Photo by zehfernando

Typography can be very tricky to implement, especially if you are not sure what it means or what it does to a design. Here is the formal definition of typography on wikipedia:

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type, type design, and modifying type glyphs. Type glyphs are created and modified using a variety of illustration techniques. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning).

Believe it or not, typography can make or break your design. It’s not very uncommon to see beautiful symbols paired with bad typography, making the entire logo a not-so-successful one. For example:

So what are some of the mistakes that graphic designers make when it comes to typography?

• Using upper case letters for “more impact”

I see designers using all caps type on design pieces just because they think it will stand out more and have more of an impact on the person who sees it. Upper case type might look bigger in size than lower case letters but that certainly doesn’t mean that it’s more impactful. In fact, it’s very distracting to read a lot of text in upper case letters because our eyes and mind read in terms of shapes and if there are lines of text written in uppercase letters, it’s very difficult to read as opposed to upper and lower case letters. Also, lower case typesetting can be just as impactful as upper case letters (if not more) if done right.

• Not using typography with the concept

Some designers tend to not take typography into consideration when working with a concept in a piece. If everything else (symbol, layout, illustration, etc.) flows together in one concept, why can’t the typography join that flow too? Like I said above, typography can make or break your design. So, if everything else works great and the type doesn’t, there definitely is a problem in the overall design, like the example above. There is nothing organic about that type, although the symbol is nice.

• Underestimating the power of typography

It’s very sad to hear someone say, “All I have to do is type the company’s name in Comic Sans and I’ll have my company’s logo.” Sure, you’ll have a logo, a very bad one though. Typography is an art in itself that many people spend their entire lives studying and exploring. Typography has the power to convey emotions and get a point across all by itself by the way a letter is crafted or the way a typeface is designed.

• Using too many typefaces in one design

This one is a very common mistake. There shouldn’t be more than 2 fonts in any design, barring few cases. This keeps the design from being uncluttered and busy. Another thing to keep in mind is to have 2 fonts that compliment each other instead of being conflicting. There are some discussions about that here.

• Not setting type correctly

It can be challenging to know how to set type correctly but the good news is that it’s easy to learn. Tracking, leading and kerning the type can make all the difference in the world. Not only does the type look more appealing but what you do to the type may also be more relevant to you concept. You can read more about that here along with more typography terminology.

Stay tuned for [PART II] of this article.