Favourite/most used typeface and why?

[DmPipe]

This topic was imported from the Typophile platform

As part of a college brief me and a few people from my year are setting up a type foundry. We would like to know which typefaces you use most and why you use them?

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and taking time to answer.
David

[David Bergsland]

I primarily use my own at Hackberry Font Foundry (which is why I designed them in the first place). ;-)

[Nick Shinn]

That’s not how Steve Jobs would have done it.
Me neither, nor David.
Why not make what you feel like, rather than pandering to the market?
If you research what people like now, by the time your product is out it will be passé. If you attempt to anticipate where the market is heading, you are guessing.
Besides, the minority of Typophile posters actually pay for fonts, they are either font producers or looking for the free equivalent of something commercial that is presently trendy.
However, if you are attempting to take a snapshot of what’s popular now, in order to avoid duplicating that sort of thing—Respect!

[DmPipe]

What we are going to attempt is to try and give people an added incentive to purchase the fonts. Aiming at students so the prices will be low, maybe providing the type as a physical stencil pack to help with making detailed design sheets. Something along those lines.

All help will be appreciated.
David

[hrant]

Nick, you really believe that Steve Jobs didn't "pander to the market"?

However you're certainly right that this isn't the best place
to poll font buyers (although it's not a bad place to do so).
But then: why do you advertise here?

hhp

[DmPipe]

Can I add, this is for a college project. There wont actually be a type foundry. I just wanted to get some feedback from people who know a lot about type.

David

[Nick Shinn]

Nick, you really believe that Steve Jobs didn't "pander to the market"?

I do. And that is the generally held opinion.
AFAIK, Apple didn’t initially base new product development on market research.

… this isn't the best place to poll font buyers … But then: why do you advertise here?

Many reasons — including lurkers, who far outnumber posters.

[hrant]

"Initially" being the key word... Jobs made Apple
actually profitable exactly by catering to what
people really wanted to buy (which is not the same
thing as "market research" necessarily reveals).
He was a genius salesman. And if you're not born
a similar genius you can't get to where he got by
emulating him.

> lurkers

I certainly hope you're right. Are there any
stats that show what kind of people are lurking?

hhp

[hrant]

That ~1:10 ratio has actually been the norm
for as long as I can remember. But is it safe
to assume that the 90% are potential buyers?
Of course we can never be sure, but I think
one way to come closer to an answer is to see
if those are repeat guests or merely drifters.

hhp

[russellm]

phuque this shyte, doods, if you like it use it, and if you made it, then you by definition like it.

market research is shyte, because the folks who do it are full to the brim of shyte. You have to rely on your own two eyes and your own judgement & ego. If you are a blind idiot, you will fail, if you are not a blind idiot, maybe you won't fail, or at the very least, you'll have the presence of mind to redefine victory.

I use Calibri (on technical drawings) and Corbel (everything else) a lot at work because, A; They are system fonts on Windows now and B; nobody seems to notice they are not Arial.

And what's this "Me and a few people... " crap. It is "A few people and I is setting up...".

:o) cheers.

[Nick Cooke]

A few people and I are setting up...

[rs_donsata]

If I'm not mistaken the actual trend in graphic design is vintage neo modernism which was preceeded by some kind of letterprint-slab serif-DIY pastiche and before that we had a strong humanist-baroque serif revival period that folled the humanist sans serif period of the late 90's... so I'm guessing the next big thing is going to be psychedelic fonts, along with a big come back of Antique Olive and pastel colors.

I actually enjoy very much using Futura ND, it´s elegant (compared to Bitstream's or Adobe's) and energetic. I finally had the chance to use Caslon Big on a real project and I liked it very much.

If you are going to attempt doing some real typefaces for this project, I suggest doing display faces, they are much easier to complete and to sell.

[hrant]

Not just display faces - flowy script
fonts with 12 thousand alternates! :-/

hhp

[BlueStreak]

"Initially" being the key word... Jobs made Apple actually profitable exactly by catering to what people really wanted

Jobs' rare gift seems to have been the ability to make people pander to him. He did not pander though, and nothing is better proof of that than the fact that Adobe Flash has permanently been banned from Apple mobile devices regardless of the consequences. Along those lines Jobs also had a rare gift of inherently knowing what people desired when those masses of people were mistaken about their own desires. That can't be done using market research and focus groups.

The same deal may pertain here with font selection, but it's a daunting and daring task.

[hrant]

> inherently knowing what people desired when those
> masses of people were mistaken about their own desires.

Which is what I said.
"Wanted to buy", not "thought they needed".
In fact Need is often highly opposed to Desire.
The proportion of people who actually need
an MP3 player or cellphone is quite low.

Consumerism is for peons.

hhp

[Aaron Thesing]

You might already be aware of these two projects, but I suggest looking at 8 faces and the Lost Type Co-op.

Favorite ≠ most used. The typeface I use is usually determined by factors that trump my personal desire: Client has a preexisting corporate style, how it will look on the paper/screen, does it have characters/styles I might need down the line, etc.

I usually buy a typeface because it is unlike anything I currently own (Cyclone, Deliscript, Paradigm), or it has significantly more features than something similar I may already have (Bookmania > Bookman Old Style, Harriet Text > Century Schoolbook). I'm also a sucker for sales and discount bundles of those types of fonts.

Another great incentive for me is a specimen that highlights the font's features, describes with some detail how the design came to be, and/or recommends an ideal/intended usage (agate/display, newsprint/screen, etc.)

[dezcom]

You can decide to just be another copycat wannabe and clone the current popular fonts. Or, you can put some good original fonts on the market that are not just another Times or Helvetica.
What kind of brief is this and for what kind of student major? Is this a marketing class or a graphic design class?
I assume you think of this forum as your target market? Probably wrong assumption as others have stated.

If you are really doing a brief, I would first analyze who the real target market is. Who buys type often enough to be meaningful? I am not going to tell you because that is part of your assignment. You all need to sit down and figure out away to find out. I don't just mean who to ask for the answer. I mean what would be a methodology for finding any target market? That is because you are trying to learn something useful and repeatable for your area of study instead of just finishing this assignment. This all gets in to what drives a particular market and how far ahead you need to be thinking. Clearly, you are too late for "today". Walk a mile in the target audiences' moccasins, then bang your heads against it.

[TurtleType]

About two years ago I bought Eames Century Modern from House Industries. I use it mainly for a newsletter I produce. I have yet to find another typeface that is so useable yet includes so many fun oddities. There are two TDC award winners within the type family, the typeface itself and the elephant numerals, which are awesome. The typeface overall is just a joy to use.

[Ryan Maelhorn]

Akzidenz Grotesk Super
Futura Xtra Bold

Of course Museo is everywhere these days, but I dont use it.

This is worth a look as well:
http://www.myfonts.com/bestsellers/