Give it a listen here!

Should you choose our playlist as the backdrop to your Fourth of July Celebration, or a long drive down a winding road, we would be honored. I know that I am pressing “Repeat” now.

Don’t press pause

Do you like what you see? The music doesn’t have to stop here. To learn more about what Targa Media’s unique creative services can do for you and your brand, visit us here.

So, you’re looking for a nice ‘summertime’ typeface…

 How do you choose when there are so many to choose from? One way I like to think of this scenario is in terms of a job that needs to be done. Which typeface should I ‘hire’ that will do the job right? The late Clayton Christensen did some groundbreaking work on this idea of ‘jobs to be done’ as a professor at Harvard University. Christensen says, ‘We hire products to do things for us.’ This also helps us understand why there are so many fonts out there. There are so many different jobs to be done when we’re communicating with the written word. An effective font selection is one where the characteristics of the font align with the purpose of the text and the message to be communicated.

Consider also this idea shared by designer Chris Do: The more you know about the purpose and the history of the typeface you’re using, the more likely you can make an informed decision about how to use it. This is akin to reading the resume of a typeface before hiring it for a task. It’s an extra step, but worth it if you can gain access to the information.

“An effective font selection is one where the characteristics of the font align with the purpose of the text and the message to be communicated”

So how does a font convey a real summertime vibe? Thinking how an audience relates to summer will help answer that question. Think of the five senses: What does summer feel like, look like, taste like, sound like, and smell like? See the example brainstorm below:

With this list of brainstormed items, selecting type that hints at, or compliments, any of these items is the way to go. Once again, going back to determining the job your text needs to do for you, decide how loudly you want your font to shout summertime. Determine if it needs to play nicely with other fonts; if it can hog the spotlight or need to pull back a little bit. The summer attributes for your type might be so subtle and yet supported by surrounding color and design elements. You don’t need to make them work on their own.

Here are some fonts sourced from myfonts.com that seem to fit the season:

Selecting a display font for your message is like choosing a main course. Pairing your font with something complimentary can be like adding a special sauce or seasoning. Contrast and visual tension between a primary and supporting fonts is important.

Adobe Experience Designer and typography expert, Jake Giltsoff, says that good design is going to have an anchor font; one that conveys the right emotion for the design. An anchor font will do the heavy lifting in grabbing attention and communicating important information out of the gate. Avoid pairing fonts where each command a spotlight. This can distract from your intended design and message. Fontsinuse.com is a helpful resource to see how other designers are combining fonts to effectively communicate their message.

For me a great summer pairing is hot summer temperatures and cold popsicles. They go well together, but they couldn’t be more opposite. Combined, they evoke a specific kind of feeling and memory. A good font pair will do the same almost unconsciously. Here’s to having the type of summer to write about!

There is nothing like a national basketball tournament to usher in some spring weather. I’ve been at Targa for less than a year so I had yet to witness any March Madness bracketology with the team. Turns out a number of folks here weren’t familiar with the NCAA basketball tournament, much less a tournament bracket. There is no time like the present to learn. Given the college basketball interest here, it’s safe to say we didn’t watch many of the games; however, this was the perfect opportunity to familiarize the group with the 64 teams in this year’s contest. Rather than guess a winner based on their season ranking, we selected a champion based on the best school logo from a design standpoint.

We used a round bracket to display our results since this allowed us to better see strength trends at-a-glance in winning design. Obviously the winners in this contest would be selected in a very subjective manner, but we did encourage the team to consider the following metrics:

• Logo timelessness
• Logo toughness
• Use of color
• Logo creativity
• Effective logo design

Our collective familiarity with Gonzaga or TCU’s Horned Frogs is very low, but our experience with design puts us in a unique position to judge these school logos. We made brackets to determine this year’s best logo designs in the tournament. As we reviewed everyone’s final four, there were a pair of most frequently included logos (though not always selected as the overall winner).

Jason’s Take

What are the chances that my wife Heather and I would end up with the exact same Final 4 logo picks! I confess, filling in this bracket was no easier than an actual March Madness bracket. I’m sure I was my own worst enemy, deliberating all the nuances that get baked into a single team logo. Somehow I felt like I guessed a winning bracket when I matched my final for up to Heather’s. It might seem like destiny, but we’re both quite unique from each other in design styles and creative backgrounds. Let’s just say our match-up was a very fun surprise!

Since 1999 Pantone has been selecting an ‘official’ color of the year. The intent was to strike up conversations with their audience, designers and color enthusiasts about color—how we see it through culture, trends and values. Personally, I don’t get too nerdy over color, but to me, this is marketing brilliance. Pantone didn’t invent color, but here is a way they can own a self-initiated conversation around the topic their business is all about. You don’t even have to be a customer to join the conversation. Anyone who would like to be a part is invited.

2024 is the 25th installment of this annual exercise, and the new hue to gain this distinction is Pantone 13-1023, also known as, Peach Fuzz. Here’s what Pantone’s President and Vice President had to say about the selection:

“Peach Fuzz radiates a sense of warmth and a sense of reassurance. Perhaps that is exactly what we’ve been missing and what we’re reaching out for, imagining ourselves in a time and place where kindness and empathy can lead us to write a better future together” –  Elley Cheng, President, Pantone Color Institute

“The color we selected needed to express our desire to want to be close to those we love and the joy we get when allowing ourselves time to tune into who we are; it also needed to be a color whose warm and welcoming embrace could be a message of compassion, empathy, and one that is nurturing, who’s cozy sensibility brought people together.” –  Laurie Pressman, Vice President, Pantone Color Institute

These Pantone leaders beautifully illustrate Pantone’s ‘Why’ when it comes to color. They recognize the influence color selection has within our world, and they aim to promote the conscious use of color to improve the lives of others. In sharing this, they establish expertise in their industry, and they softly share values important to them and arguably important to the human family. In a way, they demonstrate color as giving anthropological clues within the story of humanity, and here, Pantone is a detective force.

So what do you think about Peach Fuzz? You don’t have to love the color to appreciate its qualities. It does seem somewhat elusive. It’s sunset. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. It’s subtle sweet. We asked some of the team here at Targa to weigh in on this color selection:

Vanna – “Peach Fuzz makes me think of soft, fluffy clouds as the sun is setting.”

Heather – “One of our grandmas loved it, so it’s dated for me. Brings up old home smells and maybe a little girls birthday cake.”

Jason – “Peach Fuzz 13-1023 reminds me of some of the sunset photos I’ve taken…”

Josh – “Growing up, my grandmother had rows of peach trees in her backyard that produced picture perfect 13-1023 peaches. Inside, everything from the couches in the living room, to the plastic cups in kitchen, and the shower curtains and bathmats were peach colored too. 13-1023 makes me think of my grandma’s house.”

Kinley – “I think peach fuzz is a very comforting tone. Something everyone needs as we enter 2024. I would say I like peach fuzz 7/10. It’s not blue or green, but it compliments other colors really well”

Lisa – “peach Fizz inspired by Peach Fuzz. It feels like spring, fresh and welcoming, sweet and warm.”