What Exactly is Typography?

• What is typography?
• Where does typography come from?
• Why is typography important?
• What does typography look like today?
• How can I learn typography?

What is typography? Typography is the art of arranging text in a way that looks nice. This can include everything from the font used, to how you indent a paragraph, adding a decorative drop cap, or any kind of word art you create. Typographical art is popular with inspirational or funny sayings and can be done using paint, digital art, sculptures, or any other medium.

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When we think of typography, we might also think of typesetting, which is a different discipline. Typesetting is similar in that it’s the physical placement of words and punctuation, but it’s focused on grammar and formatting. For instance, a typesetter will establish consistency on a page with the way words carry over to a new line. A typographer will create the visual aspects of the page with things like the font, italicized or bolded words, type of bullet points, and others.

Where does typography come from? There’s some debate as to the origin of typography. Whether it’s Bi Sheng’s 11th-century ceramic moveable type system or Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1440, the idea of making words look nice on a page has been around for centuries. Even before moveable type printing, monks and others who translated literary works by hand would take time to embellish letters and make beautiful pages in handwritten bibles and other texts.

Why is typography important? Typography is an important part of everything we read because it helps with the way words flow down a page. Poor typography can lead to inconsistent formatting, confusing use of headings, and even misrepresentation of information if quotes or references aren’t properly attributed. It can be distracting to read a book or website that has bad typography. In contrast, you probably won’t notice good typography because it doesn’t always draw attention to itself. You’ll notice that quality typography isn’t distracting and makes it easy to read.

What does typography look like today? Typography takes many forms. Not only do books and magazines use typography every day, but word art has grown in popularity in homes and on T-shirts. While word art has been around for millennia, printed word art has taken on a new meaning over the last few decades. The accessibility of large-scale printers, screen printing, and vinyl printing has made it easy for a layperson to make their own art for their home and even on their clothes. Websites also apply typographical concepts to ensure a blog post or article flows as you scroll and is easy to follow. We see typography every day in logos, word art, and any printed or digital media we read.

How can I learn typography? If you like to make your own word art or are a writer trying to format your next book, you can learn typography for yourself. While there are always going to be YouTube videos and online courses you can go through to learn, part of learning typography is doing it yourself.

Practice working with the features in your word processor to see the different ways you can format a bulleted list or improve the visual of a paragraph. If you’re trying word art, familiarize yourself with various display fonts and how they would fit with specific phrases, color schemes, and additional flare. For instance, script fonts can be difficult to read, but certainly have a place in design when it fits your theme.

While it might not be something that you think about, typography is around us every day. Now that you’re more aware of it, you’re probably going to notice more than you did before.