Gone were the days when I used to pick Comic Sans MS for almost all text-based stuff I need. From very formal book reports to things as informal as random word arts, Comic Sans was THE font to be. I also fancied those fancy typefaces. I can't even remember their fancy names now, to begin with. I couldn't believe how those choices even passed my aesthetic now. At this point in time, selecting and using such typefaces make my head ache.
Way back in high school, my Comic Sans craze changed to Kristen. I wonder what the heck entered my mind selecting such fonts inspired with comics and still use it in inappropriate things such as reports. ZOMG. I was also gaga over using the bevel-emboss in Photoshop, not even considering the fact that this style only looks good on some effects. It was during the late years of my high school that I appreciated Garamond, Georgia and Century Gothic. Until then, I'd say I have never looked at typefaces the same way again. Georgia was my first love. I frequently used Georgia for most of my reports and my blog layout. Then, I met Garamond. Garamond and I have been together since my Harry Potter days. Maybe staring at the text for a very long time made me appreciate its beauty.
To a non-enthusiast, Garamond might look like a Times New Roman, a Georgia, or any other serif type. It does not. It has this unique look in it, especially when it's italicized. I love how the italicized Garamond almost looks somewhat like a cursive or a script type, just something close. When I'm looking for a sans serif, Century Gothic became one of my first choices. I haven't been downloading a lot of fonts before so I only relied on those that existed in my computer. Come college years, I started downloading unfamiliar typefaces online and started exploring the beauty of typefaces. I discovered a lot of sans serifs, serifs, gothics and scripts. I've had favorites that changed through the years. At the moment, I've been using Helvetica in most of my works and Arial in reports and other academic stuff. There's this one feature film about Helvetica which I watched recently. I'll be blogging about that soon.
It's funny how I've been using two different font types popularized by two competing companies -- Apple and Microsoft. But yeah, I've even made a comparison between the two because they almost look similar. Only a true typographer can recognize an Arial and a Helvetica.
I've been wondering how these choices change from time to time. I was thinking at the moment that if I feel like those fancy fonts are quite chaotic-looking and cluttered, maybe my point of view at that time was, too. That was me. WAS. We experience a lot of things as we go on. From these experiences, we get to discover things and ourselves, too. Our identities become clearer as the years go by. As for me, I was able to find and build this design aesthetic I believe in. Less is more. This point of view made me choose the things I choose. We have our own choices. The point is that no matter what these choices are, it clearly defines who we are, regardless of time. It is and will always be a part of us. As Anne Rice puts it, "None of us really changes over time. We only become more fully what we are."
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