The main rules of typography
Hello everyone, in this article I want to tell you about the basic rules of typography that help you make your work more visually understandable, clean and beautiful.
This article is intended for those who start their own design path, or want to start it. In this article I’ll try to tell you in detail all that I have learned about typography and its rules.
First, let’s find out what typography is.
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed.
Everything the text has is associated with the typography. Books, websites, posters, magazines, articles and so on. Now let’s talk about the basic rules. What you need to know.
1. Grid
The grid is a set of columns and lines on which you have your text. At first glance, it may seem that it is not necessary, but it is. Use the grid always. It help you to make the page clean and readable.
2. Font
Firstly, don’t use more than two fonts. You can use one but in different type faces. Secondly, use contrasting fonts — Serif for headings and Sans Serif for the main text. Or on the contrary. Two identical fonts look sloppy. Use classic time-tested fonts (you can find them on Google Fonts).
Do not use unusual fonts, if you do not know why you need it. Be careful with the colors.
3. Length of the line
To make your text convenient to read, keep the line length at 40–65 characters. (There are spaces and punctuation marks there).
4. Line spacing
The distance between the lines should have enough space, but not be too large. The ideal line spacing is 125% of the font size.
5.Size matters
The size of the text in the web should not be less than 13 pixels. The best choice is in the range of 14–18 px. Not too big and at the same time readable.
For print publications, always check the font for legibility in advance. It shouldn’t be too big or too small.
6. Justification
If you just start to understand the typography, then choose the justification ON LEFT. There is nothing wrong when the edges are uneven. The justification ON LEFT is easy to read (you are reading from left to right, right?) Avoid the justification ON RIGHT and be very careful with the justification ON CENTER and very careful ON WIDE.
7. Word wrapping.
Try to avoid word wrapping at all by using the justification ON LEFT. If you need to wrap words, do it according to grammar rules. And do not use multiple wrappings in a row. More than three can not be used.
8. Indent
Select one of the ways to separate paragraphs from each other and stick to it throughout the text. You can indent at the beginning of a paragraph, or separate paragraphs with an empty line.
But don’t use the both ways simultaneously! It’s not beautiful.
9. Widows and orphans
‘’Widow’’ is one word on a whole line at the end of a paragraph or a very short line at the end of a text or page. ‘’Orphan’’ is a false line that gets to the beginning of a new page or column. They should be avoided. Try to reduce the letter-spacing, move the line or adjust the font size. Don’t let the ‘’widows’’ and ‘’orphans’’ get into your text.
10. Letter-spacing
Don’t increase the distance between lowercase letters and don’t decrease it between uppercase letters. Conversely, increasing the distance by 10% between uppercase letters will make your text more readable.
Don’t change the width of the letters. Just never do it. It’s horrible.
11. Rivers
When you wrote your text, check it for rivers. Just squint and look. You shouldn’t have many spaces down in a row. It shouldn’t resemble a labyrinth. You can avoid it by changing of the sentence, the kegel or the length of the line. But the last two can lead to new rivers. So just change the words in sentences.
Some words about the ON WIDE justification.
If you use it, then be careful. Control the distance between words, it should be almost identical (this could be done by hyphenation or text editing). Don’t use several word wrappings successively (no more than 3). Especially control the rivers.
And what about ‘’RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN”
Sometimes in typography the rules are deliberately broken to make the text more interesting and unusual. This is most often used in posters and on the covers. But it can only be used with a short text, for example, a title, to attract attention. The whole text must be written according to the rules to be convenient to read.
If you break the rule — exaggerate. Turn the error into a reception.
I hope this article was useful to you.
Good luck to you in creative success.
