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Subject:Re: font consistency and corporate look From:"Peter Neilson" <neilson -at- windstream -dot- net> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:38:44 -0500
This sort of decision is not uncommon, although it should be. Here are a
couple that I've seen:
(1) All the printed books of a computer company were to have a uniform
appearance. The company's name was to appear in humungofont, while the
title of each book was to be in mouseprint. It was not possible to
distinguish among the titles of books spread out in front of you by casual
inspection. The colors, the artwork and the NAME OF THE COMPANY were
identical. Each book's name on the spine was (for example) "NAME OF THE
COMPANY Mumbletran Programmer's Manual". Only the NAME OF THE COMPANY
stood out. And yes, they paid a "designer" for this nonsense.
(2) The top executives of another computer company directed that the
manuals be printed on newsprint, presumably to save money. Unfortunately,
the newsprint had a few problems:
- Few commercial printers were set up to produce perfect-bound books on
newsprint. Saddle-stitch, comic-book style, might have been possible, but
these books were too fat for that.
- Newsprint gives an impression of shoddiness.
- The requested format cost more per copy than ordinary perfect-bound
books.
The proper way for combatting this sort of difficulty is to find a
champion whose work you hate, someone who is not helping customers,
co-workers or the bottom line, and whose very presence at the company
should be ended. Enlist that person in furthering your task to get rid of
the bad design. It's called "Let's You and He Fight."
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