I am sharing some mail with you that I received today. It is an oversized advertising postcard. This postcard does not present any visually appealing imagery on the front of the card. It is very dull and dark. The photo I will add to this post makes it look much better than it appears in real life.
I counted four typographic choices on the front of the postcard. Why so many? It’s straight across the top, which can be fine, but I feel that the designer could have changed many typography decisions for the better.
Unfortunately, this postcard did not positively catch my attention to how somebody should have received an eye-appealing postcard should have been received.
Every font has a unique personality, and as a designer, you should control the meaning you want to send to catch the reader’s interest positively, not by taking a photo and filling the open space on top by just adding words in several different font choices.
It shows me that small changes in typography can fundamentally alter the impact and interpretation of any design to the reader.
As for the back of the card, I counted at least six different font choices. I read the postcard several times to see what type of place this was and what they offered. Normally, I would throw this card out, but it is funny that I look at everything now. I have learned to choose what makes everything “work” and what it takes to make your designs beautiful by making the right choices of typography, color, line, movement, etc.
Remember, You do not want the message the designer is trying to get across to the reader to be in pieces like this postcard is giving me.
