This week we have been studying Typography and how to utilize fonts to their greatest potential. The image above as scanned from the front page of a Holland America Cruise Line hard-copy advertisement catalog that I received in the mail this week; therefore, it is not available online. Holland America has a beautiful website, but the catalog is not available to view online. The image belongs to Holland America Line® located at P.O. Box 34985, Seattle, WA 98124. The catalog was mailed as campaign #HAL16544US. This is a beautiful use of typography and imagery that captures the attention of the reader. Who wouldn’t want to find out about cruising to Alaska and Yukon in 2019?
The first category and the most dominant wording is in Sans Serif as 2109 ALASKA & THE YUKON. See below.
If you will notice there are no serifs on the tops or bottoms of the letter strokes. According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a serif is, “any of the short lines stemming from and at an angle to the upper and lower ends of the strokes of a letter.” The structure of the letters are always tubular with no transition from thick to thin as seen in other category fonts. The words have been stretched across the page, but you can tell that some of the title has undergone kerning. For example, the spacing between “ALA” of ALASKA is not uniform. They have moved the “L” and the second “A” closer together to create letter spacing that is more visually appealing. The same situation is true for the letters “THE”. The “T” is closer to the “H” than the “E”. And finally, the “Y” is closer to the “U” than the “U” is to the “K” in the word YUKON. Because of the kerning, the title is visually consistent and appealing.
The second category is the subtitle under the main title and is in an Italicized Oldstyle as Experience the Great Land and save with exceptional Explore4 offers. See below.
This font has serifs that are curved away from the stem of the letters. The letters structure transition from thick to thin as well. Even though the font is italicized to the right, there is still diagonal stress leaning to the left on the letters as you can easily see with “c” and “e”. I don’t believe any kerning has taken place on this subtitle because the letter “G” in relation to the letter “r” in the word “Great” is not visually consistent with the other letters.
To create contrast on the page, the main title words of “2019 ALASKA & THE YUKON” are of very large print size that run horizontally across the bottom fourth of the page. They are full capitals in contrast of form to the upper- and lower-case letters of the subtitle that runs below it. The subtitle of “Experience the Great Land and save with exceptional Explore4 offers” is much smaller sized print and is italicized. Using a Sans Serif font with a Serif font (Oldstyle) creates a great contrast in structure. There is no contrast in lettering direction or color with this design, but using the smaller sized fonts make them look lighter in color.
As an added design element that brings continuity and flow to the page is the “Holland America Line” and “SAVOR THE JOURNEY” text that is at the top of the page. See below.
“Holland America Line” is in the Oldstyle category with diagonal stress and thick to thin transitions along with a weight that is much heavier than the subtitle below. It is much larger in size than the subtitle of “SAVOR THE JOURNEY” which adds form contrast and interest. The subtitle is in the San Serif category with no serifs on the letters and with consistent tubular structure. By adding the same elements to the top of the page that was used in the main section, the designer created repetition and visual balance while still drawing attention to the main focus statement “2019 ALASKA & THE YUKON”.
Sources:
Holland America Line®. 2019 ALASKA & THE YUKON, Cover Page, Campaign #HAL16544US. Seattle, WA.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/serif, Accessed 10/3/2018.
Williams, Robin. The Non-Designer’s Design Book, 4th Edition, Peachpit Press, California, 2015, pp 151-218.
Design In Practice 