Typography Notes [10/9/13]

Typography

Aka: fonts, type, typeface

“Fonts are the clothing that our ideas wear.”

Legibility: choose classical time-tested typefaces.

• San Serif fonts are used for headlines.
• Never use Comic Sans.
• Serif reads best at smaller sizes (it has curls at the edges), whereas sans serif has flat edges.
• Too many fonts confuse the reader and spoil the design.
• Fonts that are too similar cause ambiguity.
• Font choices should have some contrast to each other, because they are used for emphasis.
• Readability: use upper and lower case letters for optimum clarity. All capital letters are difficulty to shouting, and is the equivalent of shouting.
• Left alignment reads easiest, consider eye flow as it moves down a page.
• Pay attention to the rag (ragged edge) of your text. (Not a good rag) ----->
• Use italics, bold, size, color, and typestyle change with discretion and without disturbing eye flow. Explore font changing last.
• Avoid stretching or distorting type, preserve its integrity. Use the shift key to scale text.
• Strive for a sense of balance. Text can hold its own weight this way. Balance can be symmetrical or asymmetrical on a page.