- the letter, individual design of each.
- the line, running text, large bodies of written text.
- the word, how the letter interacts with each other.
Reading across a line isn't fluid, it's a jerky movement. There are a max of 3-4 letters that are focused on in word.
In Adobe Type:
Typeface, font, type size etc.
Can also adjust metric or optical kerning (which is automatic), leading (vertical distance between lines, + means more space, - means less space on digital type), tracking (horizontal spacing between letters on the line, + means wider spacing, - means closer together), when tracking and don't go above -40 or +40 as a general rule.
Hierarchy - manipulate the text to direct the audience around the page. Use different weights as well as sizes of each aspect of the text.
Alignment - be aware of the white spacing around the lines, make sure it isn't distracting. With left aligned text on the right is ragged, and follows an in, out, in, out pattern along this edge.
Paragraphs - Need to be consistent whether using indented paragraphs or full line break paragraphs, make sure the method chosen is justified for your purpose.
Difference between kerning and tracking - Tracking is the spacing between all letters on the line, kerning is the spacing for individual cases of bad letter tracking. e.g Av and Ty have closer kerning than Nd.
Hidden Characters - These invisible characters such as returns, spaces, tabs, etc, only appear when you have “Show Hidden Characters” turned on. The indicate the structure of your body of text and show how the type is set. This can be incredibly useful for finding double spaces and unintentional line breaks.
Line length - when working with text in columns, the concern is about how long and wide the column is. 6 words per line is too short, 18 words per line is too long. The best is between 7-12 words (or 40-75 characters). Anything more becomes difficult to read due to the jerky eye movements we make when reading.
Widows and orphans - Two short words or one word left at the bottom of the paragraph is a widow. An orphan is a single line of text at the top of the next column following on from the last paragraph.
Dashes and Spaces - Hyphens used to join two unrelated words, or when the other part of the word is continued onto the next line of text. En dash is used as a to or through, so if you were to say between 3pm to 4pm, etc. An em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons in each case to slightly different effect. Think of the em dash as a pause more emphasis than a comma and less than parentheses. Sort of additional information. Can be used as an interruption eg:
JOHN: She’s totally unapologetic, she’s—
GEMMA: She’s rude!
Don't put a space between a hyphen but for em and en dash do use a thin space (not a regular space, a THIN space).
www.punctuationguide.com - for extra reading
Grids - Raster Systeme: Josef Mülle-Brockmann Grids are considered by some, the most important and yet most invisible part of design and typography. This is a fundamental part of the classic Swiss style and modernist typography.
The Raster Systeme presents a grid in 8–32 grid fields, which can be adaptable according to the design. Type is often set to grids to keep it organised in the design process as well as controlling its appearance.
Rivers - The gaps in text that appear in the same place on each line leaving a white line throughout the paragraph.
Baseline Grids - Aligns your text to a vertical grid where the bottom of each letter is positioned onto the grid, just like writing on lined paper.
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