Welcome back to another Designerland attraction typography case study. This week's post is something special because we'll be looking at the early typography used for the interactive, role-playing, next-gen adventure game, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom is a game in which the guests become heroes with the objective to defeat the Disney villains who are working to take over the Magic Kingdom. Armed with spells in the form of playing cards, guests must search for magic symbols throughout the Kingdom which will lead them to the villains’ hiding places. By casting different magical spell cards, guests can do battle with classic Disney villains hiding throughout the land. From fireballs to cyclones, there are different spells to bring down each and every villain, with a simple flick of the wrist.
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom is a game in which the guests become heroes with the objective to defeat the Disney villains who are working to take over the Magic Kingdom. Armed with spells in the form of playing cards, guests must search for magic symbols throughout the Kingdom which will lead them to the villains’ hiding places. By casting different magical spell cards, guests can do battle with classic Disney villains hiding throughout the land. From fireballs to cyclones, there are different spells to bring down each and every villain, with a simple flick of the wrist.
Since this interactive adventure is new, there's not too much typography to look at. Most of the typography we see is on the spell cards and of course the main logo. Starting with the logo, the designer was inspired by arts & crafts style lettering but hand manipulated it, adding distressed edging and flourishes to give the feel of fantasy. They also used a widely popular Pixar typeface but again changed it up by adding the distressed edging and calligraphy-like strokes to give the impression of hand lettering.
When looking at the land maps, one display font is used heavily to give the feel of an old illuminated manuscript...even though it's a touch too heavy. The designer(s) once again took liberties by adding extreme flourishes to the headlines on the maps but kept the original font intact for body copy. While using display fonts to set entire passages of body copy is an extreme no-no in the world of design, this is one case in which the rules are meant to be broken—after all, old world mystical maps wouldn't use Helvetica now would they? When looking at the magical spell cards, the designer(s) once again used the same display font as seen on the maps, which ties the two together, creating a cohesive font palette. They also used the original (non-hand-manipulated) typeface from the logo.
When looking at the land maps, one display font is used heavily to give the feel of an old illuminated manuscript...even though it's a touch too heavy. The designer(s) once again took liberties by adding extreme flourishes to the headlines on the maps but kept the original font intact for body copy. While using display fonts to set entire passages of body copy is an extreme no-no in the world of design, this is one case in which the rules are meant to be broken—after all, old world mystical maps wouldn't use Helvetica now would they? When looking at the magical spell cards, the designer(s) once again used the same display font as seen on the maps, which ties the two together, creating a cohesive font palette. They also used the original (non-hand-manipulated) typeface from the logo.
I hope to see more place-finding / signage in the future for this new interactive adventure, and hopefully we’ll see them in Fantasyland where all these wonderful fonts and typefaces belong. Well that does if for this week’s post. Hope you all have a great week and see you back here next Sunday for a new Retro '71 shirt design. Until then, thanks for stopping by.
