Based on in class comments and subsequent manipulation, I converged on the following design.
I went with this design because although immediately recognizable, the layout invokes some inquiry. The viewer first notices the C dropping below the baseline, then the horizontally mirrored s draws the viewer to the center of the word. Next the subtleties start to come out. The u and n’s are mirrored in the same way as the s and replace each other. Confusing.
Confusion, set in Futura.
Bauhaus – a decorative typeface with constant width. The lack of variation in thicks and thins does not match the emotional response warranted by infatuation.
When set in blackletter, infatuation is contextualized as being in an epic, medeval tale of romance. It’s handwritten nature provides a sense of intimacy that matches the meaning of the word.
In Bodoni, a vertically-stressed typeface, there is minimal inflection given to the strength of the word. However, the variations in thicks and thins and the slight ornamentation provided by the geometric serifs do add to the meaning of infatuation.
In Dead History, infatuation reads as a grungy realization of some scene. As if being spoken by a stalker in a crime novel, this typeface invokes a feeling of discomfort amongst otherwise balanced typefaces.
The most romantic of the type settings – Edwardian Script provides elegant ligatures to unify an engulfing emotion brought to light by the word infatuation.
The title of the typeface, Fat, has more emotional drive than the typesetting itself in this case. There is little alignment between the extreme contrast and density in the letters and the inflection of the word.
Garamond provides a straightforward and formal appeal to the word. This font would be well suited in a lengthy, modern work of fiction.
Modern, linear and neutral – poorly correlated to the strong emotional pulls of infatuation. As renowned, Helvetica doesn’t provide a specific emotion to the word itself, but the implications of emotionlessness are not working with communicating the thought of infatuation.
More precise than Garamond, Minion provides a more tightly kerned and therefore more intimate connection between the letterforms.
Sans-serif, like Helvetica, Myriad is contemporary and clean. However, Myriad invokes a little more air and flexibility. The modernity of the typeface does not fit terribly well with infatuation though.
