trajan warriors

as some of you know, i'm kind fascinated by fonts.  it's an extremely subtle art that i know only a little about, but i notice it more and more and love learning about it.

i was at the a&m football game against the kansas jayhawks on saturday and really enjoyed it (it also made me a little nostalgic for the days of going to byu games, but that's ok.)  a&m killed kansas.  the aggies had scored before we'd even gotten to our seats and the jayhawks only got on the board in the last minute of the game.  it wasn't just that we played better; they were a mess. there were so many slip-ups and errors that their highlight reel needed to have circus music playing behind it.

amidst this debacle, i couldn't help but notice the font on their uniforms.  football is a tough sport.  it's all about hitting people and throwing things so other people can hit them instead of you (although you still end up getting hit, too.)  at least, that's what i can figure out.  i know tailgating fits in there somewhere, too. big guys wear pads so they can look bigger.  everything has to look strong and mean, including the numbers on your inform.  see exhibit a.

big and blocky, just like their font

and so, in a world of concrete stadiums, end zones, and grid iron, the kansas jayhawks' uniforms stood out to me.  behold exhibit b.

the fightin' serifs!

with those serifs and graceful changes in line thickness (don't know the font terminology for that) it's hard to look tough. they look elegant, like the ad campaign for a new lotion, and if they hit you as hard as they could, it would probably leave you feeling cultured, not clobbered.
as the aggies were scoring yet another touchdown, i did some research on my phone while everyone around me was getting to first base.  the font is called "trajan" and i actually kind of like it, just not here. even if they hit ctrl+b and tried to bold it, i doubt that would change much.
so, in a world where psychology has a huge influence performance, it seems of little wonder that the final score was 61-6.

and apparently i'm not the only one:

exhibit c.