Graphic Design Foundations: Typography
3h 11mBeginner2023-08-24
Authors

Ina Saltz
Writer, Art Director, Professor Emeritus at City College of New York
Course details
Good typography can add tremendous power to your design and your message, whether it is a print- or screen-based project, a still or motion graphic, a 3D or 2D graphic. This course explains good typographic practices, so that you can develop an "eye" for type and understand how to effectively use it. Instructor Ina Saltz explains type classifications (serif vs. sans serif, display type vs. text type), how type is measured, sized, and organized, and how spacing and alignment affect your design. She also explains how to use kerning, tracking, leading, and line length, and covers the history and current trends in typography. The course teaches the principles of legibility, readability, and compatibility, and how they should be considered when you're selecting and designing with type.
Skills covered
Design BusinessTypographyDrawingSmall Business and EntrepreneurshipMotion Graphics and VFXFoundationsGraphic DesignAnimation and Illustration
Concepts
0. Introduction
- 01 - Welcome to the wonderful world of type
- 02 - Why good typography matters
- 03 - The power of type - Print-based and screen-based
- 04 - The theory of typographic relativity
- 05 - Becoming a good type detective
- 06 - Getting the most out of this course
1. Typographic Differentiation
- 07 - Serif vs. sans serif
- 08 - Display type vs. text type
- 09 - Display type and branding
- 10 - Type history
- 11 - Type classification
- 12 - Other type categories
- 13 - Guidelines for choosing and combining typefaces
- 14 - Using cases
2. The Language of Type
- 15 - Anatomy - Parts and shapes of type
- 16 - Size and measurements of type
- 17 - Type families - Widths, weights, and slopes
- 18 - Terminology of type based on function
- 19 - Color and tonal weight - Exercises
3. Spacing and Alignment
- 20 - Kerning and kerning pairs
- 21 - Tracking and leading
- 22 - Variations on alignment
- 23 - Hyphenation and justification
- 24 - Indents, outdents, and hanging punctuation
- 25 - Other good typographic practices
- 26 - Special considerations - Screen-based type
4. Touching on Type Design
- 27 - Where type begins - The mark of the hand
- 28 - Related parts and shapes - Family resemblances
- 29 - Designing a typeface
5. Legibility and Readability
- 30 - Legibility and readability - Differences
- 31 - More legibility tips
- 32 - Discover how hierarchy works
- 33 - Systematized hierarchy - Branding
- 34 - Opening paragraphs and drop caps
- 35 - Typographic abominations
6. Typographic Composition
- 36 - Opposing forces of typography
- 37 - The grid - A structure for containing type
- 38 - Contrast and scale
7. Thinking with Type
- 39 - Expressive typography
- 40 - The emotional impact of type
- 41 - Three-dimensional type
8. Specialized Uses
- 42 - Environmental typography
- 43 - Branding using typography
- 44 - Typography in motion
- 45 - Working with numbers
- 46 - Expert characters and analphabetic symbols
- 47 - Using typography to navigate content
Final Thoughts
- 48 - Managing your fonts
- 49 - Building your type library
- 50 - Developing your typographic eye
- 51 - Breaking the rules
- 52 - What's next