Typography is one of the easiest and most basic design elements. Theoretically, all you have to do is select an appropriate typeface, then play with size, and perhaps alter the colour to match the project you’re thinking.
Wrong. It is a common misconception about typography, which is costing numerous designers and clients projects with potential. Typography is an undiscovered art form.
If you’re doing it right with care and concentration, the text will easily grab the people’s focus first and foremost when they visit your website.
Typography is the method by which you can stay committed to the goal of a website and make its focus more on the information and content that you provide rather than the aesthetics or other elements of design.
Your words should be seen clearly. But, a perfect typography design doesn’t necessarily attract as much appreciation or attention as choosing the appropriate colours for your website or employing the appropriate animations will.
Typography is therefore easy to overlook and is not given much consideration. Now you are aware of the importance of typography, here are a few typical mistakes you could and should avoid in your next project.
Top Typography Mistakes All Designers Should Avoid
1. Utilizing excessive positive tracking
Tracking is a concept in typography which refers to the space between two letters in an expression or word. The more that two characters track the more space between them on the opposite side of.
Tracking is usually employed to adjust the font to make it fit properly within the space of a line. Making these small adjustments later on is helpful in these situations, but the amount of changes you make can impact the font’s readability and legibility.
Every font has a standard spacing of letters to give the highest level of legibility to the font. If you want to change the font’s tracking due to aesthetic reasons, be sure it does not impact the legibility as it is important to focus on aesthetic appeal.
2. Not knowing the correct kerning or tracking
Designers often spend hours reworking the tracking, kerning, or kerning of their typography. However, the majority of them don’t know the distinctions between these two. Many people consider these terms to be the same but this isn’t true.
The term “tracking,” as mentioned earlier refers to the spacing between characters in the word or phrase. Kerning is more particular in the spacing adjustments that occur in the particular space between two characters.
Kerning can help bring characters that have excessive whitespace in closer proximity to neighbours. A good example is ‘W’ and “A which can be easily placed closer to each other than fonts would naturally keep them. This is because they share similar angles.
3. Insufficient leading
Leading is now the line that is between two lines of text. Software such as MS Word and the web refer to this by using the term line spacing. If you are using too little space between lines.
It will cause your copy to look sloppy and difficult to read. If you are too generous with your lead, it can appear to be a discontinuity within the lines in your text.
There is no set amount of leading, but, you must make a decision that is in line with both legibility and aesthetic appeal as a designer.
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4. Lack of contrast
Modern software has many extravagant features. But just the fact that they exist does not mean that you must make use of these features. Your copy may look dull after rendering.
The main reason for this could be a lack of distinction between text and background. This can cause problems in understanding and reading the text. When you are working on your manuscript.
5. Inexperienced in setting the correct lengths
This is among the most crucial issues with legibility that are often neglected. If a line’s length is too long, it becomes difficult for readers to follow the line and locate their position within the following line.
This can affect the overall flow and comprehension of the information. Newspapers and magazines limit their line lengths at 75 characters. It can be a useful guideline to introduce some discipline to how long your sentences are.
Although it may not be feasible to stick to it completely however, the more you strive to stick to it and the closer you get to a predetermined interval The better your written copy will be for follow-through and comprehending.
6. Use of weights that are too heavy and faces
If you’re a novice in any area, you’re likely to play around with the most tools you can. Designers can also make the mistake of using excessive fonts and weights within one design.
In general, it is recommended to limit your work to at least three fonts. Once you’ve mastered that it is also advisable to take an eye on pairing fonts. Certain fonts are compatible with other fonts.
There may be instances when you require at least three different fonts, or you feel that you need more. The problem with that is that it makes the user difficult, and the layout becomes unconnected. In the same way, multiple weights within the same font may make the reader confused.
7. Making assumptions about a false sense balance by using center-align too much
Many designers advise that you shouldn’t centre align. In the field of design, there aren’t any strict and precise rules and there are no alignments that are not useful.
The centre of the design can do great if you apply it with care in the right position and at the right time. For a novice, however, designers can have an unclear idea of what constitutes an idea of balance.
They believe that by centred aligning texts, they will create a sense of balance. However, the text’s symmetry can be difficult to follow, particularly when the content is long.
8. Text formatting errors
Web-based content requires the use of a content writer who can type the content on the computer keyboard as well as word processor software. When you have a lot of work to do and you are not aware of it.
You may create extra spaces between two words, or use repeated words repeatedly. These mistakes and mistakes are called human errors. It’s normal to make mistakes.
However, it’s unacceptable. Software and SaaS applications are designed to rectify grammar and formatting if they can’t see it. As a designer, if receive a document with apparent gaps or any other formatting issues and you want to correct it immediately after you notice it.
Incorrect formatting could derail readers and can also dent your credibility and dedication to the piece at issue. This is why you need to be attentive when you present the information that you are responsible for as you are able.
9. Resolving uneven edges through the justification of the text
If your website’s content appears to be an unbalanced bar graph, then it’s having edge raggedness. The uneven lengths of lines could be ugly. Many designers will alter the alignment of text to be ‘justified’ to fix this problem.
This will help get rid of awkward edges. However, it can result in unnatural spaces between words to get smooth edges. This isn’t the ideal method to approach it because tackling one issue will lead to a different one.
Instead, you can manually add break lines to the wrong locations. It’s not perfect as a textbook but it’s far superior to the previous alternative.
10. Overemphasizing
Content is the star of your creative efforts. It is the design element that also serves as an educational element of your design. The content communicates the things you would like readers and viewers to be able to see feel, touch, and see.
But, the content is categorized into different levels of importance. It is important for a particular portion that you have written to catch your reader’s attention initially and then proceed to additional content.
By highlighting the correct points, you can attract readers who would otherwise not be interested in your content. The tendency is to overemphasize the issue by employing underlines, italic fonts boldfaces, quotes, as well as other options for formatting content.
11. The importance of not focusing on
As an artist, it’s easy to become enthralled by the myriad of gorgeous fonts that are available. However, this shouldn’t overpower the professional in you.
The artistic nature of fonts can distract designers from the reason for employing them in their projects.
If you are in the slightest doubt about a font being readable or even partially confusing, use a second eye to assess the text. Don’t think it’s okay to choose a gorgeous font, but at the cost of appearance professional.
12. Not knowing the importance of negative spacing
Designers who are novices don’t grasp the concept behind negative spacing. They believe it’s unwelcome and unattractive. They feel they must fill their workspace to prevent the possibility of negative space.
Some designers are aware of the concept but are unable to apply it in practice. The majority of designers would initially fill their design space with elements such as graphics, pictures or even type. Remember that you need to leave an airy space within your designs.
13. Poor scaling
A very infamous error that designers make when designing typography is condensing or stretching words incorrectly to fit them in a small space. This error can destroy the letters transform them into strange-looking characters and take them away from their original style.
You must be mindful of being constant and effective when scaling. When you’re scaling the textbook either up or down make sure to keep the proportions in your mind.
14. Blinding widows and orphans
It’s probably an example of one of the more obscure typography errors that could elude anyone’s eye quickly. Orphans and widows are technical words for shorter lines that appear at the bottom or on the top of a page or column.
These words or phrases could be distinct from the rest of the text. When you typeset your text-heavy piece, you have to be attentive to the problems that appear to be hovering around corners.
15. Incorrect use of superficial special effects
Incorporating bells and whistles into your typography isn’t a bad idea. It enhances your typography in many cases. The Word Art tool within MS Word is also a handy tool that lets designers create appealing typographic designs.
The issue isn’t knowing when to not make use of it. Every design isn’t suited to special effects such as drop shadow, 3D effects or embossing.
Sometimes, these effects could make an appearance cheap and uninteresting. It is important to understand the audience and your client before deciding on the use of special effects.
16. Do not pay attention to hierarchy in your style
Hierarchy is vital in providing viewers with a visible clue to pay attention to the most important content first and shift their attention to other pillars of content later. If a person isn’t sure which content to pay attention to first.
If that happens, they will likely take their time to read something that offers no specific information regarding the message you intend to communicate.
By merely contrasting various content of different importance and making it easier for viewers and readers to follow. It is possible to use the ABC method.
Think of ‘A’ as one of the biggest and most prominent text blocks and ideal headings. You can make these text blocks in bold or all caps to make them more noticeable.
