While I'm not an experienced graphic designer, I know that typography - the presentation of text in relation to the properties of characters that make up that text - is also a part of it. So too does Pokémon present a lot of things not just with graphics but also with text, and that means using certain fonts for that purpose. I've covered one of them in the past, and now I thought I'd cover things a little more generally, considering various aspects of Pokémon.
Like a lot of things on the Internet, many Pokémon presentations (even the official web site itself) use certain kinds of "sans-serif" fonts, one of the examples being this blog. Being that many of those presentations are digital ones, as on a PC, phone, or game console screen, the reputed legibility in this context - even at small scales like on the small screens of the Nintendo DS or Switch Lite - makes sense. Portability has always been a main ideal of Pokémon (games), so this font usage could be considered a way of maintaining that.
Of course, there is one important non-digital presentation of Pokémon, and that would be none other than the TCG, which is in print form. Though it takes such a form, it still uses "sans-serif" fonts, yet in this case it still makes sense because they're not books (that typically use "serif" fonts) and they have a lot of detail and small text, some parts of which are only paid attention to rarely compared to the rest of what's on the cards. This likewise goes for the accompanying materials, which mostly use the same kind of fonts as the cards.
Then, there are the instances where "fancy" fonts are used. The logos and sub-logos used in the various products are some of them, which need to be as exciting as possible and thus necessitate the use of this kind of fonts. Some Pokémon books also use what could be classified as "fancy" fonts even though they're likely to be read again and again, as with the manga adaptations - but this is par for the course for manga in general; the use in the other books would reflect their fanciful nature as books for entertainment.
I consider typography to be as indicative and useful as any other aspect in graphic design, and if anything, this has to be something that is manifested in presentations involving Pokémon as well, given the above circumstances. It has to rely on text just as much as graphics - and other media - to make the world come alive and appeal to many fans as it has done for decades, and fonts as an aspect of typography do show how that can be here.
One year ago: Getting United with Unite Squads
Two years ago: Cosplay: Utsuru (for KJR)
Three years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 10/9/2021
Four years ago: On the Buying and Selling of Gameplay Elements
Five years ago: Hunting for Physical References
Six years ago: What Pokémon Eat
Seven years ago: Pokémon Jigsaw Puzzle
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