TYPOGRAPHY THEORY

Design Consider a t ions.

There is little place for lettering that is overly tricky, confusing, or difficult to read, especially when the purpose is to communictenot confuse!

Resist the temptation to overuse display fonts that you feel are representative of your concept or theme. Minimal use of these fonts for only selective words in the title is recommended.

Lettering should be simple, legible, appropriate and attractive.

Simplicit y in Typogr aphy.

Serif } with feet

KK
Sans Serif } without feet

PERCEIVED PERSONALITY TRAITS AND USES Serif typefaces are stable, practical, mature, formal and traditional Serif typefaces aid readability in large sets of printed body text Serifs generally have variation in stroke weight Serif typefaces exist in vast amounts and classifications Sans Serif typefaces are viewed as all purpose Sans Serifs are contemporary and bold, but also sleek and elegant Sans Serifs are easier to read at larger sizes Sans Serif body text is more readable on the web Sans Serifs were developed for propaganda design Sans Serifs have little variation in stroke weight

A keen eye for details is necessary to pick up on the nuances of typefaces.

Ser if v s. Sans Ser if.

Your design is intended to communicate information, not SHOUT IT OUT! Consider emphasizing only one word as necessary like slogan by scaling, changing color/value, style of lettering, using capitals, italicizing or underlining.

Use one to two typefaces per layout Use styles to emphasize, not for entire body text Do not use ALL CAPS Scripts for Headings Use Display Type sparingly Use appropriate line lengths of text Adjust your space after paragraph returns Only one space after a period in paragraph text Use proper typographers marks Choose Font Sizes relative to elements on your page As your type gets larger, adjust your tracking, leading & line-length. Use proper and relevant hierarchy when setting your text

General Typogrpahy Guidelines, not Commandments carved in stone.

Typogr aphy Basics.

h1

2xh2

abcdefghijklm
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklm
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklm

60pt

h2 h3 body text

2xh3 1.5xbt bt

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

30pt 15pt 10pt

Hierarchy helps readers scan a text, knowing where to enter and exit and how to pick and choose among its offerings. It is important to find relationships between your imagery and your type choices.

A typographic hierarchy expresses an organizational system for content, emphasizing some data and diminishing others. Each level of the hierarchy should be signaled by one or more
cues, applied consistently across a body of text. A cue can be spatial (indent, line spacing, placement on page) or graphic (size, style, color of typeface). Infinite variations are possible.

Hier archy.

Two Alphabet-lengths set in Grotesque Regular at varying point sizes

10

11

12

13

14

An ideal line length is based on Typeface, Style, and Point Size and should be between 1.5 to 2.5 alphabet-lengths per line Eight to twelve words per line 39 to 65 chararcters per line
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

pts

Folios, Running Heads, Captions, Subordinate Text

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Basic Body Text

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Vision Impaired Body Text

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Choosing an appropriate line length for Body Text is like shopping for a good pair of jeans.
You may know your approximate jean size, but you still need to try them on and make sure they look and feeljust right.

Line-Lengt hs.

 20% leading [approx 2 pts] is normally fine for standard type sizes such as 10, 11, 12 point Leading can be decreased for typefaces with a relatively small x-height Leading can be increased for typefaces with a relatively large x-height Leading should be increased for long lines and shortened for shorter lines Leading can be adjusted for compositional reasons so long as the information reads correctly

Appropriate line spacing [leading] allows your type to breathe and be easily read.
The best line spacing is roughly 120% of the type size

Leading.