Bitmaps are Big Business

Every web designer knows them on a first name basis -- Silkscreen, Mini, Standard -- the crisp, bitmap typefaces that have exploded in popularity all over the web. What was once a curious, pseudo underground pixel style popularized by sites like k10k and others has gone big business, and shows little to no signs of slowing down.

Purposely lacking the Bezier curves and anti-aliased softening of postscript typefaces, bitmaps are unique - they were created to solve a design problem, namely the blurring of traditional print type when reduced to small point sizes on 72dpi screen displays.

Bitmaps are rooted in technological function - a naked, mathematical character set intended for limited use in navigational elements or captions on small screens. They were born to be uncommunicative, unlike traditional typefaces that are loaded with metaphor and message. Unsurprisingly, bitmap typography has morphed beyond its intended use to become the perfect symbol of twenty-first century technology drenched, device-crazy youth culture.

Today, in what is surely the ultimate sign of commercial adoption, a number of independent designers are changing their tune and charging money for their type designs. In the beginning, most bitmap designers were flattered and gratified to simply see their creations being used by anybody, and freely gave their creations away. In recent months, it would appear the satisfaction has grown stale, and bitmaps are going big business.

This essay is not a complaint. Far from it actually, for I personally believe in the entrepreneurial spirit of a free market, and that people should be compensated for their work. Jason Kottke is still giving away Silkscreen, but popular faces like Mini have exploded in size with its own web site, a full series of additional type families, and even a freeware application for specialized bitmap typesetting. Miniml, which used to give everything away, is now charging an annual $100 "Access Pass" for their typefaces, while still offering a few free, but limited versions for personal use.

Bitmaps have become too popular and desired, both for personal and commercial work, to be given away freely anymore. Honestly now - if you were a type designer and Nike wanted to download and use your typeface, wouldn't you want a little "swoosh" cash? Hell, they can afford to pay. And they should.

But what was once a form of pure typographic function has changed to popular style, and like everything else in fashion, bitmaps may be on the verge (if not already) of a backlash.

I am as guilty as the next person for employing bitmaps in my work, for they have solved design issues with cramped spaces, as well as communicate extra tone when needed. Perhaps it's my adolescent roots in 80's coin-op video arcade culture, but bitmaps have always felt playful, entertaining and kind. Obviously that's nostalgia clouding my perspective, but for my folio site bitmap typefaces fit the overall picture, and help carry the illustrative style a step further.

Every week however the web receives yet another web site using bitmaps just for the sake of using them, without any clear purpose - stylistically or functionally. A herd mentality has emerged among designers using bitmaps often just to seem inclusive in some larger cultural sphere. Instead of communicating the concept of the web site with applicable, expressive typography, they merely point at everyone else.

The same goes for grotesque faces like Univers Condensed and FF DIN, which are just as popular as bitmaps for fashionable reasons.

"Fitting in" may be a popular social pursuit in high school, but as designers it is our job to use typography to further communicate the tone and message of the composition or task, whether it's personal, commercial, or for artistic purposes. If bitmap faces do solve a functional or communicative problem, by all means use them. But with tens of thousands of type families available, and especially since bitmaps are moving away from freeware, there is little reason for anyone not to investigate alternatives. The perfect typeface can and will add a higher, richer layer of communication that goes beyond mere words. This is the hallmark of being a mature designer.

I remind myself of this every time I'm presented with a new project, for I have been just as guilty of taking easy roads as any other designer with a set of eyeballs in their head.

Ignore fads. Pursue originality. Consider alternatives. Develop voice. Then watch everyone else copy you.

Comments

Posted by: Kristian Walker at March 4, 2002 9:58 AM

Posted by: josh at March 4, 2002 4:20 PM