How to use typography in advertising design. Artistic possibilities of typography. Questions for self-examination

A large number of advertising design objects are associated with the use of fonts (posters, ads, magazines, etc.). Fonts are used in outdoor, television (“creeping line”) and other types of advertising. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the font is an integral part of most informational messages.

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

Typography- an artistic tool, thanks to 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 chooses the font, sets the formats, arranges ready-made letters, words, pieces of text, rulers relative to each other and relative to the 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 layout graphics, the art of exposing two-dimensional forms on a plane.

There are various font classification:

By technique:

handwritten;

Drawn;

type-setting;

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 editions of texts (the main condition is readability, which ensures legibility and ease of perception, both individual letters and words, groups of words);

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

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

As you can see, the presented typology testifies to the wide possibilities of fonts. Therefore, one or another choice of font allows you to take into account many factors, among which a special place is occupied by aesthetic, which is based on the requirements:

Harmonious proportions;

Simplicity and clarity;

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

- "associativity" (elegance - massiveness, rigor - liveliness, etc.);

The purpose of the font (readability of the font, relevance).

From general characteristics aesthetic factor inherent in typography, let us designate the real means of its implementation. In other words, how is the 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:

The main strokes that define the shape of the letter;

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

Serifs - additional strokes that complete the main and connecting elements of letters, they can have different shape and occupy a horizontal, inclined or vertical position. They carry not only a decorative function, i. to make the font figurative, individual, expressive, but also play a big role in the perception of the font. Serifs help the eye to separate one character from another and identify individual letters in the alleys of thin strokes that form lines of typed text, as well as arrange the horizontal structure of the font, 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, they are easier to read and recognize, which in turn increases their readability. The font opens up great opportunities for interpreting intonation (size, proportions, font scale), voice power (point 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 intra-letter clearance;

The size of the inscription (depending on the exposure format and distance from the viewer) (Table 12.1);

Table 12.1. Requirements to minimum dimensions font in exposition

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;

Arrangement of words;

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

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

Contrast 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 it difficult to read;

The volume and saturation of the text;

Font and background colors (Table 12.2)

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

Thirdly, 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 construction of the entire inscription, if the text is significant, then it is advisable to divide it into parts according to the meaning and determine those groups of words that carry a large semantic load. These words can be made larger. The general idea, the idea are decisive in choosing the shape of the line and the distances between the lines.

Font of any literary work fulfills its function - to convey the content to the viewer without complicating reading. The font in advertising seeks to interest the viewer, and, as O. Yatsyuk notes: “Advertising opens up almost limitless possibilities for interpreting the type, it can even do things that are generally impossible [...] If readability suffers, this is compensated by visual perception , especially since at first the entire volume of the page, the form is covered with a glance, and only then the information is read.

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

Text (see Fig. 11.42);

Pictorial (see fig. 11.41);

Complex (see Fig. 12.1).

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

Through the use of multiple colors;

Fonts of various sizes;

Unusual arrangement of letters;

Drawn fonts;

Combinations of pictures with letters, etc.

Lines can play an important role in the "game with fonts". Lines can be:

Ascending and descending (see Fig. 12.7);

Rectilinear (horizontal and vertical) and curvilinear (see Fig. 10.5, 11.45);

Varying in size and depth;

Protruding and falling (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 rows can be arcs of circles and curves of any kind. The height of the letters can be located both radially and vertically (with a 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 headings, on posters, booklet covers helps convey the meaning of the text, creates a visual effect that enhances perception.

When determining the place and role of typography in advertising design, it is also important to consider the nature of its content. The selected 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 ancient traditions.

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

Questions for self-examination

2.What is 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 the letter consist of?

14. What font classifications exist?

15. What factors determine the choice of font?

16. What determines the readability of a font?

17. Is readability general requirement presented to the inscription?

18. What is a "game 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 typesetting is different. Some characteristics are the most important for some texts, some for others. These are characteristics such as:

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

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

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

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

Orientation system

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

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

Typography in advertising

A huge number of announcements, signs and signs are made using the typography technique. It finds wide application in small format printed publications; brochures, flyers, booklets, prospectuses and programmes. The reason for this lies in their purpose - to attract attention and convey information to the reader in the conditions of a strictly limited space of a paper sheet. Typography successfully handles both of these functions, and without overloading the pages with heavy illustrative elements.

Not without typography and large format advertising. Since the eye lingers on a billboard, as a rule, no longer than a few seconds, the information on it should be presented in the most concise way. Such advertising is perceived first visually, and only then, if it is possible to attract the attention of a person, its textual content is comprehended. At the same time, the use of a large number of illustrative details can lead to a negative result - the ad is overloaded with information and the eye does not have time to cover both the text and the image at the same time, and even more so to correctly interpret them. This is where typography comes in, turning text into eye-catching and easy-to-read graphics. Designing widescreen advertising posters, typographic designers often experiment with the ratio of the scale of text 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 given by the advertiser into a composite image.

Of course, the use of typography in advertising is not limited to large-format advertising alone - typographic design is also successfully used in print advertising. The main tasks here remain the same - to attract attention, to make you first look at the image, and then read the text. Good example- Advertising "Finances, Trust, Consulting", developed by the design studio Open Design. It is an image of a transparent prism, on the sides of which the inscriptions "Money is a science" and "Money is an 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 a science" with Greek ones, which, as we know from school, are widely used in science, and in the line "Money is an art" - musical symbols. Thus, the semantic load of advertising is harmoniously combined with its visual performance. A non-standard solution makes advertising noticeable.

Typography is also widely used in packaging design, and most often it is used in the perfumery and cosmetics industry. Almost all perfume packaging, as well as bottle labels, are made using typography. A classic example is the design of the legendary Chanel No. 5 perfume, the box design of which has not changed since its inception in the 1920s.

Could not resist the typography and the expanses of the World Wide Web. There are quite a few Web pages whose design is built solely on the use of the original form and text style. If such a page is created correctly in terms of design, then it will be easily perceived by the viewer and well remembered. Since typography introduces an element of some non-formality into Web design (after all, the use of graphic elements for composition and navigation prevails on the Internet), such design is rarely used when creating corporate pages, but among the sites of design studios they are becoming more and more. One of the most famous and interesting sites of this kind is The Designers Republic. It is an extensive catalog of design solutions, and it is thanks to typographic design that navigation among huge amount information is greatly simplified. On the home page The Designers Republic, you can see a large typogram with the inscription "Angryman" - text, through the montage turned 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 characters, but if you look closely, you can distinguish them. When creating typography, typographers usually use techniques such as distorting compound letters, changing the size and pattern of characters, and deliberately deforming lines of typesetting. The simplest and most common way to create typograms is to type text in the form of the object described in it (for example, an index in which the sizes of its constituent letters are selected so that the word resembles an arrow in shape). But there are also more complex varieties of typograms, in which the text becomes unreadable, transforming into a picture. "Angryman" with The Designers Republic is a great example of this.

Without typography, there would be no logos. 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 corporate image of the company, for example, as the well-known Microsoft Sans Serif font.

Typography is also very popular among the authors of artistic posters and posters, which have long stood out as an independent genre. visual arts. They, like advertising publications, are forced to appeal primarily to visual perception. However, the poster and placard genre is not as tightly bound as, say, print ads, and therefore gives designers a great deal of artistic expression; the lack of slogans and wordings set by the advertiser turns the text into a full-fledged graphic design tool. The large format of the poster only enhances its expressiveness. A curious example is an anti-racist poster created by the design studio Open Design. It depicts the symbols of the four world religions, each of which is assembled from a printed text taken from the holy book of another faith. For example, the Muslim crescent is typed with text from the Torah, and the six-pointed star of David is typed with lines from the Koran. However, the meaning of such posters may remain incomprehensible without an accompanying explanatory inscription. In this case, these are the lines “They are us” and “We are them”, located on a red ribbon bent with the letter V - symbolically, simply and understandably.

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Know Your Audience

The next step is to get to know your audience. There is a big difference between 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 the professions, hobbies and interests of your clients.
Where will they see your logo? It can 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 interview representatives of the potential audience.

Make sure you know the visual basics

Based on the results of the 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 currently thousands of fonts available, making it even more difficult for designers to choose. All major fonts can be divided into several types, and each of them can have its own emotional tone:

Serif (serif): respectable, traditional, reliable, soothing;
Sans Serif (sans-serif): modern, objective, clean;
Script type (simulates handwriting): elegant, creative, affectionate;
Decorative: expressive, unique.

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

One of the most common design woes is the problem with .

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 type foundation of design."

Rule 1: The Fewer Fonts, the Better

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

Pick one for headings and stick with it, maybe one more for subheadings as a last resort. Do not be afraid if the fonts are very different from each other. When using two very similar fonts in a design, the reader might think that you just made a mistake and accidentally chose the wrong font when typing.

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

Rule 2

Be careful not to crowd the letters too much. If you are having problems with not enough space for text, then it is better to reduce the font. Yes, this will probably add space between paragraphs, but it's okay, it will give you some breathing room 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 scatter objects around the corners of the page as if you couldn't decide where to place them.

Rule 4. Less decorative fonts

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

Rule 5. Size matters

It's about the size of the letters of the text ;). Headings are fine when they are in bold and large type, but if you use too large letters in the body text, it will make it cheaper. Think about it. You go to a good restaurant and it often happens that 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 headings much larger than body copy.

Rule 6

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

Rule 7. Choose the right colors

What is the best color for a font? Generally, believe it or not, black or white is often best. If you are using a color other than different shades of gray, lower the saturation. Brightly colored font can 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 the right interval. It is much more pleasant to read when there is a place for the eyes to rest between the lines. As a general rule, try to use at least 2 points more leading 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 in a word. It is important to have experience in identifying bad kerning, as often programs such as Photoshop, for example, make mistakes in arranging it. This will need to be adjusted manually, but the main thing is not to overdo it. If you don't like character spacing but don't know how to improve it, choose a different font.

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