All About Logos

Carl Shank • September 1, 2022

I like and resonate with what John McWade said to us novice designers in the magazine he founded and edited, "Before & After," in the 1990s — "Learn typography. In my years of reviewing the portfolios of college graduates, I've seen most consistently a weakness in handling type. Type is the voice of the printed word, and your greatest tool. Learn it well. If you're learning on your own I suggest you study the typography in major magazines. Pay attention to the ads. Watch for type selection, size, spacing, position on the page, relationship to other type, contrasts and so forth. Duplicate what you see." (Before & After, Vol. 4. No. 6, 1995) His most ardent desire was for us to practice craftsmanship, which he reflected in the pages of these issues of Before & After. If you can get hold of them, prize them, study them and reflect on the craftsmanship in them.


He left nothing to sloppiness or a truncated view of typography. In his remarks about logos, he wrote — "In graphic design parlance, the word marks properly refers to the broad group of designs that are used as corporate signatures. Marks without type are called symbols, but symbols used to communicate (like in traffic signs and on restroom doors) are really pictographs. When marks are wholly typographic, they can be either lettermarks, which are usually initials or abbreviations, or logos, which may be entire words or the company name. When symbols and logos are used together, they are referred to as combination marks. And when any of the above are registered and protected by law, they are referred to as trademarks." (Before & After, , Vol. 5, No. 3, 1996, p. 5)


You can see some of these logos below in the sample.

Successful Layout & Design

Typeface Characteristics: Which Type Where?

By Carl Shank • September 9, 2026
Typeface characteristics are the visual and structural features that distinguish one typeface from another. They determine a typeface’s historical appearance, readability, personality, and appropriate use. Useful Ways to Analyze Any Typeface. When examining an unfamiliar typeface, ask these questions in order (provided by ChatGPT) — Does it have serifs? What kind of serifs? How much thick/thin contrast is present? What is the stress angle? What is the x-height? How wide or narrow are the letters? How are the counters constructed? What do the terminals look like? What are distinctive letters such as a, g, e, R, and Q doing? How does the typeface behave in a paragraph—open, dark, dense, airy, mechanical, or calligraphic? What historical or technological process does its construction suggest? What personality does the combination of these characteristics produce? There are a number of online sources to help identify typefaces ( See Feb. 6, 2022 Blog for more explanation and use.) Sources include — MyFonts ( www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont ), FontSquirrel ( www.fontsquirrel.com/matcherator ) WhtFontIs ( www.whatfontis.com ) Identifont ( www.identifont.com ) is one of the best. Here are the questions it will ask you — Does it have feet (serifs) or not (sans-serifs)? What style is the tail on uppercase Q? What style is the ampersand (the &)? Is the numeral “4” open or closed? What style of vertical line does the Dollar sign ($) have? How high is the center vertex of the uppercase M? Sit on the line or not? What type of bar does the uppercase G have? How far below the baseline does the uppercase J extend? What about the uppercase R? How far does the center bar extend? Is there a gap with the vertical part of the letter? Does it meet or cross the vertical? What about the question mark (?) What shape is the dot at the bottom? Is it circular, square, triangular, rectangular or even missing? The important point is that a typeface should not be identified by a single characteristic. Its identity comes from the interaction of serifs, contrast, stress, proportions, counters, terminals, spacing, and letterform construction.

More on Variable Fonts (2)

By Carl Shank • September 5, 2026
Google’s variable font selection includes IBM Plex Sans, Inter, Newsreader, Open Sans, Playfair Display, Express Fraunces and Roboto. FF Meta Variable is now a licensed font from Monotype (myFonts.com). Formata Variable is a demonstration only font from CARE Typography. We consider two Google Variable typefaces here — Playfair Display and Express Fraunces. Playfair Display Playfair Display is a high-contrast transitional/display serif typeface designed by Claus Eggers Sørensen and released through Google Fonts in 2011. It was designed primarily for large display sizes, especially headlines, titles, and editorial typography. Its appearance draws inspiration from the late eighteenth-century transition from traditional broad-nib writing toward pointed steel pens, as well as from the elegant typefaces associated with the European Enlightenment and neoclassical period. Playfair Display is a contemporary high-contrast serif designed primarily for display typography. Its visual ancestry lies in the 18th-century transitional period, particularly the movement from broad-nib calligraphic forms toward the sharper, more vertical forms that ultimately produced Didot and Bodoni.
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