Methods of using typography in advertising design. The artistic possibilities of typography. Self-test questions

A large number of advertising design objects are associated with the use of fonts (posters, advertisements, magazines, etc.). Fonts are used in outdoor, television ("creeping line") and other types of advertising. It is no exaggeration to say that font is an integral part of most information messages.

Font(German schriff) - in typography, the graphic form of characters of a certain system of symbols.

Typography- an artistic means through which the graphic design of printed text is achieved through typing and layout (montage). Typography is a way of designing the appearance of a printed work. As V. Krichevsky notes: “The typographer selects a font, sets formats, arranges ready-made letters, words, pieces of text, rulers relative to each other and relative to a column, page, spread, sheet. The spatial organization of the text is the key and most creative moment of the activity. In this sense, typography is the graphics of arrangement, the art of exposing two-dimensional forms on a plane."

There are various font classifications:

By technique:

Handwritten;

Drawn;

typesetting;

According to the design of the letters (by the presence of serifs):

Having serifs;

Chopped;

Depending on the purpose (frequently used):

Text or typesetting - for publishing texts (the main condition is readability, ensuring legibility and ease of perception of both individual letters and words, groups of words);

Display or highlight - for title pages and covers (the main condition is to attract attention rather than ensure legibility), but, nevertheless, these fonts are characterized by versatility. While attracting attention, they should not be unusual so as not to compete with other fonts that are nearby;

Decorative - sharp fonts; usually used in advertising (the main condition is to attract maximum attention). According to G. Felici: “Decorative fonts attract attention primarily by their novelty, and only some of them by other qualities. They quickly go in and out of fashion: most of them instantly become old-fashioned.”

As you can see, the presented typology indicates the wide capabilities of fonts. Therefore, this or that choice of font allows one to take into account many factors, among which aesthetic occupies a special place, which is based on the following requirements:

Harmony of proportions;

Simplicity and clarity;

Clarity and proportionality, ensuring readability (combination of letters with each other in any combination);

- “associativity” (elegance - massiveness, severity - liveliness, etc.);

Purpose of the font (font readability, appropriateness).

From general characteristics aesthetic factor inherent in typography, we will designate the real means of its implementation. In other words, how is harmony of proportions and other components of this phenomenon achieved?

Firstly, the answer to this question can be found in a variety of letter structures.

The structure of a letter consists of three types of elements:

Basic strokes that determine the shape of a letter;

Connecting strokes, which combine the main strokes into the overall design of the letter;

Serifs are additional strokes that complete the main and connecting elements of letters; they can have different shapes and occupy a horizontal, inclined or vertical position. They serve not only a decorative function, i.e. make the font imaginative, individual, expressive, but also play a big role in the perception of the font. Serifs help the eye separate one character from another and identify individual letters in the alleys of fine strokes that are formed by lines of typed text, and also organize the horizontal structure of the type, creating a kind of path that confidently leads the eye along the line.

Therefore, it can be concluded that serif fonts have a higher degree of legibility and are easier to perceive and recognize, which in turn increases their readability. The font opens up great opportunities for interpreting intonation (size, proportions, font scale), voice strength (size), individual voice characteristics (italics), etc. (see Fig. 11.44, Fig. 12.4-12.8).

Secondly, the readability of the inscription depends on:

From the ratio of the thickness of the main stroke and the intraletter clearance;

Size of the inscription (depending on the exhibition format and distance from the viewer) (Table 12.1);

Table 12.1. Requirements to minimum sizes font on display

Removal value, m	Minimum thickness of lines and letter elements, mm	Optimal thickness of letter elements, mm	Letter height, mm (minimum - optimal)	Letter width, mm (minimum - optimal)
0,35	0,1	0,2	0,5-1	0,3 - 0,6
0,5___ 0,5	0,2	0,4	1-2	0,6-1,2
	0,3	0,6	1,5-3	0,9-1,8
	0,6	1,2	3-6	1,8-3,6
	1,5		7,5-15	4,5-9
			15-30	9-18
			30-60	18-36
			60-120	36-72
			105-210	63-126
			225-450	150-300
			450-900	270-540
			750-1500	450-900

Her surroundings;

Arrangements of words;

Split letters in a line (excessive spacing or proximity of letters interfere with the perception of words);

From the ratio of the width and height of the letters (very narrow or very wide letters are difficult to perceive);

Contrasts of main and additional strokes. Their equal thickness creates a feeling of anxiety, since horizontal strokes always seem thicker than vertical ones. Strong contrast makes legibility difficult;

Volume and richness of the text;

Font and background colors (Table 12.2)

Table 12.2. A combination of color and background that affects the readability of a font (deterioration from top to bottom)

Third, the compositional combination of letters and words is very important. As N.V. Kalmykova notes: “The compositional basis of the inscription is expressed in the sequential arrangement of letters and words. When choosing the compositional structure of the entire inscription, if the text is significant, then it is advisable to break it down into parts according to its meaning and identify those groups of words that carry a greater semantic load. These words can be made larger." The general design and idea are decisive in choosing the shape of the line and the distances between the lines.

Any font literary work fulfills its function - to convey the content to the viewer without making reading difficult. The font in advertising strives to interest the viewer, and, as O. Yatsyuk notes: “Advertising opens up almost limitless possibilities for interpreting the font; it can even do things that are generally not possible [...] If readability suffers, this is compensated by visual perception , especially since the entire volume of the page, the form, is first covered by the gaze, and only then the information is read.

Depending on the combination of artistic means (font and
images) graphic object can be of the following nature:

Text (see Fig. 11.42);

Fine (see Fig. 11.41);

Complex (see Fig. 12.1).

Fourth, “playing with fonts” is often used in headlines to enhance the expressiveness of visual advertising. Playing with fonts represents non-standard ways of using fonts, where a font can have a pictorial rather than an informative function (see Fig. 12.6). Kh. Kaftandzhiev notes that non-standard fonts can be built

Through the use of multiple colors;

Various font sizes;

Unusual arrangement of letters;

Hand-drawn fonts;

Combinations of pictures with letters, etc.

Strings can play an important role in “playing with fonts.” The lines could be:

Ascending and descending (see Fig. 12.7);

Straight-line (horizontal and vertical) and curved (see Fig. 10.5, 11.45);

Varying in size and depth;

Protruding and recessed (see Fig. 12.6);

Converging and diverging with a gradual decrease or increase in the width of the letters and gaps between them, which creates the impression of movement (see Fig. 12.4);

The bottom and top lines can be arcs of circles and curves of any kind. The height of the letters can be located both radially and vertically (with slight curvature of the line) (see Fig. 12.5);

With overlapping letters (see Fig. 11.54).

“Playing with fonts,” in other words, the use of transformed fonts in headlines, on posters, and booklet covers helps convey the meaning of the text and creates a visual effect that enhances perception.

When determining the place and role of typography in advertising design, it is also important to take into account the nature of its content. The chosen font in this case contributes to the emotional understanding of the advertising image. “Using, for example, fonts with a Gothic style, we not only reflect some information. At the same time, we produce a certain suggestion - involvement in the Middle Ages or long-standing traditions."

So, typography is a type of artistic means of expression, which plays a big role in the creation of visual advertising.

Self-test questions

2.What are graphics?

5. What is the peculiarity of the drawing as an illustration?

7. What is a trademark, what are the stages of its creation?

8. Name the groups of trademarks.

9. What is photography?

10. What are the reasons for the widespread use of photography in advertising design?

11.What is typography?

12.What is a font?

13.What elements does the structure of a letter consist of?

14.What are the classifications of fonts?

15.What factors does the choice of font depend on?

16.What determines the readability of a font?

17.Is readability general requirement, presented to the inscription?

18.What is “playing with fonts”? What role can it play in advertising design?

Since different texts have different purposes, the significance of any characteristics of these texts and fonts for their typing is different. Some characteristics are most important for some texts, some - for others. We are talking about such characteristics as:

Readability is a property of text and fonts for its typing, characterizing ease of perception. Readability is important in texts intended for continuous reading. The graphic design of the fonts used to type such texts should be as familiar and neutral as possible.

It is worth noting that readability is ensured not only by typographic measures, but also by stylistics, semantics and other properties of the text.

Prominence A characteristic important for the text that we want to highlight. Unlike readable text, prominent text is seen first and then read. You can make the text more noticeable by using the color of the characters or background, using a large size, display and/or highlighting font.

Legibility is a characteristic of font and text that is important for reading in conditions of reduced visibility and/or in a short time. For example, texts in outdoor advertising. The legibility of the text is ensured by clear letter shapes that differ as much as possible from each other, large font size and a strong contrast between the colors of the text and the background.

Orientation system

Long, coherent texts intended for continuous reading are read for a long time, calmly and measuredly. To navigate it, page numbers or urls are enough, if we're talking about about the Internet. For texts intended for selective reading An important element is an orientation system.

An orientation system in typography is a system of pictographic and text elements that helps the reader find in the text necessary information(chapter, page, paragraph, line). In a book, this is a heading, a navigation device (headers, footers, column numbers, etc.). The Internet also uses hypertext links and icons.

Typography in advertising

A huge number of advertisements, signs and signs are made using typography techniques. It is also widely used in small format printed publications; brochures, flyers, booklets, prospectuses and programs. The reason for this lies in their purpose - to attract attention and convey information to the reader in the strictly limited space of a paper sheet. Typography does both of these things well without overwhelming the pages with heavy illustrative elements.

Wide-format advertising cannot do without typography. Since the gaze lingers on a billboard, as a rule, for no longer than a few seconds, the information on it must be presented in the most concise form. Such advertising is first perceived visually, and only then, if it is possible to attract a person’s attention, is its textual content comprehended. At the same time, the use of a large number of illustrative details can lead to a negative result - the ad turns out to be overloaded with information and the eye does not have time to simultaneously cover both the text and the image, much less interpret them correctly. This is where typography comes in, transforming text into eye-catching, easy-to-read graphics. Designing large format advertising posters, typographic designers often experiment with the relationship between text scale and sheet format, sometimes finding quite original compositional solutions. It is in the field of advertising that the typographer has more opportunities to translate the semantic message specified by the advertiser into a compositional image.

Of course, the use of typography in advertising is not limited to wide-format advertising; typographic design is also successfully used in print advertising. The main tasks here remain the same - to attract attention, to make you first look closely at the image, and then read the text. Good example- advertising “Finance, Trust, Consulting”, developed by Open Design design studio. It is an image of a transparent prism, on the edges of which the inscriptions “Money is science” and “Money is art” are made. The artists from Open Design used an original and witty typographic solution, replacing some of the Cyrillic letters in the inscription “Money is science” with Greek ones, which, as we know from school, are widely used in science, and in the line “Money is art” - on musical symbols. Thus, the semantic load of advertising is harmoniously combined with its visual execution. A non-standard solution makes advertising noticeable.

Typography is also widely used in packaging design, and it is most often used in the perfume and cosmetics industry. Almost all perfume packaging, as well as labels on bottles, are made using typography. A classic example is the design of the legendary Chanel No. 5 perfume, the design of the box of which has not changed since its creation in the 20s of the last century.

The vastness of the World Wide Web could not resist typography. There are quite a few Web pages, the design of which is based solely on the use of the original form and text style. If such a page is created competently from a design point of view, then it will be easily perceived by the viewer and well remembered. Since typography introduces an element of some informality into Web design (after all, the use of graphic elements for composition and navigation predominates on the Internet), such design is rarely used when creating corporate pages, but among the sites of design studios there are more and more of them. One of the most famous and interesting sites of this kind is The Designers Republic. It represents an extensive catalog of design solutions, and it is thanks to the typographic design that navigation among huge amount information is noticeably simplified. On home page The Designers Republic features a large typography that reads “Angryman,” text that has been edited into an image of an “angry man.” Looking at this typogram, the viewer will see the details of the Latin letters assembled into one whole.

Often in typograms (or “calligrams”), at first glance it is impossible to determine the original appearance of individual symbols, but if you look closely, you can distinguish them. When creating typograms, typographers usually use techniques such as distorting composite characters, changing the size and pattern of characters, and deliberately deforming lines of typed text. The simplest and most common way to create typograms is to layout text in the form of the object described in it (for example, an index in which the sizes of its constituent letters are selected in such a way that the word is shaped like an arrow). But there are also more complex types of typograms in which the text becomes unreadable, transforming into a picture. "Angryman" from The Designers Republic is a great example of this.

Without typography, logos would not exist. Even the simplest of them are typographic compositions, and many are even complex typograms. It even happens that the font used in the logo itself begins to be perceived as an integral part of the company’s corporate image, for example, like the famous Microsoft Sans Serif font.

Typography is also very popular among authors of artistic posters, who have long emerged as an independent genre. visual arts. They, like advertising publications, are forced to appeal primarily to visual perception. However, the genre of posters and placards is not limited by such rigid boundaries as, say, print advertising, and therefore gives designers a greater opportunity for artistic expression; the absence of slogans and wording specified by the advertiser turns the text into a full-fledged graphic design tool. The large format of the poster only enhances its expressiveness. An interesting example is an anti-racist poster created by the design studio Open Design. It depicts symbols of four world religions, each assembled from printed text taken from the holy book of another faith. For example, the Muslim crescent is inscribed with text from the Torah, and the six-pointed star of David is inscribed with lines from the Koran. However, the meaning of such posters may remain unclear without an accompanying explanatory caption. In this case, these are the lines “They are us” and “We are them”, located on a red ribbon bent in the letter V - symbolically, simply and clearly.

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Know your audience

The next step is to get to know your audience. There is a big difference in what you expect from a brand and what your audience expects. Think about the answers to these questions:

Who are they? Their age, gender and nationality are just as important as knowing your clients' professions, hobbies and interests.
Where will they see your logo? This could be a website, an advertising banner, billboard or a neighbor's T-shirt. Try to consider any situation.
Do they understand your message? Try to think of all the associations that might come to mind when they see your logo. It's a good idea to survey members of your potential audience.

Make sure you know visual basics

Based on your research and your deep understanding of your brand, you will have to make several choices related to your logo.

First of all, be prepared to discuss fonts. There are thousands of fonts available these days, making it even more difficult for designers to choose. All basic fonts can be divided into several types, and each of them can have its own emotional tone:

Serif (serif): respectable, traditional, reliable, calming;
Sans Serif (sans serif): modern, objective, clean;
Script type (imitates hand writing): elegant, creative, affectionate;
Decorative: expressive, unique.

You can see that each font has its own mood and personality that it conveys to your brand. It can be serious, careless, playful or sophisticated. You need to determine what exactly you want to say using the font and whether it matches your design. Choose a font that is not based on personal preference, but keep in mind the spirit and characteristics of your business.

One of the most common design woes is the .

In this article, we'll cover a few principles of good typography and give you tips on how you can avoid many common mistakes.

The article is not a book on typography or the art of typography, it is more like "quick tips for improving the typographic foundation of your design."

Rule 1: The fewer fonts, the better.

One of the biggest mistakes designers make is using too many fonts and/or font styles. Try to reduce them to two or three. That is, the main text must be the same font and size.

Pick one for headings and stick with it, maybe another one for subheadings as a last resort. Don't be afraid if the fonts are very different from each other. When you use two very similar fonts in a design, the reader may think that you simply made a mistake and accidentally selected the wrong font when typing.

Take care of the unity of color, density, etc. or your text will look as if drunken flies have scattered all over the page.

Rule 2. Watch the discharge

Be careful not to crowd the letters too much. If you have problems with not enough space for text, then it is better to reduce the font. Yes, this will probably add space between paragraphs, but there is nothing wrong with that, it will give some respite when reading.

Rule 3: Correct alignment

Please don't center everything (unless it's a special design move). Consider using a grid. After all, everything on the page is interconnected. Use guides and place objects according to them. Don't throw objects at the corners of the page as if you couldn't decide where to place them.

Rule 4. Fewer decorative fonts

Do you have beautiful decorative fonts? Amazing! But this does not mean at all that it is necessary to use them for the text of paragraphs. Decorative fonts most often have a story behind them or are used in a specific case, for example, for a heading or title. Often, simpler is better, which is why fonts like Helvetica are so popular.

Rule 5: Size matters

It's about the size of the text letters ;). Headings are good when they are in bold and large font, but if you use too large letters in the body text too, it will cheapen it. Think about it. You go to a nice restaurant and often the menu is written in small print, it looks cool. (Just make sure the font isn't so small that it's hard to read). Don't be afraid to make your headings much larger than your body text.

Rule 6. Keep it readable

Everything you do is done so that it can be read. Dark text on a dark background is not very good good idea. Even worse, placing small text above a high-contrast photo. Remember to avoid placing text over anything.

Rule 7. Choose the right colors

What color is best for the font? As a rule of thumb, believe it or not, black or white is often best. If you are using a color other than different shades of gray, reduce the saturation. Brightly colored font may be difficult to read. Beware of complex vibrating combinations such as red on green.

Rule 8. Suitable grouping

Related pieces of information are best combined together. This will make the design clearer. For example: look at a movie poster, all the data is grouped into attractive blocks. They can now be considered as a separate design element. Examples of bad grouping - open the yellow pages.

Rule 9. Sufficient leading

This is the distance between lines of text. It is very important to choose this interval correctly. It's much more enjoyable to read when there's room to rest your eyes between the lines. As a general rule, try to use leading that is at least 2 points larger than the font size. For example: for maximum readability at 10pt, the font should be set to at least 12pt.

Rule 10: Watch out for kerning

Kerning is the spacing between individual characters of a word. Here it is important to have experience in identifying bad kerning, since often programs, such as Photoshop, make mistakes in its placement. This will need to be adjusted manually, but the main thing is not to overdo it. If you don't like the character spacing but don't know how to improve it, choose a different font.

Try to apply these rules when working with font. Well-designed type blocks should look good without any images. At its best, your type work reinforces the positive impression of the design. It should be attractive and easy to read