Font Analysis

"Fonts convey an emotion without actually having to say the words." - Neville Brody

Last week we studied the different kind of fonts that exist, as it will be an important aspect to think about for the thriller opening we will be creating. All fonts can be divided into two simple subtypes: 'serif' and 'sans serif' fonts...

Fonts like the examples on the right contain little 'tails' on the ends of its letters. These details are called 'serifs', so they can be classed as serif fonts. They are normally used to give an old-fashioned and formal feel, or at least in comparison to the fonts below. Serif fonts are commonly used for blocks of texts - it is said that the serifs help guide the reader along the page, thus improving readability.

Example of a serif

The examples to the left are knows as sans-serif fonts (from the French word 'sans', meaning 'without'). They tend to be used to suggest a more contemporary and approachable appearance, and are considered informal. Despite the generally accepted idea that serifs improve ease of reading, sans-serif fonts are also considered acceptable for bodies of text. However, sans-serif fonts are still typically used more for headers and titles.

Next we looked at film poster examples for the kind of message these two different types of fonts can convey...

Both of these posters use different styles of font effectively to convey different moods for their audiences effectively. It wouldn't be appropriate in either case if a colourful quirky font was chosen at random. When creating the titles for our thriller opening we will have to carefully choose an appropriate font as something as seemingly little as using the wrong kind of font could ruin the whole scene and mood that we'd be trying to create.

(Images made by myself)