I present.....COMMUNICATION ARTS!!!
Communication Arts is a magazine that releases six annuals a year, each with a specific focus. Besides typography, the others include illustration, advertising, design, photography, and interactive. Each magazine showcases the work of working professionals. I enjoy the magazine because it helps keep me up-to-date on the newest trends in design.
Nuts.com, a nut company, uses a unique typeface on their packaging that caught my eye. I was drawn to this font because of its wackiness. There is no name for this font but it is based on a handwritten typeface done by Michael Bierut, who works at Pentagram. The font is sans serif and has a quirky energy with thick but shaky line work. There appears to be no baseline to the font, which also adds to the wackiness. The typeface is paired up nicely with the quirky Nuts.com characters found on the front of the packaging. The characters are outlined in the same line thickness as the typeface, which is why they pair up so nicely. Seeing this typeface in action has made me realize how much a typeface can impact and reflect the personality of a brand. This is something I plan on paying more attention to in my own work.
On a side note, this packaging was a redesign effort of Nuts.com. The redesign was done by Pentagram in New York. The picture above is a before and after of the redesign. In the magazine, they state that they wanted a new typeface that had an "irrevant and chatty tone." The new design is much more simple and has more personality. In my opinion, I believe it is much more unique than the old design and I believe it will help differentiate themselves from their competitors.
-Justin Hernandez
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