What fonts do you like using?

[Colt]

Wondering what fonts do you like using for things like the "hours" on front doors?

I know they tend to like the fonts beings readable from the road.

 

[shoresigns]

Helvetica is our go to font, if the customer doesn't already have a font specified for their branding. Helvetica has such a neutral personality that it looks alright in most cases, no matter the style of the customer's logo and branding. It's old enough to look retro, it's elegant enough to look classy, it's geometric enough to look modern and it's human enough to look natural.

If the customer is paying for extra design time then I'll look for something more specific that fits their style.

 

[AnthonyRalano]

Helvetica!

 

[Gino]

Started using more of the Myriad family in the last year or two.

 

[mark-s]

Helvetica

mark-s

 

[graphicwarning]

Started using more of the Myriad family in the last year or two.

+1 I like this family of fonts too!

 

[bob]

Wondering what fonts do you like using for things like the "hours" on front doors?

I know they tend to like the fonts beings readable from the road.

Helvetica and all of its clones is far too institutional to suit me in this sort of application. These faces have absolutely no character. There primary use should be limited to highway signs and fine print on contracts.

Being an unreconstructed sign writer, unless there are limitations, I usually will opt for LHFStevensPercepta. This face looks as if it was hand lettered. More so than any other face I've encountered to date. Just the right amount of concavity on the strokes and a tiny taste of casual in character construction. Thick and thicker [slightly] so you can step on it a bit either vertically or horizontally and get away with it. My only complaint with this face is that the descender on the lower case 'g' is too large and can get in the way if you're trying for tight line spacing.

I do signs, not job printing. I expect them to look like signs, not freeway off ramp identifiers.

 

[Z SIGNS]

I like to use image appropriate type styles.

 

[Stanton]

Everyone knows hours are from 8am till night.


Who is the customer?

How far away are they reading it from? (don't correct my English.)

Hours are not an ADA thing.

It's a door decoration.

Campy, if you ask me.
Make it legible and fitting of the business.

This is art. Make it so...

Readable from 18 feet.


If the lights are dim or off, they are closed.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

Helvetica, Myriad, or Frutiger are my go to sans serifs for things like storefront hours.

 

[player]

Papyrus ftw.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Helvetica, Graramond, Zaph Humanist, Neutraface, Futura Medium.

Pretty much I'll use anything legible that has different font weights so I can break things up but keep them in the same family.

 

[Stanton]

If they are buying a $9500 sign, the window graphic is a free gift.
One of my dudes will be standing around for a while anyway.

My cost is way less than $35 materials and labor.

Time, like I said, thumb up the butt.


Don't put it on the door. That is strip mall trash.
Put it on the glass off to the side of the door swing.

This is a subtle thing.

Optima is the right font.

 

[Colt]

I originally posted this in the vinyl section, and it got moved here. Which is where I think the confusion is coming from.

But I'm referring to vinyl graphic that you cut out and put on glass doors. Usually has business name and their hours below it.

 

[Colt]

Everyone knows hours are from 8am till night.


Who is the customer?

How far away are they reading it from? (don't correct my English.)

Hours are not an ADA thing.

It's a door decoration.

Campy, if you ask me.
Make it legible and fitting of the business.

This is art. Make it so...

Readable from 18 feet.


If the lights are dim or off, they are closed.

Did business name and hours in vinyl on their front door. Printed out an actual size sample on paper to get it approved. Then they changed hours and had me do it again, but wanted the letters to be bigger.

Now they are changing again and need it redone again and they want the letters to be even bigger. Said something about how they were at another location and could read the letters while sitting in their car out in the parking lot. Thing is they want the hours for all of their locations on all of their doors. So that's alot of information to put on a door with big letters.

I'm going with a Helvetica Black font. It's a real thick font compared to what I was using. I'm going to go big on the letters since they keep wanting it bigger. I think going huge looks dumb when you are up close to the door, but they keep wanting it bigger. Especially since there are multiple location hours on the door. Just hope they don't complain and say it's too big.

A long while back designed a company logo thing with hours thing that I thought looked real good for a different company. I showed the sample paper print out to them and they complained that you couldn't read it while driving by on the road in front of the place.

I always assumed door information is for people standing in front of the door vs. someone driving by in front of the place.

 

[Stanton]

I always assumed door information is for people standing in front of the door vs. someone driving by in front of the place.

Abs-so-damn-lutly...

It's for monkeys yanking on the door.

"what the freak... the lights are off...?", say the tweekers.

Yet they stand there and rattle the door.


If the lights are off and the city is closed, real customers will clue in.

Strip malls close at 9o pm

Food joints in the strip mall close at 11o pm

That is universal. Everyone knows that.



Up-Sell them window graphics !

 

[jen.reelez]

Helvetica have many fans, and I like that font too!

Also, Open Sans, Roboto, Museo Sans and Raleway are nice..

 

[GAC05]

ข้าวหอมมะลิไทย

My new favorite font - only because I didn't know I could set my keyboard input to Thai and Windows would do it.
I needed to recreate a logo for Thai Golden Phoenix Rice (export stamp) and couldn't find a vector of the text part.
Found the string of text I needed on their website - copy & paste into CorelDraw with font and formatting intact.


wayne k
guam usa

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

Do you design your graphic over a photograph of the window, wall, vehicle, etc. that the graphic is being applied to, then scale everything based off given dimensions?

 

[SignManiac]

Do you design your graphic over a photograph of the window, wall, vehicle, etc. that the graphic is being applied to, then scale everything based off given dimensions?

Typically what I always do.