Oh typography, I love/hate you.

Have you ever seen an amazing cake that looks pretty tasty, but after you taste it you were disappointed? Yeah, that happened to me a couple of times — not only with cakes but also with many other things like typography.

I’m not a professional typographer, but I definitely know how to distinguish between good and bad typography and let me tell you… Typography is one of the hardest things in the design field. It is not about just placing your text or type in your design. You can have the most killer design ever, and everyone may tell you that “it is the best piece of art ever!” But, if you place your type randomly, then you have just destroyed your piece of art.

Typography it’s not a secondary element in a design. It must work together with the design. Whether it’s a poster or a brochure, people must be able to read perfectly. Some friends (not graphic designers) asked me, “How do you know when you’ve done a good typography job?” “It’s not easy,” I said. When I work on a project for a long time, my mind and my eyes get used to the graphics and the whole theme. At some point, I’m not very sure if the job looks good. My answer to the question was, “Asking for feedback to colleges, friends, and even my family help me to get a better result.”

I remember my teacher at college saying, “Stand up from the computer and walk away, and then look at the screen. Can you read what it says? Can you tell me what colors you used?” At the very beginning the answer to those questions were “No..”

With the passing of time, I learned some tricks about typography, and I am pretty sure I won’t stop learning some more. Sometimes, just taking a walk for 10 minutes will help to refresh our minds and then discover what’s missing in any project.

Remember that typography is part of the whole design, it’s not a secondary thing. Pay attention to it like you do in everything else. Who would like to eat that cake that looks delicious but it is actually not good at all? Who would recognize a great piece of art if typography it’s not treated well?

Article Written by: Josue Hidalgo