Let me be the first to say - I love fonts.
Ridiculous fonts. Clean fonts. Cursive-y fonts. All of 'em. Choosing my font in my IM window took quite a bit of time. And I hate GChat and Gmail just a bit because they do not give me the plethora of fonts I enjoy. See? Not kidding about loving fonts.
A while back I had myself a little chat with my account director. I love the use of that word - chat. Like a bit of conversation rather than a gentle ass-reaming. In my agency the word "chat" has many different tonal uses. Just assume the "chat" is going to be about something YOU did wrong and you're OK.
I digress...
I hadn't worked with my account director all that much. Fresh from two major account losses, he was ready to kick ass and take names. Frankly, I like him - then and now. Like any old guard there are quirks. But all in all, the job gets done and the client rejoices.
I struggled with getting thrown into the deep end with an anvil on my ankle and not a lick of swimming ability. The learning curve with zero training is much longer than one with some training. He talked to me about getting promoted, what I needed to do and generally was supportive, interested and helpful.
Then the conversation wrapped up as such:
Him (vehement): "I hate the purple"
Me (confused): "Um, what?"
Him (getting more agitated by the word): "The purple font. I HATE IT."
Me (still confused): "Ohhh-kay"
Him (aggresively inquisitive):"How do you feel about it? Obviously you CHOSE it, so you like it. But I have to tell you, I HATE IT."
Me (getting the picture):"Clearly. I can change it you know."
Him (going all account director on me):"I don't want to tell you what to do. I just want you to realize what your font is saying. I mean, when you send an email ALL I SEE is PURPLE. No one will take you seriously with purple font."
Let me interrupt this clearly heartfelt moment to say that I have a client that sends emails in text language. Fun bits such as Thx, u,
Me (annoyed and ready to get this over with): "
Him (Now too into my Outlook choices): "What about your font? What does that font say in an email?"
Me (see status above): "Are you asking me what Arial Narrow says about me as a person? As an employee? As a representative of the Agency? WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU ASKING ME ABOUT THE FUCKING FONT?!
Him (skeptical and generally hating every email I have ever sent): "Well does it come across how you would like to come across?"
Me (over. it.): "Let's see - it's not in random signs like webdings, people can read it, it's not Arabic." insert pause - "Yeah...no, I'm good."
Really? The font. Not the color (which yes, I changed), THE FONT. So glad we got to the important stuff.
