Graphic Design Foundations: Typography

Explore good typographic practices. Learn how to select and use type to add impact, how type is measured, and how factors like spacing and alignment affect your design.

Introduction

• Welcome to the wonderful world of type
• Why good typography matters
• The power of type: Print-based and screen-based
• The theory of typographic relativity
• Becoming a good "type detective"
• Getting the most out of this course

1. Typographic Differentiation

• Serif vs. sans serif
• Display type vs. text type
• Display type and branding
• Type history
• Type classification
• Other type categories
• Guidelines for choosing and combining typefaces
• Using cases

2. The Language of Type

• Anatomy: Parts and shapes of type
• Size and measurements of type
• Type families: Widths, weights, and slopes
• Terminology of type based on function
• Color and tonal weight: Exercises

3. Spacing and Alignment

• Kerning and kerning pairs
• Tracking and leading
• Variations on alignment
• Hyphenation and justification
• Indents, outdents, and hanging punctuation
• Other good typographic practices
• Special considerations: Screen-based type

4. Touching on Type Design

• Where type begins: The mark of the hand
• Related parts and shapes: Family resemblances
• Designing a typeface

5. Legibility and Readability

• Legibility and readability: Differences
• More legibility tips
• Discover how hierarchy works
• Systematized hierarchy: Branding
• Opening paragraphs and drop caps
• Typographic abominations

6. Typographic Composition

• Opposing forces of typography
• The grid: A structure for containing type
• Contrast and scale

7. Thinking with Type

• Expressive typography
• The emotional impact of type
• Three-dimensional type

8. Specialized Uses

• Environmental typography
• Branding using typography
• Typography in motion
• Working with numbers
• Expert characters and analphabetic symbols
• Using typography to navigate content

Final Thoughts

• Managing your fonts
• Building your type library
• Developing your typographic "eye"
• Breaking the rules
• What's next?