Layout Design Background Research - Typography

Typography - Good Layout Habits.

Contrast

Contrast is a fundamental principle in typography. It can be achieved in a number of ways, including size, weight and proportions.

Having contrast in typography often means using two or more fonts. One rule of thumb is to use sans-serif fonts for headlines and serif fonts for body copy -- but this, like most rules in design, is often successfully broken.

Readability

Legibility is critical in typography -- the point of type, after all, is to be read.
Some fonts are legible in all sizes, and others are designed to be displayed only in large sizes. These are called display fonts. Other fonts are designed to be legible at small sizes, but don't look good when displayed large.
One font that is both legible at small sizes and suitable as a headline font is Helvetica. While admittedly done to death, it's hard to make Helvetica look bad. And it's still the go-to font for designers looking for a legible but attractive caption font.


Fonts to Avoid

Certain fonts, whether through misuse or bad design, have developed a stigma among designers.
These fonts may have a place, but it is not in design.
Not only do these fonts have a stigma behind them, but they encourage laziness. One theory of design says that your typeface should not have any implications about the content. You should not even be consciously aware that the typeface is there. You may be attempting to be cheeky or playful by using these fonts, but they serve only to detract from what could have been good design.
Unless you're writing a comic book, don't use Comic Sans. Unless you're writing a screen play, don't use Courier. And unless you're designing an ironically inaccurate depiction of an Egyptian scroll, don't use Papyrus.
And Curlz MT? That one should be self-explanatory.


Credit Rodriguez, K for original research.




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