Bad Typo(graphy)

Most of us don't actually take typography seriously when designing posters, banners, flyers or even signboards so long as we think it looks cool or nice. As a result, you can find bad typo almost everywhere.

Examples of Bad Typo

As you can see in the picture above, the sign is about prioritizing our safety first. At first glance, you might not have noticed anything wrong with; except when you try to look at it from far away. Looking closely, only the words 'UTAMAKAN' was made the biggest from the rest while the word 'KESELAMATAN' was put below 'UTAMAKAN' and made smaller than half of the size of the word above it. The sign is about 'safety first', so they should have made both 'UTAMAKAN' and 'KESELAMATAN' the same size.

In this picture, I would like to focus on how they emphasize the words. They used fancy fonts for the words 'Du'a' and 'OF SUCCESS' to highlight these two from the quote. However, because 'Du'a' is made smaller than 'IS THE BEGINNING' and 'OF SUCCESS' is made the same size with it, these two don't appear to stand out. What they should have done with the typography is make 'Du'a' bigger than the rest, since this is what they are trying to emphasize on the most. The phrase 'OF SUCCESS' can be made bigger from the phrase 'IS THE BEGINNING' to highlight the success part, or they could change the typo for 'IS THE BEGINNING' by not making it bold.

This is a picture of a bunting informing and reminding us about Malaysia's Rukun Negara (Pillars of the Country). The font they used for 'Rukun Negara' is not exactly suitable for what they're trying to deliver to the audience, which is the importance of knowing and understanding the five pillars. The font used gives off the impression that Rukun Negara is not all that important and serious, giving the passerbys a laid-back atmosphere regarding the five pillars. The font used above the 'Jom hayati Rukun Negara', in the middle of the heart, for 'Rukun Negara' is much more suitable as it gives off the vibes that it is something important to know about, as if shouting "Everyone must know about this!".

That's the three that I could find. Have you ever you noticed bad typography around you? If so, share a few you've found down in the comments!


Thank you for taking the time to read this!