Lecture 110

Introduction to Typography | “Working with Typography in InDesign"

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Lecture Notes for Lecture 110: Typography

Typography

Typefaces (definition of terms)

Style

Styles:
- Regular
- Italic
- Bold
They are often used to provide contrast and emphasis
Choose style from within the font family, not through the operating system

Weight

Refers to the lightness or darkness of letterforms marked by changes in stroke (line) width
Weights:
- Light
- Medium
- Bold
Design By: Giampietro+Smith

Width

Refers to different variations within a typeface family
Widths:
- Condensed
- Compressed
- Extended
Design By: Capsule

x-height

Refers to the height of the x
lowercase letters without ascenders or descenders
easily determined by looking at the letter “x”

cap-height

Refers to the height of capital letters
cap-height is measured from baseline to capline
x-height and cap-height vary by typeface and are useful comparisons
Design By: Henderson Bromstead Art Co.

counters

white spaces located inside and around letterforms
affect legibility, readability and density
thin fonts at large type sizes have open counters that can overpower light strokes
the opposite is true for bold fonts
Design By: Giampietro+Smith

small capitals

complete sets of uppercase letters that are the same height as lowercase letters
often used when large capitals would result in unwanted emphasis (acronyms/abbreviations)
Design By: Kontour

lining and non-lining figures

lining figures are a set of numerals with the same width and height as full capitals
non-lining figures share the same x-height as lowercase letters and include ascenders and descenders
Design By: Kontour

ligatures

a specially designed character produced by combining two or three characters together
basically ligatures replace letters that would otherwise collide
Design By: nb:studio

choosing the right font...

typeface selection

what is the longevity of the piece?
what is the purpose of the piece?
innovative or outdated?
traditional or too conservative?
Design By: No.Parking

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compare side by side for...
- readability
- emotion evoked
- legibility
- reflect the needs of the client and the viewer
Design By: Capsule

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combining typefaces

A single type family with a range of fonts will satisfy any project
Adding multiple type families extends the possibilities within the design
Design By: nb:studio

combining typefaces

Serif & Sans Serif typefaces are typically combined if...
they have similar x-heights and widths
Big Caslon and Myriad Pro

combining typefaces

Remember display and script typefaces for titles, headings and sub-headings
Design By: Kontour
Design By: No.Parking

designing with type

legibility and readability

essential for successful communication
legibility = recognition of individual letter forms and their relative position to other letters
readability = how the typography is presented to the viewer as words, lines and paragraphs
Design By: No.Parking

objective representation

practical and straightforward
clear and ordered presentation of information
Design By: No.Parking

subjective representation

conceptual and interpretive
heavily focused on theme or idea that creates an experience
Design By: Kontour

macro perspectives

the overall design layout
establishes the format of the composition
contains the typographic hierarchy and the placement of elements
Design By: Giampietro+Smith
Design By: Giampietro+Smith

micro perspectives

attention to small details like kerning, spacing, and ragging
ensure a clean presentation and consistent application
Design By: Giampietro+Smith
Design By: Kontour

symmetry and asymmetry

symmetrical = balance and harmony
asymmetrical = activity and motion
Design By: Kontour

alignment

the horizontal and vertical position of typography within the margins
alignment creates visual relationships between the elements of design
Design By: Kontour
Design By: Kontour

typographic color

refers to the density of typographic elements and their perceived gray value
the overall lightness or darkness of the page
Design By: Kontour

type size

measured in points
changes in type size often result in nice hierarchy of elements
develop a proportionate scale of type sizes
Design By: Meghan Eplett

case

lowercase letters are more readable than uppercase letters
UPPERCASE EMPHASIZES LETTER TO LETTER RECOGNITION (WHICH SLOWS DOWN READING)

kerning

adjusts spacing between individual letters
used to correct letter collisions and unwanted spaces
allows the text to flow and read smoothly
Check: Ty, Va, Yi, 11, 19

tracking

adjusts spacing between words, lines and paragraphs
can greatly improve readability
also influences typographic color
don’t track lowercase letters!
Design By: Kontour

leading

space between lines of text measured from one baseline to the next
tall x-heights, heavy typefaces and sans serifs need more leading that shorter, lighter wider and serif typefaces
Design By: Kontour
Design By: Meghan Eplett

About the Author:

Grant Adams

Associate Professor of Architecture
Diablo Valley College

www.youtube.com/digitaltoolsforarch | @270Photos | www.lulu.com/spotlight/dtfa | www.vimeo.com/grantadams