Type as Information
Graphic Communication. Presenting information — educating, entertaining, inspiring — in an aesthetically pleasing format. It is often said that a picture is worth 1000 words, but a picture by itself will be interpreted differently by each person who views it. This is where type proves its worth. Not only can the words themselves literally say what the message of the piece is but the font choices and treatments, when used effectively, can help to further imprint the visual message. Typography, too, can help the viewer navigate a design, when directly or indirectly. This is why type must be chosen and presented carefully, with planning and consideration.
The presentation of type holds such a great deal of weight that the author refers to as “one of the designer’s most important tasks.” Specifically, it is important that the designer give the information an order, or structure. This is called hierarchy and when used effectively it allows the viewer to navigate through a design as was intended by the designer. Hierarchy should visually tell a viewer where to begin looking a design, what order to work through it and where to end. Therefore, hierarchy is essentially the importance the designer assigns to each element. As designers, we are often saddled with the task of determining what, in fact, is the most important aspect of the design that we want the viewer see first. This is done by first reading the text and then deciding what the viewer needs to see first.
This visual show of importance is done through a number of different ways. The spaces around and in between text can be manipulated to create different levels of importance. The size assigned to each element, too, will help develop these levels of importance. A well designed newspaper provides a very good example of this. The traditional formula for designing a news package is a large headline with a good amount of white space around it. This must be the first thing that a view sees as it will, in most cases, determine if they will read the rest of the story. The headline is , depending on space and availability, followed by a photo or graphic with a cutline tucked in close by and in some cases overlapping the photo. This proximity lets the viewer know that these two elements go together. The photo and cutline are usually followed by a smaller subhead and even smaller body copy. This order creates a level of hierarchy that lets the viewer know where to start and how to progress through the package.
With the newspaper as well as most design projects, a small number of fonts are selected for a specific purpose and then used throughout the design. This creates unity in the design. In most cases designers are warned against using more than three fonts in a design. When selecting fonts, the author stresses the importance of combining fonts that have similar qualities, such as “proportion, weight and terminal shape.” He says that it is not necessary to hit the viewer over the head with a font change when the content requires differentiation. This is because very small changes in type are easily recognized. A slight change will clue the viewer into a change but will also help to create unity and “interrelationships within the content.”
The placement of the type also indicates how it is related. Keeping related blocks of text closer together indicates that they are related while giving more space between text blocks indicates that they are not related. Likewise, shallow columns of text arranged horizontally with a space in between — that allows the viewer to differentiate the columns — indicate to the viewer that these short columns are directly related. I contrast, breaks in vertically aligned text indicates that the segments are unrelated. Along with grouping, using geometric forms — like bullet points for lists — or lines can help the viewer know what is related and what is not. This indication of relation allows the viewer to more easily navigate the design and aids in delivering the message correctly and as intended.
Source: "Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual" by Timothy Samara
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