A FRESH LOOK AT FONT CLASSIFICATION

Flow diagram of the Type-Expertise Universal Font Classification System.
As
humans, we live in language. By extension, the fonts we choose for the
documents we design are a fundamental aspect of the process of
linguistic communication. There's certainly no shortage of fonts from
which to pick - from classics, through revivals on up to brilliant new
creations, the designer hoping to stay abreast of current typographic
offerings is faced with a daunting task. To the existing tens of
thousands of fonts are added constant new releases, from both old,
established typographic firms and peppy, boutique shops.
While
it would be valuable to simply have access to all available fonts and
new releases in one place, the more fundamental design problem would
remain - how to find the right font for the current project from among
all those available? Because there's always a right font, the one
perfect, inevitable, couldn't-be-otherwise font. At this point, hands
are being raised from the back of the class: "How about all those
classification systems they told me about back in design school?" Thank
you for asking that question.
Each font has been
designed to express a certain mood, feeling or meaning. The
'personality' of a font is the key to enhancing the ability of a
document to convey its message. Few would choose Comic Sans for an
annual report or Helvetica for a poster for a Baroque music festival -
the personality of the font would contradict the intent of the
document. The more appropriate the font choice, the better the message
is understood. This is a fundamental aspect of all document creation,
in any language. It's puzzling, then, that the font market does not
integrate the two fundamental communications parameters: form and
function.
Traditional classification systems
attempt to make it easier to find the right font. However, the existing
font classification systems date from 1954 (Classification Vox) and
1921 (Classification Thibaudeaux) and are completely obsolete, due to
being designed in a closed, non-expandable manner that cannot integrate
modern fonts. Worse, each font creator and vendor often have their own
way of categorising their font collections. Huge lists, hybrid names,
alphabetical orders and so forth have contributed to create a
'typographic jungle' in which every font user inevitably becomes lost.
This
jungle intensified with the advent of the personal computer era, when
the communication industry shifted from paper to screen and the font
industry responded by digitising its products. No one stood back and
thought about the consequences of this flood of typographic riches. How
to make sense of it all? How to find that needle in the typographic
haystack - quickly? It's no wonder that so many document creators in
the office environment still rely on Times and Arial or Helvetica. Even
many professional designers limit themselves to a handful of tried and
true fonts. Classifying the font jungle is a topic that comes up at
every international font design conference, but no solution has been
proposed to help users quickly find the right fonts for their
documents. And the jungle keeps expanding!
It was
from this background that the Type-Expertise Universal Font
Classification system was conceived to meet the needs not only of font
users, but also font designers and vendors who require a better way to
help their customers choose and purchase fonts, as well as application
and operating system developers, who have an inherent need to help
their users communicate more effectively.
Its
objective could be said to be radical: to fundamentally change how
fonts are chosen and purchased, based on a dynamic database that is
both universal and multicultural. This database will be enriched over
time and through usage by the users themselves, through their
knowledge, their design practices and their experience. The concept of
this classification is thus inversed. It is the users that will
structure, mold and give it its value, not the traditional font
authorities: font designers, vendors and organisations. This new
classification is unique because it is comprehensive, adaptable,
correctable, expandable, generally accessible, yet infinitely refined.
A font choice made by the user is based on the emotions, the experience
and the intuition of the individual. This choice is expressed in words
via qualifications, designations and adjectives. These values are the
heart of the classification system - the resulting database is its
unique and invaluable strength. All those participants who use fonts
thereby become a classification in themselves. The system thus doesn't
embody a single classification, but instead potentially a vast number
of classifications. The objective of such a font database is to become
a global, inter-connected network of information that constantly
enriches itself from the changing knowledge and font practices of every
participating font user.
Over time, the database
will contain millions of new, user-supplied font classifications.
Qualifications, designations, adjectives by type of application,
context, by type of document for which the font is used, by location,
by language, by who created the font, by date and more, all linked to
the corresponding font. Fonts then cease to be isolated, formal
elements of the process of document construction - instead they become
part of the larger world of human experience, thereby enriching the
documents for which they are chosen.
To learn more
Readers are invited to visit the Type-Expertise site to learn more about the Universal Font Classification system, and participate in the discussions in the forums.
About Denis Ravizza
Denis Ravizza provides design and consulting services internationally through his company, Design-Expertise, which has operations in Lyon, France; Geneva, Switzerland; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. His specialty is fixing design problems, of which there seems to be no shortage.
About Chris Dickman
Chris Dickman's focus is the intersection of graphics and technology, specifically at the point where users need help to make the most effective use of a technology or service. Online for over 20 years, he lives and works from his office in Lyon.