Kerning – Do you know what kerning is and how to adjust it?
Kerning is the space between individual letters. For instance ‘A and V would need to be closer together than H and E.
Normally this will be set by the font designer and should, with the more expensive fonts from the likes of Adobe, be set up correctly. But, and don’t get me wrong I’m all for using free fonts, the cheaper the font the worse the kerning can be.
Tracking incidentally, while similar, is actually adjusting the space between all the characters of a word or sentence not just two letters to give you ‘G r e y s t o k e’ as opposed to ‘Greystoke’.
Quotation Marks
Curly quotes and flat feet. One of my pet hates is the use of “idiot quotes” (sorry, that’s probably a bit harsh). The use of the foot and inch marks instead of quotation and apostrophe marks.
Paying attention to these small details can make all the difference between a design looking professional or amateurish.
View more Graphic Design tips:
Graphic Design – So what is it?
File Types – Know the difference between jpg and eps and when to use them.
Artwork Basics – RGB vs CMYK, bleed and trims.
Typography – The forgotten art? Kerning and quotations
Magazine Design Basics – Design tips for producing a magazine, leaflet or brochure.
The Eyes Have It – Leading the eye in graphic design