How much attention do you pay to the fonts you use everyday? If you’re like most people, you probably have a few favorites, but don’t worry about it too much. Now how about this…how much attention do you pay to the fonts that other people use?

There is a little bit of an uproar on the internet recently over stylish-but-affordable furniture retailer Ikea switching the fonts they use in their advertising. For a long time, Ikea had used a customized version of Futura in most of their advertising. If you’ve ever seen an Ikea catalog or ad, maybe you can picture the big, bold prices accompanied by a brief description. All of their advertising had a consistent look which helped bolster their overall brand image. In addition, the use of a custom version of a classic font showed that Ikea really did pay attention to design.

So why the brouhaha over a simple font change? The problem, for most people, is that they switched to Verdana. Verdana is a font that many people are familiar with (even if they don’t realize it) because it is a free font distributed by Microsoft. It’s probably found on just about every computer in the universe. I’ll bet you they even have Verdana on the International Space Station. Except there it’s SPACE Verdana…that’s pretty sweet.

The font itself, isn’t terrible. It’s just sort of boring. It was designed very specifically for use on computer screens. Loose letterspacing and tall lower-case letters give Verdana an overall looser look. This is so that it’s easier to read on screen—letters don’t plug up or run too close together. And for that purpose, Verdana performs perfectly. It is a very good utilitarian design.

But to take this on-screen font and use it for print work shows, in many designers’ minds, a lack of respect for design. Complaints about the font range from finding the cheapest option available (free) to the easiest solution due to it being readily available around the world. Neither of these show the same sort of concern for design that Ikea shows with every single one of it’s nearly 10,000 items. Each silverware tray has a fun name, unique design—in short, each product fits in with the Ikea brand image. Using Verdana does not fit into the Ikea ethos.

Personally, I’m not freaking out about the font. I’ve seen print pages with the new font and while I don’t love it, it doesn’t ruin it for me. To be totally honest, I think that a lot of the uproar is because it’s a font created and distributed by Microsoft. Microsoft and the design community don’t generally play well together. It’s not the Mac-vs-PC thing, though, so much as it is that Microsoft tends to devalue professional design. By putting out products like MS Publisher with 15 zillion templates, they tell people that everybody can be their own designer.

The moral of this story is this: um…I don’t know. I have to admit that it would be pretty sweet, though, if 989 Design ever got so big that people got pissed off about the font I used on my site. I think I’ll make that one of my goals. Become huge, cause font uproar.

Author’s note: This is something I started to writing, but couldn’t finish, a few weeks ago. It isn’t quite as timely as I would like it to be, but I still wanted to put this out there. In the interest of full discloser, I do some work for the Saginaw Spirit, the Ontario Hockey League team which Garber  owns and was instrumental in bringing to Saginaw. Even though I do some work for the Spirit and we have exchanged hellos at a couple of games, we have never actually met and I’m sure he doesn’t know who I am.

Author’s Note #2: I did not take the above photo, I found it online and borrowed it.

Anybody living in the Tri-Cities can speak firsthand about the effects of the economic downturn and the rapidly eroding job market. It’s really been pretty brutal in this part of the state. Largely due to a decade-long trend of auto-industry job losses, Saginaw’s unemployment rate is over 20%, which is pretty insane.

We’ve all heard about the federal government’s bailout of the auto industry as well as the cash-for-clunkers program. Love these programs or not, they gave the auto manufacturers a chance to reorganize their business and rethink their business practices. As part of their reorganization, GM decided to eliminate many of its dealerships across the country, which does make some sense. There are markets in the nation with multiple dealerships within just a few miles of one another. The dealership closure was a big part of their plan as GM headed into bankruptcy court. What baffles me is what the criteria were for closing a dealership.

Garber Buick is an icon in Saginaw. Established in 1907 by the Garber family, Garber Buick had survived the Great Depression, two World Wars and several economic downturns throughout its 100-plus year history. At one point early in their history, the Garber family—who have long been very closely associated with GM—helped Buick make its payroll when they were short on cash. Currently, even with the economy in Saginaw being pretty rough for years and years, Garber Buick has remained one of Buick’s top-selling franchises. On top of all of that, they receive consistently very high marks in customer service. In short, Garber Buick is a model franchise.

So when the news came that GM was going to cut Garber Buick from its franchisee list, people in the area got up in arms. Buick was planning on cutting off one of the top performing franchises in the country. How does a move like that make even an ounce of sense? With decisions like this, it’s really easy to see how GM got themselves into their current predicament. Ouija boards could probably produce better results than GM’s bloated-and-out-of-touch management structure.

As I said, people around here got pretty fired up and started a letter-writing campaign to GM and I was one of the many who took the time to write. Even though I don’t know Dick Garber personally, I know a lot about him and the way he runs his business. it doesn’t take a genius to see that this was a stupid decision and I wanted to let GM management know what a bunch of disloyal jackasses they are (I didn’t actually use the word ‘jackasses’ but I did lecture them about loyalty). I don’t know how many people took the time to write, I only know that I was one of many.

Very often, when people see someone who has more than them get taken down a peg, they take a certain amount of satisfaction in it. This schadenfreude (isn’t that a great word?) is a kind of sick spectator sport—taking pleasure in the suffering of others. But that’s not what you saw in this case. What you saw was a community come together and instead of snickering behind his back, they rallied behind him. Even if the letters fell on deaf (and very dumb) ears at GM, the outpouring of support was something special and unique to the Tri-Cities. We do take care of each other and we showed our true colors here.

Congratulations to Dick Garber, all of the employees, friends and relatives who are stakeholders in the Garber organization, and to the community of Saginaw which could ill-afford another gut-punch like this.

Burger King is no stranger to controversy in its advertising. Cripsin Porter + Bogusky have pushed the envelope a few times, but they actually are not responsible for the ad above.

This ad is for the BK Super Seven Incher, a new sandwich available in Singapore. The King used a Singapore firm to create the ad above, which uses clear sexual imagery and language (“Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled…”). I have to admit that I find the ad kind of funny, but I can also recognize why people are all up-in-arms over it.

With all of the hubbub over the ad, I think that we’re missing one thing—who in the hell needs a 7-inch Burger King hamburger? Isn’t that, like, 2000 calories or something? That’s just stupid.

As a bonus, here is one of BK’s previous close-to-the-egde ads, created by Montreal’s Bleublancrouge.

I’ve been putting this entry off for a few weeks, but my morning mail brought with it a reminder of one of the hardest aspects of the business—losing clients. (It’s worth noting that as I am typing this line I am listening to Okkervil River’s On Tour With Zykos, a great breakup song.)

One of my favorite clients to work with in the past year is the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra. I was fortunate enough to do most of the SBSO’s work for the 2008–2009 season which gave me the opportunity to work closely with several people including Dan McGee (executive director) and the late Patrick Flynn (conductor and music director). Working with Patrick on the creation of the original materials was a hell of a lot of fun, if for no other reason than because I got a chance to hear him tell stories of working with Baryshnakov and his experiences working with advertising agencies. He was a very colorful character and because I was a creative professional, treated me like an equal. It’s not often that you get a chance to collaborate with someone like Patrick and I will always be grateful for the opporunity to do so.

For his part, Dan McGee is a consummate professional. I’ve worked with many non-profits over the years and with each non-profit, you encounter a wide range of people sitting in the ED’s chair. I’d rank Dan up there with any ED I’ve ever worked with for his enthusiasm, professionalism and for just making you feel good when you’re in the same room. Dan always had a warm handshake and a great, big smile for you. And if there was someone nearby didn’t know who I was, he was my biggest advocate and a shameless promoter for 989 Design. That’s the sort of thing that always means a lot to me. When the people who sign the checks feel strongly enough about the work you do to tell other people, it is equal parts flattering and gratifying.

Earlier in the year, Dan asked me to put numbers together for the 2009–2010 contract and offered that it would take a lot for them to move to another studio, but going into review is just something the board requires. I knew that any time a client goes into review, even if it isn’t a reflection on the work you’ve done, there is always going to be the chance that after the review that the client will move on.

I can remember my dad telling me a story about loyalty and that you “leave the dance with you brung ya.” Would that it were always so simple, but in reality there are other forces at work. In the case of the SBSO, a non-profit working very hard to maintain a standard of excellence in the face of tightening budgets, the current economic environment forced them to have to find every opportunity to get the most for their money in marketing and advertising. At the same time, the recession is impacting many other agencies in the area to a point where they are letting people go and discounting their work just to keep work coming in the door.

So there I was caught between the Scylla and Charibdes of tightened marketing budgets and discounted competitive work. I had a bad feeling about it and as it turned out, my instincts were right on. Another agency came in with a great price and the work went to them. Dan told me who the work was going to and they are an agency I have a lot of respect for. They produce some really fine work and I completely understood the reasons the decision was made.

To say that I understood, though, doesn’t mean that it didn’t hurt because it did. I don’t mean financially (although, I guess that is always a part of it), but it felt like I was being dumped. When you say that you lost a client, that isn’t really the case. You didn’t lose them, they lost you.

It’s really hard to describe the feeling of losing a client. Remember in high school when you’re going with a girl and holding hands and kissing one day and you see her the next day and she’s holding hands and kissing somebody else? It’s a lot like that, it really is. You start questioning what you could have done differently/better/etc. It really is a lot like a breakup. Current conditions dictate that it wasn’t the right fit at the right time, so the board made a choice that made the most sense for the SBSO. I genuinely understand and respect the decision. Even more, I respect Dan for taking the time to personally let me know about the change being made and ensuring me that it wasn’t a reflection on my work and my time with the SBSO. He didn’t have to do that and I will always appreciate the fact that he took the time to do so.

So what happened today to spur finally writing this entry? An envelope arrived in the mail with the 2009–2010 season program. To belabor the analogy, it was like receiving an invitation to your ex-girlfriend’s wedding one month after breaking up. For about five seconds, the disappointment and doubt that comes with losing a client swept over me. After the five seconds, though, I was able to really look at the piece for what it is and you know what? My confidence in the other agency was well-founded. They did a fantastic job and produced a really great piece that is both attractive and clearly communicates what the 2009–2010 season is all about. I think that the piece will be very effective for the Orchestra and hope that it brings many new patrons to the Temple Theatre next season.

In stark contrast to my post this week about really bad photo manipulation, take a few minutes to check out Webdesigner Depot’s entry about great photo manipulation.

As you go through the entry, really take a close look at some of the work there because some of it is truly spectacular work. And just think, you can get that same quality of work from 989 Design! Okay…that might be exaggerating a bit. We’re pretty masterful with Photoshop, but we aren’t doing photo art like that. Some of the pieces we could do, but a lot of them are outside our area of expertise.