Barnyard Shenanigans: Typeface in Click, Clack, Moo
Click Clack Moo Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin and Illustrated by Betsy Lewin is the clever and humorous tale of farm animals that learn to use a typewriter to communicate with the farmer that cares for them. Because the written (or typed) word is so important to the plot of this particular book, it utilizes multiple fonts and sizes to tell its story.
Click Clack Moo includes both narrative and intraiconic text throughout, but a particular page loaded with examples of text design is the two page spread wherein the chickens take a stand. The cheery yellow of the background backlights the chickens ominously, and serves as the landscape upon which the narrative text of the image rests. The credits page of the book identifies this primary font as 30 pt Filosofia bold. Only one of the three present typefaces on the page, this serif font is thick, legible, and has a soft curve to it that invites the reader in. It settles well into the world of the book without interrupting the work of the images or getting too confused with the other text on the page. In short, it ticks Lambert’s boxes of “should not be a distraction from the art that conveys its own menacing, and it should seamlessly integrate into the layout of the page” (34)
Next of note is the small intraiconic note held in a chicken’s beak. Its message of “Closed. No milk. No Eggs.” is set in a typewriter style font unlisted in the book’s credits. It is a clean, round typewriter style, and most interestingly, seems to lack a constant bottom line, allowing the type to meander slightly over the surface of the note. It is a clever move that allows this typeface to feel a little bit chaotic, when typewriter fonts are typically known for being very formal (Serafini 13).
The final addition to the type on the page is the onomatopoeic repetitive phrase of the book: “Click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo. Clickety, clack moo.” Since this phrase is likely present for the child reader to identify and repeat, it is given prominence on the recto page in a slightly larger point size. The typewriter’s click clacks are rendered in the same typeface as the intraiconic text, whereas the moos are printed in a puffy serif unique to the word. This choice in particular stands out as an example of Serafini’s belief that “typography can be used ideationally to represent meanings, actions and ideas” (7). There is neither a typewriter or a cow on this page in particular, and yet their presence in the narrative and is inferred via this bit of text.
Deeply chaotic and vaguely Marxist, Click Clack Moo relies on the typed word to be the backbone of its story even more so than other picturebooks. Had the choice of typeface and font been made poorly, it could easily have tanked this book. Luckily, its typeface is intelligently and thoughtfully chosen to suit its story and illustrations.
Works Cited
Lambert, Megan Dowd. “Picturebooks and Page Layout.” The Routledge Companion to Picturebooks. Ed. Bettina Kummerling-Meibaurer. Routledge 2018
Lewin, Betsy. Click Clack Moo Cows That Type. Written by Doreen Cronin. Scholastic, 2000.
Serafini, Frank and Jennifer Clausen. “Typography as a Semiotic Resource.” Journal of Visual Literacy. vol. 31 no. 2. 2012
Stats: CIP Fall 2022, Laramie Hearn. Installment #2: Design. 501 words