We are a bank: everything is important

The text informs the clients that new services are available thanks to new teller machines and that personnel is available to assist. The interesting thing (or, the utterly annoying thing, if you are a designer) is how they chose to communicate this important bit of information: instead of a properly designed panel–ideally in line with the sophisticated visual identity of the bank–they went for an A4 paper, obviously designed by one of the clerks, sticked with tape on the glass. The typography is set in the international style that has become the default in folk desktop publishing: All-caps Comic Sans, apostrophes instead of accents, unnecessarily formal language. On top of that, every line of text is highlighted with a fluorescent yellow marker. At the end there is a signature and the stamp of the branch.

The desire of the writer to be taken seriously is evident. And still the result is the opposite. They managed to condense in one small paper a remarkable number of mistakes. The bank in question has a logo, a color scheme and a distinctive typography: these are tools that would have provided consistency, authority and credibility to their communication. Anything diverging from that style looks unofficial and less credible. The usage of all-caps (READ ME! I AM IMPORTANT!) and DIY with default comic-like typography does not add any value to the message.

But the true masterpiece is the final touch: let’s highlight every single line with a fluorescent marker. Curiously it looks more like a strikeout than an underline. It is only apt to note that a line through the text usually indicates text that should be removed.

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