Comments on: Focus On Typography, Part 4: Space

By: Moe Hong

Moe Hong — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:42:00 +0000

So, on the supplied examples, I see letterspaced lowercase, a prime instead of an apostrophe, too-tight letterspacing (what is this, Pushpin in 1977?) and plenty of flash over substance. So much for graphic design and real visual problem-solving; desktop publishing has finally taken over the discipline, only there’s no discipline any longer.

By: flash design

flash design — Mon, 25 May 2009 11:55:58 +0000

very helpful

By: jamessy

jamessy — Sun, 24 May 2009 10:59:26 +0000

Good tutorial, I hope theres more to come.

By: Black Max

Black Max — Sun, 24 May 2009 02:15:29 +0000

Jennifer, nice series. I wrote one recent article on font families (with more planned, I hope), and your articles cover much material I didn’t do. Typography is a large and expansive subject.

Minor caveat: I thought it was interesting that you chose to use points in your first text example. Points are commonly used in print typography, but almost never in Web design (as you know). Might be worthwhile to add a bit about that…?

I have to disagree with the assessment that this is an “introductory” article. A lot of designers know virtually nothing about typography except — maybe — which fonts appear on most machines, and perhaps a basic grasp of well-chosen font families. For many accomplished designers, it is something of a forgotten area of concern. Your articles are, I hope, helping to bring typography/fonts as a design element to the fore.

By: ralph.m

ralph.m — Sat, 23 May 2009 14:04:49 +0000

That sounds like a great idea, Jennifer. I’m way too far gone to do a design course now; but, like every other discipline, there is a long tradition of knowledge and science behind graphic design, and I’m sure anyone (like yourself) who could convey the essence of it to the uninitiated (like me) would be much appreciated!

I look forward to your future posts.

By: Jennifer Farley

Jennifer Farley — Sat, 23 May 2009 12:56:15 +0000

Hi Ralph,
Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I would agree with you regarding the idea of stepping back and taking a look. I think that’s important. Usually when I’m designing, I do a large chunk of work, then shut it down and come back the next day. I find that by stepping back and looking again, I can see where improvements can be made.

Having said that, there really are principles and fundamentals for design and typography that “work”. There are things that work and things that just don’t look attractive or somehow disturb how we expect to see information presented.I think that with practice, you start to see little things in your designs that you know are not quite right and when that’s backed up with your knowledge of these sort of guidelines, I would say many people can develop an eye for it.

I will be more than happy to cover more specific examples of text layout in future posts. Maybe a before and after would be a good way to go?

By: ralph.m

ralph.m — Sat, 23 May 2009 09:59:33 +0000

Thanks for your posts, Jennifer. As you and mattymcg commented after Part 3, there is a place for introductory material at SitePoint.

Only thing I didn’t get from your posts is specific guidelines on how to lay out text, and I know it was only an introduction… but still, it does seem to confirm a feeling I have (which you may like to comment on): I don’t have a graphic design background, but I feel that 9 tenths of good typography is about “standing back” and “taking a look”, thereby picking up on the feel of the layout. I know graphic designers must hate to hear that; and indeed, when I lay out text like this, my graphic designer friend looks like he’s going to throw up! And yet I’d say that I follow everything you cover in this series.

I’ve never quite figured out the “secret science” of the graphic designer! No doubt there is more to learn…