This post is to reverse engineer this print ad for the typography that is in use. I will endeavor to identify the category of the fonts in use and how they contrast and compliment one another.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science Exhibit

Link to original source material: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/print/denver_museum_of_nature_science_exhibit

Credits
Advertising Agency: Griffin Archer, USA
Chief Creative Officer: Ellie Anderson
Creative Director / Copywriter: Glen Wachowiak
Art Directors: Doug Pedersen, Rio Sponslier
Designer: Doug Jeremias

Analysis

First Font

The first font appears to be a sans serif font in all caps, which trait our textbook didn’t think much of.

There doesn’t appear to be any serifs, stresses, or transitions between strokes.

Second Font

The second font looks like a script font. It follows the textbook’s definition of a script by appearing to be hand lettered and seems to emulate a cursive writing style.

On closer examination, there appear to be two different scripts in use. The “Exhibit” script has letters that connect to one another, while, the “Chocolate” script has breaks between the letters. The lower case “h” in “Exhibit” is also clearly different from the lower case “h” in “Chocolate”

What are the differences between the fonts?

The sans serif fonts are very different from the script fonts and are there’s a vast contrast between the uniformity of the sans serif fonts and the script fonts.

Conclusion

The ad, on first glance, uses the principles of contrasting the different fonts to good effect, but on further investigation, I found the different script fonts in use to be in conflict and now that I see the differences, I can’t seem to unsee them.

There’s also the problem of all caps being used so much and the kerning could be adjusted to make better use of the space and to make the text more legible and elegant. I did like the oversized “E” on the word “Exhibit” and it definitely drew my eye away from the different fonts in use.