Figure 2. ITC TYKE, Tomi Haaparanta, International Typeface Corporation; & VIALOG, Linotype
Tyke is cute—which is bad in my book. It’s the 21st century’s rolypoly,
overly friendly version of ITC Souvenir—which is also bad in
my book. If the Pillsbury Doughboy were a typeface, he’d be one
of the more rotund weights of ITC Tyke. If, however, you’re a typographic
chubby-chaser or like cute, friendly typefaces, this may
be just the design for you.
The idea for the Tyke typeface family came to its creator,
Tomi Haaparanta, after he used Cooper Black for a graphic design
project. He liked the plump design but longed for a wider range of
weights. A short while later he began tinkering with the idea and
slowly Tyke began to emerge. “I wanted a typeface that was cuddly
and friendly,” says Haaparanta, “but also one that was readable at
text sizes.” He hit the mark on both counts.
At five weights, plus corresponding italics, Haaparanta also realized
his goal of creating a wide range of distinctive, utilitarian—
albeit pudgy—designs. The light through bold weights perform
well at both large and small sizes, while the Black should be limited
to applications that can support its heft. Rating: 36 Point
Tyke is available from International Typeface Corporation at www.itcfonts.com.
Ratings
72 Point: We’re looking at the next Garamond
60 Point: Very good, but not Matthew Carter
48 Point: Rock-solid design tool
36 Point: Worth the ticket price
24 Point: Wait for it to be bundled with 500 other fonts for $29
12 Point: Garamond would roll over in his grave
6 Point: OK, who trained the chimp to use Fontographer?
VIALOG
Vialog is Germany’s version of Interstate. While it’s touted as a
fresh new design in its Linotype brochure, we’re just looking at
yet another industrial-strength sans based on highway signage.
According to Font Bureau, “Interstate is based on the signage alphabets
of the United States Federal Highway Administration.”
And, according to Linotype, “Vialog is based on a normally proportioned
transportation typeface … designed for the German
Federal Transportation Ministry.” And we should be using Vialog
instead of Interstate because … ?
Vialog is also yet another of the too many sans serif typeface
designs that incorporates serifs on the i and j and a baseline hook
on the l. A few typefaces have been able to carry off these mannerisms,
but it is doubtful that they are really necessary to make
a sans serif typeface legible. Today, they look a little affected—
tomorrow they will date the typeface.
Vialog is a four-weight family with corresponding italic designs.
It also comes with a large suite of arrows, dingbats, and
symbols, presumably for when you might want to replicate German
signage. Bottom line: Vialog is a yeoman design that is hardpressed
to distinguish itself from other yeoman designs. Rating: 24 Point
Vialog is part of the Linotype Library and is available at www.linotypefonts.com.
Dr. Hermann Puterschein is the President of the Society of
Calligraphers and a noted typeface and typographic critic.
He can be reached at hputerschein@comcast.net.
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