Setting Type

Thus far we've been concentrating on Type looking only at  the Kerning, Tracking and x-heights etc of text.

One other factor of Design that is just as important is the way the text is laid out. One way in which this is made consistent is the use of Grids.

Vignelli's famous 5 grids. These grids are the only ones he uses in his work and range from 2 x 4 to 6 x 6. Following these grids results in all of his designs having both legibility and readability. The more squares to the grid, the easier it is to use as there is less leeway thus resulting in a more structured layout. Using a grid such a 2 x 4, this can often leave the designer with too much free space and can result in a slightly less organised layout thus negatively affecting both readability and legibility.

"the grid provides again structure and continuity from cover to cover" 
Vignelli, 2010

A Grids helps

- reprint basic structure

- helps organise the content

- provides consistency

- gives an orderly look

- projects intellectual elegance

Setting type has major affects on two things; Legibility and Readability


Legibility 


the quality of text being clear enough to read.

Professor Brian Fassett's theorem of legible line length states that the length of a lune should only range between 45-65 characters per line (around 12 words long). Anything over or under this can have negative affects on the clarity/ legibility of text making it harder to read for the viewer. 

The three main elements that can also affect legibility are:

- Typeface

- Serif or Sans Serif

- x-height

Careful consideration of these three things results in a more legible body of text.


Readability


the ease of which a reader can understand a written text.

Or the way in which words and blocks of type are arranged in a layout.

Factors affecting readability include:

- Tracking/Kerning

- Leading/ Line height

- Type Size

- Contrast

- Hierarchy


Type Size/ Contrast


"Basically we stick to no more than two type sizes on a printed page, but there are exceptions" 
Vignelli

"We like to play off small type with larger type - usually twice as big"


Alignment 


The alignment of text is the shape the body of text takes. 

The main alignments used in design are:

- Rag (the uneven side of the text, usually on the right)

- Flush Left

- Centred

- Justified

Some alignments work better than others, for example when a justified alignment is used it can often produce Rivers running through the text. Rivers are lines of white space running down through the text.

These rivers can reduce the readability of text and can force the reader to pause when reading the text when there shouldn't be one.


Orphans & Widows


- A widow is a very short line, usually one or a 
  few words. <-- ( example of a widow)

- poor typography leaves too much white space affecting both the readability and legibility

- Orphan <-- ( example of an orphan )
  is a single word usually appearing at the beginning of a column                 
  or a page.

- results in poor horizontal alignment 

Study Task

We have been set the task of researching into takeaway menus and then choosing one that we think has not enough consideration into layout and thus readability and legibility.

Below is both the existing menu I chose of a typical fast food joint and also my amended section of the menu below it.

In my redesign of the menu, I have considered the typeface, colours and alignment of text. I have used Gill Sans Regular for the headings as it is clear and easy to read from a range of distances. 

I then added an orange box behind the headings to further enhance the clarity and readability. I then made the numbers for each option in a different colour so that when ordering food, it is easy to locate and reference each number. 

I further manipulated the colours used by making every other line green instead of black. This makes it easier to differentiate between each line and thus easier to see which price is for which option.