A good place to start to learn how to control type on the page is being able to name the major parts of type. Each part of a letterform has a specific name.
Each letterform in our alphabet has a particular style and form that makes it unique. A typeface is a set of letterform, numbers and symbols unified by a common visual design. Some computer programs use the word fonts. Technically the word font means a complete set of type in a typeface, weight and size.
Each typeface may also have a variety of related type styles which are modified versions of the original typeface such as italic, bold, condensed or extended. These type style variations are specifically created to extend the uses of the type while still retaining the essential visual character of the original face. The whole related group of type styles based on a single typeface is called a type family.
Type is traditionally measured in points. The larger the point size, the larger the type. Small point sizes such as 6,8,9,10,11 and 12 are considered body text sizes whereas larger point sizes such as 14, 18, 20 and higher are considered headline or display sizes. A general rule of thumb is that a headline should be 1.5 times larger than the body copy. (12 point body copy = 18 point headline).
6 picas (a traditional layout measurement) = 1 inch
12 points = 1 pica
72 point = 1 inch
The letterforms in typefaces are made up of strokes. Letterforms with thin strokes have a light and airy feeling, whereas letterforms with thick strokes seem bold and heavy. The thicker stroke, the bolder and heavier the letterform will appear. A well develop type family often contains a range of weights such as light, regular, semi-bold, extra bold, or may be even poster black.
Letterspacing is the space individual letters and characters. The term leading refers to the vertical space between lines of type. Type with tight letterspacing and leading is difficult to read. Increasing the amount of space between letterforms and opening up the space between lines of type can impact the legibility of your message.
Adding leading between lines of type also makes typeface appear lighter and airier, while extreme amount of leading make it difficult for reader to track down the next line especially when there is a background image involved.
Word spacing is the space between words. Adjustment to word spacing typically occur to either tighten up the space between words or to stretch out to fill up more space. Very wide and very tight word spacing decrease legibility.
Type can be aligned in several different ways on your pages. Type can be centred, left aligned, justified, right aligned or wrapped around other visual elements on the page.
Centred type is popular for short amounts of text such as in flyers and wedding announcements. Left aligned type is useful in just about any type application because designers consider it easy to read. Justified text is common in magazines and newspapers.
Right aligned text is used more sparingly because the irregular left edge makes it harder for the viewer’s eye to track to the beginning of the next line. Runaround text is natural for newsletters and magazines. Runaround text flows easily around objects on the page such as initial caps, illustrations, photographs, and even other pieces of text.
Line length is an important component of designing readable text. Long lines of type are hard to read because the eye has difficulty tracking back to the beginning of the next line. Really short lines of type are tedious to read, especially if there is a lot of hyphenated words. For best legibility, line lengths should be no more than approximately 50 to 60 characters long.
With all of the thousands of typefaces available, and more popping up all the time it is difficult to pigeonhole every single typeface into categories. Generally, typefaces can be divided into five major categories; serif, san serif, square serifs (also known as Egyptian), script and decorative (also known as occasional or novelty). Each category has distinctive letterform and stress features that determine which category a typeface falls into.
Roman serif typefaces typically have thick and thin variations in their letter strokes and serifs range from moderately to extremely pointed. Over several millenniums, this style of typeface evolved into a wide range of serif typefaces that can be further subcategorised into old style, transitional and modern typefaces.
Transitional typefaces were the next evolution in typographic form and in 1757 John Baskerville an Englishman started the publishing industry with a new and innovative typeface design named ‘Baskerviille’. What made this typeface distinctly different from the Old Style typefaces was the increased contrast between the thick and thin strokes in the letterforms and the sharp serifs.
Modern typefaces further increased the contrast between thick and thin strokes in the letterforms. Thin strokes are virtually hairline thick, whereas thick stroke are big and blocky. Modern typefaces evolved from Old Style and Transitional typefaces because of improvements in technology.
The serif typefaces including those of the Old Style, Transitional, and modern subcategories are extremely easy to read in both headlines and body copy and these typefaces convey a sense of dignity, history and reserved style.
In square serif typefaces, the serifs at the end of the letter strokes appear to end in blocks or slabs. Some typographers name this category Egyptian or Slab Serif because many of these typefaces had Egyptian-sounding names to capitalise on the fad popularity of anything Egyptian in the early 1800s.
Advertisers during 1800s used square serifs in any and all page designs although square serif typefaces work best in headline or display type. Today square serifs are most widely used in children’s books because of their simplicity and unfussy clean appearance.
Sans serif means ‘without serifs (sans in French mean ‘without’). During the 20th century, many more sans serif typefaces were designed because the streamlined form conveys a modern appearance. Sans serif fonts because of their simplicity and clean look, work well for headline type and display type.
The advantage of serif is that help the reader identify the letterforms faster than sans serif font. Without the serifs, there are slightly fewer characteristics for the reader to identify, hence a slower reading speed. Medium weights of familiar sans serifs faces such as Helvetica, Futura, and Gill Sans are among the less risky choices for body text.
Script typefaces convey the feeling of handwritten designs. Depending on the design of the script, the typeface can seem formal or very informal. Formal appearing scripts are commonly used in wedding invitations while informal scripts can lead an air immediacy and dynamic action to a design.
Many script typefaces are hard to read when set in block of text or in all capital letters. Script faces are best use sparingly in limited amounts of text such as in a wedding card or for headlines. Avoid using them in body copy because it hard to read. Examples of script typefaces are Brush Stroke, Mistral, Vladimir, and Commercial Script.
Those typefaces designs that are hard to categorise are by default dropped into the decorative category. Many of these typefaces are extremely difficult to read and are best used for display or headline copy instead of body text.
Choosing the wrong decorative typeface can shoot down an otherwise well thought out design. The advantage of using the right decorative typeface is that you can quickly establish a mood and style.
Some typefaces are more readable than others. When looking for readable and attractive typefaces, consider these;
- For a modern impression:
- Gill Sans
- Helvetica
- Stone Sans
- Officina Sans
- Futura
- For a classic impression:
- Goudy
- Garamond
- Times New Roman
- Bookman
- Bodoni
- Galliard
Digital Type Font
Digital type fonts are defined as typefaces that are represented and stored as digitised electronic data.
This is the original type format created for the computer. Bit-mapped typefaces use the screen resolution of 72 dpi to display on the computer screen. To display correctly on screen, the computer requires a bit-map of each point size of the typeface that will be used, otherwise the computer will just enlarge the pixels, leaving a jagged screen image of the type.
Postscript type fonts use both the bit-mapped font and a special postscript file containing information that describes the outlines and fills of the typefaces. The postscript file work together with the bit-mapped file, and both necessary for proper screen display and printing.
Programs such as Adobe Type Manager (ATM) interpret the postscript information for display on the computer screen at any point size.
Truetype was developed by Apple Computer for use with Macintosh computers and Appple Laserwriters. Truetype files work with the Macintosh system to create any size type on the computer screen and for printing.
Truetype fonts may also result in printing errors with some postscript printers and generally not used for professional design projects.
Stroke fonts are sometimes referred to as vector fonts. Character vectors are the paths that a pen would follow along the spine of a character to generate a specific letter or symbol.
