Typography

  Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning). Typography is so important in deign because it gives the viewer information about the product etc. as well as may be having a meaning behind itself.

Kerring and leading.

Here, I have made a diagram to express the leading and kerring of typography. The kerring is the amount of spcae between characters, this space is needed so that the text is clear and can be read easily. The leading is the amount of space between the lines of texts, again this space makes the text easier to read for the viewer. However, sometime designers will use variety of the space inbetween lines and characters to add style to their advert, or magazine etc. This is all part of the style of the product being produced. Yet, sometime spaces are just simply not used and things can be misread. Here are some examples below. 

Type alignment

In typesetting and page layout, alignment is the setting of text flow placement relative to a page. The type alignment setting is sometimes referred to as text alignment, text justification or type justification. There are three different types of type alignment, and they are all used in different types of texts:

• Left alignment, is where the text is set to the left margin on the page. This is formally used in books etc. as this is the way in which English people read. 
• Right alignment, is where the text is set to the right margin on the page. This is formally used when writing addresses in letters, right alignment gives a professional look to a text.
• Centre alignment, is where the text is neither set to the right or the left but in the middle of the page with an equal amount of space at either side of the text. This is formally used for titles and headlines etc. as being in the centre it makes the text stand out to the audience.

Differential fontsIn traditional typography, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font was a matched set of metal type, one piece for each glyph, and a typeface comprised a range of fonts that shared an overall design. In typography, a typeface is a set of one or more fonts each composed of glyphs that share common design features. Each font of a typeface has a specific weight, style, condensation, width, slant, etc. and designer or foundry but all are fonts within the same typeface. 

Serif font- A serif font has strokes on the ends of letters, it is traditional and used mainly in formal writing. 

Sans-serif- A sans-serif font does not have strokes on the ends of its letter, this will usually mean the font is more modern. Sans-serif fonts are mainly used for children, especially when learning the alphabet as the letters are clearer to the eye. 

Other different fonts...

• Script- Fancy writing, usually consists of swirls and flicks.
• Symbols- Simply a symbol word bank, may be used for code working. 
• Decorative- Almost like designed art work within the font, mainly used at weddings and on invitations etc. 

  The font 'Helvetica' is extremely popular all over the world. Helvetic was released in 1957, by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann. The aim of the new design was to create a neutral typeface that had great clarity, no intrinsic meaning in its form, and could be used in a wide variety. Helvetica is among the most widely used sans-serif typefaces. Versions exist for the following alphabets/scripts: Latin, Cyrillic, Hebrew,Greek, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Urdu, Khmer and Vietnamese. Chinese faces have been developed to complement Helvetica.
  Helvetica is a popular choice for commercial word marks, including those for Societe Generale, 3M, American Apparel, BMW, ECM,Jackass, Jeep, McDonald's, Mitsubishi Electric, Motorola, Panasonic, Philippine Airlines, Target, current logo of Texaco, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Verizon Wireless. Apple Inc. has used Helvetica widely in iOS, and the iPod. The iPhone 4 uses Neue Helvetica throughout. 

Handy tips into Typography:

• Fonts should not dominate the piece.
• Be consistent with the layout in the piece.
• Be careful with mixing fonts, as these may class and make the piece look untidy.
• If you want things to stand out, use the same font on the piece but use italics, bold or underline to create this effect and attract the readers.
• Use colours for emphasis- remember red draws the attention most.