y as a design element How the effective use of type and whitespace can combine to create attractive packages
Dec 15, 2015
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