6 minute read
Kerning
Robert Bringhurst
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Letterspacing
“The space between letters is integral to all typography. A particular letterspace may enhance or destroy the aesthetic quality of a typeface or the legibility of text.‘A man who would letterspace lower case would steal sheep,’
Fredirec Goudy liked to say.If this wisdom needs updating, it is chiefly to add that a woman who would letterspace lower case would steal sheep as well.
Normal letterspace is related to the counterforms of lower case letters.Typefaces with large counterforms require more letterspace than typefaces with small counterforms.
Letterspace must be decisive,either in harmony with or in strong contrast to the counterforms of lower case letters.
For text,most typefaces set with the default set width appear too tight.Additional letterspace improves legibility and aesthetic quality.Unprofessional typesetting is generally cause not by the choice of typeface,but by too much,too little,or irregular letterspacing.Nevertheless,like every rule,this one extends only as far as its rationale.The reason for not letterspacing lower case is that it hampers legibility.But,there are some lowercase alphabets to which this principle doesn’t apply.
(Robert Bringhurst)
When letterspacing is too tight, the type appears patchy, disrupted by clusters;when too open,it looks scattered and framented. In both instances,the type is irritating and tiresome to read. The correct letterspacing in continuous text is a subtle question of balance:what is the optimum space that sufficiently separates the letters without creating a string of disconnected elements that are difficult to grasp? The answer depends on the typeface and size,and the visual result intended by the typographic designer. For both serif and sans serif type the optimum letterspace for text is determined by the counterforms of the lower case letters. Typefaces with small counterforms require less space between letters that those with large counterforms.If the letterspace is visually larger than the median counterforms of the lower case letter,the type appears too open.On the computer, most design applications adopt an average set width intended to work with all type sizes. For most typefaces,however,text composed with this setting appears too tight,requiring the letterspace to be increase for optimum legibility and aesthetic quality.In sizes larger than 24 point, most typefaces composed with an average set width appear too open. Display sizes generally require a decrease in letterspacing. In large type sizes,individual letterforms are visually more distinct, making it important to pay special attention to the letterforms in relation to each other.”
Normal tracking
Ideas
Everything is connected to everything else and searching for solutions often requires being alert to spot the unlikely connections...
In Critique magazine Marty Neumeier writes:“If idea-making can’t be reduced to a system,perhaps it can be expressed in a formula. Like the workings of the internal combustion engine, the conceptual process can be seen as a series of controlled explosions that drive ideas forward. In a car engine,when fuel is mixed with fresh air and ignited by a spark, the wheels turn and the car accelerates.In the human mind,when a problem is mixed with a new perspective and exposed to intuition,the wheels turn and we arrive at a new concept.Problem + fresh perspective x intuition = concept.
Tight tracking
Ideas
Everything is connected to everything else and searching for solutions often requires being alert to spot the unlikely connections... In Critique magazine Marty Neumeier writes:“If idea-making can’t be reduced to a system, perhaps it can be expressed in a formula.Like the workings of the internal combustion engine,the conceptual process can be seen as a series of controlled explosions that drive ideas forward. In a car engine,when fuel is mixed with fresh air and ignited by a spark,the wheels turn and the car accelerates.In the human mind,when a problem is mixed with a new perspective and exposed to intuition,the wheels turn and we arrive at a new concept.Problem + fresh perspective x intuition = concept.
Loose tracking
Ideas
Everything is connected to everything else and searching for solutions often requires being alert to spot the unlikely connections...
In Critique magazine Marty Neumeier writes:“If idea-making can’t be reduced to a system,perhaps it can be expressed in a formula. Like the workings of the internal combustion engine,the conceptual process can be seen as a series of controlled explosions that drive ideas forward.In a car engine,when fuel is mixed with fresh air and ignited by a spark,the wheels turn and the car accelerates. In the human mind, when a problem is mixed with a new perspective and exposed to intuition,the wheels turn and we arrive at a new concept.Problem + fresh perspective x intuition = concept.
Kerning
“The term ‘kerning’ describes the automatic adjustment of space between letters.Because kerning removes space between letters,it is often mistakenly referred to as ‘letterspacing.’ In fact,letterspacing means adding space between letters,not removing it.For our purposes,the term ‘tracking,’used in most computer program that incorporate typesetting,best describes the addition or removal of space between letters.Keep in mind that even the best tracking table sometimes requires minor adjust ments,especially at larger point sizes.”
John Kane
Kerning can increase consistency of spacing in word like Washington or Toronto,where the combinations Wa and To are kerned,But names like Wisconsin,Tübingen,Tbilisi and Los Alamos,as well as common words like The and This,remain more or less immune to alteration. Hand compositors rarely kern text sizes,because their kerning pairs must be manually fitted, one at a time.Computerized typesetting makes extensive kerning easy,but judgment is still required,and the computer does not make gook judgment any easier to come by.Too little kerning is preferable to too much,and inconsistent kering is worse than none. Type design is an art practiced by few and mastered by fewer, but font-editing softwaremakes it possible for anyone to alter in a moment the widths and shapes of letters to which as artist may have devoted decades of study,years of inspiration and a rare concentration of skill.The power to destroy such a type designer’s work should be used with caution. And arbitrarily condensing or expanding letterforms is the poorest of all methods for fitting un-editable copy into unalterable space.”
Robert Bringhurst
“Kern consistently and modestly or not at all.
Don’t stretch the space until it breaks.”
Robert Bringhurst
Originally,the term ‘kern’described the portion of a letterform that extended beyond the body of the type slug.Today the term ‘kerning’ describes the automatic adjustment of space between letters.
Because kerning removes space between letters,it is often mistakenly referred to as ‘letterspacing.’In fact, letterspacing means adding space between letters,not removing it.
“ Visually awkward combinations,such as Ke,LT,ey,vo, are improved by reducing the space between the individual letters.Adjusting the letterspace between two letters is known as kerning.Words set in all capital letters also require attention to the space between individual letters. The particular combinations of letterforms determine whether space needs to be added or subtracted to achieve a visually even composition.The optimum letterspace for a word set in all capital letters is determined by letters with large counterforms,such as C,D,G,O,Q, or with large surrounding space,such as L,T,V,Q,Y.if any of these letters stand apart,the space between the other letters needs to be increased. Ultimately,every letter should unobtrusively integrate itself into the visual form of the word.Unprofessional typesetting is generally cause not by the choice of typeface,but by too much,too little,or irregular letterspacing.”
Willi Kunz,Macro-and Microaesthetic
Ye
With kerning
Ye
Without kerning
