Outline:
Part of localizing signs and labels in English is using fonts that look natural in context. For reference, here's a list of fonts that are commonly used in the English-speaking world.
Usage | Font Name | FFCU |
---|---|---|
Phone - Android | Roboto | Y |
Phone - iOS | San Francisco | N |
Computer - Mac OS X | Helvetica Neue | N |
Computer - Windows | Segoe UI | N |
Computer - Ubuntu | Ubuntu | Y |
Command Line - Unix | Ubuntu Mono | Y |
Command Line - Windows | Lucida Console | N |
Google Search | Arial | * |
Google Products (YouTube, Gmail, etc) | Roboto | Y |
Blog Titles - Sans Serif | Oswald | Y |
Blog Titles - Serif | Playfair | Y |
*Note: While Arial isn't technically FFCU, it is available on both Mac and Windows, so you're probably fine to use it.
For websites like Twitter and Facebook, most of the time they default to the operating system's font, and Helvetica Neue and Arial are the fallback fonts.
For the most part, your editor or script will tell you whether or not to fully retouch a label. Here are some cases where you might consider placing a label as a subtitle or margin note instead:
Always check with your client if you're ever unsure about retouching a label
Placing in InDesign is ideal if you want to keep labels editable, live text, but you can also place labels in Photoshop.
Signs and labels are pretty straightforward. Here are some tips and tools that can make placing them easier:
Shift + alt + S
on my keyboard.Object > Transform
's Scale, Rotate, and to make your life easier (Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts...
)You can make a mask in InDesign by placing a text frame inside of another frame.
Place and scale a text frame as you want it to appear.
Using the Pen Tool (P)
, draw a path that surrounds the area that you want to appear.
Select your text frame from Step 1, and Cut (Cmd+X
).
Select your path from Step 2, right-click, and select Paste Into
(alt + cmd + V
). The path should now hide portions of the text frame
When signs with multiple text frames are reused across several pages, it's nice to keep the same proportions from different perspectives. (original tweet thread)
It's really easy to do this in InDesign if you use a frame as the reference for how to place it. Here's how:
Rectangle Frame Tool (F)
to draw a frame around the original sign. Right-click on this new frame, and select Paste Into
(alt + cmd + V
) to place your grouped elements.Selection Tool (V, Escape)
, holding the alt
key, to drag a new copy to the second sign. tbd