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1.57 AM Kerning everything you need to know |
Completing a graphic design requires a keen eye. But you already know this, because perfectionism is only part of the job! You look at every corner of a project before you can consider it complete. While many people may not understand this attention to detail, it is exactly the kind of eye a designer needs - there is no such thing as "less than perfect" in this industry! Nothing goes unnoticed, not even the distance between individual pairs of letters. Yes, this can be considered perfectionist, but a good designer knows how important kerning is in typography. Kerning is the distance between a pair of letters. Every time you work on a project, you should strive for even typographic color (in other words: no odd or uneven letter spacing). In some cases (such as large headings and copy blocks) you may want to spend a little more time on type kerning, while in other cases (such as a lot of body text) the default kerning settings with some minor changes may be sufficient. Even then, you may not always have to change the kerning, but it's a good idea to make sure you consider every aspect of every design you make. But kerning is more than just spacing—it's also a strategic tool that enhances the clarity of your message. Readers in the English-speaking world, for example, prefer Helvetica as a font. This is why Helvetica is the most widely used font in the world (although many designers consider it one of the most popular fonts). It's easy to read and the simplicity of the text allows it to be used in everything from signage to t-shirt designs. But despite its widespread use and popularity, it is often too simple in many contexts. Its owner, Monotype, recently updated Helvetica so that designers don't have to constantly change the font as it gets bigger or smaller. T he relationship between letters is almost a scientific question, a graphic designer. A good designer understands that only a small adjustment to spacing is required to make a design awkward or perfect. These letters are not limited to the computer monitor in front of you. It's important to examine your typography in the context in which the design will live - on a 100% scale print of your design or on a phone screen. Seeing how this font will look in context can influence your kerning decision. To get a better look at kerning today, let's go back a few centuries. This history lesson is not only an artistic exploration, but also an example of modern kerning. In ancient Mesopotamia, cuneiform, now the oldest written language, was dried on clay tablets. At that time, language was used as a system of accounting. Everything that was under the rule of the monarchy was kept by highly skilled scribes. The purpose of letters and words has changed over the centuries, but their intentions have always been the same. In ancient writing, kerning allowed the scribe to record important messages legibly and in a way that could be preserved indefinitely. Today, kerning also supports the readability of the message, but also maintains the overall appearance of the design. If kerning turns a reader off, they will likely come away hating the design, oblivious to its intent. There are tools, common practices and theories that should be applied when kerning. The core philosophy of "fitting into space" is communication. As a rule of thumb, no matter what you core, tweak, or resize, your goal is to speak clearly. Graphic designers must not only practice what they find attractive, but also understand what appeals to their target audience. Closing wide gaps or opening bottlenecks is done to help readers understand the message. Kerning is all about rhythm. If the letters are not kerned correctly, it can throw off the reader and disrupt the message. Communication is a vital part of what we do as graphic designers, and kerning plays a key role in that communication. If you don't pay attention to the letters and spaces between them, it can lead to unexpected and unwanted results. When a designer creates something, he makes a choice: moving an element here or there is a very tiny choice. However, all these small choices make your font very easy to read and understand. Only when you understand the power you exert by making these (seemingly small) decisions can you create a seamless process. So limiting your definition of kerning as only the distance to the left and right is a myopic point of view. During the process, the relative position of the entire design element is taken into account. That's why it's useful to know about the elements that help us make basic decisions. Look at the spacing of the letters and their placement as if they were an optical illusion. As you gain insight, you may begin to realize that the principles that worked in a previous project simply won't have the same impact within the current project. This is due to the communication factor that is present in every design you create. Every design you create should be unique, which is why letter kerning is an art. It's important to understand the consistent rules of kerning, but it's also important that you take that knowledge and manipulate what you know to apply it to a specific design. By approaching each kerning scenario as an optical illusion, you can focus more on what's needed rather than what might work based on established rules. Consider this principle to correspond to the old adage: “Things are not always what they seem.” Adjust accordingly. Headline: The title of a design (digital or printed) is usually its focal point. You can influence a person's opinion of your entire company by what they see first when they visit your website. You can also manipulate their emotional connection to your brand - for example, creating an eerie sensation in October or conveying a holiday feel for your seasonal products in winter. Colors and fonts are important in their own right, but spacing matters too. Logos: Logos should say a lot while taking up very little space, time, or letters. If you adjust the kerning between one pair of letters, you will have to adjust the others, similar to the domino effect, and not rely on the software's default settings. Business Cards: Business professionals are always looking for a competitive advantage. Some even boast of the quality of their business cards unlike others. You can expand the design features of these “small windows of opportunity” by taking a closer look at the letters used. You control balance, hierarchy, contrast and alignment. Due to the limited copy and messaging on business cards, typography can be scrutinized even more closely. Font changes: Font sizes set between 10 and 12 are unlikely to benefit from extensive adjustments, but expect more to work as your text gets larger. Most fonts are designed to fit the standard typesetting sizes we use. And while you may find yourself needing to put a disclaimer or logo in a 7 or 8 point font, the default font settings will still work. You might just need to tweak them a little. In addition to the examples in which you can use kerning in everyday design, you will also encounter three different types of kerning: Metric Kerning: This type of kerning uses kerning pairs that contain information about the distance between different pairs of letters. Examples include To, Tr, LA, We, Ya, etc. These are included in most fonts, and some platforms use default kerning metrics so those letter pairs are automatically kerned so you don't have to spend extra energy on kerning. enter or import text. Metrics are best suited for body text because they tend to be freer. Optical Kerning: Adjusts the distance between adjacent characters according to their specific shape. Some design software provides this as an alternative to the default options. Optical kerning is ideal for situations where more condensed fonts (such as headings) are required. Manual kerning: This type of kerning is exactly what you might assume from its name - it's where you dial in the kerning based on the specific requirements of whatever project you're working on. Whenever you can't find the setting you want in your software, you can enter the sizes, spacing, and shapes according to your preferences. However, there is one obstacle to keep in mind with this choice: it will take longer to achieve the final result because you have to input every detail as if you were working from new, unprocessed slate paper. We'll look at various options for manual kerning, perception established as a process within our overall workflow. It is dedicated to the art of “finding equality” between letters. Perception is more important than the actual dimension of space. We found that the shapes and irregular patterns of some letters can make it appear as if there is less or more space between each part of the word. We have to adjust to this, and the adjustment is made with the eye, not with a ruler. For example, in some typography you may find an uppercase "T" with the right side overhanging the letter that follows it. The overall design we're working on is a deciding factor in your decision, but closing off the space in this way can cause the whole sequence to find its balance. We can only know this through the final effect. The result of your spacing and the flow of your typography is more important than the mathematical distance at which each letter stands. The main shapes you will work with are A, O and H. They create a basic combination of angles, curves and straight lines that can sometimes be difficult to master. Leaving kerning at the default settings in your software can cause problems due to underlying patterns. You, of course, will not achieve a personalized approach if you leave the settings as they are. If you're new to kerning, it's probably already obvious that it's not an easy practice. This is a time-consuming, complex process that can take even the most experienced designers some time before it becomes second nature to them. But rest easy knowing that with practice, you'll gradually begin to master the ins and outs of kerning. And soon the tasks will no longer be so difficult. There are two ways to get started with kerning: When you invest so much time into a project, it can sometimes be difficult to step away from the creative part of your brain to focus on design techniques like kerning. You chose certain fonts or words for a reason, but what if the meaning of those words negatively impacts the final outcome of your design? This can—and does—happen more often than designers realize. In psychology this is called priming. This is when the mind makes an association with certain words or phrases. In design, this can affect how the core designer prints (and they don't even realize they're doing it). Try viewing words as just shapes to focus on the space created by the letters. A simple way to turn the page upside down will help you focus. Instead of seeing the word's meaning, you'll see its spacing. If something as seemingly small as perfecting the spacing of letters excites you, you know you are a graphic designer. Although kerning can be a difficult process to master, combining perfect kerning with all other design elements is how you will achieve a complete, harmonious design. Great kerning can make a font sing, and if you want to practice, here's a fun kerning game to play! |
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