Font Standards

Larry Rutledge

Larry Rutledge

Fest Master
I tried to do a search on this topic, but the search engine said "font" was too short or too generic and didn't use it as a search keyword.

Are there common standards for close captioning, subtitling, dvd menu text in terms of font style, color and size? I know in reality you can use any font, font style, color, and size you want; but are the conventions that are used in professional productions?

I just wondered because it always seems like the text on my dvd menus is a little less than professional looking.

Thanks for any thoughts or insights,
Larry
 
Helvetica and Arial are industry standards... dvd menu texts depend on the theme of the dvd, completely a stylization choice. Whereas, close captioning relies on complete legibility.
 
Larry R said:
I just wondered because it always seems like the text on my dvd menus is a little less than professional looking.
Click to expand...

you are probably underrating your own work..I'm sure it looks pro, just ask someone or look at the fonts of examples you think do look pro...
 
1. Try to avoid fonts with serifs for smaller sizes.
2. Mild semi-transparent drop shadows help bring type out against a moving background.
2. Lighter shades against video stand out better.
3. Unless your doing a Roman Epic where Trajan might look appropriate, watch out for display faces.
4. Fonts which are staples in offset printing don't always look that great on a movie.
5. If a font is right for the theme of your movie you will hardly notice. If it sucks, your font will stick out like some diseased yak spewing on your new Tibetan Rug!
 
Get a book called "The non-designers design book". It will help you in many ways when doing any graphics work, including selecting/mixing fonts.
 
Thanks for the tips/suggestions. I may very well be overcritical of my own work, but it just seems that when I put together a menu and then load it up on my tv it looks a little cheesy.

I'll have to start seriously examining existing dvd menus and see if I can discern what is different from what they do and what I am doing.

galt - thanks for the tip on the book, I'll check on it right away.

Peace,
Larry
 
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