The document discusses 10 lessons for using social media to promote a cause from saving a public park space called the oval. It emphasizes the importance of having a dedicated online presence and media for the cause, sharing content widely on social platforms, responding to opposition smartly, gaining traditional media coverage, and asking for help from others. The document also includes commentary on various typefaces.

1. saving the oval
how social media has gotten us half way there
10 lessons in marketing a cause
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

2. some stats
• opened early December • over 8,500 have signed
• can handle over 500 people petition
at once • more than $3,000 raised
• centrally located privately
• free to the public, including • more than 15,000 visitors to
rental gear savetheoval.ca in <3 weeks
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

3. *about the typography
It has been brought to my attention that some people were
upset that my talk wasn’t going to be about type. I shall
endeavour to also provide notes about the typography in
these slides. I have no idea if this will work or simply be
confusing as hell. I apologize in advance if it’s the latter.
This typeface is FF Meta, I once heard Erik speak at
designed by Erik Spiekermann Carnegie-Mellon University. He
for the West German Postal compared Helvetica to Univers
Office. It became the Helvetica by saying “It’s like comparing
of the 90s. shit to crap.” I tend to agree.
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

4. lesson 1: see the signs
Tens of thousands of people used the oval over the
holiday season. Three supportive Facebook pages
showed up at once. Recognize an opportunity to
contribute and act on it.
Adrian Frutiger designed his It’s a friendly sans serif, and
namesake typeface in 1968 as a exceptionally capable as a
signage face for Charles de Gaulle signage face. Legible from a
airport in France. great distance, with lots of space
in the counters and many
weights. Some find it a bit bland
though. Such are the woes of a
humanist sans.
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

5. lesson 2: own your media
You need a real homebase for your issue. Register a
domain. Use social media platforms for outreach. Free
tools abound. Use them, but be cautious.
Gill Sans is a popular typeface Given that Eric Gill sexually
choice for some reason. It has molested his own children
some interesting features, but I though, I have a hard time using it
think it’s particularly ugly. for anything. Be my guest though.
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

6. lesson 3: move fast
The advantage of having such great tools widely
available is that you can have a platform up and running
in minutes. Get it live and iterate.
Futura is an incredibly popular Design students love to use
sans serif typeface. It’s very Futura because it’s so modern.
geometric in appearance, but is Except that it was designed in
actually carefully modulated to 1924. Grab a clue, design
make it look that way. students.
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

7. lesson 4: share share share
It doesn’t need to look messy like TechCrunch, but
provide sharing tools that people will actually use.
Know your networks.
Ah, Arial. The bastard child of Here’s a cool party trick: the
a Microsoft that didn’t want to easiest way to tell the
pay license fees for Helvetica. difference between Helvetica
and Arial is the upper case R.
Helvetica has a little hook on
the leg of its R. See?
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

8. lesson 5: get political
Find out what politicians have to say on the matter.
Get one of them on your side. You’ll have an inside
track and it will be easier to access those in power
with their help.
Gotham was designed by the It’s been used frequently but
talented duo of Jonathan most notably by Obama as a
Hoefler and Tobias Frere- large part of his branding
Jones. and social media campaign.
Some would say the poor
typeface has jumped the
shark.
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

9. lesson 6: fight
Be prepared for some vocal opposition. Be smart when you
respond, no matter how wrong or ill-conceived the other
party is. Opposition means you’re doing it right.
Designed by Chris Costello in Papyrus is nearly as hated as
1982 for Letraset. Even the Comic Sans and that’s saying
designer thinks the face is something. If you want your
overused and incorrectly documents to look ‘old’ there
chosen by people who don’t are far better ways.
know better.
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

10. lesson 7: money changes things
When money starts to get involved, you need to get
legitimate, and quickly. There will be vocal opponents to this
and you’ll be called a scammer. Nothing talks like cold hard
cash though.
Optima was designed by The trouble with Optima is
Hermann Zapf. Yeah, the that it’s bloody wishy washy.
Dingbats dude. It’s both sans serif and serif,
and it’s not particularly good
at either. Shouldn’t your
message take a stand on
something?
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

11. lesson 8: be prepared
With a campaign like this, you’re always working. Be
prepared at all times with up to date stats, know your
opponents and have counter arguments ready. Don’t come
out swinging but stick to your core message.
Otl Aicher designed the Rotis Having a broad family to work
family with four variants: sans, with allows for lots of different
serif and semi versions of each. intonations in your work. Font
The type family also has design is incredibly difficult and
numerous weights and italics. it’s worthwhile to pay for
typefaces you use, especially for
commercial purposes.
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

12. lesson 9: go old school
You need the help of traditional media.
Without it, you’re only talking to the
fishbowl. Be remarkable enough that TV,
radio and newspapers notice, then make
yourself available.
Carol Twombley designed While it’s gorgeously
Trajan to look like the designed, it’s overused,
characters on the Roman especially on movie posters
Trajan column, constructed and wine labels. There are
in AD 113. better, more interesting
choices like Warren Chappell’s
Trajanus, which also has a
complete set of lower case
characters.
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

13. lesson 10: ask for help
You can’t do everything alone, so know when to ask for
and accept help. So, I’m asking for your help. Blog
about this. Set your FB and Twitter statuses to ask
others to sign the petition. Write your councillor. Join
us Tuesday on the Oval.
Typefaces like Verdana and Leave them there, it’s where
Georgia were designed they are best. Using web and
explicitly for on-screen screen fonts in print is a
legibility. surefire way to make your
printed documents look
amateur.
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

14. discuss.
There’s lots of things we could talk about now. Over to you.
Are you for or against the Oval? What’s your favourite
ampersand?
How else could Social Media be
used to promote this cause? Only one space after a period.
This isn’t actually open for
discussion. I don’t care how
your typing teacher taught it.
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011

15. thanks.
http://savetheoval.ca
@brightwhite
jeff@kulapartners.com
902.478.4989
jeff white | kula partners | #podcamphfx 2011 Background by Flickr user Peter Kaminski