What is it about spacing that makes a typeface/layout look the way it does?

Title/ question

What is it about spacing that makes a typeface/layout look the way it does?

I am going to talk about spacing in particular about typography in book layouts.

 

The report question its self was raised in an article that I read.

Strizver.I (July 2004) Spacing and Kerning. Fy(t)i

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/spacing-and-kerning

The article talks about the aim being to create an even colour or text between the characters.

 

This report is going to be a self-help, aimed at young designers and students that are struggling with type spacing in their layouts.

 

Introduction

When considering what topic I wanted to look at for my report, I wanted to choose something that would work alongside and strengthen my studio work. I chose typography as it is vital to my area of interest; publishing/ layout design.  Well laid out text is vital to achieve an effective layout and this is an area that I have always struggled with: I feel that if I have a stronger/ deeper knowledge of typography it will improve my layout/ work.

 

My report is going to look at different aspects of typography the technicalities and the purposes. I will look into the different between the requirements of kerning, leading and tracking. The requirements of  the spacing is determined by the job that it has to do, for example weather it is for a poster design needing to make a big impact, book design and magazine design are similar in that they both needing to reflect the content and encourage the reader to keep turning the page. This will all be relevant to the point of view of a designer.

 

What is the focus of my project? (Headings/possible chapters)

 

1. What is effective typography? – Discuss the question/ type and introduce the different areas…

Briefly cover… what is typography? Shapes of letters can some times over whelm us.  Pg 98

Bergstrom. B, (2008) Essentials of Visual Communications. Laurence King

–Types of space: Leading, Kerning and Tracking. Why and how they are effective.

 

I'm going to be specifying looking at the different types of letter spacing. Exploring how the spacing is worked out; is it random, personal taste, is there a rule or pattern to deciding what is the best spacing for a typeface? How to achieve the most effective spacing for type layout.

The space around the type is just as important as the type form itself. Positive and negative space being evenly balanced is a simple yet effective way to think about spacing.

 

Looking at how the correct spacing can improve the readability and function of the layout design, also change the feel of layout, for example; Widely spaced out text looks ­laid back or childish, very tight text looks rushed/ angry/ uncomfortable this means it is important to find a happy medium and have a clear purpose for the typography. To help me explore this I will use surveys and questionnaires, this will give me a general idea of what people thing and do them selves.

 

2. Different layout for different purposes – It is also very important to consider the purpose of the layout when thinking about the appropriate spacing. Each purpose would have different requirements for examples poster would need to sell or promote something, possible being quite large with big letter spacing and not many lines of type making the kerning more important and the type would be likely to bigger. In a leaflet there would be a lot of information in a small space and would be informing and advertising at the same time so all three aspects would be important keeping the legibility clear in the layout. In newspaper and reports they would be heavy in body text and would need to use heading to help navigate the layout so a gain all three types of letter spacing would be equally important.

 

3. Consider intended audience, children, adults, designers (specialists)

–Visual Experiment- example of good and bad spacing and surveying what is preferred. I would do this by looking at different target groups, such as designers and the general public. Is this something that the general public doesn't notice but still react positively to?

Explore whether good spacing can improve or hinder someone's reading speed and how easy it is on the eye.

 

–Interviews- looking at how a typographer/ designer would see and approach letter spacing – with someone practicing traditional letterpress type spacing and contrasts this with someone that works with digital type. And look at the similarities and differences on how they deal with and work with letter spacing.

 

4. –Summary/ Findings /Conclusion

I would explain what I have found and learnt from this and how I would go about spacing out my own work.

 

Action Plan/ How I intend to approach this?

 

Over the summer break I intend to further and my research on this topic also plan the possible visual experiments with mock experiments. Meaning that in the first term I will able to carry out these experiments within clear aims.

 

To further my research along with further reading I will compile a questionnaire to send out to people to ascertain what people think about the importance of spacing and how they would deal with, both designers and not, an interesting element to look at. I will also spend some time looking for relatively recent articles on similar subjects trying to keep the report as current as possible.

 

I think it would also be useful to interview Alex Cooper or someone in letterpress at LCC to get a practical viewpoint on spacing how would work out the best spacing. It would also be beneficial to speak to someone the works with more digital type, such as Ben Richards to see if they use a kind of formula or is it just feel and experience. To help me gain as much as possible it is important for me to toughly research the topic and plan my questions well.

 

However, I need to ensure to stick to the question so that I don't go off point, constantly looking back at it, while reading and writing.

 

Bibliography

 

Useful sources

http://www.thedesigncubicle.com/2008/12/10-common-typography-mistakes/      

The Design Cubicle – has a list of 10 common mistakes and the first 3 points in particular give clear explanations of good and bad leading, tracking and kerning.

 

Fawcett-Tang. R (2007) New Typographic design. Laurence King

The term Leading comes from metal typesetting/ letterpress, it is the thin metal strips of lead placed between the lines to increase the spacing. The term is still relevant to computer-based typography and refers to the distance from one base line to the next.

Kerning is the adjustment of space between individual characters.

Tracking- the adjustment of the word and letter spaces applied to whole lines or

 

http://ideas.veer.com/features/kerninspace

This link is a game that makes fun out of kerning, an interesting concept or a waste of time?

Game called 'Kern in Space"

 

"And what I like least… I find kerning a bit tedious, although it's always satisfying once you've done it well and your typeface is well spaced and kerned."

Alice Savoie, June 12 09

http://ilovetypography.com/2009/06/12/an-interview-with-alice-savoie/

I love typography

 

Books

Bergstrom. B, (2008) Essentials of Visual Communications. Laurence King

 

Fawcett-Tang. R (2007) New Typographic design. Laurence King

 

Hollis. R (2006), Swiss Graphic Design The Origins and growth of an International Style 1920-1965, Laurence King

 

Baines. P and Haslam. H (2002), Type & Typography, Laurence King

 

Basic Typography: A Design Manual

James Craig

 

Typography (Thames & Hudson Manuals)

Ruari McLean

 

Articles

Strizver.I (July 2004) Spacing and Kerning. fy(t)icon't

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/spacing-and-kerning

06/07/09

 

Websites/ Blogs

 

http://www.thedesigncubicle.com/2008/12/10-common-typography-mistakes/      

06/07/09

 

http://ideas.veer.com/features/kerninspace

09/07/09

 

Alice Savoie, June 12 09

http://ilovetypography.com/2009/06/12/an-interview-with-alice-savoie/

I love typography

07/07/09

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