Thinking About Type

Soundtrack: “Bayonetwork: Vultures In Vivid Color” by Norma Jean

Let’s talk about typography. Because it's important that we do.

Back some time ago Joe was giving me grief about being a typophile, and he said something along the lines of “I don't obsess about what font I use.” That statement has stayed with me for this entire time and in fact it has actually bothered me. And I think I now know why. Our world is filled with people who do not care about good typography, and that scares me because as a result it means they are saying they do not care about communication or language.

That’s why I am here, to once more make people care about these things.

First off we need to establish some proper terminology and vocabulary. The typeface that this blog is formatted with is not a font. Nor is a font another way of saying typeface. Do not tell me to change the font because I won’t. Instead tell me to try a different typeface. Because I can do that.

Now that we have some proper groundwork laid down, let’s talk about why typography is important. Typography is the way that words are visually communicated to the reader. In the old days people would write things like letters by hand. If you wanted something typeset you took it to a typesetter. The typesetter knew his trade and therefore you didn't have to know about typography. A little later typewriters came along, but nobody had to worry about typeface selection because there was one, and it was monospaced so nobody had to know about kerning or tracking or any of that. And then the personal computer was invented. So now we live in an age where everyone in some way is an author of communication and it is important that everyone be able to communicate properly.

What does this mean?

It means you have to learn something, Einstein. It means you need to become educated in how to properly communicate to the masses, and to do that you need to learn about typography. Why do you need to do that? Because you don't have the typesetter anymore. You have a computer. You have an available internet connection. You are ready to start bringing your ideas to the masses. So do it the right way.

I am not going to go through everything you need to know here. It would take far too long and I just don't have the time. But I will show you. There are many great web sites out there that can tell you about typography. Thinking With Type is one of them, and I think the best. It skips the history lesson and goes straight into the nuts and bolts. It tells you what you need to know about properly using typography. And it even has links. So go there. Drink in their wonderful knowledge. And use it, for goodness sake. You don't need to go overboard and make all of your emails works of design genius, but at least try to make your website look like it wasn't designed a five year old. Because I don't know if I told you this or not, but... it totally does.