sorted for e's

Now it's time to start casting the net a bit wider and examine a couple of typefaces which might sit at the back of a designer's font shelf. I am reminded of the line from a Garrison Keillor story that "Minnesotans use irony like they use curry powder - sparingly": because these are fonts that do have their place and their uses, but they should always be used sparingly.

'What's this?' I hear you cry, 'a script typeface on a designer's blog!'. But, unless you're a card-carrying modernist, intent upon only using either Akzidenz-Grotesk or Meta, you'll find that someday you'll find a need to resort to a bit of script. Yes, someday, somewhere, some client is going to ask you to design a certificate or somesuch, and it's then that you'll find that a sans-serif isn't going to cut the mustard.

And it's on just such occasions that you might find that Edwardian Script helps you out of a spot. Not, as some might think, named after the monarch who succeeded his mother Queen Victoria, but after it's designer, Ed Benguiat. Benguiat has also given us other fonts that should be used even more sparingly, if at all, such as Avant Garde Gothic and Souvenir.

And someday, somewhere, someone is going to ask you to design something with text that has originated from someone who only ever uses PowerPoint. And that text is going to consist of lots and lots of bullit points. And that's where European Pi comes in handy.

Comments

[Richard Madeley]

Oh, that just brings tears to my eyes. Wingdings has to be the most useful font on the planet. I couldn't live without them. Just don't talk to me about Webdings...

[Richard]

"...other fonts that should be used even more sparingly, if at all, such as Avant Garde Gothic and Souvenir."

It's a funny thing about "The Garde" that it's now uber-fashionable. Even I've used it lately. Beautiful geometry.

Souvenir, on the other hand, I just can't get on with.