“You start with the capital ‘O’ and the capital ‘H’. Once that has been locked down, you can design the capital ‘D’.”

Jonathan Hoefler or Tobias Frere-Jones used to run the most successful and well respected type design studio in the world. They created fonts used by a whole range of people and organisations  from the Wall Street Journal to the President of the United States.

Such a specialised field. Such a fascinating field. And for me, such an important field. Wrong typeface, in my view, can ruin a perfectly good piece of work. As a content guy, good font selection can transform text from “readable” to “enjoyable.”

It’s also a complex field – you need to be detailed at the individual level as well as understanding that any micro changes to a character, punctuation mark or symbol affects the “whole.”

As a side note, I love the font used for the comedy movie, “I’m still here.” starring Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck (it’s at 4:02). 

OK, maybe not everyone feels about font like I do. But if you love font design, watch it.

Move over Letterman, here are Letter Men.

Credits:

Presented by AIGA to celebrate H+FJ’s 2013 AIGA Medal, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts

Directed & Produced by: Dress Code

Cinematography by: Andre Andreev

Edited by: Dan Covert

Music & Sound by: YouTooCanWoo

Animation/Design: Evan Anthony, John Custer, Joe Donaldson, Emil Bang Lyngbo, Josh Parker, Eddie Song

Principal Cast: Jonathan Hoefler, Tobias Frere-Jones

Shot on a Canon 7D

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