This section deals with typography methods, balance, and how it affects branding.
What is Leading?
Leading refers to the amount of added vertical spacing between lines of type. In consumer-oriented word processing software, this concept is usually referred to as “line spacing“, but in page layout software such as QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign the term “leading” is still used. Leading may sometimes be confused with tracking, which refers to the horizontal spacing between letters or characters.
The word comes from lead strips that were put between set lines. When type was set by hand in printing presses, slugs or strips of lead (reglets) of appropriate thicknesses were inserted between lines of type to add vertical space, to fill available space on the page.
Text set “solid” (no leading) appears cramped, with ascenders almost touching descenders from the previous line. The lack of white space between lines makes it difficult for the eye to track from one line to the next, and hampers readability.
What is Tracking?
In typography, letter-spacing, also called tracking, refers to the amount of space between a group of letters to affect density in a line or block of text.
Letter-spacing can be confused with kerning. Letter-spacing refers to the overall spacing of a word or block of text affecting its overall density and texture. Kerning is a term applied specifically to the adjustment of spacing of two particular characters to correct visually uneven spacing.
Letter-spacing adjustments are frequently used in news design. The speed with which pages must be built on deadline does not usually leave time to rewrite paragraphs that end in split words or that create orphans or widows. Letter-spacing is increased or decreased by modest (usually unnoticeable) amounts to fix these unattractive situations.
What is Kerning?
In typography, kerning—less commonly, mortising (referring to the process of physically removing material from the cast character)—is the process of adjusting letter spacing in a proportional font. In a well-kerned font, the two-dimensional blank spaces between each pair of letters all have similar area.
Branding
From the minute you’re able to recognize brand names, slogans, or jingles on every medium available out there—you know each one is marketing towards a certain audience. As children, we can associate golden arches with McDonald’s or the purple/orange letters with an arrow in the negative space having to do with FedEx. Is it coincidence? No. Almost all brands are intentional and are suppose to convey the purpose of the company or individual it represents.
