Typography as a design element

Typography

as a design element

How the effective use of type and whitespace

can combine to create attractive packages

The art and technique of arranging type The cornerstone of any designer’s skillset Much more than making words legible

What is typography?

It is impossible to become skilled in

typography without understanding the basic

rules of the craft — even if you

mean to break them.

Size. Not just the font size, the character size. Leading. The vertical space between each line of

type. Kerning. Refers to the space between characters. Measure. The width of the text block. Hierarchy. The order of elements.

Basic concepts

Leading should be a larger number than font

size General rule: between one and two sizes greater

FUN FACT! It’s called leading because, in the days of metal typesetting, strips of lead were used to separate lines of type.

Leading

Check out this example of leading right here. It’s very important to get your leading right for legibility reasons. This is too loose.

Check out this example of leading right here. It’s very important to get your leading right for legibility reasons. This is too tight.

Check out this example of leading right here. It’s very important to get your leading right for legibility reasons. This is just right.

Leading

Kerning describes the act of adjusting the space

between characters to create a harmonious pairing. Example: where an uppercase ‘A’ and ‘V’ meet

AV(the top left of the ‘V’ sits above the bottom right of the

‘A’)

Kerning

Provides the reader with a roadmap Font size is not the only way to define hierarchy

Color Spacing Weight

Dominant elements are bigger Things get smaller down the page

Hierarchy

whitespace.

Serves as a subtle, visual clue Balance is key Whitespace can never be underrated

My opinion: Too much is better than too little

Whitespace

“The black space can

never be beautiful until the white space is beautiful.”

Whitespace

What you don’t notice Focuses on the content Attractive Consistent in every detail (most important!)

What is good design?

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is

nothing left to add, but when there is nothing

left to remove.”—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry