Vernacular Type

an essay compilation
written by:
erik spiekermann
e.m. ginger
alex w. white
vernacular
type

an essay compilation
written by:
erik spiekermann
e.m. ginger
alex w. white
vernacular
type

4

Picture yourself in a world without type.
True, you could do without some of the
ubiquitous advertising messages, but you
wouldn’t even know what the packages
on your breakfast table contained. Sure
enough, there are pictures on them—
grazing cows on a paper carton suggest
that milk is inside, and cereal packaging has
appetizing images to make you hungry. But
pick up salt or pepper, and what do you look
for? S and P!
Breakfast for some people wouldn’t be the
same without the morning paper. And here
it is again: inevitable type. Most people call
it “print” and don’t pay too much attention
to typographic subtleties. You’ve probably
never compared the small text typefaces
in different news papers, but you do
know that some newspapers are easier
to read than others. It might be because
they have larger type, better pictures, and
lots of headings to guide you through the
stories. Regardless, all these differences
picture yourself in a
world without type
are conveyed by type. In fact, a newspaper
gets its look, its personality, from the
typefaces used and the way in which
they are arranged on the page. We easily
recognize our favorite newspapers on the
newsstand, even if we see only the edge
of a page, just as we recognize our friends
by seeing only their hands or their hair. And
just as people look different across the
world, so do the newspapers in different
countries. What looks totally unacceptable
to a North American reader will please
5
sample booklet
titled,”uncover...”
simple use of
san serif type and
playful imagery

6
the French reader at breakfast, while an
Italian might find a German daily paper too
monotonous.
Of course, it’s not only type or layout that
distin guishes newspapers, it is also the
combination of words. Some languages
have lots of accents, like French; some
have very long words, like Dutch or Finnish;
and some use extremely short words, as
in a British tabloid. Not every typeface
is suited for every language, which also
explains why certain type styles are popular
in certain countries, but not necessarily
anywhere else.
This brings us back to type and newspapers.
What might look quite obvious and normal
to you when you read your daily paper is the
result of careful planning and applied craft.
Even newspapers with pages that look
messy are laid out following complex grids
and strict hierarchies. The artistry comes
in offering the information in such a way
that the reader doesn’t get sidetracked into
thinking about the fact that someone had to
carefully prepare every line, paragraph, and
design has to
be invisible
column into structured pages. Design—
in this case, at least—has to be invisible.
Typefaces used for these hardworking
tasks are therefore, by definition “invisible”.
They have to look so normal that you do
not even notice you’re reading them. And
this is exactly why designing type is such
an unknown profession; who thinks about
people who produce invisible things?
Nevertheless, every walk of life is defined
glossy serif typeface
printed on matte paper
display type is used
with fixed kerning
between letters

7

8

y, expressed with, and indeed, dependent
on type and typography. If you think that
the choice of a typeface is something of
every walk of life is
defined by, expressed
with, and indeed,
dependent on type
and typography
little importance because nobody would
know the difference anyway, you’ll be
surprised to hear that experts spend an
enormous amount of time and effort
perfecting details that are invisible to the
untrained eye.
It is a bit like having been to a concert,
thoroughly enjoying it, then reading in the
paper the next morning that the conductor
had been incompetent, the orchestra out
of tune, and the piece of music not worth
performing in the first place. While you
had a great night out, some experts were
unhappy with the performance because
their standards and expectations were
different from yours.
The same thing happens when you have a
glass of wine. While you might be perfectly
happy with whatever you’re drinking,
someone at the table will make a face and
go on at length about why this particular
bottle is too warm, how that year was a
lousy one anyway, and that he just happens
to have a case full of some amazing stuff
at home that the uncle of a friend imports
directly from France.
9
domino’s pizza box
mixed use of sans
serif and serif
typefaces arranged
all around box in
black and white

10
Does that make you a fool or does it simply
say that there are varying levels of quality
and satisfaction in everything we do?
While it might be fun to look at wine labels,
chocolate boxes, or candy bars in order to
stimu late one’s appetite for food or fonts
(depending on your preference), most of us
definitely do not enjoy an equally prevalent
form of printed communication: forms.
If you think about it, you’ll have to admit that
business forms process a lot of information
that would be terribly boring to have to write
fresh every time. All you do is check a box,
sign your name, and you get what you ask
for. Unless, of course, you’re filling out your
tax return, when they get what they ask
for; or unless the form is so poorly written,
designed, or printed (or all of the above) that
you have a hard time understanding it.
Given the typographic choices available,
there is no excuse for producing bad
business forms, illegible invoices, awkward
applications, one’s ridiculous receipts, or
bewildering ballots. Not a day goes by
most of us definitely
do not enjoy an equally
prevalent form of
printed communication
without one’s having to cope with printed
matter of this nature. It could so easily be a
more pleasant experience.
While onscreen forms offer a very reduced
palette of typographic choices, they at
paula hawkins’
“the girl on the train“
book jacket
play on display type
is shown by layering
fragments of type

11

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least provide some automatic features to
help with the drudgery of typing your credit
card number.
some of the most
pervasive typographical
messages have never
really been designed
Every PC user today knows what a font is,
calls at least some of them by their first
name (e.g. Helvetica, Verdana, and Times),
and appreciates that typefaces convey
different emotions. Although what we see
on screen are actually little unconnected
square dots that fool the naked eye into
recog nizing pleasant shapes, we now expect
all type to look like “print.”
While there is a tendency to over-design
everything and push technology to do things
it was never intended to do, like printing
onto raw eggs, at least we can continue our
typographic training even when deciding
whether the food we bought is good for
nourishing or not.
Some of the most pervasive typographical
messages have never really been designed,
and neither have the typefaces they are
set in. Some engineer, administrator, or
accountant in a government department
had to decide what the signs on our roads
and freeways should look like. This person
probably formed a committee made up
of other engineers, administrators, and
accountants who in turn went to a panel
of experts that would have included
manufacturers of signs, road safety experts
and lobbyists from auto mobile associations.
13
glossy type printed
on matte paper
display type used
in the background
illustrations and
in the word bubbles

14
You can bet there wasn’t one typographer
or graphic designer in the group, so the
outcome shows no indi cation of any thought
toward legibility, let alone communication
or beauty. Nevertheless we’re stuck with
some characters are
easily confused with
each other
our road signs. They dominate our open
spaces, forming a large part of a country’s
visual culture. Traditional type for signs
used to be constructed from geometric
patterns so that they could be recreated by
sign-makers everywhere.
Type as data travels more easily, so there
are no more excuses for not having real
type on signs.
Engineers are still responsible for the signs
on our roads and freeways. And they still
think that Arial is the best typeface ever,
simply because it is ubiquitous. But there
are signs (!) of progress even in those
circles: The new German diN (Deutsche
Industrie Norm = German Indus trial
Standard) committee has finally acknowledged
what a lot of designers have always
known: Some characters are easily
confused with each other. A figure 1
looking like a lowercase l and a capital I
are major offenders. The new DIN 1450
suggests a lowercase l with a loop, a capital
I with serifs, and a figure 1 with a horizontal
bottom stroke.
old spice ad from
a magazine
display type is
incorperated in
the branding and
imagery of the ad

15

16

Why not use serif faces in the first place,
you may ask? Interesting question, and
unfortunately one not even discussed
among the engineers on the committee.
They think that serif faces are old-fashioned
and could not possibly be used for signage
or any other contemporary purpose.
the designer’s job
of revealing content
is largely done
There are two kinds of type: display
type and text. Text is where the story is.
Display is there to describe content and lure
readers through a sequence of typographic
impressions so they can make an informed
decision about committing to the first
paragraph of text. At that point, the story
is on its own and, aside from ensuring
legibility in the text by crafting optimal
characters per line, harmonizing letter — ,
word — , and linespacing, and choosing an
adequate type size, the designer’s job of
revealing content is largely done.
There are various opportunities for the
designer to describe content and lure
browsers. Primary type is usually a headline.
Secondary type, intended to be read after
the headline and before the text, includes
subheads and decks, captions, department
headings, breakouts, and pull quotes.
Readers are accustomed to looking at big
type first, but “display” is not necessarily
large type. Nor is “text” necessarily small
type. The real definitions are intentional.
17
hub 51 business card
white sans serif
typeface against a
black background
printed matte

18
“Display” is the type intended to stop the
browser and to be read first; “text” is the
destination to which the reader is drawn.
Type meant to be seen first does not
have to be the biggest type. Balance
eye-catching singularity with reasonable
legibility. The payoff for abstracted primary
type is relatively clear backup type that
explains and leads to the text, where the
story is. Display type is not merely large
text. Spacing is far more visible, so needs
more attention.
Typographic abstraction can be expressed
in infinite ways, but it always exploits just
nine type contrasts. It is nearly impossible
to express only a single contrast by itself
so intentionally pairing them will lead to
multiple alternatives.
Character shape: Serif vs sans serif.
Character width: Expanded vs condensed.
Color: Dark vs light.
Density: Tight vs loose; Solid vs outline.
Format: Caps vs lowercase.
Position: Vertical vs horizontal; Front vs back.
Size: Small vs large.
Stress: Vertical vs oblique.
Weight: Heavy vs light.
Tops of letters are easier to read than
bottoms and lowercase are easier to read
than caps because word shapes are varied.
Sometimes abstracting a word by leaving
letters out entirely is the best way to get
an idea across. Abstracting type includes
rebalancing the figure/ground relationship
by making the ground more important.
Display type is based on position, not
just bigger size.
white serif typeface
printed over a black
and white image
each paragraph is
separated with
a symbol

19

20

Primary type: Headlines and the structure
of a page create the personality of printed
material. Primary type is used to draw
attention to itself; to stop the browser and
to lead to a specific piece of secondary
type. The secondary type’s purpose in turn,
is to lead to the text. The text is always
the final destination. Headline treatments
fall into three categories: alignment and
position, contrasting type styles, and the
integration of type and imagery. Regardless
of design treatment, a great headline
is provocatively written and makes an
immediate point.
Typographic abstraction: There are
places where playfulness with legibility is
inappropriate. Text, for example, is simply
too small to absorb abstraction without
substantially losing legibility. But display
type is tailor-made for unusual treatments
that flirt with illegibility. Display type is
meant to attract attention and it is usually
big, so letterforms can be read even if
“sometimes you
have to compromise
legibility to
achieve impact.”
herb lubalin (1918–1981)
they are “damaged.” There are an infinite
number of ways to “harm” letter and
word forms, and they are all combinations
of the nine typographic contrasts. Type
abstraction simply pushes a normal contrast
to an extreme. For example, making type
“big” isn’t enough. Making type so big that
21
wired magazine’s
design issue titled,
“wrong theory“
clever arrangement of
words and mix of serif
and sans serif type

22
the edges are indistinct works because it
forces an interaction of figure/ground.
Damaged letterforms suit some messages
“i believe there is
one perfect use for
every typeface
ever drawn, no matter
how hideous.”
fred woodward (1953–)
perfectly. Beware of using pre-made
“damaged type ” fonts in which the
imperfect letters are repeated, giving away
the canned, pre-made, fake nature of the
damage. Any designer unable or unwilling
to craft a custom damaged treatment for a
client should have to perform community
service. Space between letters can be
used to enhance identity. Typographic
expression and playfulness is best done
with relatively plain typefaces. Simple
letterforms one editable while keeping their
recognizable shapes. For this reason, sans
serif faces are more useful than serif and
roman is more useful than italic.
Some typefaces are inherently abstract
and hard to read. A typeface’s character
may be corroborative, contradictory, or
neutral to the meaning of its message. Use
typography that is laden with character
sparingly, only in the primary and secondary
type where its attention-getting strength is
at least as important as its legibility.
notebook titled,
“# ideas that matter“
bright green sans
serif display typeface
against a contrasting
black background

23

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Secondary type: If the headline is the lure,
the subhead is the readers’ payoff. Here’s the
opportunity to hook the reader by explaining
the headline. The headline leads to one or
more secondary messages, first a subhead
or deck, but possibly a caption, breakout, or
pull quote. The messages in the headline and
subhead should be two parts of a complete
thought, provocatively showing why the story
is important to the reader. Readers should,
after a total of three or four information
“hits,” have been given enough information
about the story to make an informed decision
about whether or not to get into the text.
Actually becoming committed to the text can
happen only after they have begun reading it.
Subheads are secondary type that explain
headlines. A deck is a subhead immediately
beneath the headline. A floating subhead
is secondary type placed away from the
headline. A breaker head is placed in the text
column and regularly hints at the worthwhile
goodies within. Breakouts and pull quotes are
brief extracts from the text that are handled
like verbal illustrations. Provocatively edited,
their purpose is to make browsers stop and
consider reading the story. They can visually
connect pages of a long story by repeating a
variation of the type treatment of the opener’s
headline. Captions explain photos and since
they are read before the text, they must be
thought of as display type and be fascinating
enough to persuade potential readers to
enter the text. These captions are labels that
tell us how to interpret the image. Subheads
are secondary type that explain or support
the headline. Sometimes, they can be tag
lines at the end of text, as shown here.
Secondary type exists hierarchically between
the primary type and the tertiary type.
25
keri smith’s series of
“wreck this journal“
handwritten display
type is used for
the author’s name
and book titles

26
Secondary type should be smaller—or less
noticeable—than the headline, but more
prominent than text. A balance must be
struck between contrasts and unity among
the three levels of type. Variations of one
typeface in the primary and secondary type
contrast well against a highly legible text face.
a balance must be
struck between
contrasts and unity
Selecting the right typeface is a significant
decision, but how you use a typeface is at
least as important as what typeface is used.
Imagine if your work were given an award
for design excellence: would the typeface
designer get the credit or would you be
recognized for having used type well?
A friend redesigned a magazine in the days
of hot metal type (this was in the 1960s),
when a font was truly a single typeface
in one size and weight. The client had
purchased only two fonts: 12-point Franklin
Gothic Regular and Bold. The magazine
could only use those two fonts, yet had to
do all that a magazine’s typography must
express. The redesign, using only position
and emptiness to make display type visible,
succeeded because of the extremely
limited typographic contrast.
In general, to make contrasts look
intentional, use no more than two typeface
families in a design, and don’t use more
than two weights of each face. If you add
italic versions of the regular weights you
have six typographic “voices,” equivalent
to hearing six people reading aloud, which
should be enough to convey any message.
mccoy sample book
display type is shown
here in a large sans
serif typeface to
reflect minimalism of
the image

27

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Setting display type: Display type shows
off mis-spaced characters more than text
simply because of its larger size, where
character-to-character relationships are
particularly visible. Letters are strung
together into words. The space between
individual letters goes unnoticed when the
type is smaller than about eighteen points.
The reader should not be aware that
letter spacing exists when it is done well.
Words are grouped into lines of type. Word
spacing is the glue that holds lines of type
together. The secret to good word spacing
is also invisibility. The reader should not
be aware of the type that is being read but
should be concentrating on it’s meaning.
Display word spacing is often too large
because it is set with built-in text algorithms.
In general, display type’s global word spacing
can be reduced to 50 to 80 percent of normal.
The secret to developing an eye for perfect,
invisible type spacing is to assume that
your spacing is either too open or too tight.
“the expression in a
[typographic] design
is what is most
important, not the
typeface that’s used.”
wolfgang weingart (1941–)
If it can be only one of those choices—
never just right—adjust it until it truly looks
just right. Digitally compressing or expanding
type creates anomalies. Visible distortion
becomes apparent in most typefaces at
29
a page from a
sample book
type is used here by
spiraling along with
the image toward
its centerpoint

30
about ±5 percent of normal set width.
Small caps match the weight of full-size caps.
False small caps, which are merely reduced
in size, look too light because they are
proportionally smaller.
Kerning is the optical spacing of letterform
pairs, which is far more important than
global tracking at display sizes. Breaking for
sense puts meaning above form and should
be seriously considered in display headings.
Linespacing should be tightened in headlines
to make the chunk of type darker.
Real quote marks look like “66” and
“99.” The inch (”) and foot (’) marks are
incorrectly used as ambidextrous quote
marks, a leftover from typewriters’ need
for few keys. The default in most programs
is set to use “smart quotes,” so you must
consciously deselect this to get proper
prime symbols in numbers. Display type
can have “poor” spacing attributes if it is
the very thing that defines the type. This
“typography exists to
honor content.”
robert bringhurst (1946–)
headline for an employment ad was typeset
on a prescription label printer. Display type
requires especially careful spacing. The
best way to achieve optically consistent
spacing is to treat each individual letter
as a form: convert it to paths and adjust
manually. Headlines are made of clusters of
phrases and should be “broken for sense”
into these clusters, regardless of the shape
this forces on the headline. To find the
natural breaks, read a headline out loud.
“dia de los muertos“
party invitation
display type is used
here coordinate with
the theme of the event

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32

Try not to break a headline to follow a
design; rather, break a headline so that
it makes the most sense to the reader.
Hyphenating type communicates that shape
is more important than meaning. Display
type should never be hyphenated, unless
its meaning is to illustrate “disconnection.”
The effectiveness of display typography is
principally dependent on the management
of the white space between and around
the letterforms, not only on the letterforms
themselves. Because display type is brief
(to snag the reader’s attention), letter
spacing, word spacing, and line breaks
become more important.
Increase contrast and visibility of headlines
by making them darker on the page. Reduce
white space in and around characters in
letter spacing and linespacing. All-cap
headlines in particular should have
linespacing removed because
there are no descenders to “fill in” the space
between lines. In upper- and lowercase
settings, don’t let ascenders and descenders
touch, or they’ll create an unintentional
stigma on the page.
Weight, stress, and density determine type’s
texture. Variable character spacing affects
the text’s right edge. Linespacing indicates
either horizontal or vertical reading in Japanese,
which provides varied typographic texture.
Paragraph widths have been sized to align
and flirt with the tightly cropped imagery.
Text columns nearly abut, but their baselines
are staggered to indicate line ends, an echo
of the subtle shifts in the display type.
33
comic from a
sample book
the capital “a“ and
exclamation mark is
used to reflect the
action of the imagery

an essay compilation
written by:
erik spiekermann
e.m. ginger
alex w. white

neriza miranda
22-3340-03
spring 2016
univers light/bold
adobe indesign
macbook pro