Found via TCJ.com, font designers and typographers discuss comic book lettering:

“I guess I see type innovation in comics so rarely that it baffles me that other methods have been adopted more readily—like the art, coloring and overall production—but lettering seems to wallow in old-school mediocrity.”

“The Punks publication seems to use all-caps Myriad Condensed, with some kind of image-wash filter applied. Is that what’s considered innovation? I suppose if all the banks and corporations that use Myriad were to switch to a comicraft font, that might be considered innovative too ;-)”

“I think part of it is that comics are artist-centric, so their use of type tends towards that understanding. Often the subtle art of typography is too…different from the typical forms of visual expression, such as painting and drawing. Letters, words, and paragraphs carry an odd payload with them that can frighten away some from touching them at all. Others treat them as separate from the art, and their noodling just ends up widening that divide. Worst is when it makes the words harder to read. Word balloons are just safer, even with some typeface futzing/coloration. This is a fasinating topic and I think there’s a great deal of unexplored territory. I wish I had more time now to get into it.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 at 6:27 pm and is filed under Art and Design, Comic Books, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.