Typography: From Sublime to Ridiculous

Not everything in advertising has changed.  Typography is still an art.

In the days of Ye Olde Marketing, typography was a labor of love as art directors worked with typographers and keyliners to put the copy in exactly the right font, size and placement.

Here in the 21^st Century, of course, all this can be edited on a screen.  But it still has to be done, and done well.

Here are two examples from the Out-of-Home advertising medium – one sublime, one ridiculous.

This Is Your Typography

I’ve admired the Colorado tourism billboard, shown at right, for the past couple of months.  It’s a beautiful snowy landscape that dramatizes the Centennial State’s natural beauty.

What really struck me, though, was the typography.  The line of copy separates its six words in a way that further dramatizes the landscape and – if I may – the benefit.

How.  Sublime.  It.  Is.  To.  Be.  Small.

Bravo.

This Is Your Typography on Drugs

Our next example might have been forgivable coming from the state that just legalized marijuana, but ironically it comes from the product whose original recipe included the coca leaf.

Diet Coke’s new campaign has had a lot of negative publicity, and I don’t mean to pile on.  The point is that typography mattered a lot.

“You’re On” could have been a terrific line for Diet Coke if it wasn’t adjacent to the brand’s logo, which in and of itself is very intricate typography.

Both ads, unfortunately, wound up giving the white stuff a starring role.