I have come to the sad realization that I lack all common sense and sensibility (you’re welcome, Jane Austen fans) when it comes to graphic design.
As a writer, I’ve always worked closely with graphic designers. Shout-out to Deb at CenturyCo, Chris at Ye Olde Publishing Company, and others over the years. Writers and designers, much like clownfish and anemones, have a symbiotic relationship, working together for a common goal. Put simply: they supply the artwork, I provide the words, we mash those together, and voila! Instant work of art. Or at the very least, serviceable marketing piece. We may be selling a product or service, advertising an event, or sharing information. Regardless of the intent, we rely on one another’s expertise to craft the finished product.
The key word being “expertise.”
I’m great with grammar, a superb speller, excel at editing, and ace alliteration. I can conjugate a verb like nobody’s business, and I’ll take a hatchet to your comma splice so quickly it’ll make your head spin. But I have zero knowledge of design elements.
Case in point: my marketing team at CenturyCo is launching a brand journalism site in January, and our designer is currently hard at work on a logo. During a recent meeting, I was embarrassed to find that the sample designs I liked best were the ones the rest of the group despised.
“Hey, that’s an awesome pen-through-the-x!” I said today. It looked something like this, but more modern.
Everybody else hated it.
This happens every time we discuss logos and layouts, I swear. I always give the “wrong answer”…a pretty impressive feat given there are supposedly no right or wrong answers, ha. I’m like that contestant on Let’s Make a Deal who trades in $5,000 cash for what’s behind door number two, which turns out to be a brand new car!!…but one that happens to be crushed as flat as Clark Griswold’s trade-in in National Lampoon’s Vacation.
They’ll be talking about going with a serif font versus a sans serif, and it’s like I’m suddenly reading Lorem Ipsum because nothing makes sense. I have no idea what a “serif” even is! All I know is, one of them has a tail or a curlicue doohickey and the other does not, but I can never keep the two straight. I’m also pretty sure that neither “tail” nor “curlicue doohickey” is the proper terminology.
This is why, as much as I enjoy working with designers, I feel it’s best we stay in our own lanes. Otherwise, I’m liable to be all gung-ho over that Comic Sans script everybody else (rightfully) despises, and life is too short for the kind of ridicule that would follow such an admission, y’know?
Mark Petruska 
You make me smile.
Always pick sans serif… 😛
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…which means I will inevitably choose serif.
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Do NOT do that. 😬
Pretty please. 😉
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Tara handles the home design elements, right?I mean, aside from indulging your flamingo obsession.
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Well, we both have similar tastes. Lava lamps, wood paneling, groovy ’70s decor. I’m not sure that’s what you wanted to hear exactly…
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Is sans serif Omar Sharif’s younger brother? And hey, I agree. Comic sans is positively delightful.
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All I know is, Sharif don’t like it. He thinks it’s not Kosher.
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Mark, I’ve discovered that font type is such a personal thing. It’s like selecting a fragrance—some people like this one, others like that one.
And it’s ironic that you posted on the topic of fonts, because lately I’ve been spending time online searching for various fonts to possibly change the header on my blog. The other day I was in a department store and spotted a really cool-looking font on a the box of a fragrance set, so I took picture of it with my smartphone. When I got home, I went online and found out what it was called.
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I always forget that you can even change your blog fonts. I’ve never really played around with mine before. Hmm…
Definitely a personal choice, like a fragrance or Brussel’s sprouts or Justin Bieber.
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Mark, your graphics seem great to me. I’ve been trying to set up a new blog under WordPress but cannot figure out ever the simplest of things. You rock my friend.
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Thanks, Jennifer! The WP block editor has thrown a lot of people for a loop. It takes some getting used to, but isn’t bad at all once you’ve got the basics down.
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I’ve always liked Comic Sans, myself. I use it in our Christmas letter, though I’m sure everyone just takes it as part of the intended humor, if they notice at all. Speaking of which, we missed another opportunity for a Christmas letter contest. Oh well. If you haven’t seen mine yet, it’s on my Facebook page. This year I had plenty of fodder to work with. 😉
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Your Christmas newsletters are the best! I haven’t seen the 2020 edition yet, but I’ll be sure to hop on over to Facebook and check it out.
Happy New Year, my friend.
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I actually learned what a serif is on the copyediting course I just finished.
Also, I have a post in my drafts file (awaiting some photos I’m trying to cajole my mother into hunting for and sending to me, so it may be in drafts for a while) that has a short video clip of that same dealership scene from Vacation. Classic.
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I can’t wait to see that post. I’ve always been a huge Griswold fan, if you hadn’t noticed by now!
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I don’t know jack about it, but I’m always amused, at the end of a novel, when they give a history of the font used.
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I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before!
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I’ve always thought that people who don’t like Comic Sans are people who can’t take a joke. A bunch of grouches who get bent out of shape about the smallest things. Almost as bad as getting up in arms about comma splices… 😉
PS: Happy New Year
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I see what you did there, I can’t abide comma splicers.
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I will ABSOLUTELY throw down with anyone who wants to give me crap about cominc sans font. ANYONE. It is literally a cuddly Arial, and everyone LOVES Arial. I wear a size 11 shoe and I will not hesitate to park it right up someone’s rear. Humpf.
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Ouch. If that isn’t enough to make the haters fall in line, nothing will be!
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Guess what I stumbled across today? https://www.howtogeek.com/707340/the-origin-of-comic-sans-why-do-so-many-people-hate-it/
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Now I want to know what Microsoft Bob looked like!
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