Sans Comic Sans 1: Shakespeare

One of the things I do hope to accomplish with this blog is to show how you can teach with fun, creative fonts that aren't the worst things ever.  Let me lay down some ground rules about how I always pick out fonts.

1. Your font should be easy to read.  No font should be so ornate that it takes you more than a second to realize what is even being said.
2. Do not ever, ever use kitsch fonts with flowers or snowmen or anything, unless maybe you're teaching elementary.  These fonts are terrible.  Please never use them.
3. Do not use Comic Sans, clearly.  It's immature, and silly, and awful.
4. Do not use Papyrus.  Not only is it just a really terrible font, students can now make Avatar jokes about it.
5. Try to avoid Arial.  There are so many other sans serif fonts out there that look so much nicer.  I'm actually a pretty big fan of Calibri.  Arial is not only instantly recognizable, it's also sort of garishly stark.
6. Also try to avoid Times New Roman.  The font is used so often for essays that it's hard to see it as an actual typeface.  Try Garamond instead; it's classic for good reason.
7. Don't use Trajan.  The entire time, students will just be wondering what movie poster they've seen it on.
8. Don't be afraid to try fonts that are fun and different.  Just, you know, be classy about it.

That being said, I really enjoy putting certain fonts to certain types of literature.  For my final project in an undergrad Shakespeare class, I actually did a font book for main characters from all of the plays we read that semester.  It was incredibly fun.  I'll definitely be using some of them here.  I'm going to run through the plays I think are most commonly taught, and only ones I've read.  I also won't be doing Romeo and Juliet; there are just too many takes on it, and I can't decide.  Hopefully, you can get some ideas for how to make handouts look nicer without having to resort to anything awful.
Examples after the break.


Hamlet:  Caribbean Tool 

I think the reason I enjoy this font for Hamlet so much is not because it shows the beauty of Hamlet, but rather that it shows the ostentatious nature of Hamlet as a character.  Hamlet is wildly pretentious, and I feel like his font should be, as well.  Caribbean Tool is one of my favorites for title fonts; it's actually strangely versatile, and very useful to have on-hand.
Alternatively, if you really wanted to play p how much of a hipster Hamlet is, you could always use Helvetica.

Macbeth:  Seedy Motel

Macbeth seems like an easy font to pick.  It should just be a creepy gothic font, right?  Or maybe some blood drips?  I think no; a bleak, grungy font like Seedy Motel displays the feeling of the play in a way much more current to students.  Blood drips are silly and Halloween-esque.  This font, in my opinion, shows the strength behind the play, and sort of the decay of them, too.  Another one that you could use is Acid Label, but that one is a little too much for me.

The Tempest:  Rat-Infested Mailbox

Yeah, I know.  That's a terrible name for a font.  I've seen worse, though; I think my favorite so far is a handwriting font called "pizza is my FAVORITE!"

I also know that this seems extremely out of place for The Tempest.  When I saw this font, though, I immediately thought of Caliban.  That terrifying hook on the S, and the way it looks scratched--I just really, really love it for Caliban.  I think it also displays the severe nature of the island, as well as the relationships in the play.  Call me crazy, but this is my go-to for The Tempest.

A Midsummer Night's Dream:  Christiana

I think this font is adorable.  It verges on cheesy--hard--but I think it's just endearing enough to win me over.  I love that it's silly and whimsical, and very home-made feeling.  To me, it seems like Puck mixed with Bottom mixed with the overall romance and comedy of the play.  I just love it.  If you want something more traditional, Foglihten is the most whimsical text font I've ever found.

Twelfth Night:  Handserif

Twelfth Night is, I think, one of the hardest to find interesting fonts for; there are so many characters, and all of them are so different.  Mostly, I went with this one because 1.) I generally just like the look of it, 2.) I think it's fun without being annoying, and 3.)  it looks like Feste to me.  A note on Feste:  Please, please, please, please, please never use Jokerman.  Ever.  Feste, in my mind, is by far the most intelligent person in the play, but isn't boring and staunch like a typical text font.  I think this represents him well.  However, I think a very sans-serif font, such as AbeatbyKai, would be an interesting play on the gender ambiguity of the story.

Othello:  Monday Morning

I love this font for Othello.  I think it's weirdly perfect.  It's serious, and sort of sad-looking, but also incredibly strong and almost scratched.  I think it fits Iago really well.  I didn't use this for my undergrad project at all; I actually used a pretty silly tattoo font, and I have to say, while the tattoo font is really ugly, it still fits Iago really well, too.  Something about this font just seems so right in my mind.

Now, I know I am missing some things, and that probably my font choices seem really silly to a lot of people.  What would you do differently?  What fonts would you use?  I'd love to hear in the comments.