Using Typography

The general public usually thinks of graphic design as a nontextual mediumand yet the printed word is considered by many designers to be the most important component of visual communication.

Think of the most compelling, seductive poster you've found on your commute to work. Sure, that grainy image of young lovers running through crashing waves is evocative. But without the skilful use of typographythe company logo, the clever tagline, those small letters declaring London, Paris, New York, Tokyowhat does it communicate?

Typography is an essential tool for poster designers, partly because type is so powerful, and partly because it must be used economically to get a message across quickly. Typography today includes everything related to the publication of text and the placement of words and images on the pageso much more than just picking a typeface.

Nevertheless, when designing a poster, choosing a typeface is where typography begins. With thousands of different typefaces available, where do you start?

The desktop publishing revolution encouraged everyone to go mad with fonts. To provide visual consistency, however, an individual poster should use no more than three typefaces. When two or three different typefaces are used, they should be fairly distinct from one anotherthey should contrast. Alternately, if using multiple variations of a single typeface, each should still be distinct in some way. The items' contrast should indicate which ones are most important. If they are too similar looking, it's confusing for the reader. Especially on a poster, where the message must be delivered quickly, the hierarchy of information should be extremely clear. Care should be taken not to overuse bold and italics. In certain fonts, bold and italics look very different from their parent typefaces.

The Virtues of Typography

Of the many tenets or virtues in typography, perhaps the most important in poster design are simplicity and restraint.

It can be very tempting to use highly decorative fonts. There's no doubt that this can draw attention to your poster designbut not all attention is good attention. The wrong choices, particularly overly decorative ones, can undermine your message. In many cases, a decorative font is not necessary. If there are busy elements in the design, such as photographs or many repeating elements, a simple font and perhaps a variation of it may be all you need to get your message across. It will balance out the other busy elements and call attention that way.

tip

Just like overly decorative fonts, banal fonts (both simple and decorative) can undermine the message. Try not to rely on the default options that came with your computerfind typefaces that are fresh and work best with the design.

In a simpler overall design, a more complex font can be introduced for your main text. This can serve two purposes. First, it helps to decorate the design and add interest to the entire look. Second, it draws attention to the main text. A simple font can get lost in an ultrasimple design.

When using a decorative font, though, it's important to use it as sparingly as possible, such as for just a word or two of the main text rather than all of the copy in a design. Using a cleaner font for secondary type will balance with the decorative font and will more strongly convey the hierarchy of text.

This leads to the other important virtues in font usage: balance and contrast. The tension between these two elements can help a design capture attention or stand out from the crowd. Balance and contrast can be created between typefaces or between text and other elements, like images.

Figure 6.24. An ad campaign to raise public support for hosting the 2012 Olympics in New York City began with an image a logo that combined an image of an athlete with and image of the Statue of Liberty. The logo appeared all around the city, even on subway trains.

Figure 6.25. The outdoor ad campaign for the NYC 2012 bid was pure typography: aspirational messages in the many colors of the Olympic rings, depicting the feeling of the witnessing the event, some horizontal and others hanging banners of text.

Think back to the compositional tools we talked about earlier, like asymmetrical balance and repetitive rhythm. These aren't limited to images and geometric shapes. Juxtaposing text against text or image against text works just as effectively with these techniques.

Finally, there's the virtue of placementnot the placement of text on the page, but the placement of your poster in public. Will it be in a subway car, where you have time to read several lines of text? Or on a street poster that you're zipping past in your car? Your poster's surroundings should determine your use of textincluding your choice of typeface, the size and spacing around the text, and the level of contrast against the background.