In the early days, hand-operating printers where used by designers which had to be operated manually. The manual printers had metal letters engrossed in a frame which when rolled in the ink pressed down onto a clean paper for printing.

This process of printing needed thousands of physical metal blocks each with a character representing typeface. Likewise, for printing a Garamond typeface, you would need different blocks of diverse size (like 10 points, 12 points, 14 points, and so on) and weight (like bold, light, medium).

A font is entirely different from typeface. It is a subset of blocks that are integrated with a distinct size and weight. Like Garamond typeface (bold) in 12 points is a different font than the Garamond typeface (normal) in 8 points. Also, Times New Roman of 24 points is a different font than the Times New Roman of 28 points.

Design Creates Culture. Culture Shapes Values. Values Determine The Future.

-Robert L. Peters

Typography was overlooked by web designers for over a very long time. Now, typography is gaining its part of importance in web design, advertising which is rising in digital culture.
Typography is widely become an integral part of communication, due to which dedicated and creative typographers have gained importance from back time.

Typography is a combination of art and technique together setting up the expression, theme, and message of a website. It involves a keen selection of typefaces, point’s size, line length, leading, tracking, kerning, and coloring with some thoughtful components that can alter the design.

Some Basic Indispensable Term Used in Typography for the Designer to Know

1. Leading:

The space between the baseline and the roof line where the text is written, is leading. Content is always written under the leading area, this promotes the text to look better and synchronized. Leading has benefitted people by being kinder to their eyes making the text clearer and legible for a longer period to read.

2. Kerning:

Kerning contributes towards the explicitly reading experience of the text. It is a technique to add spacing between each character during the designing type. This spacing includes change but in such a way that it looks natural.

3. Tracking:

Similar to kerning tracking is the space between the groups of letters. Tracking controls the density and readability of the text. It also helps eliminate widows and orphans occurring while making the type lines even.

• Widow: The last line of the paragraph, all alone on the other side of a page break.
• Orphan: Orphans on the other end is the single word or a short phrase that appears at the beginning of the paragraph when the paragraph ends.
• Rags: Rags also play an important role in showing the content in a systematic form. Its purpose is to deliver the text evenly throughout the paragraph keeping the vertical margins align.

4. Hierarchy:

When writing content for your audience and you want them to read the title first followed by subtitles and paragraphs. So, you make the titles bigger and bolder. Adding the quotes in italics will put weight on the specific part of the content in between the paragraphs.

5. Optical Margin Alignment:

This trick is useful when you have to align the text border optically into the margins. Hung Punctuation or ex-dentationsis used to shift all the punctuations and bullet points into the margin so that the subsequent line aligns with the rest of the text.

To become a skilful designer, you would need these advanced skills to clearly communicate even complex messages effectively-

Dedicated professionals believe in creating their own typefaces in order to distribute them to the design and advertising professionals. People often mix the term typeface and font. But, the typeface is far away from the term font. You can relate the difference between a font and a typeface similar to a song and an album. Likewise, the bundle of songs make up an album similarly a group of font makes a typeface.

Why is it necessary to understand the Anatomy of a Typeface? It’s always easy to communicate when you start speaking the designer’s language.

Terms That Are Widely Spoken by the Designers in the World of Typography Will Definitely Help

1. Baseline: Is the line where the letter rests.

2. Cap height: Is the distance of the baseline to the top of the capital letter.

3. X-height:It’s the distance between the baseline and the cap height;generally, it’s the height of the body of a lower-case letter.

4. Bowl: The curved part of the character which encloses, like ‘d’, ‘o’, ‘b’, ‘D’, and ‘B’.

5. Serif: The short cross-line at the base and top of the letters, like ‘I’.

6. Descender: The extended part of a lowercase letter that falls below the baseline, like in the letter’s ‘p’, ‘q’, ‘j’, ‘g’, and ‘y’.

There Are Certain Terms Used In The Above Pictures:

1. Ligature: The stroke or the curve joining the adjacent letters.

2. Stem: The flat baseline of the letter where it rests.

3. Spine: The curvy part of the letter ‘s’, be it horizontal or vertical, is the spine of the letter body.

4. Ascender: The extended chunk of the letter above the mean line.

Defining Terms Mentioned In The Above Image:

1. Crossbar: The bar that starts and extends from one side of a stroke to another side of the letter, like “B”, “A”.

2. Counter: The hollow space left in a letter, like “B”, “O” etc.

3. Final: The thin edge of a curved letter such as in the letter “e”, “c”.

4. Terminal: The slightest curve on specific letters, like the upper curve of the letter ‘f’ and the lower curve of the letter ‘j’.

5. Leg: A portion of the character extended and freed downward and attached from one end. Likewise, in the letter “k”.

6. Arm: Similar to leg an arm is linked from one end and extended, freed upwards. Likewise, in the letter “v”.

7. Ear: An accentuated point in the character, likewise in the word “g”.

8. Shoulder: A shoulder in a type represents the curve the bends down to form the letter. Likewise, in the curve in the letter “n”, “m,”, “h”.

9. Tail: The extended curved stroke of the letter “Q” is a tail in the type.

10. Swash: When adding a decorative or fancy curved stroke in replacement of a terminal or serif.

11. Spur: A slightest bump that occurs when deviated strokes meet likewise in the letter “a”.

12. Loop: The ring-shaped enclosure of a letter likewise in the letter “g”.

13. Link: A little stroke that connects the enclosed shape and the annular part of the letter.

Seeking New Opportunities with Typography

Mixing every piece of marketing equation is perfect when blending for online marketing. Typography stands as tall as pillar when a written aspect comes in action during the multi-media communication. The message for the userbecomes effective when converting the readers into customers.

Not every person has perfect eyesight. Research showed that 42% of Americans are short-sighted therefore they need bigger fonts to read the content well. Typography let people read the text easily being subtle to their eyes. Also, research shows that people connect emotionally with some specific fonts. This emotional connection can boost the chances of making a favorable response.

Typography not just merely serves messages but designs a compositional foundation –

A typeface is a precise design element that serves as a nuclear weapon to your design arsenal. If you want to create a typography-centric design, you should not get confined to the structure of the existing fonts.

Typography makes the whole process of understanding and comprehending the information smooth. Efforts are spent less to read the content when it is typographically formatted.

Think about the ways to incorporate swirls, texture, blotches and spats which could spice up the look of the types. Using new and trendy typefaces which are less elaborative can be paired with bold colors, cutouts, gradients for a new look.

The Latest Typography Trends Are:

1. Animation with Typography

Animation is one of the biggest trend’s setters. Designs like shifting, moving, hovering and many more techniques are used to create a richer user experience. It is necessary to make accommodation for the animation to rest. Lettering is an easy method to convey your message with animation, providing delight and surprise to the users.

2. Cutouts and Overlays

Layered effects enhance the design and using typography in it is an add-on. Cutouts and overlays are the transparent text and the type design that reflects simultaneously letting the users read the content easily. This technique works best with large lettering creating a lot of visual interest.

3. Overlapping text elements with images

Early choice reflects designer’s preferences in positioning the text elements and other elements separately. Nowadays, designers’ experiment with overlapping the text and other elements that resulted in users focus more on the words written on the screen.

4. Overdone Technique

This designing technique does not favor every time, but it would work well when used as overdone typography. This type of trend gives a retro look which is so over the top that demands users focus only on the words. It is characterized by outlines, shadows, bevels, fades and crazy colors.

5. Hero Typography

The headlines and the undersized text over the hero image of the website is actually bit refreshing. The idea of using a smaller typography denotes big headlines but small enough to include a few text lines. Creating smaller typography is again easier to scale while creating a universal experience. Oversized typography can cause disruption over mobile screens, so just dropping size maintains readability and still looks good.

6. Stacking Text Typography

While small size typography is trending, designers prefer stacking multiple lines of a word to create a weighted message. This trend has become widely known because of the shift in trying to communicate with more information than enticing with a single word for user engagement. Designers structure the designs and the text on different sides so that designs and the text work asymmetrical which is again appealing to look at.

7. Serifs are back

Typography with extra strokes is being used everywhere. It is always recommended for thick strokes and proper line spacing when using serifs which has so much character and charm. This can boost simple design outlines for better visual effects.

8. Highlighting Typography

One of the flexible techniques to use to emphasize lettering. This technique is useful when you want to highlight the text or add animation. There are many ways to use this type design trend;also, it works best with shorter blocks of text.

9. Customize Typography

This typography is widely used among the big brands as it is a little pricey and requires time to build. This is a fun type where you can add your creativity to the fullest. Here you can pick the best typography or customize them according to your project also can adjust them giving out more custom look and feel.

10. Color Typography

While there was a lot of black and white with minimum styles in typography, colors have popped in to give more liveliness. Color fonts and types are very popular in designing projects and are fun to use. Designers are using bright colors in typography that adds an extra visual interest.

11. Variable fonts

This brand-new trend settling down in design are becoming more prominent in graphic designing. A variable font is a single font that acts as many fonts. This single highly efficient font file contains attributes like variations in width, weight, slant and many more. Variable fonts have the capability to change the way designers work also it can influence the new and non-conventional approach of how we think of type system.

12. Photo type brutalism

Given the recent US midterm elections, Photo type brutalism is another upcoming typographic trends used for representing bolder, stronger actions or announcements. It recalls the 1960s and 70s dense, rough-yet-institutional-feeling types.

13. Text with Gradients

This technique has gained a bad reputation due to its poor usage. But if used correctly it could show a stunning effect on the user. Just as in the image the headline is featured with orange to pink color change. It is easy to read and is putting emphasis exactly on the right place.

14. Maximizing Types

Since minimal typefaces are in trends, creating large typefaces are coming into vogue. Large, bold, clean layouts look simple but function effectively. Minimalism makes the content appear loud than others.

15. Hidden Typography

Hiding text on your website is trending. The hidden element is partially concealed in such a way maintaining the remaining content readable and understandable. Likewise, in the image the word “please” is partially visible in a form that it is still easy to understand. It’s a cutting-edge technique if you go wrong can make the entire idea ugly causing user estranged.

To Conclude

Lettering is the essential part of any design that has reached the next level. Typography trends are constantly pushing its boundaries in being creative yet keeping the reliability effortless. It is always recommended to go with the latest trends to bring in more and more clients.