Introduction

Design is about communicating information. And how do we communicate most specifically and efficiently? Using language.

When you read a website, you’re mostly looking at letters. When you see product packaging, you’re mostly looking at letters. Type fills more space than any other element in most designs.

It’s a sad fact, therefore, that it’s often neglected. Many people leave the font choice—and finer details of typography—until the last moment.

This course will teach you the rules of typography, but also why you will benefit from taking it seriously.

The course moves from the smallest element to the biggest element. Every step of the way, it introduces useful terminology and principles for the given elements.

• It starts with individual letters (and special characters) …
• Then it continues by combining letters into words …
• Then words into lines …
• Which create text blocks …
• Until the course ends with how to combine good typography with other design elements.

You will sometimes encounter one of two special blocks:

• Type Exercise: a little exercise you can do to improve your skills
• Type Error: a common mistake people make and how to avoid it