Are you committing the ultimate type-gaffes? Do you even know what they are? Can you recognize the good from the bad?

Great typography is rarely noticed by the reader, but its absence is keenly missed. Poor technique will kill even your best concept. Learn how to give your work the polish of professionalism through superb typography and instantly improve your designs to help build a superior portfolio. Develop an expert eye to better evaluate your own designs, and master the tricks of setting type like a seasoned pro.

Through instruction, hands-on class exercises, weekly homework assignments and class critiques, you will learn the critical skills every Web & print designer should know. The instructor will provide reference material & class notes.

objectives

1. Understand typography concepts, craft & best practices for print & screen design
2. Learn how to use typography to accomplish design objectives
3. Develop the skills to create better and more professional-looking designs through typography
4. Discover how to make the most of all the typographical settings in InDesign
5. Learn how to write and use a creative brief
6. Practice presenting and critiquing design

structure

Structure of each class:

1. Begin with a group critique of the homework assignment
2. 60–90 Mins (total) of instruction with examples demonstrating principals and techniques, interspersed with three or more in-class mini assignments
3. Assign the homework project (designed to be completed within 1 to 3 hrs)

projects

Homework projects will include (subject to change):

1. Logotype
2. Book Cover
3. Poster
4. Magazine Spread
5. Stationery

Students should have a solid working knowledge of InDesign and/or Illustrator. All projects will need to be completed outside of class. Each assignment must be printed in color at actual size, and trimmed for presentation in class. Print projects will not be critiqued onscreen. Throughout the course, the instructor will provide various handouts and reference materials.

session 1

Introduction

• Brief Historical Overview
• What Is a Font?
• Type Classifications
• Type Categories
  • Serif
  • Sans Serif
  • Display
  • Script
  • Pi
• Type Terminology
  • Type Families: Basic & Extended
  • Font Names
  • Ligatures
  • Text vs Display
  • Text vs Display
  • Bold
• Parts of Letters & the Optical Baseline
• Noticing the Differences Between Similar Typefaces
• Positive & Negative Space of Type
• Figure-Ground with Type
• Stretching or Squeezing Type?
• Expert Sets
  • Lining & Oldstyle Figures
  • Swashes & Glyph Substitution
• Copyright & Legal Issues
• The Creative Brief
  • Project Name
  • Objectives
  • Target Audience(s)
  • User Needs
  • Personality, Tone & Mood
  • Current Target Audience Mind Set
  • Key Target Audience Insights
  • Design Approach & Strategies
• Various hands-on class exercises
• Homework Assignment: Type & Compositional Exercise

session 2

Designing with Type: Part I

• Choosing an Effective Typeface
• The Personality/Mood of a Typeface
• Emotive Words
• Researching Type Online
• Legibility vs Readability
• Readability:
  • U&lc versus ALL CAPS
  • Italics
  • Bold
• Typeface Form & Type Size
• Steps for Choosing Text Typeface(s) to Fulfill Objectives
• Online Typography Newsletters
• Various hands-on class exercises
• Homework Assignment: Logotype

session 3

Designing with Type: Part II

• Ligatures
• White Space
• Layout Hierarchy
• Grids (Part 1)
• Creating Contrasts with Type
  • Typeface
  • Weight
  • Size
  • Typeface Width
  • Caps/U&lc:
  • Soft/Hard
  • Straight/Oblique
  • Horizontal/Vertical
  • Few/Many
  • Order/Chaos
  • Color or Shade
  • Positive/Negative
• Type Color
• Critique last week's homework
• Various hands-on class exercises
• Homework Assignment: Book Cover

session 4

Designing with Type: Part III

• Grids (Part 2)
  • Basic Grid (Without Baselines)
  • Baseline Grids
  • Single-Frame Grids
  • Setting up Grids in InDesign
  • Changing Grid Colors
  • First Baseline Options in InDesign
  • Anchored Sidebar
  • Picture Alignment to Grids & Type
• Working with Thumbnails
• Critique last week's homework
• Various hands-on class exercises
• Homework Assignment: Poster

session 5

Advanced Techniques & Best Practices: Part I

• Ems
• Kerning
  • Overview
  • How to Kern Automatically
  • How to Kern Manually
• Tweaking Body Type
• Tracking
• Word Spacing
• Leading
• The Measure
• Alignment
  • Justified Text
  • Center Aligned
  • Left Aligned
  • Right Aligned
    
• Optical Vertical Alignment
• Mathematical and Optical Centers of Page
• Horizontal Alignment
• Fixing Rags
• Widows & Orphans
• Hyphenation Settings
• Justification Settings
• Critique last week's homework
• Various hands-on class exercises
• Homework: Magazine Spread

session 6

Advanced Techniques & Best Practices: Part II

• Hanging Punctuation
• White Spaces
  • White Spaces Based on the Em
  • Other White Spaces
• How to Typeset
  • Initial Strings
  • Acronyms
  • Ellipses in Text & Display
  • Apostrophes, Quotes & Primes
  • Dashes
  • Register and Trademark Symbols
  • Fractions
  • Footnotes & Endnotes
• Emphasis & Adornments: Initial Caps
  • Drop Caps
  • Standing Caps
  • Decorative Caps

• Paragrpah Breaks
  • Left Indent
  • Space After
  • Drop Line
  • Running Text
  • Hanging Indent
• Wrapping Text
• Hanging Indents & Auto Bullets
• Baseline Shift
• Critique last week's homework
• Various hands-on class exercises
• Type Resources & Recommended Reading
• Portfolio Pieces Final Review & Critique

about the instructor

Karen Parry is founder of Black Graphics, a design studio in NYC. Her work has won numerous awards and been published in a variety of design books and magazines. She is a member of the Type Directors Club and ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale).

Price: $750

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