DESN 255 — INTRO TO COMPUTER GRAPHICS I  |  FALL 2020  |  TTH 1:00–3:45PM  |  ONLINE (AMI)

TYPOGRAPHIC ANATOMY

In order to design a good logo, we must have an understanding of the basic letter form anatomy.

KERNING & LEADING

Kerning is the space between letters within a word or word-mark and/or the space between words.We have to take every detail seriously, including the spaces between letters and words, or else the identity may convey an inappropriate or unintended message, like some of these examples. This is what happens when companies don't hire a designer, or else a very bad one. Don't be a lazy or bad designer. The world doesn't need more bad work; we need more good work.

LEADING

Leading is the space between multiple lines of text such as in a paragraph.

ORPHANS & WIDOWS

Orphan. When formatting paragraphs or lines of text, a word hanging on it's own line is known as an orphan.

Widow. When a single line from a paragraph has been separated from the rest of the paragraph and is seemingly left hanging on the following page or in the next column.

Both of these should be avoided for good pagination and elegant layout design.

 

As you can see from the examples below, these little details matter a lot.

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