Design Principles: Type Hierarchy

Some definitions:

Readability: How easy it is to read bot headlines and body copy, often fonts that are very readable at a large size do not work as well as body copy. Readability is affected by leading and kerning.

Legibility: How easy it is to distinguish individual glyphs, this is affected by point size, stroke thickness and size of counters.


NEWSPAPERS
GOOD
The newspaper I have chosen for a design I like is 'i', i think that its very clear and it doesn't over exaggerate as much as other newspapers, they keep it simple with a black, white and red colour scheme and a neat grid layout.

This is the hierarchy of type taken from an inside spread of 'i'. I have arranged this in terms of point size, which also turns out to be organised in boldness and subsequently, readability.

AVERAGE

This is taken from a newspaper publication from Unipol, I neither like or dislike this layout and font choice. I think in some ways they choice of font is quite similar to that found in 'i' in terms of thickness and point size. I think that the overall appearance of this spread is a little cluttered and overwhelming whereas 'i' has much more space to breath.

Hierarchy of type from Unipol publication.

BAD

This is taken from a student newspaper for York University called  'YorkVision'. I really dont like the way this looks, I think it's the outlines on the red headlines and 'YorkVision' logo that makes it bad. Also the colours make it look a bit like a cheap games console and there only seems to be a couple of fonts used in comparison to the previous newspapers. And also, aside from the design the headlines are trying too hard to make something thats relatively mundane very gripping and engaging. And I don't like how 'DEATH CERTIFICATE' is red, it would look better if it was just left white like every other newspaper would do.

This is the type hierarchy from a 'YorkVision' spread. What's different with this one is that the headline fonts are sans serif whereas the previous two had serifs, even if they are relatively subtle. there is also a much smaller range of type in comparison to 'i'.

MAGAZINES
GOOD

CLASH
I have chosen this spread from 'Clash' for an example of a magazine I like. The general design throughout Clash is minimal on type and puts more of an emphasis on the imagery and visual graphics ( see left page of spread). It is refreshing to look at and isn't cluttered and in your face like 'OK' and other gossip magazines.

The range of typefaces seems quite small but there is a different one for each element of the page: Headline, subtitle, author, first line and body copy, I think that the typefaces compliment each other well also. The headline font is consistent throughout the magazine which works well.

AVERAGE


ELLE

I dont like it when pages are cluttered and confusing and overloaded with images, this spread is from 'elle' which isn't as bad as some others.

Theres a lot more variety of font style in comparison to newspapers in magazines and in this magazine especially there's a lot of variety, a similarity between Clash and Elle is that they favour tall and thin letters rather than bold and heavy fonts like the newspaper headlines.

BAD


TV EASY

I think that there is too much going on in this spread everything is being shouted at you and fighting for dominance on the page and there is no white space at all on the page.

The type hierarchy from this spread looks crazy when you take it out of context like this, it looks like each headline has been taken from a different magazine, there isn't a lot of relationship between the colours or style.

POSTERS
I like magazines to be well thought out and clean with not a lot going on to distract from the information being delivered in the text. On the other hand I prefer posters to be more engaging and busy with the focus on imagery and key information.

GOOD
The tallest man on Earth screen printed poster by 'Horse'
This poster uses type as image which works really well, the main information takes up the entire image and the details are at the bottom. I like how you have to look at the image for a while before you know what it's about.


























I have arranged the type in order of legibility rather than point size or boldness.

AVERAGE


I think the most important element of a flier or gig poster is that it visually represents the music it is promoting. So although I don't particularly like this flier, I don't particularly like the music it is promoting so, in that respect it is doing well to appeal to the correct audience. For me this flier isa bit too heavy on type and there isn't enough imagery and fun. But in comparison to others this is okay.

Similar fonts used throughout this flier of varying sizes, 3 colour scheme keeps it simple and to the point.

BAD

Tim Westwood
This is horrible, nothing good about it. I can't see why anyone would want to go to this after seeing this flier. Outlines on type never seems to look good. I've read this flier a few times now and I'm still not sure what its about, or what 'dresscode: sexy swagger' means. It looks like Westwood designed it himself on Word, probably did.