by Megan Smith
Hey Everyone, I'm Megan Smith and I have been apart of Mansell Media for over 3 years now as one of their Graphic Designers and as a Social Media Manager, I love making something simple into something incredible. I am a problem solver at heart and strive to deliver the most effective solutions to the highest of standards.
Today I wanted to share with you some helpful tips to know about Typography.
To start off Typography is more than just typing words onto a piece of paper. When being a graphic designer just ONE WORD can make a huge difference, this is when you can make something simple into something super creative and make it stand out.
Here are my 8 helpful tips:
1. Learn the Basics - It's central to the skills of a designer and is about much more than making the words legible. Your choice of typeface and how you make it work with your layout, grid, color scheme, design theme and so on will make the difference between a good, bad and great design.
2. Watch Your Kerning- Kerning refers to the amount of space between two letters (or other characters: numbers, punctuation, etc.) and the process of adjusting that space to avoid awkward-looking gaps between your letters and improve legibility.
3. Be Aware of Font Communication- Every font communicates certain attributes on both a conscious and subconscious level. Two of the major areas of communication are gender and era.
4. Alignment- 1. Flush Left (or Ragged Right) 2. Flush Right (or Ragged Left) 3. Justified 4. Centered
Alignment is an extremely important concept in typography. For some reason, non-designers tend to instinctively center align everything. Somewhere in life, we learn that if something is centered then it is balanced and therefore better. In reality, center alignment is the weakest, hardest to read alignment and should be used very selectively.
5. Choose a Good Secondary Font - After you’ve chosen a primary typeface, the next step is to choose another font that will accent it. This is as opposed to a font that will conflict with the primary choice.
6. Size Matters- What this means practically is that when you’re creating a headline, don’t simply type it out: design it. When everything is the same size, width, and color that leaves zero emphases on any part of the message.
7. Use Typography As Art- Stop thinking of typography as simply headlines and body copy and start thinking of it as a design element. Typefaces are meticulously designed and therefore possess an aesthetic that can be a valuable asset to your design arsenal. never feel as if you’re confined by the structure of existing fonts. Expand on the font shapes to suit your needs. Try adding swirls, texture, blotches, spats, and anything else you can think of to spice up the look of the type.
Last but not least, 8. Find Good Inspiration- The best way to learn to create effective and attractive typography is to find and study some existing examples. My Inspiration is and will forever be Saul Bass! If you ever have a minute I recommend looking at his work. There might be something you recognize that you didn't even know was his work.
Well, that's all folks. If you want to know anything else or have questions feel free to contact Mansell Media. One of us would love to talk to you!