{"id":2124,"date":"2025-03-19T13:08:08","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T13:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/?p=2124"},"modified":"2025-03-22T18:03:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T18:03:53","slug":"font","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/font\/","title":{"rendered":"Font"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After watching Juniper Dev’s short video “The Power of Font In Video Games”<\/a> I began to really consider how typography could play a crucial role in establishing the game’s post-apocalyptic<\/strong>, retro <\/strong>control-room aesthetic. The game’s chosen font must balance readability, immersion, and thematic consistency with the overall art style, which almost resembles a graphic novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Convey the Retro-Futuristic Theme<\/strong> \u2013 The UI should feel like an old, neglected control machine from a past vision of the future.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Ensure Readability & Accessibility<\/strong> \u2013 Text must be easily legible while maintaining an aged, industrial aesthetic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Support Environmental Storytelling<\/strong> \u2013 The typography should reinforce the world\u2019s collapse, bureaucracy, and decay.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Considered Font Styles & Evalutation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Immediately I wanted to find fonts that avoided serifs (the little lines that hang off of letters, think Times New Roman) because I didn’t want the game to feel aged – it needs to be implied that the world is set in the near distant future. Additionally, monospace fonts would really help sell that machine, tech look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Monospace Fonts (e.g., IBM Plex Mono, Space Mono)<\/strong><\/td>Pros:<\/strong> Resembles old command-line interfaces, enhances the “retro control panel” feel, clear readability.

    Cons:<\/strong> Can appear too clean or modern, lacks degradation or texture associated with old, damaged tech.<\/td><\/tr>
    CRT & Digital-Inspired Fonts (e.g., Input Mono, Terminus)<\/strong><\/td>Pros:<\/strong> Mimics the look of old cathode-ray tube displays, reinforcing a decayed digital world.

    Cons:<\/strong> Some CRT-style fonts lack weight variation, which might make UI hierarchy harder to establish.<\/td><\/tr>
    Distressed \/ Grunge-Inspired Fonts (e.g., Futura PT Condensed, Industry, Overpass Mono)<\/strong><\/td>Pros:<\/strong> Adds visual noise and a sense of wear-and-tear, emphasising a world in decline.

    Cons:<\/strong> May reduce clarity, especially at smaller sizes.<\/td><\/tr>
    Industrial Sans-Serif Fonts (e.g., Eurostile, DIN 1451)<\/strong><\/td>Pros:<\/strong> Used in real-world control panels and military interfaces, enhances immersion.

    Cons:<\/strong> May feel too corporate or sterile without modification.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"
    Downloaded some of the fonts to compare them side by side<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Final Font Choice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Space Mono (Primary) + Overpass Mono (Secondary)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Before having put much thought into typography, I had been using Trebuchet MS for its readability and playing around with the Nasalization font due to the games ties with the Kennedy Space Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    After testing different fonts within the game\u2019s UI, Space Mono<\/strong> was chosen as the primary typeface due to its monospace structure, retro aesthetic, and strong readability<\/strong>. It effectively replicates the feel of an old machine while still being modern enough to work with a clean UI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For secondary or in-world text (such as button labels), Overpass Mono<\/strong> was selected due to its slightly more condensed and industrial feel, reinforcing the rigid and bureaucratic tone of the game world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Reflection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The selected typography integrates with the game\u2019s UI without compromising readability. While some grunge-style fonts initially seemed like a strong thematic choice, they ultimately detracted from clarity. The final combination aims to maintain the feeling of an outdated yet functional control system while ensuring players can quickly process information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Future refinements may include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Experimenting with slight distortion or scanline effects on text.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Using color-coded text (e.g., red for warnings\/incomplete tasks, green for success\/complete tasks) to improve usability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Adjusting text size and spacing to optimize UI hierarchy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      After watching Juniper Dev’s short video “The Power of Font In Video Games” I began to really consider how typography could play a crucial role in establishing the game’s post-apocalyptic, retro control-room aesthetic. The game’s chosen font must balance readability, immersion, and thematic consistency with the overall art style, which almost resembles a graphic novel. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ui-ux"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2124"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2185,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124\/revisions\/2185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}