Typography notes

Design

Typography

“Fonts are the clothing that our ideas wear.”

Legibility

-choose classical time tested typefaces

Sans-serif (reads better for large) v. serif (reads better for small)

can be complementary

Font variance

-too many confuse the reader

Definition

-if fonts are too similar then it causes ambiguity

Readability

-Use upper and lower case letters for optimum clarity

capital letters are the equivalent of shouting and are difficult to read

Alignment

-left alignment reads easiest, consider eye flow as it moves down a page

Emphasis

-use these tools with discretion and without disturbing eyeflow

1. italics
2. bold
3. size
4. color
5. typestyle change

Integrity

-avoid stretching or distorting type

arbitrarily distorting fonts compromises their integrity

Weight

-strive for a sense of balance

is the font heavy or light

Kerning

-space between the letters individually

Tracking

-spacing from one letter to the next

Large text blocks: rags

-ragged edges in text blocks