Follow the #24HourChallenge we set our designers and let us know what you'd chose

“Millennials Have Killed the Serif” - The Cut online magazine claimed.???

Even good design needs to change so that brands stay current and target their key audiences. This can be seen with globally recognised brands who continue to evolve to stay relevant, quite often ditching their original characterful logos and replacing them with something clean, safe and, well, a bit boring. The Google logo used to be a Serif font but changed to Sans Serif in 2015. The Netflix logo has evolved from a bold Serif font in the late 1990s to a custom Sans Serif font since 2014, and Instagram’s default font is the Neue Helvetica.

Perhaps in a reaction to this sterile world of digital fonts, 2021 saw the use of handwritten fonts increase by 270%, which is no surprise given that Gen Z are drawn to big bold fonts, particularly Gothic-inspired, and so the next evolution begins.??

This begs the question “Is there still a place for Serif fonts?” - those timeless, classic but some might say old-fashioned typefaces liked Caslon, Bodoni and Garamond? In the world of fine wine packaging design, the average wine label is 90 x 120 mm and that label needs to include certain legal information as well as key pointers for consumers. Serif typography plays a vital role in delivering a classic brand message, and often quality reassurance to customers. Combined with the use of Sans Serif, Slab Serif, Script or Display fonts, a label can be revitalised whilst retaining historic customer recognition.?

At Barlow & Co we are a young design team of (mostly) digitally-native millennials but we love serifs! Much like we wouldn't want to drink one style of wine all the time, we like to use a variety of fonts. But if we HAD to use one font for 24 hours, what would it be, and why? This is the challenge we’ve set our designers. We’ll be sharing their choices here and on our Instagram stories over the coming weeks - follow us on @barlowandcouk to see what they chose and let us know what one font you would pick, and why. .?

#24HourChallenge???