Visual Art Oct 27, 2010 at 11:10 am

Comments

1
Holy crap. I used to title renderings with Letraset, the choices were Helvetica, or Optima (kind of a proto-Comic Sans, if memory serves...) Slog is making me feel old.
2
Optima a proto-Comic Sans?? Excuse me while I go have a heart attack. Never open your mouth in a design-related thread again, Canuck.
3
Yeah, really. Optima is pretty gorgeous, and very tightly stylized -- pretty much the opposite of Comic Sans. A lovely "o" it has.

I've fumbled around with Letraset before. People with ten thumbs like me really shouldn't be allowed to touch the stuff. These things make me wonder if it's possible to be TOO GOOD at something; they bear the same relation to my efforts as a Rolex watch does to a chunk of wood.
4
What, is Comic Sans bad? I'll admit, it's not my favourite, it's nowhere near as nice as Papyrus, but why all the hate??
5
xD
6
I'm not a design guy at all, just a lover of beautiful typography. Spent too many years using Letraset to label scientific figures. The Mac was such a revelation in allowing on-screen composition, but I remember almost immediately looking around for a more appealing sans-serif typeface than Helvetica. I was thrilled when I found Optima. Journals usually specify the face they require in camera-ready copy or digital files, but Optima sure made posters for meetings look great (along with PowerPoint slides).
7
I actually do like Papyrus too, Canuck! Yeah, it's overused, but not to the extent that SlabFace and two or three others were in the last 20 years or so (their names escape me at the moment). I used Papyrus for the letterhead and other stationery for our local library friends group.
8
We used to use Optima for gaming con flyers in Vancouver BC.

But I preferred Letraset (not that hard to use) for the gaming club meeting notices and directional signs.
9
Ah, I guess I just never bonded with Optima, rob. I think the hardness of Helvetica reminded me of Scandinavian design, which was something of an obsession back when I was doing that stuff. And Papyrus! I did like it at first (ducks and covers head), before it was used for everything...actually, my new favourite is Mercury, with its funky "g"...

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