background preloader

8 Simple Ways to Improve Typography In Your Designs

8 Simple Ways to Improve Typography In Your Designs
Advertisement Many people, designers included, think that typography consists of only selecting a typeface, choosing a font size and whether it should be regular or bold. For most people it ends there. But there is much more to achieving good typography and it’s in the details that designers often neglect. These details give the designer total control, allowing them to create beautiful and consistent typography in their designs. 1. The measure is the length of a line of type. A simple way to calculate the measure is to use Robert Bringhurst’s method which multiples the type size by 30. I’m using px because it makes the math easier but this also works with em’s. 2. Leading is the space between the lines of type in a body of copy that plays a big role in readability. Many factors affect leading: typeface, type size, weight, case, measure, wordspacing, etc. This takes some finessing to get the right spacing but here is an example of what the code would look like: 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. It's done.

A Test Of Character: 10 Font Games That Prove Typography Can Be Fun The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. This is the famous pangram for anyone who pays attention to fonts and the art of typography. If you haven’t heard this ever, then it’s time to exit the arena because the battle could get bloody as we head to some of the font games mentioned below. There will be a lot of kerning and only the strong characters will survive. You can’t turn tail. Well, I did manage to playfully throw in some font terms there. Kern Type In typography, kerning is about adjusting the space between two letters for a proportionate look. Shape Type Shape Type is a game that is more difficult than the one above. Kern Type and Shape Type have been developed by Mark Mackay. TypeConnection We have covered the extremely well designed “typographic dating game” in detail before. I Love Typography This is a straight-up font identification game. Ragtime “Ragged” is typographic alignment along a margin. Shoot the Serif A word of advice. Helvetica Poster Letters Type War Arial vs.

The Top 10 Typography Rules All in One Place - Webitect Typography has gained a lot of attention in the recent years of web design — as it should have. It’s a large part of any website, some saying that it takes up more than 90% of the website itself. With more options for design arising, we as designers must recognize good from bad typography for ultimate legibility.For examples on typography art, or more articles that mention typography, check out some of these articles: Type has long undergone the debate: one space or two? Wrong: Cras eu nunc vel tortor mattis commodo a nec lorem. Phasellus elementum vel volutpat urna massa accumsan nisi. Proin non est ante, quis cursus massa. Sed sit amet massa enim. Ut laoreet quam at metus ullamcorper ac fermentum diam bibendum. Integer orci mi, porttitor id ornare non, faucibus vitae lacus. Proin urna metus, vestibulum sed euismod nec, mollis vitae mi. Nam ligula metus, accumsan id fringilla et egestas a nisl.Right:Cras eu nunc vel tortor mattis commodo a nec lorem. …or fewer. Right: Bold

Five simple steps to better typography – April 13th, 2005 – Typography, I find, is still a bit of mystery to a lot of designers. The kind of typography I’m talking about is not your typical “What font should I use” typography but rather your “knowing your hanging punctuation from your em-dash” typography. Call me a little bit purist but this bothers me. So, in an attempt to spread the word here’s the first of five simple steps to better typography. Measure the Measure. The Measure is the name given to the width of a body of type. One point = 1/72 of an inchOne pica = 12 pointsOne em = The distance horizontally equal to the type size, in points, you are using. But, with the advent of DTP packages and the website design the following are also now used: MillimetresPixels There is an optimum width for a Measure and that is defined by the amount of characters are in the line. CSS and fluid? What is interesting here is fluid designs on the web. The Measure and leading. Reversing out? Tracking Your responsibility The series Further reading

Web Design Tips: Which Color is the Right Color? Never underestimate the power of a simple palette. Keep it simple—avoid using too many colors. Avoid clutter. The eye is like a muscle, if you overuse it, well, it gets tired. RED: Red is associated with anger, aggression, blood, sex, and power. YELLOW: Yellow is the first color your eye will see. BLUE: Blue is an excellent color choice for spiritual topics, professional corporations, and nonprofit organizations. GREEN: Green is a soothing and restful color; it is known to have healing power, and it represents fertility in many cultures. PURPLE: Purple is a luxurious and self-indulgent color; it is associated with royalty, wisdom, imagination, sophistication, inspiration, wealth, and mysticism. ORANGE: In nature, this is the color of the turning season; it is the color of fall. BLACK: Black is associated with night, death, power, weight, sophistication, elegance, formality, seriousness, dignity, solitude, and mystery. In addition, complementary colors are less fatiguing to the eye.

Common fonts to all versions of Windows & Mac equivalents (Browser safe fonts) - Web design tips & tricks Last updated: 2008/06/03 Return to the main page Introduction Here you can find the list with the standard set of fonts common to all versions of Windows and their Mac substitutes, referred sometimes as "browser safe fonts". This is the reference I use when making web pages and I expect you will find it useful too. If you are new to web design, maybe you are thinking: "Why I have to limit to that small set of fonts? If you want to know how the fonts are displayed in other OS's or browsers than yours, after the table you can find several screen shots of this page in different systems and browsers. The list First, a few introductory notes: The names in grey are the generic family of each font. 1 Georgia and Trebuchet MS are bundled with Windows 2000/XP and they are also included in the IE font pack (and bundled with other MS applications), so they are quite common in Windows 98 systems. 5 These fonts work in Safari but only when using the normal font style, and not with bold or italic styles.

Typography. I Love Typography, devoted to fonts, typefaces and a AisleOne - Graphic Design, Typography and Grid Systems 10 Beautiful Website Color Palettes That Increase Engagement Is the color scheme you’ve chosen for your website triggering a desired response? Everyone has favorite colors they tend to gravitate towards when it comes to their work or otherwise, but the skilled designer understands the importance of evaluating a color scheme based on the meanings of the color in relation to the product/service being promoted. Good color choices take careful planning and when done correctly can influence how a visitor interprets what they see as much as layout and typography. In this article we’ll take a look at beautiful color schemes and how they are successful in getting a visitor engaged with your content. 1. A neutral color scheme with a pop of color (yellow) has a very classy and elegant feel – appropriate for an upscale mobile cupcake bakery. 2. Analogous color schemes are some of the easiest to create and can be adjusted by manipulating their tone, shade, and tint. 3. 4. You can see the effect of using tints of one hue on the website for Event Finds. 5. 6. 7.

Related: