The art of using text to produce professional looking publications. Typography The art of using text to produce professional looking publications.

The Target Audience Publications are created to convey a message to the intended audience, called the target audience. The target audience will determine the: Language used. Typefaces used. Colors used. Graphics used. Using typography is one of the most interesting and enjoyable parts of image creation.

Typography

Typography Many publications will contain a large amount of text to deliver the message. It is important to understand a few basic guidelines for working with text and typography. Typography refers to the design of the characters and the way they are presented on the page.

Font Families Fonts are grouped into families and given a name: Arial Garamond Comic Times Each font family has different sizes, weights and variations of a typeface.

Fonts It’s easier to understand fonts if you begin with the original definition of a font. Before desktop publishing, people called ‘typesetters’ set the type by hand using moveable type. Each character was a separate block of metal. The letters were “set” on the layout to form the text. Each typeface had a complete set of metal characters for each size, weight, etc. Each different size or weight required a completely separate set of metal characters. Each metal set of characters was kept in its own drawer and was called a type font. So a font is the specific size, weight and style applied to a typeface. Examples: Arial, bold, 12 point Arial, italic, 14 point Arial, 10 point

Within a Font/Type Family there can be many members including: Arial Black Arial Narrow Arial Rounded MT Bold Arial Unicode MS It’s like your own Family. We have the Smith family Dad- Frank Smith Mom- Mary Smith Son- Sam Smith Each are part of the Smith family but they are all individuals (type style) who have the same last name. Most family members have some physical features that similar to other members of their family

Styles: Styles are applied to fonts to change the way they look. Examples of the most common type styles include: Bold Italics Book Round Heavy Underline Shadow Outline Small Caps A style is a verb or an attribute applied to the font. If you take it away your are back to the original family name. This makes each member more of an individual.

Typeface Arial Italic Times New Roman narrow Rockwell Extra Bold A font/type becomes a typeface once a style has been applied to it. For example: Arial Italic Times New Roman narrow Rockwell Extra Bold The style is the things you can do. Once you apply they become a typeface. When grouped together they become a family because they have the same font in common.

Fonts are used to help create a mood or a feeling in a publication Fonts are used to help create a mood or a feeling in a publication. Fonts can also limit or enhance readability so choose your fonts carefully.

Modern Effect on the page is called “dazzling” Not good choices for extended amounts of body copy Thin lines almost disappear, thick lines are prominent Effect on the page is called “dazzling”

Serif Times New Roman Californian Used in children’s books because of clean, straightforward look Examples: Times New Roman Californian

A B C a b c Serif or Sans Serif Serif A typeface with lines on curves extending from the ends of the letters A B C a b c

Sans Serif “sans” (without) in French No thick/thin transition Same thickness all the way around Great for creating eye-catching pages

A B C a b c Serif or Sans Serif Sans Serif A typeface that is straight-edged A B C a b c

Serif vs Sans Serif Typefaces The ends of each character do not have attributes (serifs)

Like cheesecake- they should be used sparingly so nobody gets sick Script Like cheesecake- they should be used sparingly so nobody gets sick

Decorative Easy to identify. If the thought of reading an entire book in that font makes you wanna throw up, it falls under decorative. Fun, distinctive Powerful use is limited Often used in headlines Juice Chilly cooldots

a x c All About Letters x-height Baseline The height of the body of all lowercase letters such as the letter x in a typeface. All lower case letters are designed to be no taller then the x-height. Baseline An imaginary horizontal line on which the bottom of the letters rest. a x c

b x h Parts of Letters Ascender The lowercase letter that extend above the x-height – b, d, f, h, and l b x h

g x j Parts of Letters Descender The lowercase letters that fall below the baseline – g, j, p, and q g x j

Drop Caps A design element in which a letter (usually the first letter of the paragraph) is much larger font and embedded into the surrounding text.

Character Spacing Tracking A feature that enables you to adjust the relative space characters for selected text Adjusts the space between a group of characters or words (applied to the whole word)

Character Spacing Kerning The process of “fine tuning” spacing by adjusting the space between characters Adjusts the space between two characters

Kerning Horizontal spacing between pairs of letters Used to add or subtract space between pairs of letters to create a more visually appealing and readable text. BOOK – before kerning. – after kerning the O’s.

Character Spacing Leading The vertical distance between base heights; adjusts the space between lines. Pronounced “led-ding.” In most software programs, it is referred to as line spacing. In Desktop Publishing, it is still referred to as leading because typesetters used long pieces of lead between the moveable type to create blank lines between the text. If there were no space between the lines of text, the letters would touch the lines above and below them and would be extremely difficult to read.

Look in the nook to find the book that you borrowed to read. Leading Leading (vertical spacing between lines of text)

Alignment The placement of text or graphics relative to the margins. Left Right Centered Justified

Units of Measurement Pica Traditional typographic measurement of 12 points or 1/6 of an inch. These letters are 12 points or 1 pica high. Spacing is often measured in picas. For instance, in a yearbook spread, all elements should be at least one pica apart.

72 point font Units of Measurement Points The basic measurement system used to measure the size of type. There are 72 points to an inch. 72 point font

Reverse Type Reverse Type Reverse Type White or light colored text that appears against a darker background Reverse Type

Leaders Dots, dashes, or characters that proceed text or a tab setting.

Typography