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The World is too Big for Small Ideas. there will be few projects within the span of a typical career that will warrant a completely new design and cut of a face that can be used in any form of communication. especially when you take into account the huge availability of typefaces that are “good enough.” this is partly because of the ease of creating a digital face and partly because people are afraid of change. there are too many identities that incorporate generic modernist faces (or slight adjustments to them) in the social arena. in addition, the value that a typeface contributes to an identity is undermined by the free and easy flow of the physical typeface file itself. these problems merely end up watering down the visual aspects of communicating individual units within society. so, designers get into a two way bind. how do they continue to sell existing typefaces and manufacture new ones to small and medium sized enterprises? especially when there are half educated clients that respond with... “why pay for it?! i can download that for nothing!”, “you want me to buy that?! i got times roman!” you get the picture. and if it's not the issue of cost, it is the issue of conservatism. some typefaces are more equal than others, especially those aimed at a wide audience, but this should not suggest that designers sit back with one client and offer exactly the same typeface that they offered last week to another. designers should be a little more adventurous in suggesting a typeface to a client. beyond creating one from scratch… one that could make all of our lives a little more interesting. i am not talking about speccing comic sans on government buildings, i am requesting and striving for stronger, braver, individual identities in our cities. most of my typefaces are far and beyond any clear, easily read faces, especially at smaller sizes. and they could be criticised for being irrelevant as fully utlitarian typefaces as they work only in display or headline uses. that was intended. typefaces: typespaces:   typefaces in this section are available on demand. all i ask of you is to write a short email to me, outlining your envisaged end use. © 2008 Tristam Sparks · Graphic & Experience Design · About · Contact · Sitemap