Typography (Part 1)

Typography is text that is arranged to create a readable, coherent, and visually pleasing whole. It is important as a graphic designer to understand the important role typography can play in anything that you create. When using text that is strictly functional (books, newspaper or magazine articles) the text should not be noticeable or distract the reader; it should work almost invisibly without the reader's awareness. The goal is for the reader to be able to absorb the information on the page without any disruption of thought. Therefore, fonts must be chosen that achieve this primary goal.

Fonts

There are two primary type of fonts: Serif and Sans-Serif. All fonts fall into one of these two categories. Serif fonts have small designs on the ends of each letter (serifs) that help guide the horizontal flow of the eye when reading large amounts of small text. Sans-Serif fonts do not have the decorative end points so reading a lot of small text with this font style is very difficult and can cause the reader to skip lines of text. Generally, if the text will be printed and the font is smaller than 14pt, it's best to use a Serif font. If the text is larger than 16pt and/or there is not much of it on the page, it is more visually pleasing to use a Sans-Serif font. Most web designers prefer to use Sans-Serif fonts no matter what the size of the font is because it has a cleaner look which is ideal for most websites. Below are two examples of the most commonly used font styles for Serif fonts (Times New Roman) and Sans-Serif fonts (Arial) using 12pt font size:

Free or Not For Free? 

The issues with using free fonts

A set of free fonts is included in the operating systems of all computers and most people are familiar with these standard fonts. In fact,  most of us use these fonts everyday without ever realizing the amount of work that went into creating them. With over 772 characters and settings per font set, it could take years for a designer to create an entire font family. Because of this, there are copyright and licensing rules that apply when using fonts for commercial use. Generally, if you want to use a unique font in any designs that you are creating for a company or organization (logos, ads, brochures, etc.) you can either purchase this font yourself and include the cost in your design fee, or have the company or organization purchase the font so they can carry the license to use the font. Although there are many websites that offer free fonts to download, they are usually of poor quality and should not be used commercially.

Here are a few links to the top-rated professional font websites:

www.fonts.com        www.myfonts.com     www.linotype.com

Here are some examples of high-quality fonts for sell on myfonts.com:

 

Another very helpful website is smashingmagazine.com which essentially searches the internet for the best articles and links for every aspect of graphic design so you don't have to. Here is a link:

www.smashingmagazine.com

Main Aspects of Type

There are four major aspects of type that graphic designers need to be familiar with: font format (size, color, regular, bold, or italic), Tracking, Leading (pronounced led'ing), and Kerning. Most software programs allow users to adjust the font formatting when working with text, but Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator also allow users to adjust the tracking, leading, and kerning (along with other options).

The following images illustrate what is meant by each of these terms. The Tracking is the spacing between all of the letters in a line of text, leading is the distance between each line of text, and kerning refers to the space between 2 adjacent letters.

In the next blog about typography, we will discuss typography as an art form and describe ways you can create art with text. 

The Basics of Adobe Illustrator

The first version of the software contained all of the basics of Adobe Illustrator.  As for the updated versions, it has become a much more complex program but do not let that scare you. This entry will contain the fundamentals of Adobe Illustrator and will help first time users.

 1.   After opening the program, go to file>new. A box like the one will appear:

Be sure to name the project and save it under the proper settings. 

2.   The next thing that appears is called an Art board. This is where the creative design is placed.The Art Board can be resized and adjusted to fit the design as well.

3.  Layers are VITAL when using Adobe Illustrator. This tool can be thought of as clear folders that contain artwork. All of the separate items that are created in Illustrator, are stacked on top of each other and layers help organize them. It is a handy tool while designing because it determines every items place. 

4.   The toolbar is commonly used in different kinds of computer programs. In Adobe Illustrator, the toolbar helps bring all creative thoughts to paper. This particular toolbar contains tools such as the pen, shapes, and pencil tool. These three tools are the most commonly used tools in illustrator. They make the designs come to life. Other items placed on the toolbar are text boxes, a paintbrush, and the eraser tool.

5.   The pathfinder tool palette is another important part of Adobe Illustrator. This tool helps a graphic artist manipulate paths for a design. The pathfinder includes options such as dividing, trimming, merging, and cropping a path for the design. Be sure the pathfinder palette is turned on while creating designs. 

6.   The color swatch is an important thing to learn on Adobe Illustrator because it can bring the extra creativeness to a design. It includes multiple options for colors and textures that can be added to a design. Most artists use the color swatches to enhance their ideas. The color swatch also provides a color guide and offers color themes to help artists determine what to use for their design.

        A FEW FUN TIPS TO KNOW ABOUT ILLUSTRATOR:

       -If an artist decides to use text in their design, Illustrator offers all different kinds of fonts under the TYPE option.

      -Effects can be used to add emphasis to a design. These effects include things such as brush strokes, sketches and textures.

-Pictures are a great tool graphic design artist’s use. They can be added to a design in Illustrator.

-any shape or drawing can be manipulated in this program.

-Be sure to SAVE the project as much as possible.

Adobe Illustrator provides endless options for Graphic Design artists. It is the program that most beginners start on and professionals also use it. Illustrator takes some practice but these tips should beginners’ progress more efficiently.  The link below also contains a helpful website with tips and step by step tutorials on the tools in Adobe Illustrator: 

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?l=-1&o=desc&cat=212&event=producthome&s=5&exc=17

Steps to Creating a Graphic Design

 1.   Rather than jump right into graphics software program to try to create a final version, you can save yourself time and energy by first researching the topic, finalizing your content, starting with simple sketches. Making sketches will allow you to visualize the ideas and variations of those ideas. This step should be completed on paper. Generally 8 to ten sketches should be drawn. Try to make several variations of the same idea

   2.   Before you decide on a final design, take the time to gather information. This can be web pages, newspaper articles, or magazine coverage of the subject for which you are creating the design. It is always helpful to look at other designs of the same subject. You do not want to copy any previously created design, but observing what others have done can get your creative juices flowing.

  3.   You are probably creating this design for someone else. Even if it is for an instructor or professor, you should also meet with anyone involved to get their input and ideas. It will only duplicate you effort if you have to redesign a project because you and the person you were creating your project for were no on the same idea path.

  4.   You can now use the information collected to create an outline. This will allow you to list everything that will be in your creation. Logo, graphics, text, pictures, and negative space will be addressed. This will allow for final approval of the idea prior to design in the software.

 5.   Design should be creative. Now you can show your creative prowess. However, before moving on to the design, take some time to think about creative solutions for the project. You can use the client's examples of favorite work as guidelines for what they like and don't like, but your goal should be to come up with something new and different that will separate them from the rest. Ways to get the creative juices flowing include brainstorming with other creative people, reading magazines and visiting websites. This step may seem redundant, but previously you were doing these things to obtain information from others about direction. You want to use new information to guide your inner creativity.

   6.   At this point you are close to opening the software and begin the design process. Before you do, take this time to re construct or create new sketches. This step will allow you a reference point if you lose direction while designing the final product.

7.    It’s time to design the product. When you've done your research, finalized your content and gotten approval on some sketches you can move on to the actual design phases of the graphic design process. While you may knock out the final design in one shot, it's usually a good idea to present your client with at least two versions of a design. You can agree on how many unique versions are included in a job in your proposal. This gives the client some options and allows you to combine their favorite elements from each.

TIP: Be sure to keep even the versions or ideas that you choose NOT to present and that you might even like at the time, as you never know when they'll come in handy.

8.   The key point to designing is STICK TO THE STEPS. Whether they seem elementary, obvious or redundant it is crucial to stay on the path.

A good site for beginners is the Society of Environmental Design at http://www.segd.org/home/index.html. There are resources and examples of their award winning design.