NM3217 In-Lecture Exercise E

Typography Case Study

What seems to be off about this particular typographic representation?

• All letters are in capital letters and slab serif typefaces makes this particular typographic seem to be off. Having all capital letters means that the letters all  have the same relative height and same relative width, and blocky shape. This makes it difficult for the eyes to flow through the text, and makes the text seem overbearing. The slab serif typeface makes creates a loud bold image as well. Thus, using all caps and slab serif typefaces decreases readibility of the words.

• Central alignment is used, but it is the weakest and the hardest alignment as it makes it hard to read. This is because there is no consistent starting and stopping point for each line so your eyes take a moment to adjust in each line, making this particular typographic representation seem very off.

• The leading is low which makes the words seem crammed, decreasing readibility of the words.

How would you improve this typographic representation (look into the 8 rules for guiding points for discussion)

• Use complementary typefaces by combining elements in a way to enhance or emphasize the qualities of each other or another. This can be done by having San-serif typeface as the title and Serif typeface as the body paragraph. This is because San-serif typeface is typically used for headlines while Serif typeface is good for running texts in the body. This contrast increases readibility of the text. Use capital letters only when needed instead of using it for the whole text. This increases the ease at which the eyes of the reader flows through the text, and thus increases readibility of the words.

• Use left alignment, there is a hard left edge where readers can base and use it as a reference point when reading. Thus, the readibility of the text increases.

• Increase leading to make the characters seem less crammed and help the text seem more readible.

• Have hierarchy in the text, by separating the text into different paragraphs if possible, instead of all the texts put together. Having a chunk of texts together makes it hard to read. Splitting the texts makes it easier for eyes to flow, increasing readibility of the text.