The first thing that came to my mind was the cute font because I have always been very interested in handwriting. So when I saw this homework, I wanted to find a cute handwritten font. I searched online for a long time to find it, but I realized that most of the handwritten fonts were created in a certain design studio or personal. There are not too many “stories” behind these fonts, and they are all commercialized. And then, I talked with our professor and she recommended a website for me, which is LiebeFonts. I like the fonts of this artist very much because many of them are handmade fonts, so I chose a font that I am particularly interested in — Supermarker Light.
First of all, I want to explain why I like handmade fonts. In fact, I entered the field of design only from the beginning of my graduate study, so I didn’t have much knowledge of design, graphics, or fonts before. However, I chose this kind of font because I remember that in 2017, I was in Santa Monica with my friend. At that time, we went to a MUJI store, where we could choose patterns and words to make our canvas bags. My friends and I were very interested, so we chose our favorite patterns and fonts to make canvas bags. During the production process, I have been paying attention to the machine that typed the letters of my name. At that time, the font I chose was handmade because I felt it fit my style. Since then, every time I went out with this canvas bag, my friends said that the patterns and fonts on it were very cute and fit my personality. So when choosing fonts this time, I first took out the canvas bag and looked for similar fonts online.
Next, I would like to introduce the background and designer of this font. The designer of Supermarker is a woman who comes from Berlin, Germany, named Ulrike Rausch. She specializes in designing and researching some handwritten fonts that look like the real thing, so besides the Supermarker I chose, there are many other different types of handwritten fonts on her website, all of them are very beautiful. Ulrike mentioned on the website that her passion for handmade design originated from when she was studying painting in Florence, Italy. At that time, she took a typeface class at Potsdam University and was very interested in it, thus starting her interest in typography. In 2009, she created the first typeface called “LiebeErika,” and it was very popular, so she became a full-time type designer in 2011. In addition, I also searched online for some of her understanding of fonts, “Designing Fonts, Ulrike explains, is more about the production than the actual design of the font.’ It’s not really about designing the perfect letterforms’.” In my opinion, she is a designer with very different ideas about handwritten fonts design. Because handwritten fonts look very simple, and some are even cartoonish, I think it is very difficult to use this type of font design more generally. So, after reading the story about her, I want to know more about the design of handwritten fonts.
When I first see Ulrike Rausch’s website, there were a variety of handwritten fonts in different styles. The reason why I chose Supermarker was probably that I saw its banner and felt that it was similar to the font on my canvas bag, but it was not exactly the same style. As I mentioned above, I think the reason why many cute handwritten fonts have not reached universal use is that they are a bit too cartoonish. When I showed the font chosen to my roommates, their opinion on this is: if you just use this font to display names or short sentences, it’s okay, but if you need to write a paragraph, the font looks a little bit childish. In other words, when people see this type of handwritten font for the first time, they think it is more in line with children’s reading books or cartoon videos, but it is unsuitable for some formal occasions. Honestly, I agree with this. Although I like this font very much, I also feel that it is not suitable for use on all occasions, so this is a shortcoming of the font. However, part of the reason why I chose this font is that we will make the font ourselves later, so my idea is to design these handwritten fonts to be more practical for different occasions, rather than people’s “stereotype” about it.
On the website, the introduction of Supermarker font is a friendly, personal and perfect fit for packaging, invitations, and shop signs. It can be seen that this type of font is more suitable for use in personal brand packaging, invitations, and trademarks. I think this font can easily highlight the personality of a brand, which is where it succeeds. For example, some maternity stores or children-related brands are very suitable for this handwritten font, because it can enhance the image of such brands. In my opinion, a brand must maintain visual recognition and legibility, and in the brand communication process, the creativity and design of fonts play a vital role. Whether its design and performance are appropriate is related to the brand image. The efficiency and accuracy of dissemination. I think that although Supermarker tends to be cartoonish, it is very suitable for some lively content and brands. In addition, in the poster on the website with Supermarker, Ulrike Rausch used it in some coffee shops, shampoos, macarons, and some food packaging. Therefore, although its practicality is not universal, it can be regarded as relatively extensive.
In order to get more inspiration, I searched some people’s opinions on fonts on typographica. One of them mentioned that the small letter-spacing is not suitable for screen reading and makes their eyes feel uncomfortable. After that, I used Supermarker to edit a relatively long text, and I found that the spacing between each letter was also a bit narrow. If someone reads this font for a long time, they will have aesthetic fatigue. So, I’m thinking about how to adjust the font spacing and how to reduce the aesthetic fatigue of handwritten fonts. On the other hand, when I write a paper on Pages now, I find that the default font on Pages is Helvetica Neue. Although this font is very simple and ordinary, it does not make me feel aesthetically tired. Therefore, font design is indeed a subject worthy of my in-depth study, so in future designs, I hope to retain my original design of this cartoon handwritten font, but it can be improved to a more commonly used level.
Finally, I want to thank the professor for sending me a website about this font so that I can find more resources. Due to the wide range of handwritten fonts, I may not be able to find the same fonts on my canvas bag, but this is a way I can explore more. After this assignment, I think the font I want to design is a handwritten font, which can be used on many occasions or brands without causing the audience’s aesthetic fatigue. I also hope that I can do more research in the field and let me design some useful and beautiful fonts.
