Chances are, if you've been paying any attention to popular culture over the last 30 years or so, you'll be able to identify the font shown above as the "Star Wars" font. It's actually called "StarVader," and it could be argued that it's almost as universally familiar as Arial and Times New Roman.
You know you've entered a whole new level of branding when even the font associated with a product is immediately recognizable. It's the ultimate goal for the designers who create title segments for movies and TV shows, album and video game covers and even boxes for board games and toys.
In the case of Star Wars, the font was such an integral part of the branding package that it was imperative that it be used on the three more recent movies, which were made in the 1990's – this, despite the fact that this is so clearly a 70's font. In any other case it would have been quietly replaced – but who can imagine watching text scroll across a starry sky in Bodoni or Bookman Old Style?
Certain fonts have the ability to elicit strong reactions – a contributor to a blog discussion I once read actually said that he considered people who use Comic Sans Serif to be developmentally challenged. And while some people just use the default font on their computer, many of us have taken at least a little time to try and find a font that we feel somehow reflects our personality– that can become, in a small way, part of our personal brand.
Once you start looking, you'll see that certain types of font go with particular brands. For a sitcom, use funky letters and colours – see Friends, The Brady Bunch, or Everybody Loves Raymond. If you're dealing with the supernatural, the letters should have a downward flow, as in Buffy, Harry Potter or Corpse Bride. Heavy metal? Gothic of course.
Certain TV title fonts describe the style and attitude of a show particularly well: The Simpsons uses a variation of comic-style scripted letterform which has now become iconic – and may be as recognizable as the Star Wars font. And the blood-spattered, sans serif Dexter logo aptly renders the irony of a serial killer struggling to live a normal life.
Want to have some fun with fonts? Check out these typeface quizzes at http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/author/eric and see how many you recognize out of context. You'll get the Star Wars one right, guaranteed.