Principles/approches

01. Know The Art

First, know that the creative use of typography is an art. Do not take typography as merely a random use
of letters in design. On the contrary, it is a much-complicated subject that professional designers deal
with carefully. You have to be familiar with the anatomy of a typeface so that you can implement it
practically while creating designs.

You should have a profound understanding of typographic glossaries such as leading, kerning, baseline,
x-height, and many more. With insight into these terms, you can then confidently proceed toward
creatively using typefaces. Even when you are using kinetic typography, understanding the art of
typefaces and fonts is essential.

02. Pay Attention To Kerning

Many designers do not simply care for the kerning principles. The lack of regard for kerning results in
many basic design mistakes that hinder creativity. Kerning is all about keeping the right space between
two letters of a font. Design software does not solve the kerning issues adequately.

Remember that typefaces that have big serifs will require special efforts from the designer to adjust the
spacing wisely. When you are dealing with kerning issues in a headline or logo, it should be resolved
professionally and in a creative way. Or, you will ruin the aesthetics of the typography design.

03. Avoid Stretching Typefaces

Many designers make the mistake of stretching a typeface so that it anyhow fits in the space.
Sometimes, they do so to make it look different. But avoid doing it. Remember that typefaces are
created with definite reasoning. When you stretch or distort a typeface, you are going against that
purpose.

The typeface you choose to incorporate in your design contains its style and weight. Therefore, consider
these two properties of the typeface before expanding or condensing it.

04. Pick Alignment Wisely

Do not take alignment lightly as it plays a key role in determining the fate of a design. Alignment is an
important concept of typography. Most non-professional designers center aligns everything as they
think that the center balances and so it is good. But the fact is that central alignment is hard to read and
so the weakest choice.

The left-aligned format is easier for reading, as we see in magazines and books. But the centrally aligned
paragraphs are harder as the starting and finishing point is not consistent for each line. This means that
the reader’s eyes have to pause to find out the new correct line to start again from the endpoint of the
last line. However, we do not suggest that center alignment is always wrong, and you should only
choose a left alignment.
Also, think of using a mix of alignments for your typographic ideas. A website page design should use a
mix of alignments for viewing pleasure and ease. For instance, the headline could result in a different
alignment than the body text. Think of experiment with front alignment. But do not use too many
alignments as it will create visual clutter and confusion for the reader.

05. Choose A Contrasting Font

Often, graphic designers with lesser experience restrict themselves to choosing the primary typeface.
They want to design everything around it. But experienced typographic artists and designers will pick
another font that presents a contrasting effect. Such a font usually conflicts with the main typeface in
terms of its shape and appearance.

But the supporting font should add to the value of the primary typeface. Avoid picking a secondary font
that detracts from the primary one. For instance, if the primary typeface is bold and thick, then you can
opt for a thinner and simpler second font to present the contrasting effect. But the emphasis should still
be on the main font while supporting font serves the purpose of helping create visual pleasure.

06. Convey Using Font Sizes

The size of fonts can also be a way to convey a message immediately. You can highlight a piece of
important information just by increasing the size of the font overwhelmingly. This technique is
particularly applicable when designing a promotional ad. The keywords such as win, prize, could, etc. are
the messages for potential customers. So, by increasing the size of these words and making them appear
bold will help catch the customers’ eye instantly.

This means that your headline on a web page should not be a simple statement. Instead, the headline
should be designed in this way that it visually excites the reader to go through the body text. Depending
on the type of your business, you must be having some keywords that are catchy and attractive to your
customers. Think of highlighting those words in your website design by increasing their font size.

07. Create A Hierarchy

The hierarchy in graphic design is about leading the reader’s or user’s eyes to the important details on a
website page or any other design. A good typography design creates a hierarchy to make navigating a
web page, advertisement copy, packaging design, and other designs much easier. It involves organizing
all the design elements well so that customers do not have to waste time and energy in decoding a
message behind the design.

Creating the design hierarchy means you need to design content in different sections. You can have a
main headline, many subheadings, and body text. To make the content readable and visually appealing,
choose different fonts of the same typeface for headlines, subheads, and the rest of the body of the
text.
08. Choose A Few Fonts Only

Minimalism is a principle in typography, too, as it is in other aspects of graphic designs. This rule states
that you should convey your message in minimum possible elements. All the additional elements should
not exist in the design.

Keeping that in mind, choose only one or two fonts only to create a design. In this way, the design will
not become overloaded with a variety of fonts. Too many fonts will make the design cluttered and
confusing for the viewers.

09. Consider White Space

Many inexperienced designers try to overcrowd a page or design with too many elements. They make
the design look cluttered. But that leaves very little breathing space for the text. Instead, leave a good
amount of white space between letters and paragraphs.

White space also makes a design look aesthetically pleasing. This helps viewers and users stick to the
design for a longer period and that is one of the keys to conversion.

10. Convey The Message

Another principle of using typography is to consider a message. For business designs, it is the brand
message that matters a lot in using typefaces and fonts. Sometimes, a graphic designer struggles with
the right font choice. In that case, consider the message of the text and pick fonts accordingly.

Evaluation

01. Focus On The Measure

This might not be the best of the element to look for to make your design better per se, but designers
have been using the same few fonts over decades now. A long measure sometimes disrupts the pulse of
the design as it becomes difficult for the audience to go to the next line of type. Optimum readability
comes with 40-80 characters’ measure inclusive of the space.

A single-column design is best done with 65 characters. Using Robert Bringhurst’s method, calculate the
measure by multiplying the type size by 30.

We have helped thousands of business owners from all around the world with their graphic design
needs such as a logo design, website design, social media posts, banner and much more.
02. Mood Of The Content

Ever wondered why one font looks more attractive than the other does? Or, why do you think there is a
favorite font which is most often used in your design irrespective of the content? This is because every
typeface owes its own personality matching it to a certain mood.

It is wrong to consider any font as one-size-fits-all. Brainstorm some of the characteristics that you want
to convey through your design.

It is possible with the content planned out much ahead of deadline so that you can match the
typography fonts with the tone of the text. To quote Eben Sorkin, the famous type designer, “each
typeface has its own voice. This voice influences how we feel about the text we’re reading, but also how
we’re able to absorb and process information.” For instance, minimal type treatment for back-to-the-
basics product, vintage type combination for a product with yesteryear recipe is some well-
communicated typography.

03. Leading

The space between the successive lines of type in a body of the text is called leading and has a vital role
in readability of the copy. Correctly spaced lines leave a clean impact on the audience. In fact, it also
alters the typographic color that is the density of the composition.

Type size, typeface, measure, weight, word spacing, case etc. are some of the factors which affect
leading. The thumb rule is that longer the measure, more leading is required. The ideal choice is to set
the leading at 2-5pt larger than the given type size but, keep in mind the typeface.

04. Keep In Mind The Hierarchy Of Design

A well-organized design is said to have a good hierarchy. It makes easy to navigate and simpler to look
for the required information. Typographic hierarchy is essential for a great design, majorly so for the
text-heavy designs. Graphic designers of Designhill set up a basic hierarchy in the design for the
magazines, newsletters, books and other print advertorials.

They prioritize the information by importance and segment them with different text size. An easy-to-
scan structure is created with the help of sufficient spacing and grouping of the related texts. Headings
and subheadings are clearly marked to make the design neat.

05. Vertical Rhythm

A consistent grid with perfect proportion and balance through the page improves the design through
typography. For a vertical rhythm in CSS, the designer has to keep the spacing between elements and
the leading in equal measure to the size of the baseline grid.

06. Spacing And Alignment

Details in typography can either make the design or break it. Spacing and alignment are the two factors
that make a difference between a cluttered and orderly design. A consistent amount of horizontal space
will make the text look looser or tighter in overall capacity.