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This week’s riffs for the creative vandals, outlaws, misfits, and pirates of the internet:

• Create Cooler: Typeface vs font: What’s the difference?

• Build Better: A tool to see your favorite fonts in use across mediums

• Earn Easier: How being weird can help your brand survive

• Break The Rules: The rise of design-led board games being cool

• The Hit List: Music to turn up and tune out

Stop Using “Typefaces” Wrong, You Nerd

Alright, listen up.

Typeface and font are not the same thing, no matter what your old Word docs have taught you.

Calling Futura a font is like calling a Mustang “car.”

Technically true, but c’mon, have some standards.

Here’s the deal…

Typeface: the big boss—a family of design features that define a style of lettering.

Font: A typeface’s stylistic offspring—variations like size, weight, or italics.

Think of a typeface as the DNA, and fonts as the kids running around in slightly different outfits.

Simple enough?

Good because that’s how my mind works so it makes sense to me.

What’s a Typeface, Really?

Picture the classic Times New Roman.

That’s a typeface.

It’s got serifs—those little extra strokes that make it look all old-school, like a newspaper yelling at you about stock prices.

Want something cleaner?

Go sans serif (without the strokes), like Open Sans, the corporate darling of every boring tech brochure.

And if you’re feeling fancy, there are script and decorative typefaces for when your design needs to scream, “Look at me, I’m the most unique one here!”

Further on Fonts

Fonts are the variations within that typeface.

Helvetica Bold? That’s a font.

Helvetica Light Italic? Also a font.

Change the size, weight, or spacing? Boom, another font.

Back in the metal-press days, printers used separate molds for each font size and weight.

Now, it’s just a dropdown menu on your MacBook.

Progress, baby.

Does This Matter?

Honestly? Not really - like at all.

Unless you’re trying to impress some typography snob at a design conference, you can probably use the terms interchangeably and survive.

But here’s why you should care: understanding type helps you avoid ugly, clunky designs.

Picking the right typeface and font combo can make or break how people experience your work.

It’s about vibes—are you shouting elegance or screaming chaos?

It’s the subtle differences - the devil in those pesky little details - that creates design legends.

Because they don’t matter, really.

But they do to the greats - do with that what you may.

How To Find Your Favorite Fonts In Use Around The Interwebs

Alright, typography nerds, we’re not done.

I just found a website that’s basically a treasure chest for anyone who gives a shit about good design: Fonts in Use

I found it by Googling my “Nike fonts in use”.

… Mind-blowing process of discover, huh?

It’s not just another font site—it’s an independent archive of typography that’ll make you fall in love with letterforms all over again.

Designers, creators, and casual font geeks alike—this one’s for you (it’s SO for me).

The Raddest Tool Of The Week

Think of it as the IMDB of typography.

It’s a searchable, crowd-sourced collection of fonts used in real-world projects—books, posters, websites, you name it.

Whether you’re hunting for the perfect typeface for your next masterpiece or just want to ogle how Helvetica strutted its stuff in a film poster, this site’s got you covered.

It’s organized by typeface, format, industry, and period, so you can dive as deep as you want into the rabbit hole.

Why It’s Cool As Shit

Let’s be honest—choosing the right font can feel like a black hole of indecision.

Fonts in Use cuts through that noise by showing you how typefaces work in the wild.

You’re not just picking from a static list; you’re seeing real examples of how these fonts perform in different contexts.

Need a sans serif for a sleek tech site?

Or a retro serif for a book cover?

Boom—it’s all there.

Plus, it’s an amazing resource for type pairing inspiration.

Ever wondered what works with Futura or how to style Didone for maximum drama?

This archive spells it out.

How It Works

The magic here is user submissions.

You can contribute your own examples by uploading images, tagging typefaces, and adding a short description.

It’s collaborative, so the collection keeps growing—and that means endless inspiration for everyone.

And if you’re lazy like me, they even have a bookmarklet to make uploading as easy as clicking a button.

Who’s It For?

Designers, for sure.

But also anyone who’s sick of slapping Arial on everything (please stop).

Whether you’re crafting a brand identity, whipping up an album cover, or just making your IG story less tragic…

Fonts in Use has something to show you.

The Mall Misfit That Refuses to Die

Let’s talk about the weirdest store in the mall: Spencer’s.

The place where your teenage self snickered at lava lamps and X-rated gag gifts while pretending not to know what a dildo was.

*Yes, you opened up an email about design, marketing, and creativity and just read the word, “dildo”. Happy Friday, friend.

Against all odds…

While malls around the country collapse faster than a cheap tent in a storm…

Spencer’s is still here.

How? Magic? Voodoo? The indestructible power of raunchy Christmas sweaters?

Let’s riff about it.

The Start of It All

Spencer’s started as a mail-order catalog in 1947, because founder Max Adler thought Americans needed more weird stuff in their lives.

And he wasn’t wrong.

From expandable bookshelves to live burros (yes, actual donkeys), the catalog sold everything.

Fast-forward to 1963, Spencer’s planted its first brick-and-mortar store in a New Jersey mall, officially becoming the bizarre oasis for anyone needing a singing teacup or a remote-control strap-on.

By the late 1980s, Spencer’s had 550 stores and was raking in millions, outliving its competition by leaning into one simple principle…

Sell what nobody else dares to.

How It’s Still Standing (During The Age Of The Internet)

Spencer’s doesn’t just sell products—it sells an experience.

Teens aren’t dragging their friends there for practical socks.

They’re going for the unspoken rite of passage: surviving a trip to “the back of Spencer’s.”

If you know - you know.

That’s where the real magic happens.

X-rated gummies, risqué lingerie, and toys that will make your grandma clutch her pearls.

It’s a store that intentionally screams, “You’re old enough to laugh at this, but too broke to buy it.”

And nostalgia is their secret sauce - a marketing play rising YoY.

Graphic tees featuring Korn, Mac Miller, and Aaliyah? Check.

Lava lamps that are more ‘70s than disco? Double-check.

Spencer’s taps into your inner mallrat and dares you not to love it.

Because we’ve all got one.

The Mall Problem

Here’s the catch: malls are dying (no shit), and Spencer’s lives off malls like a barnacle on a ship.

With department stores gone and only 600-700 malls left in the U.S. (down from 3,000 in the ‘80s), Spencer’s future is tied to a sinking ship.

But they’re not going down without a fight.

The solution? Standalone stores.

They’ve opened around 85 of them, like rebellious outposts of weirdness in retail wastelands.

It’s a risky move, but if their Halloween-loving sibling brand Spirit Halloween can turn abandoned stores into cash cows, Spencer’s might just survive the apocalypse.

Weird Is The Way

Spencer’s isn’t just a store—it’s a cultural relic, a neon-lit middle finger to traditional retail.

Whether it thrives in standalone locations or outlasts the final gasps of the American mall, one thing’s for sure…

As long as teens want to giggle at naughty gag gifts and you can’t resist the pull of a lava lamp, Spencer’s isn’t going anywhere.

Long live the weird.

Board Games Are the New Cool, and Designers Are Running the Show

Board games aren’t just Monopoly marathons and Candyland snooze-fests anymore.

They’re sexy now—at least in the world of graphic design.

A new wave of designers is taking these tabletop classics and turning them into visual masterpieces.

But here’s the catch: making a game look good is easy.

Making it fun to play? That’s where genius meets magic.

The $27 Billion (and Growing) Tabletop Industry

Some context: the board game industry is booming.

It’s a $27 billion juggernaut expected to double by 2029.

Why? People are ditching screens for something tactile, tangible, and together.

Cue the rise of game publishers like CMYK and Weast Coast who are here to prove that a slick design and great gameplay don’t have to be enemies.

But let’s be real…

Some games are all style and no substance, destined to collect dust on a shelf until they’re dumped in the Goodwill pile.

So how do these new wave designers avoid that fate?

By focusing on what matters: the marriage of design and mechanics.

The final boss of the form vs function debate for philosophical design nerds.

Pretty Isn’t Enough

Take CMYK’s hit game Wavelength.

It’s a feast for the eyes with its bold stripes and retro vibe, but it’s also a crowd-pleaser that sold nearly a million copies and inspired three million app downloads.

The design doesn’t just look cool on the coffee table.

It screams what the game is about: clever thinking and a splash of creativity.

On the flip side, some players are resistant to the whole “design-led” vibe.

But CMYK isn’t here to please everyone.

“If too many people liked our aesthetic right away, we’d worry,” says CEO Alex Hague.

The Snakes of Wrath Phenomenon

Then there’s Snakes of Wrath by Weast Coast, a game so slick that critics didn’t know what to do with it.

Think Edwardian typography meets serpentine elegance.

It smashed its Kickstarter goal, but traditional reviewers were confused—and maybe a little jealous.

“There’s this distrust when something feels too slick,” admits co-founder Dan Cassaro.

But that’s the gamble - you don’t win by playing it safe.

Lessons for Aspiring Game Designers

Here’s the thing: making a good game isn’t just about pretty packaging.

It’s about balance.

Design that looks beautiful but makes the game hard to play?

Isn’t good design.

That plays a big role when choosing the actual materials to build the game.

Wooden tiles? Plastic? Rubber? It all depends.

The final roll?

Beautiful design is a bonus, but the real winners are the games that get played, loved, and argued over during game night.

So if you’re dreaming of designing the next tabletop sensation, start with gameplay, sprinkle in some stunning visuals, and leave the single-use plastic at the door.

Different creative pursuits call for different music to jam to. Here’s what I jammed to this week on The Vomp Playlist: