Tips of Type setting

by Spruce Rd. Design

Hey there!
Have you ever looked at a packaging design or website and, though
minimal in design, you’re just taken by it? Something about it
inspires you and feels harmonious.

Likely typography is what’s grabbing you most.

Type can make or break a design. When set appropriately, it can

create the most swoon-worthy designs compelling customers to
purchase and take notice.

My grandfather was a professional type-setter and letterpress artist

— so maybe I’ve always had a fascination with type since growing
up with wood type artwork hanging on the walls. Either way, I’ve
learned to spend up to 95% of my time designing with setting type.
That may seem excessive, but it’s testament to how strongly I
believe type impacts the design experience.

We’re in week 2 of the nitty gritty design process series, and I can’t
wait to dive into chat all about type. Ya with me?
Throw those type loving hands in the air and let’s get to it :).

TYPE PERSONALITY
As with color, each typeface has its distinct personality. The
letterforms convey attributes which are important to understand
when designing for yourself or for a client. Is it modern,
architectural, corporate or quirky? Is it timeless, classic or specific
era-inspired?
Details such as if the typeface is sans or serif are key indicators of
personality. Typically serif typefaces are more traditional, while
sans-serif are more modern. Though there are plenty of quirky +
modern serif typefaces (especially slab serifs) so it isn’t a hard and
fast rule!
If you’re stuck with how to convey a typeface’s personality with your
clients, or would like some reassurance for your own brand, I
recommend heading to myfonts.com (or the foundry where you
purchased the font) to read how they describe the font. I’ve often
modified phrases from the font description to send to clients as
reassurance that it aligns with their brand.

SETTING TYPE
Now to the nitty gritty of setting type! First and foremost — type
provides the function of design. Legibility is key, and each of these
terms below will help you achieve a great balance of legibility.
Though type is gorgeous, there’s no hiding the fact that it is a
technical beast! Fine tuning your typesetting technical skills will
show a dramatic improvement in your work. Here’s a few things to
look into as you set type for your next project:

• Design in black & white first. This is always my go-to starting

any process (web design, layout, t-shirt or logo). Starting type
setting in black and white allows you to focus on hierarchy,
legibility, contrast and balance.
• Leading/line spacing: The distance from the baseline of one
line of type to another. For setting larger blocks of copy,
leading is what impacts legibility. Note that it is drastically
different for print than web!
• Tracking/letter spacing + kerning: Adjusting the spacing
between letters. Tracking/letter spacing creates equal spacing
between a group of letters, whereas kerning is between two
specific letters. Kerning is top priority for setting wordmark
logos.
• Alignment + rags: Selecting between left, right, center or
justified text conveys a unique association. Pay attention to
rags (the unaligned + unjustified side of copy) specifically with
print material. Sometimes they can look too wonky which
impacts the balance of the design. To accommodate for the
rag, you can adjust the scale, optical/marginal alignment or
tracking. Once your eye notices it, you can’t unsee it!
• Orphans/widows: Don’t forget these guys! Orphans and
widows are lines at the beginning or end of a paragraph, which
 are left dangling at the top or bottom of a column, separated
from the rest of the paragraph. You’ve no doubt been bothered
by it in a book you’re reading, menu at a restaurant or
postcard. Avoid dangling a word in a paragraph of text. To
accommodate, look into adding a non-breaking space or
adjusting scale, tracking, optical/marginal alignment.

There are loads of technical typesetting terms (so much so I took 2

semesters of typography in college), so I can’t squeeze them into
this brief paragraph :). I recommend purchasing Thinking with Type
by Ellen Lupton for a full overview. Keep it desk ready!
MODIFYING TYPE FOR LOGO WORDMARKS

When I polled you guys for what you’d like to learn about the design
process, I just loved this question so much: “Do you have any tips
for modifying type for logos?” Why yes. Yes I do :). When crafting a
type-based logo, customizing type can make all the difference. It’s
no easy feat, and takes some technical know-how. So I’ve got a few
things to consider as you modify type:
• Rule #1: Respect the type. I rarely (if ever?) customize type
aside from logos. Even when customizing for logos, avoid
stretching or skewing. Type designers are very intentional in
their craft, so respect their work as you customize.
• Know why you are customizing. Honestly? One of my pet
peeves with some logo designs is not having rationale behind
the design. You know the ones… there’s a leaf thrown on
there. Why? Or relating to type — the type is so customized
it’s purely aesthetic. There should be a purpose behind it so
make sure you’re not customizing for the sake of it (unless for
personal exercise!).
• Glyphs: Open up your glyphs panel to take a peek into what
extras the type designer provided with your font purchase.
Likely they’ve included alternate letterforms that can aid in
customizing type. When purchasing fonts, you can often take a
look into these alternates before you purchase. I’ve made
some purchases solely for the glyphs :)!
 • Ligatures: When two letters are joined together to form one
glyph. When done right, a ligature can make you swoon and
be all the logo needs for that custom touch.
• Understanding type design: I highly recommend taking this
Skillshare class all about how letterforms work by typographic
designer Spencer Charles. Even if you have no plans of
creating your own font or lettering (I don’t blame you!), this
class will help you as you customize type.

MY GO-TO PLACES TO PURCHASE FONTS

Right right right… but where do you purchase fonts? Here’s my go-
to list of typographic gold.
• MyFonts
• Typekit
• You Work For Them
• Klim foundry
• Hoefler & Co.
There are loads of others, but these are my top favorites!

FONT LICENSING FOR CLIENTS

Another juicy question that popped up quite often when reading
responses from you guys! Licensing is a sticky issue when working
with clients. Here’s a few of your Q’s answered:

Do you purchase a font license for your client?

Nope! I honestly want my hands clean of font licensing for clients.
When you purchase a font, it comes with a license for the number
of computers it can be downloaded to. I recommend my clients
purchase the font for the correct number of computers for their
team. If they opt out of that purchase, I always have free fonts
recommended as an alternative until their budget allows.

When do you purchase fonts during the client process?

My clients are never aware that I purchase fonts. I think of it as a
business expense and one of the few overhead purchases of
running a design studio. Yes… sometimes this means I’ve
purchased a font that the client didn’t approve. But likely that font
will find a home with another client if it’s a good fit. So in the case
that I opt to use a font I don’t have on my computer for a client
project, I just go ahead and purchase the font. The client never gets
billed for it, it’s wrapped up in the cost of doing business!
If you or your client is on a budget and can’t afford to include a
potential font purchase in the investment, you could bring the client
more into the process and show them font examples prior to
purchase. Instead of doing this, I have a thorough discovery phase
that nails down the design style which gives me confidence hitting
purchase on a font for myself and my designers :)

Can I use fonts my friend or former work gave me?

Ok, no one asked this. But it’s one of the unethical practices at my
last job that made me leave… so I feel like it needs to be addressed
in our community! Just a friendly note here — it’s not okay to use a
font your friend forwarded you in an email or gave you on their
Dropbox. Let’s pay our fellow designers who craft fonts, they
deserve it!

Can I use this font in a logo?

There are different licenses for each font. You’ll want to take a look
into your specific font purchase to check on usability for logos.
Majority of the time the license allows it, but some don’t! Look into
this great MyFonts article about the issue.

RESOURCES TO EXPAND YOUR TYPE KNOWLEDGE

Here’s a few additional resources to better hone in on your type
skillset.
• My personal font wishlist board + type/lettering inspiration
Pinterest boards
• Typewolf: web typography inspiration
• Type Playbook Ebook: A great roundup of fonts + resource for
working with type
• Discover.typography: Type inspiration from the Hoefler & Co
foundry
• WhatFont Chrome extension: Identifies fonts on websites