Today for my third lab I present to you my readers a look into different typefaces, and a look at two logos I have designed.
Comparing Typefaces
I have compared the serif fonts Aparajita, Birch Std, and Bodoni MT, the sans serif fonts Impact, Trebuchet MS, and Consolas, and two decorative fonts Giddyup Std and Chiller. Here is the PDF file for you to take a look: Typefaces
Why are we looking at typefaces when this is supposed to be a cartography blog? Because typography is very important to cartography. In fact cartography introduces special considerations in typography. Font must work at small point sizes and odd angles. This can limit your options considerably. Out of all of these typefaces I only found “Bodoni MT”, “Trebuchet MS” and “Consolas” as legible at size 6 pt font zoomed in at 100%. At the 11 pt font I have set it at for the PDF some of the fonts are difficult to read but they are still legible. This highlights the importance of making sure the font used in making your map is legible at a small point size. It is also important to know how close the audience will be to the map. The further away people are the larger the font size will need to be for the text to be legible.
Why else is font important? The appropriate font will depend on what the text is about and the effect you want to produce in the audience. It is a common convention to use serif fonts for natural features and sans serif for political and culture features. But there is more to it than that. Fonts give the text personality. Notice how “Impact” is a loud font that instantly grabs your attention. Even more noticeable are the decorative fonts, “Giddyup Std” and “Chiller”. “Giddyup Std” evokes a fun mood. “Chiller” is spooky. While my experimentation with these fonts shows they are poor fonts to use in cartography they could be used as titles for maps. “Giddyup Std” could fit a theme park, and “Chiller” could fit a haunted house map.
Logo Ideas
This first one may be unfamiliar to you if you have not been to East Lansing. “The Peanut Barrel” is a popular bar and grill across the street from Michigan State’s campus. I went with the font “Ravie” since it gives it a wild, fun effect but not too outlandish of an effect. I went with the same consideration for the Sponge Effect applied to the brown color I picked for the text. This gives the color a liquid-like appearance and so may remind people of beer. I have kept “the” lowercase. This is in keeping with the history as the sign at the entrance has also used a lowercase “the” for as long as I can remember. It is also good for the visual hierarchy as “Peanut Barrel” is a more important part of the text than the word “the”.
And here is the next logo…
Greenpeace is an activist organization that advocates on issues related to the environment. Having majored in political science I know a political organization needs a logo that draws attention to itself, reinforces its message, and still looks serious. I used “Wide Latin” as its “G” is creative enough to grab attention but the font still looks serious. I chose the colors green, yellow, and brown to reflect a “nature” theme. As green and yellow stand out more and are more visually appealing I chose to use them for the text itself, and to use brown for the elliptical background. For brown I applied “Texturizer” and “Smudge Stick” from the “Effect” menu in Adobe Illustrator. This gives it a textured appearance, which represents soil and supports the theme of “nature”, but is subtle enough not to overpower the text.
Andrew Miller's Cartography 