January 26, 2006
Typography, as discussed in the introduction to this series, is comprised of many constituent parts, one of which is Typesetting. As already discussed, Typesetting is the composition of a body of text from raw material into a designed presentation. One of the aspects of Typesetting which seems to be lacking in the design profession—and I'm guilty as this as the next designer—is that of a thorough understanding of the written word. A total grasp of punctuation, grammar and structure and when and where to use them.
A good Typesetter should really know the language in which they are composing.
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January 25, 2006
It's been quite a while since the last Simple Steps series, but this new series of articles has been brewing for a while. Before I go into the first installment I'd like to clarify what exactly I mean by Typesetting and how that differs from Design, Typographic Design or Typography. Each 'Simple Step' will be just that, clear simple rule(s) to follow.
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August 09, 2005
The third installment to this series is going to be a little different. The previous installments have been talking through some of the basics of grid construction using ratios as the primary device. They've also dealt with grid construction for print media. Unfortunately, as designers for web media, we don't have some of the luxuries as our print designer collegues.
Rather than go through tutorials (I'll be covering these in the last two installments), I'll be using this installment as a platform to discuss some of the challenges and rewards of designing grid systems for the web.
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July 16, 2005
In part one of this Simple Steps series I talked about how to use a simple ratio, that of the paper size you are using, to create a symmetrical grid on which to create your designs. This, the second part in the series, will deal with other ratios and how they can be combined to create more complex grid systems.
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July 04, 2005
The first part of this Five Simple Steps series is taking some of the points discussed in the preface and putting it to practice.
Ratios are at the core of any well designed grid system. Sometimes those ratios are rational, such as 1:2 or 2:3, others are irrational such as the 1:1.414 (the proportion of A4). This first part is about how to combine those ratios to create simple, balanced grids which in turn will help you create harmonious compositions.
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May 18, 2005
The final part in this series, I'm glad to say is a little more cut and dry than the last in the series. It's more about historical typographic theory but with a simple, practical guide to ensuring a balanced use of typeface weights.
Typeface weight, and the choice of weight, is perhaps one area of typography that to most designers is simply a matter of choice. That choice is dictated by answering a design problem which is aesthetically, or content, motivated. What many designers do not realise is that there are rules which should govern the choice of weight - a typographic pecking order - which when followed, aids the designer's typesetting and can produce stunning results.
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May 09, 2005
I've struggled a bit with the latest addition to this 'simple steps' typography series. Mostly because it's not so simple and it's a bit more of a grey area than the previous three articles.
Typographic hierarchy, put simply, is how different faces, weights and sizes of typefaces structure a document. Some of these hierarchical devices are well-established conventions, such as cross heads and folios, so I'm not going to touch on them in this post. To keep it simple I'm going to concentrate on two things - size and weight. The first of which is size.
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April 25, 2005
I'm pleased this series is turning out to be so popular and it's somewhat confirmed what I suspected. A bit of a thirst for simple typographic design theory.
As I've been writing this series i've deluged by email and comments from people agreeing, disagreeing, asking for more information etc. What's great is designers are thinking and talking about typography again. Designers are questioning typography and not just letting the font and the software do the work. It's nice to hear. But enough back-slapping Mark, on with the next in the series...
The third installment of this series is dedicated to just one typographic element - Ligatures.
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I'm a graphic designer from near Cardiff in the UK. I've been a designer for over ten years now and primarily work on the web. I'm still partial to a bit of print every now and then though. I used to work for