Shoutout to the hardware store guy who told me my logo font looked like a ransom note

Was at Ace Hardware in Austin last Saturday picking up paint samples. Older guy behind the counter sees the shirt I printed with my company logo on it and goes "Hey, you write that with magazine clippings?" Stung so bad but he was right. It was just some free font I grabbed off the internet 3 years ago. Ended up talking to him about how he designed signs for his church for 20 years and he gave me a tip about keeping letter spacing wide enough that it reads from across the street. Anyone else ever get roasted by a random stranger and realize they were totally right?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennifer_fisher7d ago

Ha, classic. Random old guys with niche skills are the most brutally honest focus group you'll ever get. That spacing tip is legit though, bad kerning is how you end up looking like a bootleg brand. Props for actually taking the feedback instead of getting defensive, most people would've just blamed the font.

the_eric7d ago

Yeah, @jennifer_fisher nailed it. 87 year old Larry in a garage with a tube of aquaseal will tell you the truth faster than any marketing focus group ever could. That kerning thing is real though, bad spacing between letters screams fake or cheap to anyone who knows what to look for. People who get defensive over free wisdom are just hurting their own work in the long run. Glad she took the advice and ran with it.