Design Goggles

 

My graphic design education has given me a new vision of the world. I have a newfound understanding and appreciation of design and typography. I call this new perspective my “Design Goggles.”

 

While in a wine shop the other day, the “Wine Men of Gotham” Shiraz label caught my eye. Gotham is an Australian winery known for its award-winning wines. The “Wine Men of Gotham” is their line of value wines. I like Shiraz and have enjoyed other wine from Gotham. However this particular bottle drew my attention because the label utilized the “Bleeding Cowboys” typeface.

 

I immediately recognized the typeface because I had flirted with the idea of using it in a project. I abandoned that idea when I heard that Bleeding Cowboys was the new Papyrus. Even as a design newbie, I knew this meant that the typeface was being used everywhere, and usually inappropriately.

 

I assumed Gotham Wines had paid someone a lot of money to design the label, and it was certainly fun and quirky. But why did the designer use a typeface meant to evoke blood splatter in an Old West saloon?

A sucker for an inexpensive wine and an offbeat design, I bought the wine. It was tasty. I’ll probably buy it again. But the question “Why Bleeding Cowboys?” continues to haunt me. Now that I know more about typefaces, I’m always wondering what went into some of the designs I see around me. Why were certain colors chosen? Why certain typefaces? Why a particular layout?

 

Yes, my design goggles are firmly in place now.