Fair, a four letter one-syllable word, has everyone from children and their parents to our nation’s leaders in a never-ending pursuit of what it means. While fair does have an agreed upon definition, its application does not. Since evaluations of fairness are deeply rooted in unique personal experiences and perceptions of justice, they cannot be shared amongst large numbers. This combination of personal and perception causes the disconnect between fair’s agreed upon definition and how individuals expect it to be practiced. As an emotive word, I aimed to capture how one may think to be fair is straightforward when in actuality it is disconnected and disconcerting.

The thick and linear typeface relates to the deceptive simplicity of fairness with the thick intersecting bar acting as the separation between what different parties find to be fair. The bar ironically forms an equals sign as the backdrop for the two sides of the practice of fair.