When many clients first approach us, typesetting (the work of setting and arranging type on a page) is simply a quick step: drop the content using a pre-selected font, nothing more. In this article, we will outline how typography has the potential to play an integral role in the development of your product and brand.
Type can invoke an emotional response
As a design company, we are particularly aware of the fierce competition for attention from customers. Typography is one of the many ways you can draw in a customer by eliciting an emotional response. We look at all visual factors that contribute to the reaction: it’s not just the large type that creates the drama; it’s the size of the type in relation to the page. It’s not just the image, but also the juxtaposition of the wording and image that can create drama, excitement, reassurance, familiarity, or sense of innovation.
Typesetting can make information easier to understand
The designer breaks up the information in your content into more easily digestible parts. Even in this information-overload age of the Internet, Twitter, Facebook, etc. humans can still only process one message/idea at a time. If winning over customers is contingent upon them understanding a complex component of your business, how that information is presented to a potential customer may become more important than any emotional response.
Close-up of a cookbook; the designer uses different fonts to differentiate between ingredients lists, directions, and suggestions for recipe changes, making it easier for a multitasking reader to find information. Photo: Anatomy of a Dish, designed by Doyle Partners
When we create a typographic system for your product, we have several items in mind:
Legibility vs Readability
Many confuse the concept of readability with legibility. Legibility refers mostly to the letterforms: are they easily recognizable? Are they clearly printed (no smearing and not cut-off)? Readability is how easily the text read, and is mostly dictated by cultural norms. In our Western culture, we read top to bottom, left to right. This is why vertical type will always be significantly more difficult to read. Right-justified text may add visual interest to the page, too many lines of right-justified running text will be more difficult for the reader to find his/her place again when they reach the next line. Maintaining the customer’s attention is important. A frustrated reader needs little incentive to skip over text.
Illuminate the Content
The typographic system we create for you is largely dependent on the tone and information in the content. This is one of the reasons why content development is so critical to the evolution of your project and why it is necessary to have all of the content finalized before the actual design process begins. Once you start thinking of content as a synergetic component of the design process, you will find that the message of your campaign/product is clearer and more compelling, strengthening your brand.
Compare the book cover to a spread from the same book: the designer used color and referential type to grab the reader’s attention for the cover. In the spread, he adheres to classical rules of typesetting to maintain readability. Photo: Book cover and spread from Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy, designed by Abbott Miller at Pentagram Design
Less is more
Regardless of intention of the typesetting, a clear, simplified system where all of the levels of hierarchy are established, not more not less, is best. The complexity of the information as well as the purpose of the piece will dictate how that page (printed or digital) is designed. For example, in a brochure, a page with dense running text will likely be more cleanly and simply designed than say, for instance, the cover page. One’s purpose is to inform, the other’s purpose is to draw in the reader.
Like many other aspects of design, remember that the process is just as much reductive as it is additive. Simplify and clarify.
