Express your font love in haiku to win a prize pack, including $50 iTunes

February 9th, 2009 by

UPDATE: The contest is now closed to entries, and the winners have been chosen. See this list of our Font Haiku winners, as well as those who received honorable mentions.

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You know that you’ve got a favorite, we all do. That dirty little secret that makes your document “pop” or your new design scream “Look at me!” Yup, we’ve all got a favorite font that we use.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, it’s time to express your feelings publicly for your beloved. And what better way to express one’s love, but in poetry!

Bring us your proud bold words (in 5-7-5 format) that describe your feelings and admiration for that which we all love, fonts.

To make this little public expression of your infatuation more interesting, we thought that we’d offer some nifty prizes for the best of the bunch.

First place will garner:

  • $50 iTunes gift certificate
  • $25 Starbucks gift certificate
  • Custom Extensis laptop skin (removable sticker)
  • Extensis “We Serve All Types” t-shirt
  • The undying admiration of web surfers far and wide.

Second place will be honored with:

  • $20 Starbucks gift certificate
  • Custom Extensis laptop skin
  • Extensis “We Serve All Types” t-shirt
  • The knowledge that you beat all of the other hack poets, except for that one guy, darn him.

Third place wins:

  • $10 Starbucks gift certificate
  • Custom Extensis laptop skin
  • Meh, third best is still OK, right?

Here’s a little inspiration from our previous Helvetica Movie Haiku contest:

Helvetica sits,
watching you try the new fonts.
It knows you’ll be back.

wedding invite came
they chose brush script mt bold
i give it six months

Strong, bold, smooth, clean lines.
Like all the men in my life,
You are just my “type”.

The contest closes at 12:00 midnight, Pacific Standard Time, on 2.14.2009. So, get your entries into the hopper today!

Be sure to use your correct email address in your comment entry so that we can contact you if you win. We won’t use your email address for any other purpose.

202 Comments »

202 comments on “Express your font love in haiku to win a prize pack, including $50 iTunes”

  3. Fun! I love haiku contests.

    Nun-chuks and katana
    I’ll use all my ninja skills
    To find you Mincho

  18. Oops – here’s a revised version:

    hail, Garamond Pro
    thine serif letters thrill me
    kerning makes perfect

  21. down arrow down arrow down
    through the list none satisfy my dream
    need to find typographic beauty

  52. in alpha order:

    oh Algerian:
    named for a country are you?
    too fancy to use

    Ariel: just plain
    you are my favorite font
    so easy to read

    Baskerville old face
    are you named for sherlock holmes?
    why is your face old?

    Bauhaus: i love you!
    you are a swanky devil
    looks like art deco

    Blackadder: pretty!
    to use for an occasion
    like a nice wedding

  59. book antiqua is
    a font that i’ve never used
    looks like new roman

    bookman old style
    makes me think of some cold beer
    stout is old style?

    Bradley hand: oh dear.
    those junk mail people like you
    since you look for real

    Hail Britannic bold
    you are a saucy fun font
    lets make some signage

    regards to Broadway
    the font used for most playbills
    makes me miss new york

    more to come…

  68. Name: Rage Italic
    How the name does not suite you
    You’re written in blue

    You are so clueless
    What you are capable of
    You diminish stress

    You seem not to fight
    Of becoming prevalence
    Your name is not right

    You send a message
    Showing people shall not judge
    A book by its cover

    Startled by my shove?
    You shall not be frightened of
    My eternal love

  99. so many choices
    packed my fonts in a suitcase
    harmony at last

    complicated life
    too many similar fonts
    reduce the chaos

    water from the font
    pours quietly in a bowl
    clear, cool, refreshing

  101. Caslon climbed the bell
    serifed face screaming no more
    Copperplate Gothic

    Giambattista
    saddened as the fashion rags
    destroy Bodoni

    Baskerville envy
    coffee houses spa lotions
    stealing Sarah Eaves

  137. jaded, you type out
    everything in broken face;
    cracked, you blame it

    on others who know
    no better, those who
    can’t see beyond Arial.

    That’s why I fell for
    you. You hold secrets I long
    to know and to keep.

  138. jaded, you type out
    everything in broken face;
    cracked, you blame it

    on others who know
    no better, those who can’t see
    beyond Arial.

    That’s why I fell for
    you. You hold secrets I long
    to know and to keep.

  142. what will gotham say
    when it runs for president
    keep up with the jones?

    the earth is made of
    70% water
    rest, helvetica

    not surprisingly
    no courier company
    uses courier

    my dad once told me
    son, god is everywhere
    o helvetica!

    if there was ever
    a movie with name trajan
    will they use goudy?

  143. Here’s Palatino,
    But look, there’s Book Antiqua:
    Like two Captain Kirks

    “My essay’s too short.”
    (Clicks Control-A; Courier)
    “There! Ninety pages.”

    For Bob Marley fans,
    You want Gothic, not Roman:
    “I shot the serif”

    You use Lucida,
    I will kick your ass so hard.
    Please do not test me.

    I composed this one
    On a Linotype machine
    ETAOIN SHRDLU

  149. Made a boo-boo. Now it’s fixed
    ——————-
    Name: Rage Italic
    How the name does not suite you
    You’re written in blue

    You are so clueless
    What you are capable of
    You diminish stress

    You seem not to fight
    Of becoming prevalence
    Your name is not right

    You send a message
    Showing people shall not judge
    A book by its case

    Startled by my shove?
    You shall not be frightened of
    My eternal love

  157. My wood type Cap A
    Cherished gift from my soul mate
    (and my Valentine)

    It stands on my desk
    A sign of our common love
    for typography

    Height of this antique:
    four hundred eighty points,
    not that size matters

    Made last century
    before ascii sixty-five,
    or Suitcase Fusion

    Careful craftsmanship
    Serifs like a Clydesdale
    Beautiful wood grain

    Product of nature
    Carved from walnut or madrone
    Sanded smooth, shiny

    Thick, virile crossbar
    centered below its apex
    Long, firm downward strokes

    Amid my chaos
    Beacon of simplicity
    on desk and in life

    Stoic character
    Like our love, a font of one
    A unique typeface

  166. Copperplate…

    Faithful Copperplate,
    The professionals in need
    Like you most, indeed

    Your bold, serifed face
    Is so legible and clear
    Lawyers love you, dear

    Business cards, for them,
    Must have style, yet be clean
    So on you, they’re keen

    Wait in my suitcase
    Until Adobe calls you,
    Sweet font I fall to.

  190. This isn’t a haiku, per se. :P

    Oh Comic Sans, why can’t you see
    The pain on my eyes you’re causing me
    You’ve almost made my retinas bleed
    Microsoft tortured you indeed.

    And Papyrus, what did you do,
    To ruin my site and others too
    My typography skills – down the loo
    Hm… I feel like orange juice :)

    Hey Times New Roman could you say
    Why MS word made you seem gay
    It’s such a shame, I have to say
    You’re not in my brand new font bay.

    Happy V-Day peeps :D

  201. Downward you slope with
    Use of small bowels of the vowels
    My heart in serif

    Twelve-point perfection
    Used by Dr. Seuss and Rowling
    Garamond is love

    Always easy to read
    Who needs a man when you have
    Adobe Garamond?

    It’s all about trust
    Kern softly to flat feet
    Intelligently

    Single’s Awareness Day is
    Not “SAD” with you in my life
    Mon Dieu! Garamond