January 24, 2007
Good information design
Good information design is very rare. Often, a printed instructional piece may work but look really boring and will usually be set in one of those institutional typefaces. More often than not, however, forms and instructions tend not only to be ugly, but also useless.
This mailing from the Royal Mail in the UK is different. The marketing people actually came up with a simple concept. There are only three classes of mail: Letters, Large Letters and Packets.. While measurements and weights are simply listed, a clever device makes all the difference: the size of the pieces is demonstrated by printing their same-size outlines onto the form, as well as a white slot representing the maximum thickness. A photo next to that illustration shows how one can simply hold a letter up to the illustration and check whether it would fit.
This is all designed clearly and modestly, without a designer trying to show what tricks she has learned in Photoshop. And it is set in a wonderful typeface: Chevin, by Nick Cook. FontFont users may have heard of Nick, as he designed FF Penguin, years ago. Today he runs the G-Type foundry.
Chevin is not the Royal Mail’s official corporate font and certainly wouldn’t be suitable for long, serious financial reports. It is charming without being cute, and very legible even in small sizes because of its restrained shapes and simple construction. I am pretty certain that this form has proven to be useful in many households and will not be chucked out, unlike most mailings that find their way into our letterboxes.
Is it possible to see somewhere this in a larger size? I would like to see the smaller details on the illustrations etc.
Thanks in advance.
I could send you larger jpegs, privately.
Posted by: erik spiekermann at January 24, 2007 6:07 PMHi Erik, that would be really nice. My email is sese at sese dot hu. Thanks a lot!
Posted by: zwoelf at January 25, 2007 10:29 AMOver on the German part of my blog, there is now a pdf of that piece. Check it under comments.
Posted by: erik spiekermann at January 25, 2007 8:18 PMIt's a shame visiting your typical English Post Office isn't as pleasant and easy-to-manage as Royal Mail's colateral.
Posted by: Boicozine at January 29, 2007 10:21 PMI agree, the printed literature was very well thought out. Indeed the same concept is translated into stand-up acrylic devices on the Post Office counters themselves.
The problem is this now (needlessley?) complex system has replaced the far simpler older system. For example there are now two different different rates for different sizes where before only one.
It's a shame the design challenge was there, however excellently it was executed.
Posted by: Mark at February 7, 2007 11:56 AMChevin IS the Royal Mail's corporate font, and a lot of credit for this clear information design should go to Wolff Olins, who designed it.
Posted by: miles newlyn at February 9, 2007 3:00 PMPretty cool. I wonder if B Franklin would approve? I think he was a fan of Baskerville or was it Caslon?
Posted by: Robert Fauver at February 9, 2007 6:33 PMhi
i´m brazilian and ´ve looking for good projects to talk about information design in my final work in my university (ESDI). the work is really very simple and very good. i so like these kind of works.(excelence)
i would like ask for suggestions for something to work. is possible some contact or something like this with you? (and sorry for my english,
i will be better*)
In reply to Miles Newlyn's post:
Chevin IS the Royal Mail's corporate font, and a lot of credit for this clear information design should go to Wolff Olins, who designed it.
It; being the information design, not the typeface.
Posted by: Nick Cooke at February 27, 2007 3:07 PMThank you, both Nick and Miles. I'm glad credit goes to people and studios i like and admire. I spent a few years at WO back in the late 70s and i'm glad to see that quality prevails.
Posted by: erik spiekermann at February 27, 2007 5:07 PM