How to Marry Design and Typography: Your Competitors Wish They Knew It

Hmm, it is a difficult job indeed. Even the most celebrated designers get tired of brainstorming. From the Business card to a fifteen-page Presentation, effective collaboration of design elements and typography is a must for engaging results. If you too want to brew great designs, you will have to focus on layering the two smartly that the outcome brings result. in this post we will talk about the collaboration of design and typography.

So, what is into it? Download an image you like. Paste a catchy phrase on That. Done…

If you think in that line, you are completely mistaken. Without spending any more word on convincing you I will jump straight into logic. Let us check out, how to combine design and typeface with the care that people connect with them immediately.

Composition with design and typography by use of ‘white’ space…

The relationship between your design and typography can make or mar your visual document. Too small a text, too busy a background, too many loud colours, too much of content are all great design elements with potential to kill your graphics. Too much of nothing can help you create visually appealing designs.

Remember that design and typography are complementary to each other. So, only a measured amount of both can make your designs win accolades. You might be having beautiful photographs on your phone memory. YES, you are right, they can be fit for creating beautiful designs too. Just ensure a sizable clear space on that picture where you put your text. A shape or a screen can make the design beautiful. Just place the text part on that screen or shape for better readability.

Take a look at the templates below. The first one is part of an infographic with beautiful empty space in the marine world. The designer has grabbed the opportunity to not only place meaningful text but a beautiful icon. The next template is of a poster. The empty space on the sky (of the background image) has been beautifully used to feature the American Independence Day and US flag for creating this poster template.

Sometimes you can use an image as the foundation for the text part on a visual document. Just see the template below and you will understand what a great composition is. Literally and figuratively, the image holds your F[O]CUS on the typography part of the design.

You can have a pretty picture and a robust message. But unless they flow together in the same direction an attractive design can never be born. One way to make your design work is by aligning the text with a part of the picture you are using on the document. This combination trick amazingly saves space.

Focus on an image or on text?…

You need to decide it real fast; you know… A poor combination created with a huge dose of both can nip your design to the bud. If you have a lot to convey through a piece of text, please settle for a minimalistic background. But, if you think you have a lot of graphical elements to work with, keep the text part subtle and light.  You can gauge the balance well-measured in the templates below, right?

What if the text and image of your design require a balance? It can get that too. Take a look at the template below. It has too many tomatoes in its text and in the background as well. The dark overlay acts as the background on which, its text looks vibrant and perfectly legible. Even in the other template, the text is separated from the image by a beautiful shape that is used as the text background. In this template also, the typeface is no less important than the image.

Balance of typography and design (minimalistic)…

Balance becomes crucial for certain designs. The balance is crucial in such cases because the simpler the design is, the easier it is to locate any issue with the layout. In the layout below, you can see a beautiful balance created by lovely graphics elements and typography. In the complete document, the designer chose very simple elements to play with. There is a small amount of work done on the poster-template. However, you can see a beautiful background through all design elements present there. The designer has worked hard on the background that nobody can find any flaw in it.

Balance can be struck in a little different way as well. If your design is a little image heavy on one side. You can use the other half to make a strong statement. This way, you balance the document perfectly with beautiful elements without cluttering it. On the other hand, a fine balance is also maintained. Take a look at the images of 2 beautiful Instagram posts shown below. They are maintaining e fine balance to make the designs win hearts.

Choose your image with care…

Images have bigger roles to play than just featuring a nice background to your document. It creates context, emotion, tone, sometimes a story for your document. If those qualities can align with your text message, you will be able to connect with your readers in a better way. So, the image has to communicate well with the typography of your design document.

If you see the below images from DocHipo, you will be able to understand how beautiful images can communicate with text. In the process, all of these documents also connect well with their targets. That is the ultimate purpose for all design documents, right?

Beautiful backgrounds for the marriage of design and text

Is that really important? Absolutely… It is one of the most vibrant and beautiful ways to design a document. Just give your background a few second’s thought. It can be anything from a text balloon to an Easter egg. Just keep in mind that the background must be commensurate to the whole idea of the document.  

Creating transparent shapes or blocks of colour as overlay is also a great way of creating beautiful text-backgrounds. They help you rely on a design that is visually more uniform. The crux of the story is, you can create a document with a single image. As a result, your document is graphically clutter-free.

Sometimes, it works if you lighten or darken your image. I think I should explain it a bit. You can put your text message, right on top of the image background by just increasing or decreasing the brightness of your image background. This way, you save space for placing an important text message on your visual document.

The theory behind this action is simple. You increase colour-contrasts of text and image. Visibility increases by controlling the brightness of images.  See the templates below and you will eventually understand what I am trying to say.

Interesting shapes with contrasting colours can also create great backgrounds for your Visual docs.

Take a sip from your tea & play with your design…

Was all this information a little overwhelming? Nah… Rather, I tried to help you create a visual repository of beautiful visual documents. Trust me, they will all be very helpful for your year-long marketing efforts.

For some more ideas, sign up to DocHipo and enjoy creating magic with graphics. Till then, goodbye.