Typography as satire

I like a keenly-crafted satire. I also like typography. So, when I came to the realisation that I have most (like 90%) of the typefaces used by the logos of corporate america, I decided to put them to good use and make them into satirical, yet honest, slogans. I have to admit, this isn't a new idea... there's a tumblelog called, oddly enough, Honest Slogans that specialises in this type of thing, but I gave it a go anyway. Here's what I came up with.

AWODEX: Absent without a decent excuse

I haven't been doing much FontGeekage lately. Mostly we can blame Tumblr for this. I discovered recently that Tumblr is a much more exciting place than Fontspace or Fontstruct. Not only are there fellow FontGeeks there but representatives of all my other interests too. Poetry, visual art, stickfigures, Devo, that kind of thing. Beyond that, I've been busy making my Fantom X sound like a Fairlight CMI rhythm sequencer. So I guess I've been busy with other things is what I'm trying to say. Just to show that I haven't totally abandoned typography, here is some of the type-related stuff I've been posting to Tumblr.

Arial: Just a cheap knock-off?

Alot of professional FontGeeks are split between Helvetica and Arial. Some who use Helvetica claim that Arial was just a cheap knock-off. Some who use Arial claim that Helvetica has a dated look and is dying a slow death.

Have you ever heard of Monotype Grotesque? Probably not. It's like Akzidenz-Grotesk-- it just kinda faded away for some reason. It was made by Frank Hinman Pierpoint in 1926 for Monotype Corporation. In 1982, Monotype was supplying IBM with bitmap fonts for a line of computer printers-- one of them used Helvetica which MT licensed from Linotype and the other used Arial (called "Sonoran Sans" at the time) which was made specifically for the project by a 10-person team at MT and used Monotype Gothic as a basis.
In 1990, Arial as we know it was made into TTF and licensed to Microsoft.
Really, it's Microsoft's fault. They called Arial "an alternative to Helvetica". If they hadn't said that then no one probably would have thought to compare them. By a co-incidence of universal proportions, Arial's TTF outline managed to almost match Helvetica's character height and width. No one at MT planned that or said "Let's mutate Helvetica!" They say that there's no such thing as a truly random occurrance but this really was.
So now it's just like everything else. You're either Sony or Nintendo. Pepsi or Coke. Burger King or McDonalds. Mac or Windows. Arial or Helvetica.

Even so, alot of computers have both typefaces. Mine does. All Mac OS Xs are. IMO both Arial and Helvetica are overused. Fortunately, Microsoft made the solution in 1997.

Microsoft Sans Serif is the perfect midline between Helvetica and Arial. It has similar features to both, but still enough new designs to make it interesting. The lowercase a manages to accomplish what neither of the older types could. So does the uppercase R. It's 100% computerised. No personality of any kind. Bland enough to work famously with any heading font.

Here's an interesting TFG factoid: Since Microsoft licensed MS Sans Serif to Apple, there no longer are any Windows-exclusive non-bitmap typefaces. (incorrect: Windows 8 introduced several non-Latin designs that are not available on Mac)

So, is Arial a cheap knock-off? No more so than Comic Sans is a cheap knock-off of One Stroke Script.

The Sims fonts: a semi-complete list

A couple days after I started the blog up in June I talked about The Sims fonts a little bit. My list of Sims fonts was kind of sparse at the time but now I'm almost finished. A few of the Sims 2 and Sims 3 boxart logotypes are escaping me at the moment but I'll add to this list as I find stuff.

The Sims Classic
Comic Sans: Game text (PC)
One Stroke Script: Game text (GCN/PS2/Xbox)
Bodega Sans: Base game and House Party display box text
Kabel (modified): House Party logotype, On Holiday display box text
Futura: House Party display box text
Chalet London 1970: Hot Date logotype, display box headings (w/ Helvetica)
Avant Garde Gothic (modified): Superstar logotype
Trade Gothic Condensed: Superstar and Makin' Magic/Spellbound display box text
Brush Script: Unleashed display box heading text
Interstate: Unleashed display box main text

The Sims: Bustin' Out
Frankfurter Medium: Game text (GCN/PS2/Xbox)
Comic Sans: (a proprietary bitmap font based on it) Game text (GBA/NGE)
Gill Sans: Bustin' Out logotype, display box text
Futura: Instruction booklet main text
SimDialogue: instruction book heading text

The Urbz: Sims in the City
Franklin Gothic: Game heading text (GCN/PS2/Xbox)
Gothic 720: Game main text (GCN/PS2/Xbox)
Proprietary bitmap font: Game text (GBA/DS --- use Glasstown as a substitute! -_~)
Kabel (stylised): The Urbz logotype, instruction booklet subheading text
Gill Sans Condensed: Instruction booklet main text

The Sims 2
Benguiat Gothic Bold: Game heading text (PC) All game text (GCN/PS2/PSP)
Helvetica Neue: Game main text
Proprietary bitmap font: Game text (DS/GBA --- use Zarbville as a substitute -_~)
Russell Square: Base game display box heading text
Arial: Base game display box main text
Triplex Sans: Expansion pack display box main text
Helvetica Extended: Expansion Pack subtitle
Kabel: University logotype
Aspirin (modified or combined with Imaginer): Nightlife logotype
Helvetica Extended, House Brush, House Slant: Open for Business logotype
American Typewriter Bold: Pets logotype (all platforms)
Coop Heavy: Seasons logotype
Gotham Book Bold: Bon Voyage logotype
Unidentified font: FreeTime logotype (probably made by Emigre or House Industries)
Ed Interlock: Apartment Life logotype (A and L from Ed Gothic)
Gill Sans: 100 Million Sold logotype
Univers: Instruction booklet main text (all instruction book headings are the same as their expansion pack's logotype)

MySims
Helvetica Rounded: Game text
Kabel: Display box text, instruction booklet heading text
Franklin Gothic Condensed: Instruction booklet main text

I'm still working on the list of The Sims 3 fonts. Some of them are obvious (like Generations, which is Times New Roman (or it might could be Dante even) and the Russian Ambitions logotype which is Arial.... says something about Sims Division's creativity these days doesn't it? -__-) others are not so obvious though. Fortunately for maniacal typography archivists like myself >:D EA tends to use fonts from California-based digital type foundries like Emigre and House Industries for their playful fonts.
Without saying too much about EA's business practises (not a Sensible Human in the lot of them) I am looking forward to seeing what they select as the new SimCity game fonts.

Fonts similar to GE Inspira

I can't speak to whether it was someone actually looking for it or just a random spider search but one of the things someone searched for on google was "fonts similar to ge inspira". They found this blog probably because I talk about it so much (probably not :P whatevs). I don't actually have a list of fonts that are similar to Inspira on here. So to combat this problem.... let's fix that.

Anyway, there are quite a few types which are passably similar to Inspira (that is if you don't want to go to ufonts.com and download GE Inspira directly).

First is VAG Round. This is the closest one because it was the inspiration behind Inspira. It was the old Volkswagen logotype from like the 70s.

Next up is Futura Rounded. It's virtually impossible to tell Futura Round from VAG Round (though there ARE differences--- like Arial and Helvetica).

Talking of--- the next one is Helvetica Rounded. BTW it's also the primary text in The Sims 3. But of course, if you're on a PC and not a mac, then you probably don't have Helvetica and can't get it without severing your leg please sir.

In that case you probably have Arial Rounded (it's probably in the list as "Arial Rounded MT Bold"). Basically any font with "Rounded" in the name is going to be similar to Inspira. But these are all expensive fonts. Aren't there any free ones?

Ubuntu Titling is free.Not to be confused with "Ubuntu Title" which has no uppercase letters.

Alternatively there's Ubuntu Regular (just called "Ubuntu") which is my personal fave. It's not rounded but it kinda works out.
You could also look on Fontspace. There are quite a few there that would work as an Inspira substitute as well. Such as BPreplay, RockoFLF, and Jolly. Except in this case, not all the fonts you find will be licensed for commercial use (say, if you wanted to use it in a commercial spot or on a magazine advert or something). Jolly is not a commercial font. The other two are however.
Of course, like I said at the outset---

GE Inspira itself is available on ufonts.com. At least THAT hasn't been taken away yet.

SimCity and The Sims fonts

For The Sims Fonts ONLY, click here for a more comprehensive list.

Right now, I'm trying to make a list of all typefaces ever used in the Sim series (from SimCity to SimAnt all the way to The Sims Social). But there are WAY more than I ever thought possible! I'm not even halfway through yet! Of course, I'm trying to find the ones they used on the packages, the instruction manuals,and in adverts as well as the game text. But if you searched for "the sims font" on Google and found this entry, you probably only want to know the game text, which I can tell you about. THAT part of the list IS finished. Mostly. Here's what I have so far.

Oh, incidentally--- the SimCity 2000 logo is in Newport Classic ("SIM") and Industria ("CITY 2000")

SimCity 3000 (the first game where a typeface other than the default bitmap font was used)

Comic Sans for the headings and (I think) MS Sans Serif on Windows and Chicago on Mac.

The Sims

Comic Sans for all game text

The Sims: Bustin' Out

Frankfurter Medium for all game text (the 0 [nought] is substituted for an uppercase O with stroke)

SimCity 4

Stoclet for headings and Arta for main text.

The Sims 2

Benguiat Gothic for headings and Helvetica Neue for main text.

The Urbz: Sims in the City

Gothic 720 for headings and Franklin Gothic Demi for main text.

SimCity Societies

Tahoma for headings and Arial for main text.

The Sims 3

Helvetica Rounded for headings and Helvetica standard for main text.

SimCity 2013

So far, all the screenshots with game text show Twentieth Century.

 

 

Font vs. Typeface

Right to the point.
A Typeface is the style of lettering. Helvetica is a typeface.
A Font is the size and weight of the typeface. 18pt Helvetica italic is a font. A font can also be the files (a font family) that make the typeface display on a computer screen. In the Helvetica font family there is Standard, Bold, Italic, Bold Italic, Condensed, Compressed, Extended, Black, Inline (an outline of the characters--- like having an outline with no fill in Microsoft Word), Rounded, and several others.
So... um... why do people say "font" when they mean "typeface?" Well... I don't know. Maybe it's easier to say? Also, somehow "font" came to mean the digital file the typeface is saved in when computers started having monitors. There are some people who are really snobbish about it, but really I'm not. I'm the FontGeek. Not the TypefaceGeek. I'll sometimes use the word "font" when I mean "typeface".