Font and Title Research - Main Task

In this blog post I will be researching the typical conventions of horror fonts and how they are effective in conveying the horror genre.  

What is a font? - 

A font is a set of displayable text characters in a specific style or size. The design type of a set of fonts is called a typeface. There can be different variations of a typeface which forms a typeface family. For example, Arial is a typeface family, Arial Hebrew is the typeface and Arial Hebrew Scholar is the font. 

Why are fonts important? - 

A font is important because it can portray the genre of the film. A font is also important to create continuity between different types of advertising. For example, if you had a movie poster with the film title written in Arial and a flyer with the film title written in Times New Roman then people would get confused and think that the film is unprofessional and not want to see it. 

Conventions of a Horror font - 

• Fonts can either be Serif or Sans Serif. Both Serif and Sans Serif are commonly used for Horror fonts.

• Fonts for films usually have a subtle reference to the film in their design. For example the 'w' in 'Saw' is large and exaggerated with pointed ends. This could be in reference to the teeth of a saw. 

• Many horror titles use the colour red. This is because the colour red has connotations such as anger, danger, death and evil. These are all common themes in horror films so the colour red is an accurate representation of the film. 

• Film titles are often displayed on top of a dark background, for example, black. The colour black is often associated with horror films due to its connotations. Its often used to portray dark, scary or depressing feelings. This also means that many titles are white in colour due to the contrast, which means the title stands out. 

Font Designs - 

We created some of our own font designs after researching others. We tried out different styles and conventions to see which we preferred. We also got focus group feedback to see which design they preferred and thought would be most effective. 

Focus Group Feedback - 

• Katy - "I like font number 4 because it has a horror theme to it because it has blood dripping from the bottom. Also the colours red and black suggest that it is  the horror genre."
• Ellie - "I like font number 6 and it looks like it has been like scratched or engraved into a piece of wood or a tree. It reminds me of when people in prison or a mental hospital scratch tally's into the wall."
• Adam - "I like font number 5 because it is simple and looks like a child could have drawn it and because the main character is a child this could be effective."
• Helena - "I like font number 4 because it shows that it is the horror genre because of the use of blood. It is also quite bold so would stand out on posters."