The Understanding Typography

Evolution of 20th Century Type Design

Part Two

Legibility issues and typographic design principles

 Adjusting Text Spacing
Leading and Kerning

Leading: The space in between lines of text

Term refers to lead pieces inserted in between lines of type
to add more space on old fashioned printing presses
Adjusting Text Spacing
Leading and Kerning

Kerning: Spacing in between individual letters

and words in a single line of text
Typographic Design Principles

Legibility: Making sure the audience can read your text

Similarity, alignment: Creating organization of information

Uniformity and consistency: Repeating elements in a composition

to direct the viewer s attention and create design harmony

Hierarchy: Organizing information in terms of its importance to the viewer

Contrast: Creating interest and distinguishing different types of information

with different typefaces
Typographic Design Principles
Legibility

Legibility is a combination of factors:

Font family
Font size
Letter, word, and line spacing
Alignment
Font and background colors
Typographic Design Principles
Legibility
Typographic Design Principles
Legibility

Font sizes above 14 points break down the continuity of large blocks of text,
making words difficult for readers to follow
Typographic Design Principles
Legibility

Other Legibility Issues: If letters, words, or lines are too close together,
readers have a hard time because text blocks tend to look too dark
Typographic Design Principles
Legibility

Other Legibility Issues: If letters, words, or lines are too far apart, readers
have a hard time because blocks of text tend to look too light, causing
readers to lose a sense of continuity
Typographic Design Principles
Legibility

Other Legibility Issues: Spacing between words should be consistent to

promote legibility; too much variation in letter and line leads to eyestrain
Typographic Design Principles
Legibility

Other Legibility Issues: White type on a black background can also make
large blocks of text difficult to read
This type of typographic treatment usually works best on headline or subhead
areas of a layout
 Typographic Design Principles
Legibility

Other Legibility Issues: Certain color combinations, particularly those lacking

strong contrast (such as yellow type on white background) are difficult to read
Typographic Design Principles
Unity and Concordance

To maintain overall uniformity, limit the number of different font families per
page to two or three at most
Use the same font for headings and body text to produce a uniform look;
this is known as concordance
Typographic Design Principles
Contrast

Using the same font family throughout a

layout creates uniformity but may make
documents seem visually boring
To add contrast, combine two font families
(for example, one serif and one sans serif
or script font)
Heading and body type can use different
fonts to separate information and create
visual interest
Typographic Design Principles
Hierarchy

Hierarchy helps your audience distinguish between levels

of information, such as title, header, subhead and body
Information can be set apart by changing font family,
font type, size, color
To maintain unity, keep typographic choices consistent
for each section throughout a layout
Typographic Design Principles
Hierarchy

Top-level headings can use unconventional

typographic treatments

Different levels use different font sizes,

families, colors, and leading to arrange
and separate information
 Typographic Design Principles
Other Things to Consider

Copy length: Choose fonts that will allow for the best readability and flexibility
of arrangement (kerning, leading, etc) when typesetting large amounts of text

Line length: Blocks of text that are either too long or too short are difficult to read
Character count should be between 35 to 70 characters long as general rule of thumb

Type should not be adjusted by stretching it on the computer; this distorts its appearance
Use the kerning and leading tools available in computer software instead
Text Alignment
Flush Left

Type lines up on the left with ragged the right margin

Advantage: Easy to read in large blocks

Disadvantage: Pay attention to the shape made

by the right edge of the text

Text shape should be convex (curve outward) rather

than concave (curve inward)

Avoid putting very short lines of text next to long ones

Text Alignment
Flush Right

Aligns text to the right; leaves ragged left edge

Advantage: Allows designer control over kerning

spacing of text on individual lines

Disadvantage: Can be hard for the reader to follow

lines of type if they don t line up under one another
on the left

Best used for small amounts of type

Text Alignment
Centered

Type that aligns along the middle axis in a composition

Advantage: Just like with left and right justification,

designer can control word spacing for good legibility

Disadvantage: Can be difficult for the reader to find

the beginning of the next line of text when lines
don t justify left

Works best using small areas of type, such as lists,

headlines, etc.
Text Alignment
Justified

Aligns type on both the left and right edge

Advantage: If done correctly, this can make

areas of text appear uniform and clean, giving
crisp edges on both sides of an area of text

Disadvantage: Harder to control word spacing

Text Alignment
Random Asymmetrical

No apparent structure to type

Advantage: Can be used to create unusual

or unexpected effects

Disadvantage: Can be extremely difficult for readers

to follow due to lack of apparent structure
 Text Alignment
Organization with Alignment

Aligned text creates a visual line in a design; such lines help

readers draw connections between different parts of a document
 Text Alignment
Other Considerations

Rivers: Bad words spacing can create rivers,

or unintentional areas of white space that flow down
a page and create a visual distraction for the reader
 Text Alignment
Other Considerations

Orphan: An orphan is a short line that appears at the top of a column

Occurs when the last word of a paragraph continues onto the next page

A word that floats on a page by itself is distracting and confuses the reader

Also applies to paragraphs- bad typography to begin first sentence of

a paragraph at the end of a page
 Text Alignment
Other Considerations

Widow: A very short line at the end of a paragraph

Can be a single word, short phrase or the last syllable

of a hyphenated word