Journal #8

After reading the article about the abundance of Futura users, I had to look up the font to make sure I was thinking of the right Modern font. After looking at this font, I could see why so many people like Futura. It is not only easy to read, but also geometric looking, and one of the more widely distributed fonts of its time. Any one could look at Futura and know it is Futura. But, though it has made its mark on Typography, I do see the reason why Ms. Helfand was writing this article. I do agree with the point that you must have a reason to use a specific type that goes along with the purpose of the poster. Typography, along with images, need to be carefully placed on the poster, layout, bookcover, etc. because every element needs to work with each other to convey the purpose of the piece.

Some fonts that could be used instead of Futura are: possibly Gill Sans, maybe Rotis Sans, and possibly interstate. They keep within the same shapes and I can see the crossover from Futura to one of these fonts being pretty painless and not messing up the rest of the design (that is to say that you made sure the type went with the design.)

Other Article Read:

Designing Under the Influence

It is often a hard question to answer if being inspired by another's design work could be considered plagiarism. Can someone own a design style? I agree with the author that "no" is the correct answer for that question but how far is too far?

I have wondered if design has gotten to the point, where if you design something purely from your own brain, is there a dozen more designs out in the world like or nearly like that one design? The answer is probably yes, and that is the problem with plagiarism. I feel like this day and age, it is hard to draw the line, and probably, we will just have to trust people to come up with their own designs on the honor's system because ultimately, the people that do plagiarize, will get caught and it will ruin their career for good.

No sympathy.