Psychology of font perception and its practical application. Fonts. Basic concepts and definitions

At the moment, many fonts have been developed, and it is difficult for a non-professional to understand their diversity and purpose. There are several classifications of style. They are divided according to their purpose and origin.

Types of fonts and their historical classification

In terms of typeface, all typefaces used today are descended from those developed by masters in the Middle Ages and earlier. They can be roughly divided into three large groups:

Antiqua.
. Egyptian.
. Grotesque.

Each of them has its own certain style style, which copies the style used in antiquity, Ancient Egypt and during the Renaissance. They are also divided into subgroups, which take into account the size of strokes, penumbra and other features of writing.

Types of fonts and their classification

The most common is a different systematization of all types of letters and numbers used. It is worth dwelling on it in more detail.

1. Basic fonts

These types of fonts are distinguished by the severity of their style and the correct proportions in the writing of letters and numbers. They are strict classic style. They do not use ornaments or ornate decorations, only serifs.
Basic or classic types of fonts for design are used in business letters, companies with areas of work such as medicine, construction, education. You can often find the basic style in leaflets.

2. Thematic fonts

This group contains styles from modern to vintage. This combination is not accidental, since all these types of fonts have a certain focus. They are used in drawings and for the design of posters of various themes (holiday, children's, propaganda and others).

A striking example of this style is a font in the Soviet design style. This font should not be used to design large amounts of text, but it will look best in the headings of printed products. The "Soviet" style is also used for logos and slogans. All thematic fonts are used based on the intended area. In other places they will look out of place.

3. Hand drawing

This is a group of Latin, Cyrillic and other characters written in imitation of writing with a pencil, pen, graffiti and other types of hand painting. In terms of style, this is a large group. Here you can find strokes with big amount ornaments and connections between letters (necessary for the text to look holistic), and careless types of hand writing that imitate printed letters made with chalk on

Calligraphy fonts are often used for headlines, slogan writing, and design. They perform decorative functions and are not suitable for the main text.

4. Linguistic stylistics

The types of fonts in this group take as their basis styles from various written cultures: Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Roman and others. If you study this group based on the style of the Cyrillic alphabet, then in some cases it is quite difficult to distinguish words in Russian from Chinese or Arabic.

Most often, design in the style of ethnic script is used on signs, in printing products, when decorating covers and in book titles. You can find examples of this style in catalogs of Chinese and Japanese restaurants.

5. Shape distortion

The styles that belong to this group are distinguished by unusual shapes, altered proportions and outlines. All these types can be divided into several small groups:

Three-dimensional.
. Digital.
. Triangular.
. Square.
. Initial letter.
. Rounded.

Most often, the decorative functions in these fonts are clearly expressed and even in the classic style they stand out among the basic varieties. These varieties look good in large inscriptions and titles.

The above classification is suitable for publishers and designers of posters, logos and websites. Thanks to it, you can create a detailed catalog by section and use it to select the writing of different text fragments.
Different types of fonts can be combined to create catchy and aesthetically pleasing text. In addition to being used in appropriate places, it is also important to choose a style based on the texture of the base. A font that looks good on a poster or website may look ugly on a leather-like texture. Thus, vintage typefaces look best on aged and rough paper, while a modern font suits a glossy background.

Poster design

First of all for selection appearance text you need to pay attention to the layout. Will it be just a text fragment without illustrations, or will the style be complemented by a photo or drawing? It is important to consider the orientation of the poster:

The words on any poster should attract attention and help it stand out among hundreds of similar ones. Based on the type of design, we can conditionally divide all posters into two groups:

Typographical (typesetting).
. Graphic (handwritten and artistic).

The first posters are used for educational activities, as well as for announcing events (posters). It is best to select the appropriate font, as well as its color and size, together with a specialist typographer.

Most interesting views fonts for posters are used when creating them in a graphic style. Here the scope for the designer’s imagination is wider: in addition to typesetting types, you can find an imitation of a hand signature and the use of other decorative elements.

Features of using fonts in tattoos

Typically, to create tattoos in last years The Latin alphabet and handwritten signature are used. These types of tattoo fonts have become the basis for the most stylish and fashionable designs. The masters offer such a choice for a reason - Latin letters and English language they look very beautiful on the body, and when decorated with additional monograms and patterns, they create a seamless pattern. You can't read such a tattoo at first glance, but those who know the language can look closely and decipher the written word or phrase.

As exceptions, it is mainly men who can find modern basic and even church script (Cyrillic) on their bodies. These options look good when the phrase matches the writing style and the tattoo overall looks harmonious. It is not recommended to combine several different fonts. Also, do not make the tattoo line too small, as over time it will blur slightly and can turn into a dark, unreadable spot. Good readability is also a must when using fonts in tattoos.

Each person has his own handwriting. By writing information by hand on paper, we transform it into specific symbols. In the same way, which is displayed on a computer screen or printer, initially goes through the stage of converting text characters into their images on the screen or on paper. Computer fonts are used for this.

When making a comparison between human handwriting and computer font, we can say that font is analogous to handwriting. More precisely, a font is a set of images of characters of a certain alphabet. These images, as a rule, are designed in the same style, in a common format, and have the same design.

A font is an instruction for a computer in what form text characters should be displayed on the screen or in print.

There are many fonts, they differ from each other in three parameters:

  • headset,
  • character size,
  • outline.

Let's take a look at these font options.

Font typeface

A typeface is one font or a set of fonts that have the same design and a common artistic solution. As a rule, fonts of the same typeface are developed by one author.

Linguistically, the words “typeface” and “headset” are similar. A set means a set of items that have a similar purpose, for example, a furniture set, a jewelry set, etc. The headset also combines a set of fonts for displaying text on the screen or on a printer. All items from the typeface, as well as all fonts of the same typeface, are made in the same style and have a single artistic design.

Each headset has its own Name, for example, Times New Roman, Courier New. There are typesets with special characters, for example, Symbol and Wingdings.

Russian letters are not used in the names of computer fonts. Instead it applies Latin alphabet, for example, “Baltica”, “Svetlana” (this is a transliteration when Russian names are written in English letters). Also possible English translation Russian font names, for example, “Schoolbook”. Fonts that came to us from the West retain their names, for example, the Garamond font.

The word "headset" is usually omitted. Typically, they simply say “select the font Arial” or “the document is typed in Times New Roman.” They also usually simplify and instead of “headset” or “headset name” they say “ font name».

Font character size

If the typeface (in other words, the font name) is the first parameter of fonts, then the second parameter is font character size.

You can also find this name - font size(font size). This is the same as font size.

Why are they needed? different sizes font? Typically, headings are printed larger than the body of the document. This draws attention to the headings, making the document easier to read the first time you look at the page. The text in footnotes and notes is typed smaller than the text of the main text of the document, which emphasizes the secondary importance of the information presented there.

How is font size (or font size) set? Typically, users choose a font size - 8, 10, 12, 14, etc. Here, the numbers indicate the vertical size of the font characters in typographic points between the top of the tallest character and the bottom of the lowest (see figure).

The word "point" comes from German word“punkt” is translated as “point”. For those who like numbers, one point is equal to 1/72 of an inch, that is, 0.3528 millimeters. Accordingly, in order to convert 8 points into millimeters, you need to multiply 8 by 0.3528. The result is that 8 points is 2.8224 millimeters.

Font style

Let's move on to the last third parameter of fonts, more precisely, to the style . Font style- This different variants font within one typeface, more precisely:

  • style and
  • font weight.

The most common font styles are straight and italics. If the user does not know the term “italics”, then he simply says that he uses “ slanted stroke».

Saturation is responsible for the thickness of character strokes. Usually use normal (ordinary) and bold styles. The latter is sometimes also simplistically called “thick font” if they do not know the terms “bold” or “bold”.

Some typefaces may contain thin, very light, heavy, and ultra heavy fonts.

Computer programs allow the use of conventional, italic,bold And bold italic font styles. Some fonts (more precisely, typefaces) have all the listed styles, and some have only one style, usually a regular style. As they say, it is the will of the artist, the author of the font.

The psychology of a font determines exactly what effect a particular font will have on the user. Typography or fonts are a very important component, ignoring which results in a lesser quality web design. Many designers focus on the beauty and artistic appeal of the design, color combinations And practical significance, but few treat fonts with the same scrupulousness. They simply do not understand that it is the headset that conveys the message to the user.

Font is one of the elements that needs to be taken very seriously. Fonts ensure readability and convey the main meaning. The psychology of font plays the role of the spine in the effectiveness of web design. Every designer knows that colors affect people's moods, emotions and feelings. Fonts in this sense give the same effect as colors.

There are thousands of fonts available to web developers and designers. Choosing their style may seem like a random decision, but knowing the psychology of fonts will make your choice conscious. There are two main types of fonts:

  1. Serif: fonts with short strokes at the bottom and top of letters.
  2. Sans serif: fonts without strokes.

Both types of fonts have different effects on users. The study of graphics includes the psychology of type. In this article you will learn about psychological influence fonts and the principles of font selection. A certain typeface carries a certain meaning and plays an important role in the functionality of the design: for example, if you are creating a website for a classic, traditional business, you should choose a serif font; if you want to emphasize the modernity and uniqueness of your business, choose a sans serif font.

Psychology of font

Translation – Duty room

- (German, from schreiben to write). 1) letters of various sizes cast from printing metal and used for typesetting manuscripts and therefore different names. 2) in mining, a trench in the ground for water drainage. Dictionary foreign words, included in ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

FONT, font, plural. fonts and (colloquial) fonts, male. (German: Schrift letter). A complete set of typographical characters of a specific design for typesetting, containing the alphabet with all punctuation marks and numbers. Based on the nature of the letter design, fonts are divided into... ... Dictionary Ushakova

font- A set of signs that has a single basic configuration (design). Example 9 point font "Courier". Note A single font may have different sizes. [GOST R ISO/IEC 2382 23 2004] font 1. A set of characters having uniform design. Examples... ... Technical Translator's Guide

A; pl. fonts and fonts; m. [German] Schrift] 1. A set of typographical characters (letters, punctuation marks, mathematical and other symbols) required when typing a letter. text. Typographical highway The w is knocked down in the typewriter. Buy fonts for printing.… … encyclopedic Dictionary

Litera; print, clarendon, pearl, fraktur, palmyra, cicero, diamond, rondo, case, parisien, italic, ass, borges, mittel, elsevier, minion, medieval, excelsior, typeface, nonpareil, petit, bodoni, garth, drawing, text, headset, antique... Synonym dictionary

A set of alphabet characters characterized by the same: the nature of the pattern; shape: straight, oblique, italic; saturation: light, bold, bold; and size in points. The font is intended for the perception of information by people and devices.… … Financial Dictionary

font- (Type, Lettering) 1. Graphically ordered image of the characters of a certain writing system. 2. A set of letters [a letter in metal], reproducing some kind of alphabet [an ordered list of letters of a language], as well as numbers [signs denoting numbers, 1 2 ... Font terminology

FONT, a, plural. s, ov and s, ov, husband. Form of written or printed characters. Printed, handwritten, drawn w. Font drawing. Typesetting w. (obtained as a result of typesetting). Typographical highway (set of letters and other elements for typesetting) ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Male, German set, cast, printable, letters. Fonts (sets) receive names by which they are designated. First, punches (mints) are cut on steel, with which the matrices (lyakis) are knocked out in copper with one blow, and the font (set) from the gartu is poured into them... ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

font- FONT, a, pl fonts, ov and fonts, ov, m A system of written or printed characters, distinguished by a certain graphic form: size, slope, color intensity, etc. He couldn't read small print, he could only read big, bold... ... Explanatory dictionary of Russian nouns

Books

  • , Craig James, Skala Irina Korol. Type design and typography is an ever-evolving and changing art, and each generation of designers brings something new and progressive to it. Some designers...
  • Font and design. Contemporary Typography, Craig J., Scala I. Type design and typography is an ever-evolving and changing art, and each generation of designers brings something new and progressive to it. Some designers...
Share