Design: Type

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more.

Less is so much more.

Tony Seddon.

In my opinion, the navigable qualities of

any layout are just as important as the

quality of the styling or the choice of

typeface. It’s true to say that it takes skill

and practice to select the perfect typeface

that completely captures the essence of

the project and speaks directly to the

readership, but it’s a skill that most

manage to master to a respectable level.

However, I find it astonishing that

designers the world over still make so

many bad choices in this area. With who

knows how many thousands of typefaces

to choose from, how can anyone go

wrong? The thing is, maybe that huge

choice is the root of the problem. It’s

simply too tempting to say, “Hey, that’s a

great looking typeface and I’d just love to

use it. Let’s go for it—I’m in a grungy mood

today!” I beg you to stop and consider

what you’re about to do if you ever have

that thought yourself.

I’ve spent a lot of my career as a designer,

and later as an art director, trying to

improve on my editorial layouts for books

and brochures by doing less. When I say

less, I don’t mean I’m not trying so hard—

I mean I’m trying to make things simple.

This isn’t as easy as it sounds, because at

the same time, you have to try to make

layouts say more. The old adage “Less is

More” really rings true here, and I’ve

always felt that the greatest challenge for

any designer working with a combination

of images and text, or even just text as it

goes, is to keep things interesting without

sacrificing clarity.

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