Tuesday, April 22, 2008

the politics of good typography

Yesterday, in his NY Times blog, Steven Heller asked a bunch of graphic design types (Michael Bierut, Debbie Millman, Ellen Lupton and the like) for their take on the use of Optima as the typeface for John McCain's campaign.


"The thicks and thins... might be said to correspond with the reputation of bipartisanship that Mr. McCain has demonstrated in his senatorship." Michael Bierut

"Optima is one of the worst pre-computer typefaces ever designed. It was created to satisfy everybody's needs. A straightforward, no-nonsense, no-embellishment face, it comes in regular and bold but little character can be found in either weight. Optima is not inappropriate for use by Senator McCain."

You can read more of the conversation here.

For Heller's take on the Obama campaign's use of Gotham as its typeface, click here.

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