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The Ultimate Guide to Typography
If you’re not new around here, you already know we’re huge fans of typography. Well, some of us are just really big fans, but our man, Chris, also happens to be an authority on the matter. ::straightens bowtie::
To be clear, it’s not that we think typography is just cool, fun, or exciting (which it totally is). But we’re fans (and teachers) of type because of how wildly valuable it is to our work as designers.
We’re not saying you have to become an expert at it, but we are saying that you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t learn some of the basic ins and outs of why it matters, how to use it, and how it can level up your expertise.
With that in mind, you might want to earmark this article for future reference ‘cause it’s got pretty much everything you need to know about getting started with understanding and implementing typography.
So, without any further ado – HERE. WE. GO!
What is Typography?
From font type and size to texture and spacing, typography is text's style, design, and appearance.
Born out of the ancient times of ~writing by hand~ (OoOooohh), typography exists everywhere that words do, and it touches nearly every aspect of a business—from visual design to brand messaging, style guides, and marketing strategies.
It should be pretty clear, then, that typography is a critical part of our work as designers. This is why we must stay hip-to-the-know on how to do typography and leverage it for our clients (and our own businesses).
On The History of Typography
Though the history of typography goes way, way, WAAAYYY back—think hieroglyphics and kanji—when we talk about it, we’re specifically referring to its use in design, starting with (drumroll, please) –
Expressive typography
Expressive typography started popping up in design between the Futurist and Dada movements. In part, this was a way to more fully embody the various sensations and movements in work and express an idea.
The expression often rendered the straight-forward “message” unrecognizable, but that was the point! This was considered a revolutionary point of view ~back in the day~ and we still think it’s pretty rad.
As much as we could absolutely geek out about even just this one thing on expressive typography’s history, we’ll let Filippo Tommaso Marinetti close out this section–
“I undertake a typographical revolution directed especially against the idiotic and nauseous conception of old-fashioned books of verses ... Better still: my revolution is directed against what is called typographical harmony of the page ... I intend to redouble the expressive force of words."
Functional typography
Expressive typography is a tough act to follow, but functional typography fell right into place and started sending more concrete, literal messages. Wait a minute! How is that different from how we used type outside of design?
Great question! Let’s have a little reenactment.
Type said, “Look at me! I can press these letters into pages and tell you things!”
Expressive Typography asked, “What if we used those letters to make art?”
And finally, Functional Typography asked right back, “¿Porque no los dos?”
(cue the triumphant music and a whole lot of really beautiful, functional type)
Why is Typography Important?
It’s completely wild to us that typography is sometimes overlooked or pushed to the back of the stage in favor of the more ~glamorous~ design elements like logos.
And hey, we get it.
In many contexts, effective typography is practically invisible because it should besmooth that the reader doesn’t even notice it. But it is, somewhat secretly, a force to be reckoned with and a key design element with serious impact.
It does a lot of the heavy lifting in building brand recognition and creating connections between those brands and their current and potential consumers.
Just like all the other individual elements of design, typography communicates a message beyond words. As Ted "Theodore" Logan once said, “Whoooa.”
Giving voice to design
Good typography has the power to establish a visual hierarchy, set the overall tone of a product, service, website, or brand, and drive graphic balance. Pretty important stuff, if you ask us! “Back-up dancer” who? Typography’s the star of the show, baybee!
And, no joke, everything little thing she does is magic.
From the sharpness or softness of the font shapes to the color palette, letter size, and spacing- literally every decision you make about manipulating the existing type—or designing your original type—can positively or negatively influence the feeling, vibe, or voice of the design.
For example, fonts with bizarro or unconventional edges can change the tone of the message to fun and quirky, whereas other fonts might feel more classical or whimsical.
You might look at a compressed sans-serif or a simple, traditional font for a more serious or professional tone.
When you really know your stuff, you can start mixin’ and matchin’ these fonts and choose your own adventure to create the exact tone you want the reader to receive the message in.
Fortunately, “really knowing your stuff” can be so much sooner than you might have thought possible! We’ve got the course right here– hop into our typography course online to start now.
Oh, and remember, y’all, picking typefaces is only ONE of many elements you can adjust to change the whole of your design.
You can also line things up in a bunch of different ways with a grid and have fun with contrast, weights, and line breaks. You can play around with color and spacing, placement, and opacity. These can all communicate different personalities and tones.
Conveying a message clearly, effectively, and memorably
Have you ever seen a piece of art that made you cry? Or how about certain product packaging that made you scream, “OMG!” and then go show it to someone else?
The ability to clearly communicate a message, feeling, or action, is not just reserved for graphic or visual design. Your typography can also do this, which is why it’s so super important to include it as an intentional part of your design.
Personally, we’re still thinking about the typography choices of the FedEx logo. Sure, it’s been lauded in marketing programs for years, but it’s totally worth highlighting here.
From the subtle optical illusion of the image of an arrow between the “E” and the “X” (depicting action, movement, and direction) to the color choices (distinguishing their services while aiming to elicit feelings of quality and trust), to the spacing and font choice (creating a sense of service, speed, precision, and reliability). Once you see it all come together, it’s like magic.
If you let your type roam wild and free, it will still convey a message, feeling, or action, but you won’t be in control of it. So be intentional and be careful! ‘Cause you know what they say, “With great typography comes great responsibility.”
We're pretty sure they say that, anyway, and if they don’t already, they definitely should!
Influence
We’ve all been there- staring at four different salad dressings, all of a similar price, similar ingredients, but we hesitate. Which one should I pick? Does it even matter? Ultimately, we do pick one. But why that one?
Many little things influence our decision-making, and (surprise, surprise!) many of those things are a direct result of the typography choices made. Maybe you skip the one with the blue font because Ranch feels green to you (no? Just us?).
Maybe you gravitate toward the softer letters of a sans-serif typeface over a typeface with serifs. Often, we grab the one that has the recognizable design – I know this is the one I want because it looks like the brand I associate with Ranch Dressing.
In this example, we see how well-designed typography establishes authority, builds trust between a brand and its user, and grabs and holds the user’s attention, all while communicating the personality and essence of the brand. That’s a lot of work for one design element!
Accessibility
Aiming to provide a positive user experience through awesome typography skills isn’t just about what looks the coolest or most interesting.
According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 7 people (or 15% of the world’s population) struggle with basic interactions and tasks.
Every element of typography impacts readability and accessibility. So, to do our jobs responsibly, we must consider those with age-related conditions, poor vision, learning disabilities, dyslexia, aphasia, or low-tech literacy.
By understanding how typography can help or hinder the user experience, you can be sure your type does all the important things, like helping the reader find the beginning of each line or showing them exactly what to pay attention to and when.
Keep it legal! Making your typography accessible is the right and rad thing to do, but it’s also the law. Be sure to check ADA Compliance and the latest Web Accessibility Standards and Laws to stay in-the-know.
Different Types of Typography
The different types (pun intended and 100% necessary) of typography can overlap in a lot of places and in a lot of ways, but generally, we can break it down into these four categories:
No, print isn’t dead yet, and there are plenty of things to consider when we’re workin’ 100% digital for something that will eventually be physical. Interestingly enough, printed typography requires a lot of the same things as typography for the web:
Testing
Testing
And, finally, TESTING!
We have “proofs” when we print for a reason. Please, please use that test run to ensure everything comes out as you envisioned before ordering 3,000 prints. It’ll save you and your client headache and cash!
Look for legibility issues; does the type change when printed, is it bigger than you expected or not big enough? Stylistically, does it have the impact you’d hoped for, or does it look less va-va-voom now that it’s printed out?
Adjust accordingly and make a note of lessons learned for future reference. At the end of the day, we’re always learning, right? Right!
Digital
Similarly, we want to test and be sure that our web typography is responsive. This time, it’s not about what it looks like in its final iteration but rather what it looks like across different devices, platforms, and browsers (i.e., auto adjusting to fit different screens at different sizes).
So, what are you looking for when you test for responsive type? Scalability, spacing, contrast, you NAME it. You want it to look really good on absolutely any phone.
There are a few places where you can easily test your display cross-browser and cross-device. Websites like BrowserStack offer free and paid testing services to ensure your typography is functioning correctly. Which brings us to…
Functionality
Here’s where we see some of that overlap we mentioned earlier. “Functional” is both a type (ha!) of typography and something that your typography ought to be.
Even if you’re in the realm of “expressive typography” and not “functional,” it’s still important that the type functions how you want and need it to.
With less expressive applications of your type, the user needs to be able to read the text, which requires a legible typeface. As pretty as some of the more intricate decorative typefaces are, it shouldn't be difficult to see or understand your design.
Expressive
Yay for more overlap!
We went over a little bit of the history of expressive typography earlier, but what is it that actually makes it expressive vs. functional? Obviously, it’s not as easy as “if I can’t read it, it’s expressive!” Okay, so then what is it?
The real answer is almost as quick and easy as the snarky one! It’s typography that uses type unexpectedly and emotionally, often using the letters and other components as the shapes that make up the image.
Again this was revolutionary stuff at the time, and we’re still super impressed when it’s done well. Kinda like this:
Kinetic
This is a cool-sounding name for a pretty cool-looking thing. Kinetic, in this context, just means “moving text.” We think it’s so dang nifty because it brings design and text together into the fascinating world of animation. Gotta love that movie magic!
You can check out our favorite example of kinetic typography while also learning some extremely helpful quick tips on ruling type – multitaskers rejoice!
Legends to Look To
Looking for a bit of inspiration from those making waves in the world of typography? We’ve got a few standouts for you to check out.
Piet Zwart
Born in 1885, Zwart was a self-proclaimed “typotext,” graphic designer, architect, and a downright OG of typography. He was a known rule-breaker, mixing and matching new or interesting themes with traditional design elements.
Herb Lubalin
Known for his use of letterforms inside an image or icon, Lubalin called his designs “typographics.” His designs toed the line between playful, fun, and simple, functional.
Paula Scher
The first woman president of the mega design firm, Pentagram, Paula Scher’s unique designs integrated typography into imagery. Imagine a digital representation of crosshatching.
Gail Anderson
The first African-American woman to receive the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement, Gail Anderson worked with just about every form of type you can imagine. She’s also written books and taught classes on typography.
Annie Atkins
While not quite a design legend (yet!), Annie Atkins is someone we’ve got our eye on, and you should too. Her unique, nostalgic take on typography can be spotted in Wes Anderson’s, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Resources To Reference
Ready to learn more? Here are some resources and courses we think you’ll love.
Typography-specific
Design-related
Business operations
Book recommendations
Here are some of Chris’s top picks:
- Typographic Design by Rob Carter
- Detail In Typography by Jost Hochuli
- Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works by Erik Spiekermann
- Typographic Systems of Design: Frameworks for Type Beyond the Grid by Kimberly Elam
- Type Matters! by Jim Williams
- Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton
Common Typography Questions And Crimes
We’ve got a whole article on typography FAQs, but here are some that bear repeating:
The difference between a letter, a character, and a glyph
Character - A broad term that includes numbers, letters, accent marks, punctuation, and other symbols.
Letter - Included in the “character” category, a letter is strictly in the A-Z family.
Glyph - This is the visual representation of a character. The shape and design are what make it a glyph (even if it’s the same character).
The difference between a typeface and a font
Often used interchangeably, typeface and font are, in fact, different things. It’s fairly straightforward once it clicks: A typeface is a lettering style, and a font is a typeface variation. It may help to think of a typeface as a family of fonts.
The difference between leading and kerning
Leading refers to the spacing between lines of text. Kerning is the spacing between letters. Adjusting either of these can dramatically impact the legibility and readability of your text, so please space responsibly!
Considering accessible typeface
Accessible typeface means it’s easily readable by most people and assistive technology (needed for those with vision loss, blindness, or reading disorders) and won’t slow down or exclude any visitor.
What every beginner should know
Before considering the aesthetics of your typeface design, consider the primary goals of your typography.
At the foundational level, your type should always aim to be:
1. Clear and not confusing
2. Interesting and not boring
3. Communicating an idea
4. Detailed, detailed, detailed
1. Keep it simple
2. Contrast is king
3. When in doubt, skip a weight
4. Use cases
5. Play around with point size and line breaks
6. And most importantly, keep it legible
What you should never do
While we enthusiastically encourage you to experiment and break the rules when it makes sense, here are some typography no-nos that are simply criminal:
1. Using bad fonts or poor pairings
2. Using too many font styles or typefaces
3. Not using tracking properly
4. Stretching or distorting the text
5. Leaving behind ‘orphans’ and ‘widows’
6. Using too many signals or being boring
7. Jamming up your text
Need an explainer or two on some or all of these? Check out our Crimes of Typography article here.
What Does Good Typography Look Like?
You’re lookin’ at it, baby!
Okay, seriously, though, here are a handful of simple tips and tricks that will improve your typography game immensely in about the same amount of time it takes to toast a bagel.
1. Justify left
2. Use one font
3. Skip a weight
4. Double the point size
5. Align to one axis
6. Pick any font (sort of!)
7. Group by using rules
8. Avoid the corners
9. Mind the gap
10. Relax, it’s just type
POP (goes the bagel)! See? Look at you, multitasking like a boss.
Did that little bite of bagel just make you want the whole dang breakfast sandwich?
Here’s the bacon, egg, and cheese! Oops, we mean the video, full blog post, and free download of our typography manual. Om nom nom.
Ready To Elevate Your Design Career?
If you’re ready, come and get it, na na na naaa!
Sorry, we’re just so dang excited that you’re here, and we can’t wait to see what awesome new things you’ll do as you learn how to do typography with us!
Are you excited, too? Then don’t wait! Get started with our free Typography Manual and tons of video content on our YouTube channel.
If you want to take your learning to the next level, check out our Typography 01 course and consider joining our pro group to be a part of a community of cool cats and dope designers. See you there!
The Ultimate Guide to Typography
You might want to earmark this article for future reference ‘cause it’s got pretty much everything you need to know about getting started with understanding and implementing typography.
You might want to earmark this article for future reference ‘cause it’s got pretty much everything you need to know about getting started with understanding and implementing typography.
If you’re not new around here, you already know we’re huge fans of typography. Well, some of us are just really big fans, but our man, Chris, also happens to be an authority on the matter. ::straightens bowtie::
To be clear, it’s not that we think typography is just cool, fun, or exciting (which it totally is). But we’re fans (and teachers) of type because of how wildly valuable it is to our work as designers.
We’re not saying you have to become an expert at it, but we are saying that you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t learn some of the basic ins and outs of why it matters, how to use it, and how it can level up your expertise.
With that in mind, you might want to earmark this article for future reference ‘cause it’s got pretty much everything you need to know about getting started with understanding and implementing typography.
So, without any further ado – HERE. WE. GO!
What is Typography?
From font type and size to texture and spacing, typography is text's style, design, and appearance.
Born out of the ancient times of ~writing by hand~ (OoOooohh), typography exists everywhere that words do, and it touches nearly every aspect of a business—from visual design to brand messaging, style guides, and marketing strategies.
It should be pretty clear, then, that typography is a critical part of our work as designers. This is why we must stay hip-to-the-know on how to do typography and leverage it for our clients (and our own businesses).
On The History of Typography
Though the history of typography goes way, way, WAAAYYY back—think hieroglyphics and kanji—when we talk about it, we’re specifically referring to its use in design, starting with (drumroll, please) –
Expressive typography
Expressive typography started popping up in design between the Futurist and Dada movements. In part, this was a way to more fully embody the various sensations and movements in work and express an idea.
The expression often rendered the straight-forward “message” unrecognizable, but that was the point! This was considered a revolutionary point of view ~back in the day~ and we still think it’s pretty rad.
As much as we could absolutely geek out about even just this one thing on expressive typography’s history, we’ll let Filippo Tommaso Marinetti close out this section–
“I undertake a typographical revolution directed especially against the idiotic and nauseous conception of old-fashioned books of verses ... Better still: my revolution is directed against what is called typographical harmony of the page ... I intend to redouble the expressive force of words."
Functional typography
Expressive typography is a tough act to follow, but functional typography fell right into place and started sending more concrete, literal messages. Wait a minute! How is that different from how we used type outside of design?
Great question! Let’s have a little reenactment.
Type said, “Look at me! I can press these letters into pages and tell you things!”
Expressive Typography asked, “What if we used those letters to make art?”
And finally, Functional Typography asked right back, “¿Porque no los dos?”
(cue the triumphant music and a whole lot of really beautiful, functional type)
Why is Typography Important?
It’s completely wild to us that typography is sometimes overlooked or pushed to the back of the stage in favor of the more ~glamorous~ design elements like logos.
And hey, we get it.
In many contexts, effective typography is practically invisible because it should besmooth that the reader doesn’t even notice it. But it is, somewhat secretly, a force to be reckoned with and a key design element with serious impact.
It does a lot of the heavy lifting in building brand recognition and creating connections between those brands and their current and potential consumers.
Just like all the other individual elements of design, typography communicates a message beyond words. As Ted "Theodore" Logan once said, “Whoooa.”
Giving voice to design
Good typography has the power to establish a visual hierarchy, set the overall tone of a product, service, website, or brand, and drive graphic balance. Pretty important stuff, if you ask us! “Back-up dancer” who? Typography’s the star of the show, baybee!
And, no joke, everything little thing she does is magic.
From the sharpness or softness of the font shapes to the color palette, letter size, and spacing- literally every decision you make about manipulating the existing type—or designing your original type—can positively or negatively influence the feeling, vibe, or voice of the design.
For example, fonts with bizarro or unconventional edges can change the tone of the message to fun and quirky, whereas other fonts might feel more classical or whimsical.
You might look at a compressed sans-serif or a simple, traditional font for a more serious or professional tone.
When you really know your stuff, you can start mixin’ and matchin’ these fonts and choose your own adventure to create the exact tone you want the reader to receive the message in.
Fortunately, “really knowing your stuff” can be so much sooner than you might have thought possible! We’ve got the course right here– hop into our typography course online to start now.
Oh, and remember, y’all, picking typefaces is only ONE of many elements you can adjust to change the whole of your design.
You can also line things up in a bunch of different ways with a grid and have fun with contrast, weights, and line breaks. You can play around with color and spacing, placement, and opacity. These can all communicate different personalities and tones.
Conveying a message clearly, effectively, and memorably
Have you ever seen a piece of art that made you cry? Or how about certain product packaging that made you scream, “OMG!” and then go show it to someone else?
The ability to clearly communicate a message, feeling, or action, is not just reserved for graphic or visual design. Your typography can also do this, which is why it’s so super important to include it as an intentional part of your design.
Personally, we’re still thinking about the typography choices of the FedEx logo. Sure, it’s been lauded in marketing programs for years, but it’s totally worth highlighting here.
From the subtle optical illusion of the image of an arrow between the “E” and the “X” (depicting action, movement, and direction) to the color choices (distinguishing their services while aiming to elicit feelings of quality and trust), to the spacing and font choice (creating a sense of service, speed, precision, and reliability). Once you see it all come together, it’s like magic.
If you let your type roam wild and free, it will still convey a message, feeling, or action, but you won’t be in control of it. So be intentional and be careful! ‘Cause you know what they say, “With great typography comes great responsibility.”
We're pretty sure they say that, anyway, and if they don’t already, they definitely should!
Influence
We’ve all been there- staring at four different salad dressings, all of a similar price, similar ingredients, but we hesitate. Which one should I pick? Does it even matter? Ultimately, we do pick one. But why that one?
Many little things influence our decision-making, and (surprise, surprise!) many of those things are a direct result of the typography choices made. Maybe you skip the one with the blue font because Ranch feels green to you (no? Just us?).
Maybe you gravitate toward the softer letters of a sans-serif typeface over a typeface with serifs. Often, we grab the one that has the recognizable design – I know this is the one I want because it looks like the brand I associate with Ranch Dressing.
In this example, we see how well-designed typography establishes authority, builds trust between a brand and its user, and grabs and holds the user’s attention, all while communicating the personality and essence of the brand. That’s a lot of work for one design element!
Accessibility
Aiming to provide a positive user experience through awesome typography skills isn’t just about what looks the coolest or most interesting.
According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 7 people (or 15% of the world’s population) struggle with basic interactions and tasks.
Every element of typography impacts readability and accessibility. So, to do our jobs responsibly, we must consider those with age-related conditions, poor vision, learning disabilities, dyslexia, aphasia, or low-tech literacy.
By understanding how typography can help or hinder the user experience, you can be sure your type does all the important things, like helping the reader find the beginning of each line or showing them exactly what to pay attention to and when.
Keep it legal! Making your typography accessible is the right and rad thing to do, but it’s also the law. Be sure to check ADA Compliance and the latest Web Accessibility Standards and Laws to stay in-the-know.
Different Types of Typography
The different types (pun intended and 100% necessary) of typography can overlap in a lot of places and in a lot of ways, but generally, we can break it down into these four categories:
No, print isn’t dead yet, and there are plenty of things to consider when we’re workin’ 100% digital for something that will eventually be physical. Interestingly enough, printed typography requires a lot of the same things as typography for the web:
Testing
Testing
And, finally, TESTING!
We have “proofs” when we print for a reason. Please, please use that test run to ensure everything comes out as you envisioned before ordering 3,000 prints. It’ll save you and your client headache and cash!
Look for legibility issues; does the type change when printed, is it bigger than you expected or not big enough? Stylistically, does it have the impact you’d hoped for, or does it look less va-va-voom now that it’s printed out?
Adjust accordingly and make a note of lessons learned for future reference. At the end of the day, we’re always learning, right? Right!
Digital
Similarly, we want to test and be sure that our web typography is responsive. This time, it’s not about what it looks like in its final iteration but rather what it looks like across different devices, platforms, and browsers (i.e., auto adjusting to fit different screens at different sizes).
So, what are you looking for when you test for responsive type? Scalability, spacing, contrast, you NAME it. You want it to look really good on absolutely any phone.
There are a few places where you can easily test your display cross-browser and cross-device. Websites like BrowserStack offer free and paid testing services to ensure your typography is functioning correctly. Which brings us to…
Functionality
Here’s where we see some of that overlap we mentioned earlier. “Functional” is both a type (ha!) of typography and something that your typography ought to be.
Even if you’re in the realm of “expressive typography” and not “functional,” it’s still important that the type functions how you want and need it to.
With less expressive applications of your type, the user needs to be able to read the text, which requires a legible typeface. As pretty as some of the more intricate decorative typefaces are, it shouldn't be difficult to see or understand your design.
Expressive
Yay for more overlap!
We went over a little bit of the history of expressive typography earlier, but what is it that actually makes it expressive vs. functional? Obviously, it’s not as easy as “if I can’t read it, it’s expressive!” Okay, so then what is it?
The real answer is almost as quick and easy as the snarky one! It’s typography that uses type unexpectedly and emotionally, often using the letters and other components as the shapes that make up the image.
Again this was revolutionary stuff at the time, and we’re still super impressed when it’s done well. Kinda like this:
Kinetic
This is a cool-sounding name for a pretty cool-looking thing. Kinetic, in this context, just means “moving text.” We think it’s so dang nifty because it brings design and text together into the fascinating world of animation. Gotta love that movie magic!
You can check out our favorite example of kinetic typography while also learning some extremely helpful quick tips on ruling type – multitaskers rejoice!
Legends to Look To
Looking for a bit of inspiration from those making waves in the world of typography? We’ve got a few standouts for you to check out.
Piet Zwart
Born in 1885, Zwart was a self-proclaimed “typotext,” graphic designer, architect, and a downright OG of typography. He was a known rule-breaker, mixing and matching new or interesting themes with traditional design elements.
Herb Lubalin
Known for his use of letterforms inside an image or icon, Lubalin called his designs “typographics.” His designs toed the line between playful, fun, and simple, functional.
Paula Scher
The first woman president of the mega design firm, Pentagram, Paula Scher’s unique designs integrated typography into imagery. Imagine a digital representation of crosshatching.
Gail Anderson
The first African-American woman to receive the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement, Gail Anderson worked with just about every form of type you can imagine. She’s also written books and taught classes on typography.
Annie Atkins
While not quite a design legend (yet!), Annie Atkins is someone we’ve got our eye on, and you should too. Her unique, nostalgic take on typography can be spotted in Wes Anderson’s, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Resources To Reference
Ready to learn more? Here are some resources and courses we think you’ll love.
Typography-specific
Design-related
Business operations
Book recommendations
Here are some of Chris’s top picks:
- Typographic Design by Rob Carter
- Detail In Typography by Jost Hochuli
- Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works by Erik Spiekermann
- Typographic Systems of Design: Frameworks for Type Beyond the Grid by Kimberly Elam
- Type Matters! by Jim Williams
- Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton
Common Typography Questions And Crimes
We’ve got a whole article on typography FAQs, but here are some that bear repeating:
The difference between a letter, a character, and a glyph
Character - A broad term that includes numbers, letters, accent marks, punctuation, and other symbols.
Letter - Included in the “character” category, a letter is strictly in the A-Z family.
Glyph - This is the visual representation of a character. The shape and design are what make it a glyph (even if it’s the same character).
The difference between a typeface and a font
Often used interchangeably, typeface and font are, in fact, different things. It’s fairly straightforward once it clicks: A typeface is a lettering style, and a font is a typeface variation. It may help to think of a typeface as a family of fonts.
The difference between leading and kerning
Leading refers to the spacing between lines of text. Kerning is the spacing between letters. Adjusting either of these can dramatically impact the legibility and readability of your text, so please space responsibly!
Considering accessible typeface
Accessible typeface means it’s easily readable by most people and assistive technology (needed for those with vision loss, blindness, or reading disorders) and won’t slow down or exclude any visitor.
What every beginner should know
Before considering the aesthetics of your typeface design, consider the primary goals of your typography.
At the foundational level, your type should always aim to be:
1. Clear and not confusing
2. Interesting and not boring
3. Communicating an idea
4. Detailed, detailed, detailed
1. Keep it simple
2. Contrast is king
3. When in doubt, skip a weight
4. Use cases
5. Play around with point size and line breaks
6. And most importantly, keep it legible
What you should never do
While we enthusiastically encourage you to experiment and break the rules when it makes sense, here are some typography no-nos that are simply criminal:
1. Using bad fonts or poor pairings
2. Using too many font styles or typefaces
3. Not using tracking properly
4. Stretching or distorting the text
5. Leaving behind ‘orphans’ and ‘widows’
6. Using too many signals or being boring
7. Jamming up your text
Need an explainer or two on some or all of these? Check out our Crimes of Typography article here.
What Does Good Typography Look Like?
You’re lookin’ at it, baby!
Okay, seriously, though, here are a handful of simple tips and tricks that will improve your typography game immensely in about the same amount of time it takes to toast a bagel.
1. Justify left
2. Use one font
3. Skip a weight
4. Double the point size
5. Align to one axis
6. Pick any font (sort of!)
7. Group by using rules
8. Avoid the corners
9. Mind the gap
10. Relax, it’s just type
POP (goes the bagel)! See? Look at you, multitasking like a boss.
Did that little bite of bagel just make you want the whole dang breakfast sandwich?
Here’s the bacon, egg, and cheese! Oops, we mean the video, full blog post, and free download of our typography manual. Om nom nom.
Ready To Elevate Your Design Career?
If you’re ready, come and get it, na na na naaa!
Sorry, we’re just so dang excited that you’re here, and we can’t wait to see what awesome new things you’ll do as you learn how to do typography with us!
Are you excited, too? Then don’t wait! Get started with our free Typography Manual and tons of video content on our YouTube channel.
If you want to take your learning to the next level, check out our Typography 01 course and consider joining our pro group to be a part of a community of cool cats and dope designers. See you there!
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