Principles of Typography

Transcription

1 Principles of Typography

2 Different fonts send a different message to the reader. Categories: Sans serif Serif Script Decorative Fonts

3 Sans-serif Fonts Easy to read, especially online Modern and clean Good for websites or other online formats Good for headings in printed texts Examples include: Arial Comic Sans MS Century Gothic News Gothic MT

4 Serif Fonts Easier to read in print More old-fashioned or traditional Best for the body text in print documents Examples include: Times New Roman Book Antiqua Courier New Garamond

5 Hard to read - use sparingly! Script Fonts Traditional and flowery often used on wedding invitations or menus Examples include: French Script MT Pristina Lucida Calligraphy

6 Decorative Fonts (also Display) Hard to read use sparingly Good for headings Create a fun, funky mood Examples include: Curlz MT Harlow Solid Italic Jokerman

7 Deteriorated fonts Designed to appear beaten up with parts of the characters missing or misshapen Grunge Fonts

8 Symbol sets in fonts Often used for bullets or for accents Examples include: Wingdings Webdings Dingbat Fonts

9 Type Checkup Which is serif and which is sans serif? Serifs

10 Type Checkup Which is script and which is decorative?

11 Kerning Text Terms The distance between letters a.k.a Tracking

12 Text Terms Leading The Distance between lines Named for the lead used to separate lines of type in early printing presses. This is my first Line of Text This is my Second A third And Finally a fourth Another?

13 Text Terms Text Styles Some common styles that can be applied to text: Bold Italic Underlined Shadow Embossed

14 Text Terms Font Size Measured in points 72 points = 1 12-Point 24-Point 36-Point Display Ascender Descender 48-Point

15 Alignment Text Terms Left Aligned Center Aligned Right Aligned Justified Aligned words in a paragraph are shown in these two short sentences. See how they line up at the left and right?

16 Reverse text Common style used because white on a dark background is quite striking Adds impact and emphasis to words Text Terms

17 Mixing Fonts If you want to use more than one font in a document, make sure they come from two different font families In the improved business card, a sans-serif font is combined with a serif-font for better contrast Rupert Buchanan Widget Enterprises 1569 Stone Road Toulouse, PQ (800) Rupert Buchanan Widget Enterprises 1569 Stone Road Toulouse, PQ (800)

18 Type contrasts There are five different ways of contrasting fonts: Size Weight Structure Direction Color

19 Type contrast - size You can contrast any two fonts by making them two different sizes, but make them very different i.e. 12 pt. versus 14 pt. isn t enough Schnobblecaster Incorporated Schnobblecaster I N C O R P O R A T E D

20 Type contrast - weight You can also achieve contrast by varying the thickness of type strokes i.e. regular, bold, extra bold, and light This can be an effective way of organizing information (i.e. use it for headers) Carmichael Foods Asparagus Tips Carmichael Foods Asparagus Tips

21 Type contrast - structure Make sure you pick fonts from two different families with different structures i.e. one serif and one sans serif, one decorative and one sans serif, etc. For printed documents, the body text is normally a serif, while the headings are usually sans serif.

22 Structure - continued The examples on this page look bad because they each combine two fonts from the same family Some of this And some of that Some of this And some of that Some of this And some of that Some of this And some of that

23 Structure - continued By switching the fonts around, we can get some decent looking examples of type contrast Some of this And some of that Some of this And some of that Some of this And some of that Some of this And some of that

24 Type contrast - Direction You can create some interesting effects by varying horizontal and vertical lines of type You should have a good reason for doing this, though. In general, don t make people read stuff sideways or on an angle. Experience teaches you to recognize a mistake when you ve made it again.

25 Type contrast - color Warm colors tend to come forward and command attention Cool colors tend to recede from our eyes You need more of a cool color to create effective contrast than you would need of a warm color Cunningham State College Cunningham State College

26 Typography Do s and Don ts don't mix more than three type styles in one page use sans serif in titles and serif in body text use italics sparingly create contrast don't use display fonts or too many colors in body copy don't forget that typography is supposed to make the text easier to read

27 Contrast or conflict? HALLOWEEN THRILLER extremely good DOG FOOD let s DANCE tonight MY MOTHER This is an essay on why my Mom will always be the greatest mother in the world. FUNNY FARM Health Insurance