OUGD504 - current font finding programs

There are a number of font finding programs that are already in use however I have already identified that none of these are particularly successful. This has been established by the lack of designers that use them and their often outdated interfaces.


WhatTheFont
One such program was created by Monotype and is named What The Font. The experience is both an app and website. This service aimed at designers has an interesting concept where users can scan in or insert photos of a typeface they like and the program will find it for you.

Although very simple and easy to use, the home screen is dated and could be improved. It is also clear from the start that there aren't many features available within the app. 

The information button on the bottom left of the home screen leads you to an text heavy interface. This could be more visual as will be ignored by most users.

Images of text can be selected from the users folders enabling screen shots to be analysed.

The text must be cropped to make it easier to scan. This is a screen which works well but should be updated to a more modern and clean interface.

Letters must be confirmed or changed to get the most accurate font results. This is essential however I believe the interface could be improved to make it more enjoyable and less of a task for the user.

Information is given about the typeface however the information is lengthy and only one style of font is shown. I feel the typeface information could be improved significantly.

As seen above, the user interface on the app is outdated and has limited features to engage the user. The website focuses more on helping search more unique typefaces however the scanning of images is used as an additional component. Despite this, the user experience is poor. It is difficult to navigate the site and search for specific typefaces as the pages are very busy and information heavy.

Identifont
This website gives users a number of different options to guess their desired font. The most effective asks a series of questions which narrow down their extensive list of fonts to get what you are hopefully looking for. This is a feature that works well but due to a cluttered layout and bad user experience, is less well known by their target audience.

I feel if I was to utilise this feature and make it my own, it could work well within the app to give users more options when finding a font however because of its unpredictability it may not be appropriate for the apps main use.