Can you read me?

This is a reminder to myself that legibility does not equal impact.

Designers for heavy metal band logos know this. The Big 5 working on psychedelic posters understood this. They play around with illegible stuff all the time. This disregard for the instant-read builds a stronger relationship between the designer and the community they’re communicating with.

It demonstrates trust for the audience. “You can figure this out.”

It demonstrates trust in your own design. “It’s worth you taking an extra few seconds to figure this out.”

I work in an industry that seeks maximum legibility. Scripts and cursive fonts are anathema. But we all know what the Coca-Cola logo says.

Do I think wayfinding systems or nutrition facts should be set in Sloop or Signpainter Script? Absolutely not. But we need not worship at the Altar of the Obvious for every decision.