The 7 types of logos (and how to use them)

A logo is an image that symbolizes your business. But did you know there are 7 different types of logos?
Though they’re all a combination of typography and images, each type of logo gives your brand a different feel. And since your logo is the first thing new customers will see, you want to make sure you get it right. Want to choose the best logo type for your business? Here are the 7 types of logos you need to know about:

1. Monogram logos (or lettermarks)

Monogram logos or lettermarks are logos that consist of letters, usually brand initials. IBM, CNN, HP, HBO… Noticing a pattern, yes? They’re the initialisms of a few famous businesses with rather lengthy names. With 2 or 3 words to remember, they’ve each turned to using their initials for brand-identification purposes. So it makes perfect sense for them to use monograms—sometimes called lettermark logos—to represent their organizations.

A lettermark is a typography-based logo that’s comprised of a few letters, usually a company’s initials. The lettermark is all about simplicity. By utilizing just a few letters lettermark logos are effective at streamlining any company brand if they have a long name. For example, how much easier is it to say—and remember—NASA versus the National Aeronautics and Space Administration?

Because the focus is on initials, the font you choose (or create) is very important to make sure your logo is not only on-theme with what your company does, but also legible when you print on business cards. Also, if you’re not an established business already you may want to add your full business name below the logo so people can begin to learn who you are right away.

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Do you have any advice for freelancers who also work and parent at home?

The best advice I can give is schedules! I know its hard with little ones, but scheduling is everything. When I first started full-time freelancing on 99designs, I had three little ones ages 7, 5 and 3. It was hard, to say the least.

At first, I would work while they were eating or doing an activity like watching TV. I pretty much worked a few minutes here and there throughout the day answering any questions clients had and taking note of what I needed to work on later. Then, after the kids went to bed (at 7pm exactly), I would work late into the night.

As the years went by and I had more children, something wonderful happened. My older kids became big enough to help supervise the younger ones, so I was able to work more.

Since I homeschool my children, our schedule revolves around their school and my work. While they are busy with school (an online academy), I can work. I take a break for lunch and continue working from 1:30 to 5 pm.

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What prompted you to go freelance?

Well, a lot of things. The biggest reason was that I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. I freelanced as a counselor online before I started to design. Now I can’t imagine working outside the home. The flexible hours let me homeschool my kids, which is very important to me. I want them to have an applied education at home rather than a set curriculum at a public school.

I started freelancing to earn an income and be at home with my kids. I continue to freelance because I love design and seeing my work out in the world.

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top tips for balancing full-time freelancing with family

a Coulter (aka Daylite Designs) was one of 99designs’ earliest adopters and has worked full-time on the platform for more than a decade. As a versatile graphic designer and stay-at-home mom, working online from her home office has given her the flexibility to raise and homeschool her seven children—while still embracing her passions professionally.

Over the years, Daylite Designs has built a steady roster of loyal clients, often taking on new work thanks to their referrals. While she doesn’t spend as much time on contests now (this year was a personal best, thanks to an increase in direct work), she credits those early years for giving her the freedom to experiment with different projects and styles to find her creative voice.

We spoke with Daylite Designs about how she manages her busy schedule, her tips for prioritizing family while keeping clients happy, and her advice for maintaining long-lasting working relationships through it all.

😀

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What makes a good hotel logo?

How do you communicate a hotel experience through abstraction? How do you contain your core values and history in just a few memorable words? These are important questions to ask to begin visualizing how your logo may take shape. You want your logo to communicate the essence of the experience you are offering your guests.

Even without design experience, it’s important to consider the context for where your branding is headed. As you start thinking about your logo design, you should ask yourself the following questions: Which category does my accommodation fit into? What’s the feeling I want to evoke in my guests? What’s the style that would fit the vibe and atmosphere of my hotel or B&B?

Your guests will encounter your logo in numerous places, from your front door and reception desk to your restaurant menu and spa towels. Your logo should seamlessly fit into and enhance your guests’ experience during their stay with you.

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Punny and funny logos

Humor is one of humanity’s most enduring forms of entertainment. If it’s the kind of entertainment your brand delivers, make jokes in your logo. Get your audiences laughing, or at least exhaling audibly, the moment they see your logo because if that’s how your relationship starts, they’ll trust you to keep the laughs coming.

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What makes a good entertainment logo?

It’s not enough for your logo to just be entertaining. Your logo has to communicate who you are, what you do and why your target audience cares. Once you’ve got your brand identity down, your need to flesh out unique ideas that will work for your logo.

Because you’re in the entertainment industry, you’ve got pretty wide leeway to get weird with your logo. Compare it to, say, the financial services sector. Financial services logos have to communicate knowledge of the best financial practices, trustworthiness and financial security.

As an entertainer on the other hand, your logo needs to communicate that you make audiences feel things. You might make them laugh, you might make them examine their lifestyles, you might make them cry, you might make them sit on the edge of their seat. You need to assure them that they’ll feel the emotion they’re after. A good entertainment logo captures that.

Study the logos used by other brands in your specific section of the entertainment map to see what might work for you. Take cues from them, but be careful not to stick to any of these logo ideas too closely—there’s a fine line to dance between fitting in and getting lost in the crowd.

You want to make your brand stand out from its competitors, but you also want your logo to make sense to your audience and to let them get a sense of what you do and what they can expect from your brand. Read on for some inspiration, so you can get it just right!

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THE VALUE OF A LOGO.

How much should a logo cost?
Well, isn’t that another $64,000 question – what is a logo worth? Is it worth
hundreds, or thousands of dollars? Can we even put a dollar value on
something that will represent your company for (hopefully) its lifetime?
That all depends on whether you approach the branding of your company
as an expense, or an investment in the future of your company. If you view
your logo as a simple expense – in the same category as say, FAX paper, you
probably won’t view it as being worth very much. Using the time-tested
philosophy of ‘you get what you pay for’, and if your logo is simply a pretty
picture that you want to slap on a few printed papers and the right-hand
corner of your 3 page website, then you might be well enough served by
shopping for your new logo design based on sticker price. Get it cheap. Get
‘er done.
If, on the other hand, you view your logo as an investment in the overall
picture of your company, a flag around which you, staff and customers can
rally, then your logo is going to be worth a lot more. And worthy of the
extra time, and expense, involved in doing it up right. That’s not to say you
have to break the bank to get a great logo – you don’t – and it’s up to you
to decide how much you pay for your visual identity.
The value of a good logo.
What is a logo’s value? The answer varies from case-study to case-study so I
can’t speak for every business owner. I can, however, speak about someone
close to me and her company. Pretty well everyone on-staff views their logo
as a bad logo. It’s been around for years (it was designed by one of the
founders’ children as part of a series of ‘expense saving’ in-house logo
design contests) and no-one has the courage to even suggest changing it.
In the development of marketing and advertising materials, rather than the
usual ‘make the logo bigger’mantra, the directions usually involve making
the logo smaller (while certainly refreshing, this was due to lack of
confidence in the logo as opposed to anything clever). The logo has been
hidden. Ghosted. Screened to almost invisible levels in the background.
Sometimes, the logo wasn’t used at all (this became so prevalent that a
recent management directive makes it an official company policy to use the
logo in its un-tampered version). Sum result – the company has no

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THE VALUE OF A LOGO.

consistent identity or brand. Which is a pity. The company is in the
community service field, sends out a bucket load of brochures and tri-folds,
prints a ton of event T-Shirts, banners and trinkets. The logo is on the side
of the building and I’m sure that they lose a great deal of walk-in business
because no-one is making a connection between the brochure they just
received in the mail, and the big building that’s down the street. Everybody
on staff knows this, but rather than change the logo (and risk offending
someone ‘upstairs’) they trudge on, marketing services without a cohesive
banner to market them under. Is their bottom line suffering? Placing a
dollar figure on the loss would be impossible, but I’d argue yes, and I’m of
the opinion that this outfit is in dire need of an effective logo. As are many
companies in early phases of start-up. In terms of the value of a logo,
perhaps we should take a look at what you can, or should, expect from your
new corporate identity.
Will a logo make or break your company?
So what can you expect from developing a logo for your company? Will, for
example, a good logo build a business? No. If your business comes from
word-of-mouth or referrals, I’d argue that you don’t even need a logo. A
new company name will suffice (or even your own name if you’re pushing
the personal touch). It’s only when you’re trying to market, compete and
promote your company against other folks would it really become an issue.
If you ‘own’ a particular business sector, why bother with the expense, and
hassle, of a custom logo work-up (unless you’re interested in ‘looking
good’)? If, on the other hand, you don’t ‘own the sector’ you’ll need an
arsenal of marketing ammo to grab the market attention, and in a few
nano-seconds, communicate that you’re better, faster, cheaper (or whatever
particular ‘hook’ you’re trying to promote). You need to stand out in a
cluttered landscape and truth to tell, your company logo is but a part. How
much of a part? Depends on what kind of marketing you’re trying to do.
Sometimes, it’s critical. On many occasions, you won’t have the real estate
to write a war-and-piece diatribe about your company – you’ll ONLY be able
to use your logo and a few scraps of type. You’ll need something eyecatching,
as well as at least a hint of what it is you do. Ask yourself honestly
– does your current logo do that? If not, it should. A good logo can also
lend ‘instant’ credibility to your organization pretty quickly – and can help


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DOYOU NEED A LOGO?

Selling your company to strangers.
Once again, if you’re simply filing tax returns on behalf of friends and family
for a few bucks on the side, none of this is an issue. Simply naming your
company should be enough. If, however, you’re trying to sell you services to
strangers – and have but a few seconds to convince them that you are
exactly what they’re looking for, you need to think about branding your
company. Because that’s what a great logo (and related branding) is all
about. Convincing strangers that you are the best (or at least very good) at
what you do.
Strangers you ask? Sure – let’s take another example. Let’s say your
homemade chili was such a hit at family picnics you decided to sell it at the
local farmer’s market for a few bucks a jar. You could probably still get by
without a logo on the jar and your booth. Captive audience, word of
mouth, returning customers and a limited production capacity (how big is
that crock-pot really?) combine to render a logo less than critical. If I
wanted to be a stickler here, I could also argue that if the chili is good, a
good branding workup will help move it through attention grabbing
branding. I could also point out that if your chili is, in reality, simply
mediocre – family members can be very forgiving – a good identity is
practically a prerequisite. You’ll have few return clients and you’ll always be
looking for new customers. It might also behoove you to have a flyer
through which your word-of-mouth referrals can find you. I am, however,
trying to avoid nuance here, so I’ll stick to my original black and white
point.
So, while it’s true that not every company or business needs a logo, it can
similarly be argued that in some instances a decent corporate identity is
absolutely critical to the longevity and growth of others. And only by taking
a long, hard look at what you want to accomplish with your entrepreneurial
aspirations, can you decide which applies to you.

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Inspiring Everyday Graphic Design Articles

inspirational things are often right in front of us. It might be the typography on a book cover, the colors of your favorite music album, the opening titles in that movie you saw yesterday. To celebrate all those little moments of inspiration, we have compiled some resources for you which honor the beauty of graphic design and the ideas behind it. Perfect to squeeze into a short coffee break. Enjoy! We learned not to judge a book by its cover, but, honestly, there is nothing quite like browsing through a bookstore, soaking up covers, their colors, their typefaces, their layouts, every little detail. The variety is endless, and sometimes you’re lucky and find a little piece of art shining through the sheer mass.

Artworks On Your Bookshelf

We learned not to judge a book by its cover, but, honestly, there is nothing quite like browsing through a bookstore, soaking up covers, their colors, their typefaces, their layouts, every little detail. The variety is endless, and sometimes you’re lucky and find a little piece of art shining through the sheer mass.

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Classification

In English, fonts are classified into several groups.
There are three main groups.
1. Serif
2. Sans-Serif
3. Script
Serif: A serif is the pointed ending of a stroke as in “I” or “T”.
This is inspired by the letters carved on stone, using chisels.
Thickness of the strokes also changes in these letter forms,
like those drawn by flat brushes. Serif fonts are known for
their readability and is widely used in text composition for
books, newspapers, magazines etc, where a large amount of
text is to be composed in small point sizes.
Sans Serif: Sans means without. Sans serif means without
Serif. Sans serif fonts have blunt endings to the strokes.
Almost all the strokes look like equal thickness, as if drawn
by a marker pen. Sans serif fonts give a modern look and
is widely used in logos and symbols, packaging, signages,
websites, mobile phone interfaces, gaming consoles etc.
Script: Script fonts recreate the visual styling of calligraphy.
The letters imitate the feeling of calligraphic nibs, with a
slant to the right and changing thickness of strokes. These
fonts give a festive and personal look to the reader and are
very commonly used in wedding invitations.

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How To Typography

Typography is the science of using letter forms for
communication. We use letter forms extensively in
our daily life, in various media like newspapers, signages,
application forms, letters, notebooks, textbooks, currency
notes, posters, tickets, SMS, email etc.
A very large number of digital fonts are available for a
graphic designer to use in design projects. A designer carefully
chooses fonts after understanding the design problem, the
medium, target audience, production aspects and the context.
Fonts have unique characteristics and need to be carefully
chosen and used to achieve good results in communication.
For example, newspaper designers spend a considerable
time in experimenting with different fonts in different sizes
to create a final design which helps a reader to go through
several pages of a newspaper with ease and understand the
text comfortably.

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Design Principle Positive

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Anatomy of a Font

As human body has many parts for identification like head,
neck, shoulder, arms, tail, foot etc., Type Forms or Font face
are also divided into parts, which we study under ‘anatomy
of fonts’. Some examples you will see below:
• Shirorekha connotes headline
• Skandharekha, is equivalent to shoulderline
• Padarekha means baseline
In future you will come across words like tail, arm and
swish etc.
The size or formation of these anotamical parts of a font
actually help create the typical charactertics and expressive
qualities of any font family.
Uppercase and Lowercase
Capital letters are called “Uppercase” letters in typographical
terminology. During handcomposing, metal type of all capital
letters were stored in the upper section of wooden boxes, kept
in front of the person composing the text. Similarly, all small
letters are called “Lowercase” letters, which were stored in
the lower part of the composing box.
Ascender
Ascender is the portion of the alphabet that ‘ascends’ or
exceeds above the ‘x’ height of an alphabet as in b, d, t, l.
Descender
Descender is that portion of an alphabet that goes below or
extends downwards from the ‘x’ height of an alphabet as in
g, j, q, p.
X-height
Height of lowercase “x” is called “x-height”. This varies
considerably in typefaces. X-height contributes to the
readability of fonts.
Counter Space
The empty space or negative space inside a letter form is
called a counter. Shape of the counter varies according to
the designer who creates the font. Counter space also helps
in identifying different fonts. These shapes can be creatively
used in creating logos.


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Seven Design Principles

Design principles are guidelines. Designers follow principles to develop purposeful
compositions. As with an architect’s plans, design principles orchestrate the construction
of a visual message that is strong enough to support all the graphic elements that will be placed on a blank page. Design principles also help visual communicators forge a link between information content and the structure, so each reinforces the other,
communicating a single message. Design principles are cross-disciplinary. The concepts are general and can be applied to any situation where a visual communicator wants to express a message. In this research, design principles are defined in 7 categories :

Contrast

Contrast shows the differences between figure and ground of a design.

Contrast can also be used to emphasize a certain element in a design. 

In the example below, even though the figure shown is the same size in both illustrations, the one on the right appears more dominate (or larger) due to the higher contrast in value to the ground.

Balance

Balance refers to the distribution and visual equilibrium of the elements that causes

the total image to appear balanced or unbalanced. Balance can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical in a design. Asymmetrical composition is always more dynamic than

symmetrical composition because of the visual tension that occurs when the proportions of negative space around the figure vary.

Unity

Unity is a condition or quality of design that is achieved when individual elements or parts are grouped. Unity helps the design to be seen as one unified whole, instead of random, isolated elements in the design.

Rhythm

Rhythm is the tempo of visual movement, achieved through repetition of line, shape,

or color. Similar to music, rhythm establishes a visual pattern. That pattern can be

perceived as busy or repetitive.

Proportion

Proportion is the relationship of visual elements, one to another and to the whole.

There are 3 kinds of proportion that are regular, irregular and progression.

We consider them particularly in relation to size, shape, color and value.

Differing proportions within a composition can relate to different kinds of balance

or symmetry, and can help establish visual weight and depth. This can create

compositions that range from the static to the dynamic.

Movement

Visual movements are used by designers to direct viewers through their work, often to focal areas. Such movement can be directed along line edges, shapes, and colors

within the composition.

Harmony

Harmony means keeping elements in a state of agreement in which all sections of the pattern make other sections complete. It is the opposite of contrast and implies simplicity of design. Harmony does not interrupt, but allows for smooth even fl ow.

Impact

Similar to Gestalt theory, the Seven Principles of Design enable designers to help readers access and comprehend content more effectively. These principles are critical because they not only affect readers but also designers. Through the help of the Seven Principles of Design, effective design solutions can be constructed and implemented in print media layouts, delivering a more successful visual communication.

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Gestalt Theory: Grouping Laws

Proximity

Elements tend to be grouped together according to their nearness.
As the example shows, four circles to the right appear to be in one group whereas two circles to the left appear to be in a separate group of their own.
This is due to the fact that a larger gap exists between the two groups than exists between each individual circle.

Similarity

Items similar in some respect tend to be grouped together.
Even though all shapes have the same space in between, four squares form a group
and four circles form another group. This phenomenon is caused by elements that are similar in line, shape or form.

Closure

Items are grouped together if they tend to complete some larger entity.
The empty space in the middle of the top row implies a square to complete or close
the outer rectangular perimeter. The human mind tends to enclose spaces by completing
contours and ignoring gaps between shapes.

Continuation

Items appear to be in a continuation of direction if they align in a linear order.
Three circles appear to be on the same rising line in this example. The human mind tends to perceive continuation in smooth succession rather than abrupt changes in direction.

Figure / Ground

Some objects take a prominent role (the fi gure – A), while others recede into the
background (the ground – B). In both examples, the circle is the fi gure and the rest of the area within the square is the ground (background), but one is more prominent than the other. This phenomenon is made possible by contrast of the circle to the ground.

Impact

Both the Gestalt theory and simple readability are based on the tendency of typical
human perception. As these principles illustrate (proximity, similarity, closure, continuation and figure/ground), there are a number of areas where visual perception and Gestalt principles support good readability. Both the Gestalt Grouping Laws and Readability approach
emphasize that one perceives objects as well-organized patterns rather than as separate
component parts. In addition, the “whole” (layout) is something that is more structured
and cohesive than separate elements (paragraph).

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Use “white space” in print design

The use of negative space in print design is often called white space—
it’s the space that doesn’t hold any content and it’s usually the key
aspect of what makes or breaks a design. It’s also worth mentioning
that white space doesn’t have to be white. Your background can be
any color you wish; however, be sure to leave empty space. The effect
will be the same as if the empty space was actually white.

White space in print design is used purely for semiotic value: a
presentation that transcends economic values by insisting that the
presented image is more important than the paper it’s printed on. For
example, take this DL fl yer for a fashion product. Straight away you
can tell that the edgiest and most valuable fashion product would be
the last design shown below. This is achieved by using an unpredictable,
asymmetrical balanced composition with a lot of white space,
showing that the image is more valuable than the paper itself.

Although the other two designs are acceptable examples, they
don’t communicate as much prestige and class as the one immediately
above this text. This shows just how much power white space
can give to a design.

Although there are numerous ways to apply negative space to a design,
the best way to come to grips with the concept is to practice. In the
same way martial artists have to spend hours and hours practicing
simple techniques, graphic designers have to do the same.

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Design your website with negative space

In between columns, images, copy, and just about everything else on a
website, there’s negative space. It’s our job as designers to maximize this
space to its greatest potential so as not to crowd a website. We must use
negative space to intelligently organize text and graphics to give visual
relief to the user’s eyes, and we can do this by treating negative space as
a crucial design element. Take notice of how much spacing is between
your margins, columns, images and lines of text to effectively de-clutter
your website.

For example, in this mockup website for a watch, generous amounts
of negative space convey a sense of good taste and refi nement. This
amount of negative space may not be appropriate for your design. To
guide you in your own designs, take the time to study how other good
webpage layouts use negative space.

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How To Negative space in photography

In photography you’re dealing with aperture, shutter speed,
lighting, and focus at every moment, and whether you know it or
not, you’re also dealing with negative and positive space. As we
discussed earlier, we define negative space as being the empty
space around the subject of the image. It’s this space in photography
that’s the most crucial aspect in nearly all compositions—
having too much or too little negative space can completely
ruin a potentially good photograph.

If you’ve been taking photos with your camera and everything is
right technically but you feel something is missing, then it could well
be your composition. Pay close attention to the negative space around
your main subject, as changing the slightest thing can improve or
reduce the quality of your photos. Consider this example: The two
compositions use different amounts of negative space. The generous
use of negative space in the second image of the plane makes it much
more pleasing, as it draws the viewer to the subject and stabilizes
the image.

The best method to learn how to master the use of negative space
in photography is to practice. Remember that negative space is always
related to the edge of the image (i.e., the frame) and it’s not constant,
so you must continually readjust, just as you would your aperture, shutter
speed, and lighting. You can also observe the images and designs
of others. Have a look through this magazine and see how the photos
and ads are put together. How have they used negative space in their
designs? Does the cropping (i.e., framing) of the photos add impact to
the design? If not, how could you improve them?

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Why use negative space?

If you work with negative spaces rather than on the subject (positive
space), you’ll often end up with a more accurate and aesthetically
pleasing design and balanced composition. Let’s look at this picture
of a toucan, as it’s an excellent example of negative space. The
positive space of the photograph is at the forefront of the design,
as you can see in the image where the toucan is masked in black.
The positive space consists of not only the bird but also the railing
that it’s perched on. The negative space is all the other space that’s
not at the forefront of the image.

Did you notice that the negative space is actually shapes
within a frame? Negative space isn’t the absence of space but
rather the space that defi nes the positive space. These shapes are
even easier to see when you turn the negative space upside down.
Take one more look at the image where the positive space is
masked in black. Notice how the line of the railing leads us into
the image of the toucan. The positive space of the railing guides
your eyes to the main subject of the image, the toucan, and then
continues on to exit the image. This is achieved because of the
relationship of the positive spaces of the railing and the toucan to
the negative spaces of the environment in which the photograph
was taken.

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What is negative space?

When composing a piece of artwork, we generally work with three
elements: the frame, the positive space, and the negative space
(also called white space). The frame is the bounding size of the
artwork, the positive space is the subject, and the negative space is
the empty space around the subject. The three images below will
give you a basic understanding of this principle.

Negative space helps defi ne a subject, so subjectively speaking,
negative space works when there’s a balance between the positive
and negative spaces. Negative space also works when it draws
the viewer’s eye into the subject at hand.
To show how negative space works, look at this personal logo
design for Peter Ryan. Did you notice how the middle of the letter.
is cleverly utilized to become the letter P? This has been achieved by
reversing out the positive space of the letter P into negative space.

To put the importance of negative space and the frame into
perspective, think about this: Do you ever wonder why when you
watch a movie at the cinema, it’s more beautiful than if you watch
it at home on a square-format TV? The cinematographer has composed
the scene knowing that his frame was going to be viewed
in the widescreen format of a cinema screen. However, once the
movie gets cropped down to the square format of a non-widescreen
TV, much of the beauty, negative space, and composition
of the scene is lost, making for a less-appealing image.

The point to remember here is if the subject moves in any direction,
inside or outside the frame, the shape and amount of negative
space will change, so it’s always important to readjust your frame to
the subject at hand.

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How To Macintosh Fonts

Many Macintosh-specific fonts use a file structure that predates os x. In
this structure, the file contents are divided into two parts: a data fork and a
resource fork. Older versions of the Mac os used data in the resource fork to tell
(among other things) what application created a specific file. Mac os x does
this by reading a file’s filename extension, such as .doc. Dfonts are a variety of
TrueType
font that have no resource fork, and they are included in os x for the
sake of font compatibility with other computers running the unix operating
system. (Os x, like Microsoft Windows, is based on unix.)
You can use dfonts just as you would any other Macintosh TrueType font.
Documents formatted with them will not, however, display correctly on Macs
running operating systems that predate os x.

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How To Opentype Fonts

OpenType is a hybrid font format created by Adobe and Microsoft. It reconciles
the differences in the PostScript and TrueType formats, allowing them to exist
together in a single file. OpenType fonts are also written in a file format that
allows the same font file to be used on either a Macintosh or a Windows pc.
Crudely put, an OpenType font is a TrueType font with a “pocket” for Post-
Script data. An OpenType font can contain TrueType font data, PostScript font
data, or (theoretically) both. Thus it has the potential to combine the best of
both formats in a transparent way. The operating system of your computer
will sort out the data in an OpenType font and use what’s appropriate for it.
A
problem with OpenType fonts, as with the TrueType fonts that preceded them,
is that from the outside there’s no way to know what’s inside. The original
generation of PostScript fonts generally contained a standard character set with
standard features. The TrueType format and, to an even greater extent, the
OpenType format offer a wide range of optional features that may or may not
be built into every font, although the core character set used in the original
PostScript fonts has generally been retained. An OpenType font can contain
anywhere from a handful of characters to more than 65,000. There’s no way of
knowing what a particular font contains or what it can do unless the features
of the font are documented in some way.

OpenType fonts also enable a variety of so-called layout features, which give
a typesetting program the ability to automatically substitute one character for
another. Using an appropriate OpenType font, for example, a program can
automatically convert the keystroke sequence 1/2 into a proper fraction: ½.
Layout features are discussed in detail on pages 62–64.

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How To Truetype Fonts

For a few years in the late 1980s, the typesetting world had in PostScript a
single, standard font format for the first time in its history. It wasn’t to last. For
a combination of primarily commercial but also technological reasons, Apple
Computer and Microsoft collaborated to create a new font format: TrueType.
The new format enabled both companies to build outline font-imaging capabilities
into their respective operating systems without being beholden to Adobe.
TrueType introduced many improvements over the PostScript format.

The most prominently touted was its hinting, instructions added to the font
that tell the character outlines how to reshape themselves at low and medium
resolutions in order to create character images of maximum clarity. (For more
on hinting, see “Imaging PostScript Fonts” in .) Because of the high
quality of these hints, TrueType fonts were and still are typically delivered
without any hand-drawn, bitmapped screen fonts. Screen type generated from
the font’s outlines is generally quite legible even in small point sizes.
TrueType also allowed for larger character sets. The PostScript font format
had used a numbering system to identify the characters in its fonts based on a
single byte of computer data, yielding a maximum of 256 distinct id numbers.
(Fonts of this kind are still referred to as single-byte fonts.) TrueType introduced
a two-byte numbering system, which allowed much larger sets by
creating over 65,000 unique id numbers.

This made plenty of room for alternate forms of characters as well as allowing
languages that rely on huge character sets (such as Chinese, Japanese, and
Korean) to be supported by a single font. TrueType fonts are still included as
a part of major operating systems, but most independent digital font foundries
have shifted to OpenType because it allows a single font file to work under
multiple operating systems. TrueType fonts are still platform specific, and a
TrueType font created for use on a Mac will not work on a Windows pc, and
vice versa. TrueType fonts use a different technology than PostScript fonts do
for describing the outline shapes of characters, but any system that can image
type from PostScript fonts can also image type from TrueType fonts.


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How to Postscript Fonts

PostScript fonts are written in the PostScript page description language,
and they need to be processed by a PostScript interpreter before they can be
imaged. (See “The PostScript Model” in for more information on
PostScript interpreters.) For high-resolution printers and imagesetters, this
interpreter is generally built into the device itself; it’s a separate onboard
computer dedicated to turning PostScript code into printable output. For
lower-resolution devices, such as computer monitors and desktop printers,
PostScript fonts can be imaged by a PostScript interpreter built into the operating
system. PostScript fonts are generally accompanied by a set of bitmapped
fonts for screen display, and unless these screen fonts are installed alongside
the outline fonts, your computer cannot image their type. Even though your
computer may not use the screen fonts’ bitmapped images, it relies on the font
metrics contained within the screen fonts to compose type using their companion
outline fonts. This is an artifact of older technology, but it continues
to function perfectly well.

The several kinds of PostScript fonts are distinguished from one another
by number. The only one you’re likely to come across is Type 1, and it’s only
mentioned here because of references you may come across to “PostScript
Type 1” fonts. In publishing and typesetting contexts, when you talk about a
PostScript font, it’s assumed you’re talking about the Type 1 variety.
Until the advent of the OpenType font format, PostScript fonts were the
standard of the publishing industry. Today the PostScript format has been completely
overtaken by OpenType, and most type vendors, including Adobe, have
converted their entire libraries of PostScript fonts into the OpenType format.
PostScript fonts continue to be fully supported by applications and operating
systems, which is a good thing, because there are literally millions of them still
in circulation and daily use. They are, however, platform specific, and different
versions of a font are required for Macintosh and Windows.


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How to Font Formats

Ultimately, what’s inside a font depends on its format. The word format has two
meanings in computer type. First, it can refer to the platform for which the font
was designed. For example, two fonts with the same data for the same typeface
may have different file formats depending on whether they’re designed for use
on an Apple Macintosh or a Windows pc. Until the development of the Open-
Type font format, fonts were created to meet the data-structuring needs of one
platform or the other, and a font designed for one machine would not work
on the other. A single OpenType font file will work on either a Mac or a pc.
Another kind of font format reflects how the typographic information
itself is described and organized. The three leading font formats today are
PostScript, TrueType, and OpenType.


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What’s in a Font?

A font contains all the information needed to position and image the characters
that it represents. How a computer operating system and an application
program team up to use this information is covered in detail in.
Here we’re just concerned with what’s inside a font and what it means to you
as you set type.

The most important constituents of a font are the character outlines
themselves. The entire collection of characters in a font is called its character
set. For most alphanumeric fonts (that is, the ones used for text containing letters
and numerals), character sets are standardized to a degree. Nearly all of
these fonts share a basic set of characters, although they may contain optional
extra characters as well. Figure 4.2 shows the core character set of a standard
text font as well as some common variants used by various font vendors. Fonts
based on Unicode (see the section on OpenType fonts on) may contain
additional characters beyond these basic collections.

The character outlines in a font are size independent. Inside each font a
width table lists the horizontal space allotted to each character, as measured
in fractions of an em. Computer programs use these widths to calculate how
to fill lines with type, adding up the cumulative widths of the characters on a
line until the line is filled.

A font may also contain tables for the widths of other members in its family.
This is typically the case for the “regular,” or roman text-weight, member of a
family. These tables enable a computer program to compose type for all four
members of a family—regular, italic, bold, and bold italic—using only the
regular font. The computer’s operating system, using the widths of the other
family members, can synthesize false italics, bolds, and bold italics for onscreen
display, relying on width tables in the regular font for getting the spacing and
positioning right. The typesetting program, which relies only on the character
widths, follows suit and can make appropriate decisions about how much text
will fit on a line and how lines should be broken. When it comes time to print,
all the necessary fonts will have to be present, as their outlines will be needed
to image the type (see Figure 4.3). But to simply compose the type onscreen,
only the regular-weight font is needed. The relationship between application
and operating system is detailed in.

A font also contains a kerning table, which lists specific letter pairs and how
the typesetting program should adjust the spacing between them. Kerning
adjustments are also expressed in fractions of an em, which enables them to
function at any point size. For more information about kerning, see.

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Unicode: The Underlying Technology

All computer programs identify characters by number. International standards
correlate every number to a unique character, so that a computer file from
Europe, for example, can be properly typeset in Asia. It took decades before
a single standard international numbering system was established: Unicode.
Both TrueType and OpenType fonts use Unicode numbers to identify their
constituent characters.

The goal of Unicode is to assign a unique id number to every character,
linguistic symbol, or ideogram in all of the world’s languages, living or dead.
The number of such ids now exceeds 100,000.
To facilitate backward compatibility, and to support legacy documents,
today’s computing systems still suffer from vestiges of earlier numbering
systems. The first of these was ascii (the American Standard for Computer
Information Interchange), which used the numbers 0 through 127, as shown
in Figure 4.4. The original desktop computing systems—including Microsoft
dos and Windows and the Apple Macintosh os—used one-byte numbering
systems that were consistent through the ascii range but differed in the id
numbers assigned to the other 128 characters a font could contain. This made
communications between the two platforms needlessly complicated, with
characters often incorrectly displayed on a nonnative system.

For technical reasons, the id numbers assigned by Unicode are written in
hexadecimal format. Hexadecimal, in addition to using the numerals 0 through
9 to express numbers, also uses the letters A through F. This allows 16 values
to be expressed with a single character, like so: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, A, B, C, D, E, F. The letters following 9 represent 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and
15, respectively, in our everyday counting system. In hexadecimal, the value
expressed as 0010 (Unicode values are always expressed using four “digits”) is
the equivalent of 16 in our normal base-10 system.

Fortunately, you don’t need to know anything more than this about hexadecimal
notation, and even the preceding paragraph is added only to explain


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How To Outline and Bitmapped

Typefaces are what you get to admire after your work is finished, but fonts
are the tools you have to wrestle with in the meantime to get the job done.
Computer operating systems and applications have made it much easier to
work with fonts, but the process is still quite technical. Working with fonts
forces you to learn more about your computer than you probably want, but
everything you need to know is in this chapter.

The Two Basic Kinds of Fonts:
Outline and Bitmapped

Digital devices—computer monitor screens, desktop printers, imagesetters—
create images out of dots. The simplest way to create type for one of
these devices is to draw a picture of every character as an array of dots and
store these drawings in a font. Then all a device has to do to image the type is
to copy those dots into place on the screen or page. When this technology was
first figured out, each one of those dots was represented by one bit of computer
data—a simple yes/no choice of whether to image a dot or not. Images created
from these predrawn, prearranged arrays of dots were called bitmaps, and fonts
using this trick were called bitmapped fonts.

Bitmaps are a clever and simple approach, but the more dots a bitmap
contains, the more computer data it requires. As the resolution of the device
increases or the size of the character images increases, the number of dots
grows geometrically: Doubling the size of a character quadruples the number
of dots. You also need a separate set of bitmaps—a separate font—for every
size of type you want to create. And the bitmaps designed for one resolution
will appear much smaller when imaged on a device with a higher resolution,
where the dots are much smaller (see Figure 4.1). To image a single typeface
at the same range of sizes on a computer screen, a desktop printer, and an
imagesetter, then, would require hundreds of bitmapped fonts.

The solution is to store the descriptions of the characters as a set of outline
drawings. Outline fonts, which do just this, store character images as outlines
described mathematically as a series of curves and straight-line segments.
(These line segments are sometimes called vectors; and the fonts based on them,
vector fonts.) These outlines can be mathematically scaled to any size without
distorting the shapes or proportions of the characters. The scaled outlines are
then colored in with dots of the size created by the device that the type is being
imaged on: around 100 dots per inch (dpi) for a computer screen, approximately
600 dpi for a desktop printer, and well over 1,000 dpi for imagesetters.

While it was once common for operating systems to use bitmapped fonts
for screen display, they now generate screen type from the same outline fonts
used for high-resolution printing. Some fonts may contain sets of hand-tuned
bitmapped screen fonts for use at small sizes because they’re more legible than
those generated by your computer. But these embedded screen fonts are not
apparent to the user, and you don’t have to concern yourself with them.

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A Bad Graphic Designer

Yes, this is a controversial topic, however I hope to raise awareness of some mistakes you may be making in your graphic design pieces that are making you look like an amateur, but please keep in mind that none of these are hard and fast rules, this is only a general guide of things you should be aware of.

Please forgive me for the graphic and bad grammar / spelling in the picture above as I’m sure you can see it is a joke 🙂 (rainbow gradients, comic sans, bevel emboss, 13 not 15, bad grammar, off centered type – yuk)

1. Helvetica

Do you use Helvetica in everything?

Ok, yes I know, it is the most popular font of all time – but that is the downfall of Helvetica. Just because it is there, it doesn’t mean you have to use it. Try something else next time and try break out of your habit. Just for some suggestions, maybe Trade Gothic, Formata, Futura, Antique Olive, Eurostile? And yes I know this website uses Helvetica

2. Straight Quotes & Wrong Quotes

Do you use straight quotes still?

Straight quotes were for typewriters, times have changed! Look at the difference between the quotes above.

• The quotations are not hanging over the edge.
• Straight quotes have been used instead of true quotation marks.
• Quotation marks have been used instead of prime marks after the 7 and 3.
• An apostrophe has been left out in between it’s.
• Learn the keystrokes to ‘real’ quotes in every application you use. Learn the MAC & PC keyboard shortcuts here.

3. Quotations Not Hung

Do you NOT hang your quotation marks?

See in the picture in number 2, how the quote marks are hanging off the side of the quote, compared to the other one. Hang your quotation marks. Read your software manual (check their help files) to read how to do this or you can do it manually.

4. Double Returns.

Do you hit the ‘return’ or the ‘enter’ key twice between paragraphs or after headlines?

Using two spaces makes it possible to end up with a blank line at the top of a column plus it leaves way too much space between each paragraph – it looks disconnected.

5. Two Spaces After Punctuation

Do you add two spaces after each sentence?

This is a very bad practice and is not correct – Using only one space is the correct way.

6. Using Boxes Behind Text

Do you use plain boxes of colour behind your text?

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you have to. Try something else, use a dramatic headline, use your white space, use a different font, reverse your type, use pull quotes, etc. Can you see in the above picture how the surrounding white space makes the text stand out on its own? You can use these in the correct places however be careful not to over use it.

7. Centred Layouts

Do you use a centred layout in your graphic design pieces?

Using centred layouts is usually bad practice as it creates a deadly dull look. See how much more effective the two green verses are, they are more dynamic (one is centred & one is left aligned). Using flush left or right gives strength to your entire page and usually is a better option unless of course there are reasons to use centred text. eg. creating a formal wedding invitation.

8. Embossing & Drop Shadowed Type

Do you use the nifty little drop shadow or emboss tools that comes with your software?

PLEASE STOP. This is the biggest dead give away of an amateur. This goes along with forbidden; rainbow gradients, reflections, comic sans. Just don’t use them, plain simple.

9. Underline

Do you underline?

Never use the underline feature, it is a law. Only for hyper links on the web is this allowed. Underlining was a way for typewriters back in the day to Italicize text because they couldn’t set italics. Underlining and italicizing text at the same time is the most redundant thing you can do in life but rules can be broken 😉

10. Bad Gramma & Speling

Not spell checking your work and not using the right grammar. One of the hardest aspects designers seem to face.

Your Score?
If you scored above 3 points, don’t worry. Creating professional level type and design is mainly a matter of becoming more aware of details and practice. If you scored less than 3, then congratulations and consider it your obligation to teach others the things you know.

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Learn Graphic Design

1. Udemy: Introduction to Graphic Design

Udemy, as most of you already know, is an online learning platform aimed at professionals, catering courses created by experts. The platform is filled with amazing courses whose legibility you can judge by the number of people who have rated/taken the course. If you are starting out, we would recommend the course: Introduction to Graphic Design, which is available for free.

2. Skillshare

Skillshare is another online learning platform, but it also doubles as a community for creative individuals. It offers plenty of graphic design courses, all of which can be readily accessed by a subscription plan. You don’t have to pay for the courses individually, but through a single monthly subscription fee, you get access to all of Skillshares content. This is highly recommendable if you have a lot of spare time and are willing to dedicate it towards learning.

3. Hackdesign.org

Hackdesign offers one of the most complete and structured online course for learning graphic designing. If you want to explore this skill but don’t feel like investing, then you will find Hack Design to offer the perfect solution. You will get access to a number of links and posts, all of which are well structured, so you don’t have to Google around and create a mess unorganized resources.

4. Alison Online

Alison Online offers a free online platform with certification courses. The site is very useful if you feel like adding new skills to your resume. Some recommended courses on the platform regarding graphic designing would be Visual and Graphic Skills, Design principles, Photoshop Essential C6 Tools and so on. There are also many more courses available, if you want something different from our recommendations.

5. DesignLab

If you are looking to ace your design game, DesignLab is an ideal online graphic design learning platform for you. The platform provides users with complete hands-on projects to help them grasp the designing concepts. Their service even includes a weekly Skype mentoring session with an expert and the facility of availing feedback from peer users and mentors on-board. Offering umpteen number of designing courses, DesignLab can be your one-stop platform for learning everything related to graphic designing.

6. Creative Bloq

Creative Bloq is one of the best blogs for web designers, graphic designers, and the like. Every day, it is updated with an inspiring catalog of advice along with illustrations to help you out in your journey to be the best. Just pop into the blog once a day, go through the latest news, tips, and tricks, and you will never even realize when you became an awesome designer.

7. Book Cover Archive

Book Cover Archive is the perfect place to go if you intend on gathering some inspiration or ideas for creating your next book cover. The website offers a sortable catalog of historic and new book covers, which can be filtered based on photographer, art director, designer, title, author, and genre. Then there is a blog which offers some educative commentary on designs and style. See here for tips for designing a great book cover.

8. The Noun Project

The Noun Project is one of the best go-to destinations for iconography. Here you can get great inspirations on how to create high-quality stock icons. The platform also allows designers to upload their work and put them on sale.

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Role Of Typography In Modern Web Design

T

As for why we care about typography and each of the defining characteristics of it in modern web design, there’s a good reason for it. While it would be great if a well-written blog post or super convincing sales jargon on a landing page were enough to keep visitors happy, that’s not always the case. The choices you make in terms of typography can have major ramifications on whether or not people even give your site’s copy a read.

These are some of the ways in which typography affects your end users:

Reinforce Branding

Typography is another way in which you create a specific style for your web design. If images all contain clean lines and serious faces, you would want to use an equally buttoned-up typeface.

Set the Mood

It helps establish a mood or emotion. For instance, a more frivolous and light-bodied typeface would signal to users that the brand is fun, young and doesn’t take itself seriously.

Give It a Voice

It conveys a sense of personality and voice. While the actual message in the copy will be able to dictate this well, using a font that reinforces the tone would be a powerful choice.

Encourage Reading

As you can see, there are a number of ways in which you can adjust how type appears on a screen. If you can give it the right sense of speed and ease, you can encourage more users to read through it all.

Allow for Scanning

Scanning or glancing (which I’ll talk about shortly) is becoming more and more common as people engage with the web on their smart devices. Because of this, we need ways to format text to improve scannability and this usually involves lots of headers, pull quotes and in-line lists (bulleted, numbered, etc.).

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Reference Guide For Typography In Mobile Web Design

A 

In terms of how to handle typography in mobile web design, it appears that simpler and safer works best. In this article, we will break down the elements you need to pay attention to in mobile typography and then visit what the research says about how to handle them.

With mobile taking a front seat in search, it's important that websites are designed in a way that prioritize the best experience possible for their users. While Google has brought attention to elements like pop-ups that might disrupt the mobile experience, what about something as seemingly simple as choice of typography?

The answer to the typography question might seem simple enough: what works on desktop should work on mobile so long as it scales well. Right?

While that would definitely make it a lot easier on web designers, that’s not necessarily the case. The problem in making that statement a decisive one is that there haven’t been a lot of studies done on the subject of mobile typography in recent years. So, what I intend to do today is give a brief summary of what it is we know about typography in web design, and then see what UX experts and tests have been able to reveal about using typography for mobile.

Understanding The Basics Of Typography In Modern Web Design

Look, I know typography isn’t the most glamorous of subjects. And, being a web designer, it might not be something you spend too much time thinking about, especially if clients bring their own style guides to you prior to beginning a project.
That said, with mobile-first now here, typography requires additional consideration.

TYPOGRAPHY TERMINOLOGY

Let’s start with the basics: terminology you’ll need to know before digging into mobile typography best practices.

Typography: This term refers to the technique used in styling, formatting, and arranging “printed” (as opposed to handwritten) text.

Typeface: This is the classification system used to label a family of characters. So, this would be something like Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, Comic Sans, etc.

Font: This drills down further into a website’s typeface. The font details the typeface family, point size, and any special stylizations applied. For instance, 11-point Arial in bold.

Size: There are two ways in which to refer to the size (or height) of a font: the word processing size in points or the web design size in pixels. For the purposes of talking about mobile web design, we use pixels.

Here is a line-by-line comparison of various font sizes:

Weight: This is the other part of defining a typeface as a font. Weight refers to any special styles applied to the face to make it appear heavier or lighter. In web design, weight comes into play in header fonts that complement the typically weightless body text.

Kerning: This pertains to the space between two letters. It can be adjusted in order to create a more aesthetically pleasing result while also enhancing readability. You will need a design software like Photoshop to make these types of adjustments.

Tracking: Tracking, or letter-spacing, is often confused with kerning as it too relates to adding space in between letters. However, whereas kerning adjusts spacing between two letters in order to improve appearances, tracking is used to adjust spacing across a line. This is used more for the purposes of fixing density issues while reading.

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