Conversely, a heavy, stern-looking font chosen for a lighthearted tale can send its own kind of mixed messages.Īnd-perhaps more important-all storytellers should feel ethically obligated to make narratives as accessible as possible to all people, including those with visual impairments. A frivolous-looking typeface paired with a serious, issue-driven story can weaken your message and trivialize your narrative. Inappropriate fonts can confuse or contradict your story’s purpose. However, with freedom comes responsibility. The importance of pairing the right type with the right narrative is exactly why Esri expanded the options in the theme builder so dramatically. When they see different typestyles, it elicits only a subliminal reaction.īut the subconscious and subliminal are important to storytelling, especially multimedia storytelling, where images, text, maps, color, type, and even sound can all work together to create an immersive little world. Poor type choices can offend me, but many people are only vaguely aware of typography. I’ve been a designer for close to half a century, so my eye is perhaps more typographically attuned than most. The first choice under the Typography section is Add from Google Fonts.
To access Google Fonts for use in a custom theme, in the StoryMaps builder, choose Design > Browse themes > Create new theme and expand the Typography section.
