Typography

The ability to read is one of the most vital parts of life in the modern world. Books, websites, social media, advertisements, instructions, maps, and thousands of other things; humanity has made reading a part of most aspects of life. It is how people communicate, learn, and even find entertainment. For these reasons, text must be communicated in a manner that is functional and organized properly. This is where typography comes in. Jaye Hannah describes typography in her article as, “the art of arranging letters and text in a way that makes the copy legible, clear, and visually appealing to the reader.” Typography is a seemingly simple concept; however, it takes designers large amounts of time to perfect its different pieces to create an effective result.

The most obvious part of typography is what text looks like. This begins with the typeface—a family of fonts such as Times New Roman and Helvetica. Douglas Bonneville states in his article that, “in order to choose a typeface [you must] form a strong impression in your mind about how you want your audience to react to the text.” This is because the typeface sets the mood for the entire layout. How the audience reacts when they see typography will affect how they interpret what the words are saying. Some are sleek and modern, while others are more mature and older fashioned. Typefaces are classified based on their characteristics, the three most common groups being serif, sans-serif, and decorative. Having a typeface that complements the media that is being consumed speaks volumes about the words before they are even read. Beyond the typeface, it is also important to select a font that compliments a particular section of reading. Having this variation in text begins to create contrast and establish a hierarchy. These aspects are further established through the color—which should complement the rest of the piece—and the size of the typography. The appearance of typography is the first impression of the information that it is relaying.

"Whether it’s on our phones, in books or on websites, we’re constantly digesting written words." -Jaye Hannah

Even though it is important, the look of typography is not its only important aspect. How text is laid out and spaced determines how legible it is and how enjoyable it is to use. Alignment is the process of bringing together text, images, and graphics to relay information. It is important that each of these elements has enough white space and that they are spaced out equally. Even finer revisions come in the form of kerning, leading, and tracking text. As mentioned earlier, another important aspect of typography is hierarchy. This is established through the size, font, and color of the text and it guides the reader through their experience. Hierarchy determines what information is the most important and the order in which it should all be read. The layout of typography is essential to the experience of the consumer.

It is great to know about many of the different pieces of typography, but how do you know what to do with each one? In other words, what is the best way to design different types of information? One important thing to consider is what the personality and feel of the typography should be at that moment. For example, a wedding invitation should not feel sad or monotonous. They have bright colors and script typefaces to match the excitement and commitment of marriage. Another factor to consider is the situation in which the typography is going to be used. Typography for a logo is going to be very different than typography for a flyer. Besides word count, a flyer needs to be less stylized to easily portray the information that it is trying to show. A logo on the other hand needs to be identifiable and stand out from the crowd. When designing typography, every factor of its use needs to be considered.

Typography is an aspect of design with a lot of moving parts. It needs to find a balance between function and aesthetics. Knowing these concepts as a designer is crucial because a good design will make communication an easier and better experience. In a world that reads more than ever, designers need to be there to improve how people consume information.