Why Fonts Matter Flashcards

Vocabulary terms and definitions from the lecture 'Why Fonts Matter' by Sarah Hyndman, covering typography history, psychology, and sensory research.

Type Tasting

A forum established by Sarah Hyndman in 2013 for research, skill development, and exploration about the experience of type and fonts from the consumer's point of view.

Gateway fonts

Seemingly naive fonts, such as Comic Sans, that are suggested to open the door to the use of more serious and 'hard core' typefaces.

The Crystal Goblet

A 1930 essay by Beatrice Warde that argues type should function like a clear wine glass, purely carrying but not obstructing the content.

Gutenberg Bible

The first major book printed with moveable type in Europe, produced by Johannes Gutenberg in Germany in the 1450s.

Italic type

A narrower style of type invented by Aldus Manutius that enabled more words to be printed on a page, making books portable and cheaper to produce.

Humanist

A 1470s typeface classification inspired by Roman inscriptions and Italian calligraphy, characterized by a sloping crossbar on the letter 'e'.

Supraliminal

Messages or information that are within the threshold of awareness, which a person can choose to notice, such as film soundtracks or typefaces.

Subliminal

Information that takes place outside of awareness, such as 'blipverts' shown too quickly for the viewer to consciously register.

Inattentional blindness

A psychological concept where an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight, demonstrated by Daniel J. Simons in 'The Monkey Business Illusion'.

Typographic allusion

A term used by psychologists Clive Lewis and Peter Walker to explain how fonts give words a backstory and personality independently of the word's literal meaning.

Processing fluency

The ease with which a consumer recognizes and comprehends a message; a familiar typeface allows the eyes to skim effortlessly across text.

Baskerville

A typeface declared the 'most believable' based on a 2012 online experiment conducted by writer Errol Morris with the New York Times.

Johnston

The official London Transport typeface, created by Edward Johnston, which is considered the unofficial typeface of London.

Amygdala

The area of the brain where fear is processed; it is triggered by sharp, jagged shapes and threatening facial expressions.

Involuntary memory

Unexpected nostalgia experienced without conscious effort, famously described by Marcel Proust as being triggered by sensory experiences like a madeleine cake dipped in tea.

Crossmodal interactions

Experiences where perception occurs simultaneously across multiple senses, such that a reaction in one sense triggers a reaction in another.

Maluma

A nonsense word that the Crossmodal Research Laboratory proved is associated with soft, round shapes and sweet tastes.

Takete

A nonsense word that the Crossmodal Research Laboratory proved is associated with jagged shapes and sour or harsh tastes.

Sensation transference

A term coined by Louis Cheskin for transferring the imagined experience promised by packaging to the actual experience of consuming the product.

Contour bias

The psychological phenomenon where people favor curve-shaped objects over angular or sharp shapes, linked to the brain's threat response.

Burlingame

A Humanist Sans Serif typeface designed by Carl Crossgrove to minimize a driver's glance time when looking at in-vehicle displays.