10 Tips to Experiment with Typography

Not much people are realising, the vast majority of society are currently bombarded with typefaces in their everyday life. From clock timer on your phone to huge billboard signs on the streets, typography is literally everywhere. Similar to designs in general, typography trends are keep changing in many ways, it also changes the way people see advertising and it change the way people experimenting with it. 

In this article I'm going to talk about several key techniques of how people are experimenting with typography and I'm also going to show you some of the great works that represent my key points. Enjoy reading!

1. Modular Grid Typography Layout

The first and the most basic trick that people are commonly use to create a clean style typography is by using a modular grid layout system. Modular grid is a grid which has consistent horizontal divisions from top to bottom in addition to vertical divisions from left to right. By creating a modular grid before creating the actual design, will help you to set up a clean layout that are friendly for readers' eyes to understand the hierarchy of your artwork's content.

Created by Danila Konstantinov

2. Stretch It All The Way

One of most fun ways to experiment typography is to stretch the length or the width of the main text all the way, so it creates a massive centre attention. The trick is to use simple and clean font- not a complicated one, so it allows you to easily stretch horizontally or vertically to make the typography looked dynamic.

Created by Yash Tambe (Kickin)

3. Super Huge Vs Super Small

The above artwork is a great example on showcasing my third key points on how to make stunning typography artworks. By super-enlarging a certain text, and also keeping the other texts very tiny, it allows you to create a dynamic contrast and visual comparison of the graphic objects and it creates interesting artwork composition.

Created by Mauri Davida

4. Photographic Blending

Another trick to experiment with typography is to blend it with photographic images. Magazines are often seen using this type of techniques, which to blend certain article headlines with the supporting images. You can do this trick in both Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. But I personally recommend using Illustrator in order to have more freedom in transforming and manipulating the size, orientation, and placing the typography to fit my personal style.

Created by Tim Tijink

5. One of a Kind Typeface 

Personally, I think this is the most practical trick to create an amazing typography artwork. By using this trick, your artwork will depend mostly on the typeface that you will be using. Once you chose an unique font that you preferred, you can then creatively apply and adjust the layout in order to create a stunning typography artwork. This trick will only works if you chose a very unique font.

Created by Constanza Ale

6. Graphical Distortion

Distorting graphic is one of the most fun and interesting ways to experiment with typography. By distorting an artwork, the final outcome is limitless. Different distortion will produce different outcome. And with this technique, you can feel free to experiment with different amount or part of distortion and then choose which outcome you are most preferred.

Created by Fatih Hardal

7. Textured & Grainy Artwork

One of many ways on creating a crafty typography is to apply textures into your work. Another way is to purchase a font that already textures applied. There are plenty resources online where you can find texturised fonts and use them into your artworks. One of the easiest way is by checking our free font library, we have several options of texturised fonts that you might be interested to check >>>

Created by João Neves

8. Neon Colour Spotlight

If you have tried other tricks that I mentioned in this article but you still want more spark into your artwork, try apply a neon colour into your design. I personally suggest to apply the neon colour to few graphics only, maybe about 20% of the artwork, so it creates highlights and it elevates the whole visual.

Created by Karina Yazylyan

9. Playful Three Dimensional

This trick is a bit more complicated than the others, because only certain specialised designers are able to create 3-Dimensional artwork. However, if you were able to do this type of effect, try apply on a certain typography artwork that you made, and you will see how your flat artwork is becoming alive.

Created by Mario De Meyer

10. Fonts Stacking

Last but not least, this trick was commonly recognised as one of typography trend of 2020, but I believe this will last to 2021 and far beyond. By using two fonts and stack one above the other, it creates an artistic effect into your artwork. People are commonly using a combination of a script/handwriting font applied with a more regular-shaped font on the background.

Created by Zeyd Karaaslan

Conclusion

Now you have learned several tips on how to create an amazing typography works, you can experiment with them all, play around with your software and see how it goes along for your next projects. Cheers!