A Typographic Experiment on Bēhance
This is an experiment of mine to see what could be achieved with the limited text editing functionality of the Bēhance platform. I'll be doing this while taking you through some of the basic elements of type!
But before that,
Take a
Deep
Breath
Now that, that's done, let's get started
01. Types of Typefaces
There's basically three different types of type, namely
Serif
Sans-Serif
Decorative (this is not strictly a decorative font!)
Serifs are named after the little embellishments at various places like the ends of letters. These little things are called 'serifs'. The typefaces without such serifs are called Sans-Serif which literally translates to "without serifs". The other fonts that do not fit into these two categories are called decorative fonts. The example here is not strictly a decorative type, more accurate examples would be handwritten and brush fonts like Amatic SC and Lobster.
02. Hierarchy
Hierarchy refers to the organization of various type using properties such as size, color and typeface.
This is an example of important stuff
This is less important stuff
This is just me playing with your eyes
So in essence, hierarchy let's your users know what is important and what is less so. Using hierarchy effectively could mean the difference while getting a point across and getting lost in translation!
03. Contrast
Contrast is essentially how different one piece of type looks from another. Ingenious use of contrast can lead to some interesting effects!
whisper whisper whisper whisper whisper whisper whisper whisper whisper
SCREAM!!!
Using contrast, you can express hierarchy and make the text interesting. Even better, you can use it to convey attitude or meaning.
04. Alignment
Alignment refers to what part of the page the text is anchored to. There's three basic types of alignment:
Left Aligned,
Center Aligned
and Right Aligned
Alignment helps us create interesting rhythmic compositions. While right aligned text is the most readable, a combination of different alignments can help create movement in a design. A tid-bit to keep in mind would be to almost never center or right align huge chunks of body text as it reduces the readability by a lot.
05. White Space
White space is the empty space around blocks of text (not necessarily white!).
Space
It helps your text breathe.
It lets you establish focus.
It makes everything look clean.
It grabs attention.
White space can be used to give your designs a professional and clean look. It gives you a sense of freshness and gives the type much needed breathing space. make sure youre designs are never crammed into a spot. Let it grab the attention it demands!
06. Color
We all know what color means. But something not everybody knows is what really makes up a specific color. A color can be broken down into three components:
Hue 000000000000000000000
Saturation 000000000000000000000
Value 000000000000000000000
Hue refers to the shade of color while saturation is the brilliance of a particular color. Value refers to how light or dark a color is. Using these three basic attributes, several millions of colors can be created. Colors play into the contrast of type and how type will look on various backgrounds. Always try to keep the readability high when choosing color combinations for type!
Here's some final tips and pointers!
01.Always give the highest priority to readability
02.Have a consistent typographic style throughout the design
03.Make use of the different elements of typography to keep the design interesting and legible. Have restraint where needed
04.Have Fun!
This entire project was done using only the tools made available on the Bēhance platform. To me, this exploration provided an opportunity to work with limitations as well as allow me to utilize all of the text editing functionality of Bēhance to create something cool!
Thank You!
