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Design Web Typography Laying Out Type for the Web Typographic Hierarchy: Caps, Color, and Pairing Typefaces - Part 2

Gemma Weirs
Gemma Weirs
15,054 Points
Posted by Gemma Weirs
Gemma Weirs
15,054 Points

Moods in typography

Mattox mentions mood when discussing type pairings, and I often see it mentioned in various articles about typography.

My problem is, I can't tell what sort of mood a typeface has, despite trying to gauge it. I usually can't tell what kind of personality a typeface has unless it's blatantly obvious. Am I the only one with this issue?

2 Answers

Mattox Shuler
STAFF
Mattox Shuler
Treehouse Guest Teacher
Mattox Shuler
Mattox Shuler
Treehouse Guest Teacher

Hey Gemma, it can definitely be hard to get a feel for the mood when it's not obvious. Sylinic offers some great recommendations, so definitely experiment and have some fun with it. I find that a typeface's moods can be subtly shown through pairings, and a typeface doesn't have to have only one mood. Something that's geometric, bold, and strong might give off the mood of tenacity, courage, or strength as a headline, but as as secondary / supporting role, it could be more no-nonsensical or classy.

For instance, Bank Gothic as the primary typeface in the movie poster for Moon feels more technological fitting the sci-fi mood of the film. But Bank Gothic as the supporting role on a Bulleit Bourbon label, feels much more tough or classic.

Try changing out a typeface in your designs to see how that influences the way a design feels and if the mood of it changes. The more you do it, the more you'll get the hang of it.

Hope that helps!

Sylinic .
Sylinic .
2,761 Points
Sylinic .
Sylinic .
2,761 Points

Hey Gemma, I know what you mean.

Unless it's in your face obvious what kind of mood it's trying to portray it can be pretty subtle.

What has helped me most is stop trying to logically deduce that mood it portrays with your left brain, but try to get a feel for what looks good together with your artistic, right brain. Much easier said than done, but exercising this has helped me a bit. Just play around with fonts, don't be afraid to mess up, just be like a child playing, innocently, if that makes sense. You get an intuitive feel for it pretty fast, it's a pretty great zen exercise too. ^_^