How to choose the typeface for your headlines

Tuesday’s Design Tip for Graphic Designers

The headline is the first thing that your readers see when they glance at your piece and choosing the typeface is one of the most important decisions you will have in your document.

You want a font that is appropriate and that speaks to your audience. After all, its goal is to entice your readers into reading your copy.

Choosing the right font for your headline

Choosing the right font is really about what is appropriate for your piece and the overall look of your layout. Ask yourself “What is the overall tone of your piece?”

Then choose the font that best represents this.

How to make your headlines stand out:

You can use any of the following tricks to make sure that your headline pops out and grabs hold of your reader. You may have only seconds before you reader moves on to something else.

1. Color: Make your headlines a different color than your body copy.
2. Size: Headlines should be much bigger than your body copy size.
3. Contrast: You can use radically different fonts than the body copy.
4. Weight: Choose very bold or even black headlines.
5. Style: If your body type is a serif font, then you can choose a sans serif for your headline.

C O N C L U S I O N :

Because of the big size your headlines will have, don’t forget to kern them!!! It’s very obvious in headlines when there’s extra spaces between the letters. It can be really distracting and just doesn’t look right.

And please, don’t ever hyphenate a headline!

Also remember: never capitalize a headline unless it’s in a sans serif font (NEVER have a headline in ALL CAPS that is in a script or decorative font).

Technorati Tags: Design, Design Theory, Print Design, Typography

Difference between a typeface and a font

Friday’s Creative Review for Graphic Designers

How many times have we heard the question: “what font is that?” We are asking the wrong question! We are supposed to ask “What typeface is that?”

Nowadays, the two terms are used interchangeably. However, in the past, these were two very distinct terms.

Origins of type

To really understand the difference between the two, you need to know a little bit of history behind creating type.

Way, way back, typefaces were created using little pieces of metal. These pieces had to be individually placed on a tray to create your layout and printed on a printing press. So, when you were referring to “fonts” you were talking about that single piece of metal with one style and one size of font.

So, fonts were of a particular face, and size and style. Back then, if you were talking about Arial 14 point or Arial 24 point, you were in fact talking about 2 different fonts.

And then everything changed… And confusion set in.

With the advent of computers, “fonts” and “typefaces” became synonymous. So interchangeable the two terms are, most computer programs have a “font” menu. And, they also have “font styles” where you can click and bold or italicize your letters.

Even in the digital age, the one thing that has not changed throughout type history is that creating type is a two-part process. A type foundry creates the fonts and we as designers use the typefaces in our documents.

When you are dealing with printers or service bureaus, you quickly see the difference between the two. To them, the terms cannot be interchanged.

Example: We frequently think that by clicking bold or italics, our file will print correctly. Printers prefer when you send the actual bold font of your typeface (for instance, Helvetica Bold) NOT that you simply bold a typeface. In this case, you have to send the printer font to them to ensure the file prints correctly.

C O N C L U S I O N :

Font is supposed to be a physical thing. It is what is needed to display the typefaces. Whether it is the computer code, photographic film, or metal plates.

Typeface is the shape of each character in a group of characters. It’s the letters, numbers, symbols, punctuation, etc…

Family is a group of typefaces designed to work together. It’s basically all the possible variations of a single typeface. Each is a separate file.

Technorati Tags: Design Theory, Typography

Too many fonts on a page leads to chaos

Tuesday’s Design Tip for Graphic Designers

Just when I thought I’d heard it all, someone says something that completely surprises me.

Someone was asking my opinion on a design they’d done (it was a brochure). I’m always more than happy to share my thoughts on something I’m passionate about

They showed me a design they’d just created. They were very proud of it. No doubt, they probably spent countless hours on it, I’m not sure.

I tried to be diplomatic in my response. I asked why they chose to have a different typeface for every testimonial on the page (there were 6 testimonials on the back of the brochure).

The reason completely threw me off.

They said that it was because they wanted to choose a typeface that “spoke” what the testimonials were saying. So, if the testimonials was jovial, they chose a very frilly font (think Curlz).

How do you respond to that? They probably spent hours looking for “appropriate” typefaces that conveyed the “essence” of the testimonial.

When less really is more

What the person did not realize is that her design actually was undermined because of all the typefaces. It looked chaotic and unprofessional.

Typography needs to be chosen based on the whole content, not on every single little part of it. It needs to work as a whole. The design of the piece should support and complement the copy, not override it.

I’m afraid that’s what happened here, I spent more time looking at the typography than reading the actual brochure (and don’t get me started on the readability of these typefaces).

C O N C L U S I O N :

I know that type is supposed to set the tone of the piece. But, it’s for the overall piece not every single aspect of it!

Too many typefaces on a page leads to chaos, no matter what your logic is behind the typeface selections.

Technorati Tags: Design Theory, Typography

Choosing your color scheme

Tuesday’s Design Tip for Graphic Designers

Choosing an appropriate color scheme for any designs is the first of 2 design decisions I make. I usually decide on the typography and on the color.

The combination of the 2 is what creates the tone for the piece.

How do I go about selecting a color scheme?

1. Who is the targeted audience for this piece?
2. Choose a style and theme for the design.
3. Decide what would be most appropriate.
4. Check out what the competition uses.
5. Determine if there is a pattern or a familiarity of colors used.
6. Choose one dominant color.
7. Pick 1 or 2 accent colors that would be used sporadically.

C O N C L U S I O N :

The color scheme you choose should be appropriate for your intended audience.

Consider this, if you are designing for children, you may opt for some primary colors. If you are designing for an older audience, this would NOT be appropriate.

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Technorati Tags: Branding, Color Theory, Design, Design Theory, Production

When too much is really too much in design

Tuesday’s Design Tip for Graphic Designers

Sometimes as designers we forget that famous expression “Less is more”

After all, we have the tools. So why not use them? Well, because design should not be about the tools.

Design needs to work in harmony with the content. Design has to support the text; not outshine it. It should never overpower and take center stage from your copy.

Now, I know what you are probably thinking. You are either thinking I’m full of baloney or that design then somehow becomes less important than the text. That’s not what I’m saying at all. What I mean is that they are partners.

Content may be King but design is the Queen behind the throne

So, how can you guarantee that your design is appropriate for the content? That it won’t overshadow it?

The key is appropriateness. Is your design appropriate for who you are designing for?

Here are some considerations:

1. Never use too many filters or special effects: Will it enhance your message or distract from it?
2. Maintain realism: Have you Photoshopped a picture beyond recognition? You know you’ve gone too far if the person looks like someone else or if they look like a painting.
3. Keep the same perspective: I was looking at a photograph once of a singer. His tattoo which is on his right arm was now on his left. The designer flipped him around so that his face was pointing toward the text. Too bad, they didn’t take into consideration that he had tattoos!
4. Don’t stretch or distort proportions on your images: I’ve seen too many times to count pictures whose dimensions have been altered. If you plan on scaling a picture, please keep the dimensions the same!
5. Unreadable type: Don’t make it hard on your readers. Choose a typeface that can be easily read.
6. Illegible type: If type is too light to be read, will it still be read? Probably not.
7. Color confusion: Too many colors and worse, inappropriate colors are never a good thing.
8. Don’t promote chaos: Don’t have too many things going on in your layout. Stick to the basics, you’ll never go wrong.

C O N C L U S I O N :

Too often, the design becomes more about the designer than the design. It may be unfortunate for some, but the design is not about ego and showing off your software knowledge.

All these problems may be avoided by doing one thing: READ THE TEXT. Then think: how can I compliment it?

And remember: it’s not about you!

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