Computer arts magazine shares 144 pro tips for type. Below are few of them pulled from the article. Read the full pro tips,
here.114 NEW PRO TIPS FOR TYPE
GRAPHIC DESIGNFrom embracing simplicity to befriending your printer, designers reveal the type tips they follow to the letter
01 Mix and matchYomar Augusto,
www.yomaraugusto.com“With book typography, as a starter try to find a font that has a big enough family to fulfil all your potential wishes. If you come across a typeface that lacks different weights, but you insist on using it, it might be helpful to check typefaces that are designed by the same designer. They often have the same genes and mix well together.”
07 Keep your font count lowHey Studio
“When you use more than three fonts – maybe a slab, a serif and a display – per project, it’s difficult to read and understand; the project lacks order. Usually, one font has different weights and you can resolve a graphic design project using these in the correct way. The result will be cleaner and sharper.”
15 Overcome complexityAndrei Robu,
www.andreirobu.com“Graphic design is so very complex – you’re [working on] a canvas composed of typography, illustration, photography, colours and ideas. It takes a thorough understanding of each element individually for one to create an outstanding piece of graphic design, yet simplicity works best for a wide range of targets.”
20 Keep your poster work balancedDongwoo Kim,
www.networkosaka.com“Composition is key when designing posters, as you only get one chance to impress your public. Try to keep all elements (typography, graphic elements and white space) balanced using rhythm, contrast and so on. Paul Rand’s book A Designer’s Art can be great food for thought.”
31 More copy equals more columnsJason Rubino
“Type columns should not be too wide. Breaking up a large amount of type into smaller columns is more effective.”
TYPE DESIGNEssential advice for carrying your typography from concept to comprehensibility
01 It’s all about spaceJohn D Berry
“What we read isn’t just letters – it’s the spaces within the letters and the spaces between. So if we set the letters too close together, the balance between black and white is lost, and the words are hard to read. The same goes if the letters are so far apart that they don’t hold together at all. The spaces between words, too, need to be in harmony with the way the letters fit together. Then, pay attention to the length of the line and the space between lines.”
04 Kern the nuts off itAlex Haigh,
www.hypefortype.com“Kerning is one of the most important aspects of typography. It’s taken for granted, but you can clearly see the difference between standard and manually kerned typography. It’s important to make sure a piece of typography works as a core unit – even if this means you have to spend hours making sure the spaces between the letters are equal.”
09 Trust in handicraftAlison Carmichael,
www.alisoncarmichael.com“Designers should break away from the confines of their workstation and not be afraid to use handcrafts. Go back to basics, collect lots of reference material and commission the experts in their fields. Don’t let handcrafts die out in favour of pure digital design.”
16 Read into the subjectPanos Vassiliou
“Of all, there are four books on typography that I consider ‘musts’: American Metal Typefaces of the 20th Century by Mac McGrew, The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst, Letters of Credit by Walter Tracy, and Writing & Illuminating & Lettering by Edward Johnston.”
20 Boredom is an important toolOded Ezer,
www.odedezer.com“The thing we fear most in our profession is that we will be bored of the job, bored of the client and of our life as designers. I say that boredom is a tool, just like play. Whenever you are bored, the first step is to say, ‘I hate this’. Then you start to daydream, and this is exactly when you come up with stupid ideas. That’s the moment you become original.”
27 Don’t shield your work, share itBarry Spencer
“Be open when working on anything – believing that others are out to get you or steal your ideas is not a good way to think. Most of the time you will have been staring at the same thing for [ages], so showing someone else could lead you to an idea that you may have missed.”
ILLUSTRATED TYPEDraw on these tips to create stunning typographic illustrations
06 Trust your sensesAstrid Stavro
“Recent graduates often worry about ‘the rules’, but they sometimes forget to use the most useful instrument of all: common sense. Trust your own eyes; it has always worked for me.”
10 Do the strip testAndrei Robu
“Good type outruns trends and time. If you strip your own work of any kind of effects, gradients and abuse of colour, you will see whether it has graphic value or not.”
17 Embrace spaceAlex Trochut
“When you are working with type or a two-colour illustration, give white or empty spaces the same importance as black or full spaces. Deciding what percentage of the piece you want to fill and what you don’t may help. Empty spaces will also define the elements you have to read, so the more balanced the space between elements is, the more harmonic it becomes.”
21 Do your ideas justicePost
“If your design is meant to look handmade or handwritten, don’t use a bad handwriting font. Invest the extra time and energy to actually draw it by hand. If you don’t have the skill to do it yourself, get someone else to help you. Do the best you can for your ideas.”
FONT MANAGEMENTGetting the most from your type means thinking beyond its design to your character categorisation
01 Group your fonts in style categoriesAndrei Robu
“Using a font explorer and grouping my fonts in style categories, it becomes less difficult to find what I need when working with type, though we design new typefaces for almost every client we get.”
09 Be ruthlessPhil Kiel
“Go for quality over quantity, and be ruthless with which fonts you keep in your library. Otherwise, before you know it, you will have 600-plus fonts, despite always scrolling straight to the same five. Be proud of your small, quality font library. Further reading: 30 Essential Typefaces for a Lifetime by Imin Pao and Joshua Berger.”
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