Typography Dating Game - Stephanie Tatoiu

When playing the Type Connection Dating Game, I noticed that I was having an easier time connecting both similar and opposite pairings together. When picking a typeface, I would look for something that follows both serif and extra components for legibility. For example, picking ITC Century, I would look carefully for a font that was not just serif, but had ears or spurs attached to it. Linoletter was the only one of the three that fit the bill. They have mutual stroke widths and detail.

            Some were not as simple. When picking Univers for a strategy using similar typefaces, I had to think more carefully about its date. I considered Futura, but that would be too easy; while they both look similar at first, I realized Futura’s x-height was much taller than Univers, and the terminals and apexes of Futura’s letters were sharp, unlike Univers’ which have flat edges. Keeping a close attention to x-height and specific details helps a lot for the harder dates. Glypha has a stroke weight that is much thinner than univers, but both have matching x-heights and closed apertures. The remaining typeface, Maple, was too different from Univers to even be considered.

Embrace the Other was also a fun strategy, the second strategy that worked best. It becomes easier when I make sure to compare EVERYTHING about each typeface; For example, when pairing up ITC Century with Futura, I checked all possible difference; one has serif, the other doesn’t. One has tiny details that emphasize uniqueness, the other does not. Futura has longer descenders and ascenders, ITC Cenutry’s are shorter. I think my favorite typeface from the game though would have to be Univers, just because I enjoy sans serif typefaces far more than serif typefaces. While I like serif font for fancy documents or books, I can read Univers easier with its simplicity. With this exercise, I feel like I can tell the difference much better  between what is opposite and what is similar. The first few times, I only took into consideration typeface stroke weight and whether it was serif or sans serif. Now I look at typefaces with more thought.