What typography have you encountered so far today? It might have been on your cereal packet or coffee jar, or perhaps your morning paper. Had the post arrived before you left for work bringing a bank statement, catalogue or pizza menu? No doubt you encountered signage on your journey to work and more than likely a billboard or some other form of advertising. Maybe you’ve been on the internet already today and possibly you’ve had chance to pick up a book. The point is that typography, some of it good, most of it bad, is all around us and although most people don’t consciously notice type (unless it’s really hard to read), they nonetheless respond to it. This makes it a powerful tool for communication and one that anyone who needs to say something in print could use more effectively.
Typography could be described as an ‘artscience’. It does not fall easily in either arena but keeps a foot in both. When it comes to effective communication, its technical accuracy is as important as its expressive qualities and the two need to be considered in tandem. Here are some things to look out for.
Read it first
Before worrying about how to write something (the typography) it is important to consider what to write (the words themselves). It may sound obvious but you should always start with clear ideas that will then inform the typographical treatment. Consider the pace and length of a piece in light of how it will be read to help ensure the text is digestible in its given format. Magazines, books, websites, posters (the list goes on and on) will all be read differently and the text needs to written accordingly. Lists, headings, subheadings, bullets, paragraphs are all ways of doing this.
Set the tone
A typeface gives the written word its voice. It is communicating before you even start reading the first word, so it is important that it conveys an appropriate message. A typeface may be considered good in itself but it also needs to be the right tool for the job. You would not use a screwdriver to bang in a nail.
It would be nice if choosing a good typeface were as easy as picking up a hammer but unfortunately there is more than one kind of hammer. However, there is a range of classic faces that can form a basic tool kit. This might include Bodoni for grace and refinement; Helvetica to signify modernism; Frutiger for friendliness; Myriad, neutral enough to stay in the background but with a little extra personality to shine when needed.
Some jobs need more than one tool, and others need the same tool in different sizes. Choosing a serif for body text and a sans serif for headings is a tried and tested method, as is choosing one typeface and using several of its weights.
Bang the nail in straight…
It’s generally a good idea to keep a typeface as is. Don’t stretch it, increase or decrease the tracking too much (that’s the space between letters) or apply a faux bold or italic to it. Many typefaces have their own separately drawn bold and italic versions, rather than homogenously fattened up, or pushed over by a software programme. The same goes for small caps. These are alternate characters designed to work with regular lower case and included in some but not all typefaces. The software may let you apply ‘small caps’ as a style to text but this will produce spindly misshapen results that don’t match the weight of the letters around them.
…unless there’s a good reason not to
Rules are there to be broken and while some would argue, for strict utility of headlines and body copy, it is not necessarily bad typography that breaks the rules if it better communicates the messages in the text. Turn text sideways or upside-down, scatter paragraphs across a page as if they were confetti, specify odd spaces between letters and words. There is power in this, in the right context (a piece of poetry perhaps), and though it could turn ugly and unreadable in the wrong hands, the value of less conventional type treatment should not be underestimated.
See the bigger picture
Good typographers see type as more than just words on a page. They see type as an image: as something that has weight, texture, color, structure, etc. or as a picture arranged in a composition. Individual elements can look great in isolation but might look at odds when placed in context. The elements that make up a well-designed room will have been selected with a finished look in mind rather than randomly selected just because you like the look of them!
Put cushions on your sofa
Cushions, lamps, rugs, pictures etc. all add interest to a room design. Sometimes it is appropriate to accessorise your type, perhaps with a single letter of an ‘interesting’ typeface placed as an initial cap. However, the fabric you might choose for a cushion is unlikely to work as well on a three piece suite so its usually good to avoid such faces for entire paragraphs.
Typography is a large subject concerned with an awful lot of small details. It is not the sort of thing you can learn to do in a day and, to be really good, you are going to need a certain amount of flair. We could all learn to play football but most of us will never be able to ‘bend it like Beckham’. Some things just cannot be learned but that does not mean that with a few tips and tricks and a bit of practice you cannot score goals.
Clare Sinkinson, Black Sheep ©07
