of a movie/book). Fonts are like an introduction to the company because they give an insight into the purpose. The movie, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” has that not so well defined and sharp font like font #6, which tells me it’s going to be scary. While the chocolate company, “Lindt” uses a script font like #9 to try to show their chocolate is fancy.
Peoples’ associations with different types of fonts are going to depend on their experiences. I noticed that Shaun mentioned one of the fonts reminds him of the 80s. I don’t know much about 80s culture, so that font didn’t have the same impact for me. However, some fonts have been used so frequently that I believe they hold a shared meaning. For example, when people typically see script, they probably aren’t going to think masculine or rustic, they will probably think of something fancy.
When we were working on our logo we stuck with colors that were related to JMU. So I don’t think we really gave the color of the font much thought besides that. We did use tools to write “JMU,” because when we thought about the program, it made us think about all of the different “tools” we have to use.
I think we are such creatures of advertising that some fonts are immediately associated with an advertised item we have seem. Take #11 for example. Who can look at that and think anything but Disney? And #6 conjures up visions of a scary movie. When I see #2, I am immediately reminded of my second grade teacher, Mrs. Allen. She was just a lovely woman but definitely opinionated. If a former student sent her a note with circles as dots over the "i's" she would return it "Unreadable!" She hated circles over the letter "i" and refused to accept it as literate!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE dafont.com! I learned about it and used it a lot starting in some of my Public Relations tech. classes in my undergraduate years. I could see #7 being used for a company that wants to give off a serious feel to the viewers whereas #8 gives me the impression "Hey we're fun and easy-going, come on in!" Fonts can give off a strong meaning, yet it all depends on the viewer. One font can come across completely differently to two different people. I think fonts/logos take meaning when a company sets that meaning for the viewer while they are viewing it or if it's just what that logo means (if that makes sense).
ReplyDeleteI like the color program you shared with us. That would be a great tool for someone like me to use because although I have learned about colors I am far from being an expert on pairing them and choosing color schemes. A program like this would even just give the user of some ideas going in their head and put them in the right direction of what does go well together (as you mentioned, Raleigh). I actually am working with it right now to adjust my colors for my logo as I was having a bit of trouble of mixing the blues to work together, so thank you for posting about a new tool!
ReplyDeleteTo expand on your question asking about how font influences the view of a company - I think its like we've discussed before, all about credibility and audience appeal. This leads me to want to talk about your last question regarding typographic and color decisions that influenced the design of our logo drafts. For me, these were limiting things because of the established branding of the existing logo my group was working with. Based on that, there isn't much that could have been done with the present color scheme of yellow, black and white, or the font that was used on the original logo - however, font choice was a huge consideration in how to include the "& sophomore" piece to the logo, because we wanted it to appear casual, even messy in the way a student would scribble something extra in a note as if it was forgotten at first. For that we used a handwriting font that aptly achieved the look we were going for and we collectively thought was most appropriate for our audience.
The font sites you shared with us are awesome and I already know I will be using those for my poster draft - awesome tools in your post Raleigh, thanks for sharing them with us!
Well I immediately downloaded ColorSchemer and played around with that for far too long. What an awesome find. Thanks, Raleigh! And you can never have enough font choices for inspiration.
ReplyDeleteTo your last 2 questions:
#3: Do you think that everyone has a different association with fonts/typography or do you think some fonts hold shared meaning and associations?
AND
#4: Why did you make the typographic and/or color decisions you made when designing your logo?
Let's assume that the answer to #3 is that yes, there are different associations with certain fonts/typography. Sure, there are bound to be those that hold shared meaning (such as Times New Roman = formal, no nonsense; or Windgings = total nonsense) but to those that do not hold universal meaning, how do we achieve successful communication through our visual representation? As designers, should we stick to the same repertoire of tried and true fonts so that our audience is not confused or misguided? Or should we branch out and add a little creative flair courtesy of dafont.com? Everything in moderation aside, should we keep it safe at the expense of innovation?
My answer to this is the practice of the creative eye. There will almost always be communication no matter the preventive measure taken. However, the more you play around with colors, fonts, typography, layouts, etc., the more you get a feel of what is expected by the audience and can therefore make educated decisions about what they are ready to see when you "color outside the lines".