Through a number of resources, including websites, you can find numerous type specimen sheet layouts—some that display a very straightforward and functional design, some that are extremely abstract, and some that fall at a point in between. Choose three different type specimen sheet examples that represent wide differences in approach, then discuss the merits of each, along with your conclusion regarding which is most successful and why. Provide supporting images, page number references, and/or Web links so that others can view the same example sheets you compared.
1. Stencil Script - Font Design -Tania Whiteley
Image Source: http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles2/96968/projects/193967/969681236597702.jpg
This specimen sheet is for a stencil script font created by Tania Whiteley. It is very interesting, as I have never seen a “Stencil Script” before. I think the style in which these sheets were created is quite appealing. It appears to be some type of concrete wall. The font is applied right along with the cracks and graffiti. This gives the font a grungier look and pulls some of the sophistication and elegance way from the script. The specimen sheets give a great sample of the characters and a glimpse at a few different sizes. As far as an artistic style I think this specimen sheet is quite successful. As far as giving one a clear idea of this font and its capabilities it is a bit vague. Using such a texture, as a background while it is artistically appealing, does pull away from the font. It also does not give a great sampling of the text for headline use. The main sampling is the font used mostly as design elements to create a texture and a copy section showing readability and legibility of the type.
2. Junction
by Caroline Hadilaksono
This is a sans serif font called Junction by Caroline Hadilaksono. This specimen sheet is pretty basic. The features her upper and lower case characters with alphabet and symbols. This specimen sheet clearly showcases the typeface as the designer chose a nice contrasting color for the background. The design in the background is also subtle and does not really pull the viewer from the characters. It appears to me that the designer actually chose a few characters and made them much larger to create the unique shapes for the background. As far as a specimen sheet it is somewhat successful. My main complaint is that she does not have a sample paragraph to check readability and legibility. I would imagine as this sans serif font is pretty clean and straight forward it would not be too different from others I have used in the past. I do like how she created a headline of the font, but made it a secondary element so it would not compete with the yellow characters.
3. Museo Slab
Designed by:Exljbris Classification:Slab Serif
Image Source: http://www.fontsquirrel.com/utils/load_image.php?filename=fonts/921/museoslab_sample.png
When I first read about this assignment this is actually what I had in mind. In this speciman sheet the font Museo Slab Designed by: Exljbris shows many different attributes of the font. While it does not have a direct listing all of the upper and lower case character and numbers and symbols, It has a great sampling of different stroke thickness, normal, and oblique, as well as, headline and copy sized text. I think the top use of a design panel was a great solution to keep the look clean and text focused, yet show a different aspect of the font with a reverse type. I would say that this specimen sheet is most successful as it does give a great overview of the font and its application.
