Research | Font

I began researching a very vital part of the visual language for my book cover today; Typography.

Source: http://www.namethatfont.net/wp-
content/uploads/2012/10/lordoftherings-large.jpg

To start with I thought where better to look than at some of the classic books which feature epic adventures. "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" both instantly spring to mind when I think about adventure, and as this is the element of TWINTW I want to emphasise on the cover I thought it was appropriate to look at these.

I think the use of serif font is the most obvious feature when you first begin to analyse these titles. Next I noticed the use of different size texts. The less important words being in a far smaller font than the main part of the name; "Narnia" or "Lord of the Rings". I think what's really interesting on top of the use of different size fonts for different words, is the use of different height lettering to create shape around the words in TLOTR's font face. This is something I will definitely experiment with in my sketchbook. The sharp serifs found in both of these fonts tell us about the dark/ evil in each of the stories, a strong element but something you wouldn't consciously think about to start with. Again this is something I really like about the visual language found in both of these fonts, and I will be taking these ideas further into my own design. 

Source: http://wegotthiscovered.com/wp-content/
uploads/narnia-the-voyage-of-the-dawn
-treader-movie-image-logo.jpg

After analysing those fonts above it was time to hunt for some of my own. I used "dafont.com" to do this, and after scrolling through pages upon pages of fonts I have quite a collection at my disposal. One font has jumped out at me more than all of the others though, and is highlighted below. It is called MardianDemo, and I think it provides me with a perfect selection of typographic elements to depict the story of The Wind in the Willows as I want to. 

The first thing that strikes me when I look at this font is the sharp horn like shapes created by the calligraphic style on base of the "W", and then to contrast this the sweeping serifs that flow away from the lettering at the top. I think the sharp horns on the base of the letters are going to perfectly depict the darker parts of the novel such as the scene I will be using on the book cover of The Wild Wood, with all the evil forest creatures attacking Mole. And to perfectly balance this out the long sweeping serifs found on the "T" and the top of the "W" will tell of a great hospitality and fun spring days on the river depicted in the story.