I choose both of my fonts because they are the ones I tend
to use most frequently in my design work. They both have a similar
“cleanliness” that is appealing to me and I also think they work well together.
The sans-serif font is Gotham, Hoefler &
Frere-Jones. It was made in 2000 and was based on mid-century
architectural signage that was especially popular in New York. I get a very
retro modern vibe from this typeface. I think I would compare it to high-rise
pants in fashion. They are very retro (used mostly by moms in the 80’s) and now
they are considered high fashion. Similar to how Gotham’s origins were more
practical, but now Gotham has been used in such high-profile things as the Obama
campaign and the new World Trade Center building. Some unique characteristics
of Gotham include its low cap height and high x-height, which makes the
typeface more uniformly sized throughout. Also, the stroke width is almost the
same throughout the characters (except for the @ character). The lower-case g
sits above the baseline, which is fairly unique in comparison with the rest of
the typeface.
The serif font is Archer. It was created by Hoefler &
Frere-Jones in 2001 for Martha
Stewart Living magazine. This font is a combination of a slab serif
typeface and a more geometric one. The cap height is around a normal amount and
the x-height is also, thus the font doesn’t feel condensed or expanded. This
font feels somewhat feminine yet “bold” to me. If it were a fashion brand, it
would be Kate Spade because her style is highly feminine yet modern and unique.
Some of the unique characteristics of Archer include its mixture of round and
squared off terminals. Also, the t is shortened so that is much closer to the
x-height than the cap height.
The same company created both of these fonts within a year
of each other. Although their cap heights and x-heights don’t line up, I feel as
though they can be effectively used in a layout together.
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