Typography Research: Type Rules

Typography Research: Type Rules

Titling Fonts

• These are type designs that have been specifically designed for headline or display settings. Titling fonts differ from their text counterparts in that their scale, proportion, and design details have been altered to look best at larger sizes. 
• This commonly includes a more extreme weight contrast and often more condensed proportions. While usually all-cap, single-weight variants of larger text families, titling fonts can also be stand-alone designs. 
• This could be something to consider for my poster design. 

Clarendon

• This style made popular in the 1850s has a strong vertical weight stress; heavy, bracketed serifs (usually square); and slight stroke contrast.

Design Goals

• The first and foremost step in selecting a typeface is knowing your goals. 
• Every job requires a different approach.
• An annual report might call for a typeface with a high degree of legibility that also captures the spirit of the company, but a book cover might need a face that catches the eye. 
• Start by identifying the age, attention span, and demographics of your audience.
• Different typefaces attract a different audience, both subliminally and overtly. Seniors are drawn to larger settings that have more clarity; teens to edgier, more expressive designs. 
• After you consider your audience, ask yourself how much reading you are asking them to do and what information you are expecting them to walk away with.
• Once you identify your design objective, your typeface choices will narrow considerably.

Legibility and Readability

• Legibility refers to the actual design of the typeface, while readability refers to how the type is set.
• The legibility of a typeface is related to the characteristics inherent in its design, including its x-height, character shapes, stroke contrast, the size of its counters, serifs or lack thereof, and weight-all of which relate to the ability to distinguish one letter from another.
• Not all typefaces are designed to be legible.
• This is more of a consideration for text designs where the degree of legibility relates directly to holding the reader's attention for the duration of the copy. 
• Display designs are generally used for a few words in larger settings where the objective is to be instantly noticeable and to convey a mood or a feeling, so legibility might not be as important. 
• Readability, on the other hand, is related to how you arrange the type.
• Factors affecting type's readability include size, line spacing, line length, alignment, letter spacing, and word spacing. 
• A legible typeface can be made unreadable by how it is set, while a typeface with poor legibility can be made more readable with these same considerations. 

Spacing

• A typeface that is well spaced is neither too tight nor to open-most importantly, it has optically even spacing between characters throughout the design. 
• Many type designers don't pay as much attention to proper and consistent spacing, which dramatically affects the look of a design, as they do to the design of the actual letter form. 

Kerning

• Even a typeface that is spaced properly has character combinations that are too open or too tight (although a well-spaced design will have fewer).  
• These character pairs should be adjusted by the type designer in the actual font with the creation of kern pairs. 
• Once again, this is often neglected by designers, often due to unfamiliarity with this aspect of type design.

Even Colour and Texture

• A typeface should also have an even colour and texture; two of the most important aspects of good design, and good type design relies on a combination of all of the characteristics described above. 
• Another important but somewhat unnoticed factor in achieving even colour and texture is proper word spacing. 
• The right amount allows a typestyle to be read easily without the words either running together or separated by oversized white spaces that interrupt the colour and overall readability of the design.
• So, there is more to type design than the actual shapes of the characters. AS you begin to notice these characteristics, your eye will get sharper and you will more easily differentiate a well-designed typeface from the rest of the pack.

Text Vs. Display

• There are two main categories of type: text and display. Simply put, text type is designed to be legible and readable at small sizes. 
• This usually implies fairly clean, consistent, uncomplicated design features; more open spacing than a display face; and thin strokes that hold up at smaller sizes. 
• Display type, on the other hand, can forgo the extreme legibility and readability needed for long block of text at small sizes for a stronger personality, elaborate and more expressive shapes, and a more stylish look.
• Many typefaces do not adhere to these descriptions, however, and can be used for both text and display. Some even look their best at midrange sizes. 
• When you are choosing a font, try to see a word grouping set at a size close to what you will be using. 
• It is very difficult to visualise what 14-point text will look like from a 60-point ‘a to z’ showing.

Dos and Don’ts

• Do start with a few basic typefaces and type families; learn how to use them well. Consider them the backbone of your typographic wardrobe-then you can add them to fit more specific occasions. 
• Many excellent designers use the same menu of typefaces for most of their work, and used appropriately, they always manage to look fresh and do the job well.
• Do leave white space. White space can create drama and emphasize the type.
• Do consider how your type will look at the size you are planning to use it.
• Do consider production issues when selecting text type.
• Don’t set to fit. Decide on a point size or range that looks and reads the best, and adjust line spacing and line width accordingly.
• Don’t go too big when setting text.
• Don’t tint type with delicate thin strokes.
• Don’t distort your type.
• Don’t let the way a typeface looks on a proof from you personal printer be the deciding factor in your selection, as it can look much heavier than the actual printed piece.

Typeface to consider Adobe Garamond pro

Display Type

• Display type can, and should, have less leading in general, since as type gets larger the negative spaces associated with the line spacing (and letter spacing) appear progressively too large. 
• When setting all caps, throw these rules out the window; all caps can be set with little or no leading and often look best with negative leading. 
• Line spacing, to a certain degree, has been trend based in the last few decades.
• Today line spacing leans towards a more open look, making for better readability and a cleaner appearance with more open space.
• For display type, auto-leading settings will generally be way off mark. Use your eye, not your software to make larger type settings visually appropriate. 

Reflection

I will make sure that I adjust the leading as appropriate for the larger text. I will select my typeface carefully, in accordance my design goals.