Manipulate and Integrate Type

Once you have determined your typography ideas suitable for your client's requirements, the next step is to use appropriate software to design your design solutions digitally. To do this, you will need to use Adobe Illustrator. With this program, you can use a customised font or typeface that stands out on the page and screen.

It is worth noting, however, that software doesn't replace knowledge. While software offers a powerful toolkit, a strong understanding of typographic principles is essential. Knowing how to choose appropriate fonts, create a hierarchy with type, and ensure readability is crucial for effective design.

You should either draw freehand, take inspiration from your thumbnail sketches produced earlier, or design typography using variable fonts from the font menu in Adobe Illustrator. As you have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, you must activate and utilise a vast library of high-quality fonts directly within Illustrator.

You can add text in diverse ways to enrich your design. You can also delete empty type objects, remove default placeholder text, fill only selected type objects with placeholder text, and wrap text.

There is a specific order to save your work in Adobe Illustrator. This includes:

• Draw it: Sketch out the letters by hand
• Import it: Scan and vectorise the letters in Illustrator to capture the distinct line, length, ascenders, and descenders
• Tweak it: Refine and organise the letters to get the exact look, readability and kerning you want
• Save it: Save the glyph and export it using additional plug-ins
• Use it: Use that brand-new font well in future projects.

Designing different typefaces takes time and practice, but some tutorials can help you advance.

Watch this video

It is how to create custom typography in Adobe Illustrator. (8:33)

Typography and design software work hand-in-hand. Your typographic knowledge and vision are translated into reality through the capabilities of design software. Understanding both aspects allows you to create impactful, user-friendly designs that communicate your message clearly and effectively.

By mastering the tools and techniques, you can leverage the power of Adobe Illustrator to create impactful and visually compelling typography that elevates your vector graphics projects.

There are certain considerations that you must make when designing typography and fonts using software. These include.

1. Font Selection: Select fonts that are aesthetically pleasing clear and legible in many sizes and on different platforms (screen vs. print). Consider licensing restrictions for your chosen fonts.
2. Font Pairing: Explore pairing a main typeface for headings and body text with a secondary font for accents or specific elements. Look for fonts that complement each other stylistically (e.g., a serif with a sans-serif) or create contrast for emphasis.
3. Readability & Functionality: Prioritize readability. Ensure enough contrast between text colour and background for clear visibility. Avoid overly decorative fonts that might hinder legibility, especially for large blocks of text.
4. Conceptual Typography: Go beyond basic text formatting. Use typography to visually represent your message or concept. Play with letterforms, arrangements, shapes formed by letters, or negative space to create a unique visual impact.
5. Integration with Visuals: Seamlessly integrate typography with other design elements like images, shapes, or illustrations. Text can flow around objects, be incorporated within shapes, or become part of the overall visual composition.

Typography is an essential element of any design, as it helps convey the message and tone of your project. When used effectively, typography can significantly impact the overall aesthetic and effectiveness of your design.

You also need to consider the importance of images that support your typography choices, especially if your client has specified it. Images have bigger roles than just featuring a nice background to your document. It creates context, emotion, tone, and sometimes a story for your document. If those qualities align with your text message, you can connect with your audience better. So, the image must communicate well with the typography of your design document.

Do not forget about a background for your design and text. Just keep in mind that the background must be commensurate with the whole idea of the document. Keep enough contrast between the background and typography to make your text stand out without compromising the readability. For example, you can achieve this contrast by using light-coloured text on a dark background and vice versa. A poor combination created with a huge dose of text and background can nip your design if you have much to convey through text.

Creating transparent shapes or blocks of colour as overlay is also a great way of designing innovative text backgrounds. They help you rely on a design that is visually more uniform. The crux of the story is you can create a document with a single image. As a result, your design solution is graphically clutter-free. You can add an opaque shape or semi-transparent overlay to balance the background and typography.

Sometimes, it works if you lighten or darken your image. You can put your text message right on top of the image background by just increasing or decreasing the brightness of your image background. This way, you save space for placing an important text message on your visual document. The theory behind this action is simple. You increase colour contrasts of text and image. Visibility increases by controlling the brightness of images.

You can incorporate shapes into your design to enhance your message uniquely and memorably. Striking a balance between shape and typography is crucial to creating engaging and visually pleasing designs. Make sure you have enough white space around your text and the shape to provide them room for breathing. You can not only use shapes as background elements but also as elements that support the image in your design in a thoughtful way.

You also need to consider how letterforms look and appear to communicate visually your client’s requirements and needs. Recognising typographic illusions is crucial. Let’s look at a few optical illusions found in typography design. Click on the headings to explore more.

One of the most important elements in working with bodies of text is the grid, which can be anywhere from simple to complex. By using grids, we are framing the information on a given page. This gives us better control over arranging the elements on our page. With the correct grids, we can create compositions that guide the viewer’s eye, making the information easy to process and understand.

As with everything, we can work with simple and plain grids or go wild and come up with intricate and complex ones.

Even the most well-planned typography can encounter technical hurdles. Here is a guide to identify and address some common issues. For example, you can experience issues as fundamental as opening or placing a file in Adobe Illustrator. These are some common issues. Click on the following headings to explore more.