Stumbled across TypeNavigator by accident while looking for appropriate typefaces to be used. It’s a very interesting tool and it has the interactivity like a color blender except we’re dealing with elements of more personality.
When choosing a typeface for a logo or copy, it’s important that the logo is able to project the communicative message of the brand or the consistency with the brand. This is the experience TypeNavigator gives you when selecting a typeface.
But there’s one slight thing I need to mention about the typefaces you’ll find here, they’re not free unlike the ones you get at DaFont.
Anyway, the TypeNavigator experience is a simple selection of the type that gives you the feeling you want like Humanist, Ironic or Stamp. There’s quite a general selection for you. Mind you though that this is powered by Flash and you’ll need to particularly rollover each of it to find out what type brings out what purpose.
After selecting the feeling you want, you progress on to decide further which type of font would suit your design in terms of proportions, angle, weight, contast and even according to what tool is used to generate the particular typeface.
Once you’re done with the process then you click on Search – yes, it’s a little tedious. The results will be shown on the right pane along with the Buy buttons. I wished they actually listed the prices of the fonts there and provided options for arranging the list to a customers budget.
This whole experience is almost like speaking to a typeface desginer but of course, speaking to an individual has its better advantages.
In general I think TypeNavigator is giving us an idea of what the future in selecting typefaces would be but of course, you’d only want to use it if you’re charging client a hefty sum just for identity design.
Not many small businesses can afford to splurge 1000+ just for an identity design.
Didn’t really understood the title of your post till I read it through. Should have named it ‘…based on personality’ instead I reckon.
Anyway, I’m all for professional fonts. As a designer, he or she should always have a library of professional fonts (Not referring to the computer’s fonts). It doesn’t need to be a lot of fonts. Just a dozen would already do.
Then again, for budding designers, there’s a list of 25 quality fonts to start out with at .
Do remember that free fonts are actually free except for personal use unless it clearly states so.
The saddest part is the best fonts are always the pricey ones. *sniff* And if the cost is included into the project, clients wouldn’t understand why go to so much trouble in buying when there are plenty of free ones.
Well, a good designer has the ability to make even Times New Roman a great font for a design. Can’t deny that the pricey ones are better well constructed.
The free ones just need a bit of effort for us to tweak so that it suits the design. Then again, free fonts are never meant for commercial usage unless its GPL-ed license et cetera.
you should also check out http://typetester.maratz.com/
Yup, TypeTester is something I use often now as well because Photoshop can’t render browser text as it is but just pixel fonts.
If Adobe is listening, I’d like that to be on the wishlist of the next version. :D