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Typography Guidelines For A Beginner?
Centipeed
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I put a lot of text to photographs, and I want it to look aesthetically pleasing.
Are there any general guidelines I can follow that will work with most images (Be aware that I'm placing the text directly on the image, not under it or in a frame etc.) so that I'll get a moderately decent result most times?
Right now I'm simply using Arial in white, with a black stroke, for every image. And I think I should start tailoring the text to each image rather than just using the same text style every time.
Any help would be great. Thanks!
Are there any general guidelines I can follow that will work with most images (Be aware that I'm placing the text directly on the image, not under it or in a frame etc.) so that I'll get a moderately decent result most times?
Right now I'm simply using Arial in white, with a black stroke, for every image. And I think I should start tailoring the text to each image rather than just using the same text style every time.
Any help would be great. Thanks!
Centipeed on
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You shouldn't excessively mix font sizes, weights, or styles (roman vs. italic) especially when there isn't a lot of space going on. I'm a bit of a modernist when it comes to typography, so I'm a big fan of very simple, straight forward fonts with very simple, clean but contrasting colour palettes. I've never dealt with text directly on a (presumably colour) photograph before, though, so I can't really advise you one way or another.
Other font styles, such as blackletter, insular, or script can and should be used in their own proper context. I wouldn't really mess around with them though, because they end up looking really terrible if not used effectively.
My opinion, of course.
I work in print and i disagree. Times New Roman (for serif) and Helvetica (for sans) are probably the 2 most common print fonts. There are others that pop up occasionally (Frutiger, Garamond, Futura, Aksidenz, etc) but for general body text Times and Helvetica are most commonly used and are definitely "print" fonts. I mean, really, both were designed years before computers were even in general use, Times was created for The Times newspaper and Helvetica was designed to be used at large point sizes for outdoor signage. Arial on the other hand is a decidedly "computer" font and looks terrible on paper.
Neither are the most pretty fonts, and i would definitely go with a more arty or pretty font for captions unless youre captioning charts or diagrams. Unfortunately i have absolutely no suggestions because i very, very rarely get to choose what fonts i can use, and i suck at it now. The only advice i can give is stay away from gimmicky fonts, like a script font or Comic Sans, anything that looks too busy. Legibility is the biggest thing, so any basic font (even Times or Helvetica) will look good if you can set it in the right spot, make it legible (with an outline, using a contrasting color, etc) while at the same time not attracting too much attention away from the image.
If you had some examples of what youve been doing or what youd like to do, thatd probably be more helpful.
Check out my band, click the banner.
It's a personal thing, so it doesn't have to be professional. No-one's grading me or paying me for this. I just want it to look as good as it can.
This is another one I just put together to try and integrate the text more with the image, and to make it more artistic, using a different font I found:
(Removed, because I accidentally copied over the file on my server)
Any opinions?
If you want these to be identified as a series and you're not adding any other visual elements apart from the type, the most important choice will be the font. Since you have several sentences to be read, you want something simple (you've made good choices so far in this respect). Be careful which typeface you chose though, here are two lists of good 'classic' typefaces which should serve you well.
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/akzidenzfont/tp/sansbodyfonts.htm
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/baskervillefont/tp/serifbodyfonts.htm
You'll notice that the above lists are categorised in to 'serif' (i.e. 'older' looking fonts with ornaments, more complex letters and so on...) and 'sans serif' (i.e. more modern, simple fonts which lack the ornamentation of 'serif' fonts; an example). Basically put This is Serif and This is Sans Serif.
It is important to know this, because each group has its own particular 'character' and will the viewer's response to the image. Since this is just a personal project you probably won't need to put much thought in to it, but my basic rule is serif fonts look more traditional, more friendly and more emotional, while sans serif fonts look more professional and rigid. You want the viewer to laugh, so you might choose something that feels friendly and not too serious.
Also, don't lay the text over the focal point of the image, like you've done with the robot picture, unless there's a particular reason for you to do so. It just makes the image harder to see.
Other things you might want to consider:
Your lines of text are a bit too close together; the ascenders (the bits that hang below, like the tail on the 'g') and ascenders (the opposite to the afforementioned, like the top of a 't').
Also, make sure blocks of text line up visually. Just because the text boxes do, doesn't mean the text itself does. I'm looking particularly at the quotation marks on the first image, at the start of the second line. It's usually best to have punctuation like that hanging slightly to the left, outside the text box, so that the first letter (instead of the ") lines up with the first letter in the last paragraph.
I'm not sure if there is one sure-fire formula for a good typographic layout. MagicToaster's suggestion is good - you might have trouble integrating the text in every image, so why not add a block of colour and place the text over that? Research is also a good place to start - find something you like and see if it fits in with your work. Take penguin's book covers for example, they've become known for their solid, consistent and aesthetically pleasing layouts. Check out this site if you want to have a gander: http://www.penguinsciencefiction.org/
Long post is long.
A simple trick I use I have to give presentations which have large photos is to create transparent rectangles with rounded corners and place text inside them, it makes the text stand out and easier to read without having to stick a black border on them.
(Also the flamingo one is hillarious)
Satans..... hints.....
http://www.x24d.com/blog/?p=34#more-34
http://www.x24d.com/blog/?p=35
It also helps to just look at good examples and figure out what you like about them.
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/10/15/the-showcase-of-big-typography/
typography is not fonts, nor is it throwing effects on the text in photoshop. arial is the font equivalent of american cheese, servicable in a pinch, fantastic in the hands of a pro, but generally the wrong choice for gourmet cooking. generally dafont/free fonts are garbage, and should be avoided except for headlines or specific uses. helvetica, avenir, Akzidenz Grotesk, gill sans, all better choices than arial.
if you are serious about learning:
elements of typographic style:
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Typographic-Style-Robert-Bringhurst/dp/0881792063/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257516661&sr=8-1
smashingmagazine has consitantly good articles about typography, fonts, and design in general.
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/03/20/60-brilliant-typefaces-for-corporate-design/
http://typedia.com/
as for the posted, keep going. you have a good design when you do not need the stroke outline on the text. unless you are going for the 'i can haz' look. work on placing the deliberately, and not just flowing it with default line heights and hard paragraph returns. for staight paragraph text you might be able to get away with default/auto (maybe), but for what is essentially headline or design text, you should work on it. tightening up or loosening the leading can lead to dramatically different feels.
</type snob>
Oh I love helvetica -- I was mostly calling out the computer "copies" like Arial. I personally dislike Times NR because it has such small kerning.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
I've put together another piece, with some other ideas from this thread. Any thoughts?
(Although having posted it here, the fact that the background is blue makes it look slightly different to how it did in Photoshop.)
On both your examples, I think the text could be (1) smaller, and (2) more spaced apart. The letters don't have to be big to draw attention to themselves; they'll draw attention because they're text on a photograph. You really don't need text much bigger than what you are reading now; 14 or 16 point is fine. I also like having lots of leading (vertical space between the lines).
Never use Arial, or Helvetica, or Times. I actually just downloaded a bunch of free fonts; I like
• Gentium
• Liberation serif
• Droid serif
• Museo sans
"Fontin" is a sort of decent font too, it might look better overlayed on photos than it looks as body text. (Just google search these names and I'd imagine you will find them).
If you have a newish PC or MS Office, I also really like Microsoft's five C-fonts: Cambria, Calibri, Candara, Corbel, and Constantia.
Bear in mind that Droid is designed for very small screens (it was specifically developed for Android handsets) so might not look great on larger screens or in print. It has a very large x-height relative to cap height.
I'm not sure if there are any clear guidelines for setting text on top of an image, mainly it's adapting general rules of typography to the situation. As you've discovered, the main issue that makes the job different from typesetting on a plain background is ensuring a legible contrast across varying shades and colours. Sometimes just choosing the right colour for the text will make it stand out on top of the image and other times you need to outline it, apply a drop shadow or place it in a box - effectively adding a uniform background for the text to reside inside. You can even flip the whole problem on it's head and use the image as a fill for the text.
The best solution is going to vary depending on the image you are using and the message you want to communicate which will determine things like colours, choice of font, boldness and size, composition etc. To arrive at that solution you will probably want to research how other designers have solved the problem themselves, deciding what solutions are and aren't suitable for your project and then developing your own solution based on those observations.
Perhaps a good way to practice what you've learned from observing other designers is to play the random album cover game.
Have a look at some of these for a starter and notice how the different type treatments complement the image, communicate unique messages and still remain legible (click thumbnails for larger versions).
I'll get to some more tinkering. Maybe with drop shadows. And I'll check out those fonts, Qingu!
I do believe those images are from that game
Because those are some awful band names
But yes, they are from that game. I linked to a blog post with the rules in my post even.
Oops! I skimmed your post... my bad! :oops: