A beginner's guide to typography

1. Intro : Anyone familiar with marketing, graphic design, or visual presentation of a product in general is probably aware of what topography is. For those of you completely new who don't know, topography is defined as the art or procedure of arranging type or processing data and training from it, or the style and appearance of printed matter. Basically, it means if you're writing something, it's how the letters look to the eye, which sounds trivial. But when used in a smart way, it can subtly convey a certain feeling to an audience and different types of font, or more appealing to different audiences and different markets. So this is the beginner's guide to typography. So whether you're someone who's completely new to typography or you're someone who has experienced and just wants to review the basics. This course is perfect for you. Here we learn about the foremost basic types of font and how to use them, as well as why topography is important. And single use and mixing font and a class project where you will design font for a fictional product to a new audience. Now, with all that out of the way, let's get into the lesson. 2. What is typography : Now, for what is topography, basically, what it basically means is certain aspects of font mean different things. For example, a font such as this has a very classical old feel. It makes something look very reliable in sturdy. And it will never go out of style. Something like this. Looks sleek, modern and up-to-date. Something like this. Looks really high class. Again, it just spells out a very high bar. Something like this, appeals to children. There's also learning to mix fonts, as well as learning what things like Bolding, italicizing font can do. If you want to know what each of them is for urine the right place. So let's go on with what are called Serif fonts. 3. Serif fonts: The first type of font we will talk about are called Serif fonts. Serif means little foot. And the serifs in serif fonts are those little almost dashes that are at the edges of letters like this. This thing circle here is a serif. Serif fonts are pretty classic. They show dependability and are generally pretty safe and work really well with the written word. So if you're typing out is something that would be printed, such as a book or a magazine. And newspaper, or piece of branding on a sign or something that's sold in a store. Serif fonts will work really well. Also if your product is geared towards people who are a little bit on the older side, serif fonts on your logo and other branding will generally be very appealing to them. Next, we will talk about San Serif fonts. 4. Sans Serif fonts: Next are sans serif fonts. Sans serif fonts are fonts without the serifs, without the little feet at the edges of words, such as this. San-serif fonts generally look really clean, really modern, and really sleek, regardless of the time period, they're used in. A logo with a sans serif font that was made 30 years ago, will still look relatively modern today. As a result, San Serif fonts generally appeal to a younger audience, not necessarily children, but if your target audience's younger adults, san-serif fonts generally will work really well and are probably your best bet. Due to san serif fonts also working really well on a screen. Most things such as websites or any online articles that are meant to be read as PDFs will also work really well with a San Serif font. So if you're a digital company or appealing to younger folks, probably your best bet to go with san serif. 5. Script fonts: Script fonts are the ones that look like cursive writing, such as this. A script font will generally make something look very classy or high-end. So if your company is selling is something very expensive, such as a wedding, or just something that's more so geared towards higher earners. A script font is probably what you would want to use. 6. Display fonts : Display fonts such as this are often used more so for headings, large billboards and titles. They are not recommended for any body text. So the main text of a website, a book, and newspaper, anything that would usually be any of the other three. Probably not a good idea for display, but if you want to have one single word standout on something like a billboard, display fonts are probably your best bet. Just be sure to use them very sparingly because they're difficult to read and can look a little bit awkward when there's a bunch of them. 7. Bold, Italics, Underline : Now for bold, italics, and underlines, these three are often used to make certain words stand out. But it's very important that you try not to use these three together. And if possible, try to never even use two of them at the same time. Bold should be used for titles. And drawing attention to keywords, such as something like this. But if you use it too often you end up with something like this that is very hard to read. Italics can often be used to highlight people's names. Underlines, again are used for titles and often for hyperlinks. If it's something that's online. Again, mixing these too much or using any one of these, a lot will often have the reverse effect and dilute their effect or make your text difficult to read. For example, look at this ad that's, that's not good. Something like this is a lot better. 8. Mixing Font: Now, don't be afraid to mix certain fonts, such as using multiple fonts in the same logo. This is something that can be done creatively but carefully at the same time. Now, I'm about to state a few, quote unquote, rules for mixing fonts. But be aware that none of these are hard and fast rules there. More so guidelines as typography is definitely more of an art than a science of these will generally be more true then not true. You'll generally want to combine fonts that give you the same field. Generally, for example, too playful fonts that look somewhat similar will make a good parent. Two fonts that have tall, thin letters will generally pair well together. But differences are also good. Sometimes combining a serif and sans serif font can work beautifully. If this is the case, the one that you use for bigger letters should be the one that is geared towards your primary audience. Unless it's a title such as this. If you were looking to highlight the serif font, this would be a good way to pair it with a sans serif font. And this is the opposite. This also works for our script fonts as seen in examples such as this. Now, when mixing fonts, it's best to take your time and use trial and error. So take your chances and feel free to break some of these, quote unquote rules and experiment. You might find two fonts that work well together that no one else has found and make your logo really creative and eye-catching. And that could lead to a lot of success. And you'll have the perfect opportunity to do that in our upcoming class project. 9. Class Project : Now, for our class project, I want you to design a logo with whatever fonts in it that you desire. However, using the attached sheet, you will explain your use of fonts and use your target audience, as well as the rules I've stated in the previous lessons to justify your choice. And when you're done, that, you're done the course. Thank you very much and I hope you enjoyed it.