OUGD403 Kerning

On Monday the 12th of October we learnt about kerning and its importance in design. One of the things I found is that Kerning is not a problem on a typewriter because of monospace - one consistent space between a letterform. I did not know this previously but it explains why text typed out from a typewriter is always clear and legible. We were introduced to the different types of kerning, metric, optical and manual. I did not realise kerning could be done in three different ways I only presumed hand drawn and then using some sort of computer program. So I found that really interesting to know. I am already going to consider kerning more in my work as I can already see from doing the exercise the impact it has, and I believe that it is an important thing in design because it improves legibility and as graphic designers our aim is to communicate.

Next we played a game to work on our kerning. We chose 5 random letters and were told to make a word out of it and put that word into 3 different contexts only by kerning. Our word was ZIGAR.

This image shows the 3 different contexts we put them in:

1. Cigarette company - Closely kerned for a more sleeker design
2. Car manufacturer - Widely spaced kerning to appear upmarket
3. Children's shoe company - Differently angled close together kerning to give childish feel, like fridge magnets.

We then went on to do quick fire kerning in a short amount of time to whatever context was given:

PEST CONTROL -  We kept this closely kerned so that it was punchy and bold.

CONDOM COMPANY - We decided to keep it tightly kerned but elevating and angling the 'I' to as humour.

STUDENT NIGHT CLUB - Tightly kerned, some letters elevated and some descending, to be a light friendly but funky feel that appeals to its young audience.

I thought this was a useful exercise as we learnt that our eye is the most important tool when kerning as it more accurate in design to do things by. When do my logotype kerning is definitely something I will make use of to make my design look more appealing.