The Elements of Style: Reinforcing Core Typographic Principles — Charmaine Martinez
Channel: TypeCon
Date: 2022-06-29

Recorded during TypeCon2016: Resound in Seattle, Washington

In teaching typography, it can be difficult to strike a balance between focusing on the big picture—design hierarchy and communication goals—while also emphasizing attention to details in typesetting and layout. There are many ways in which typographic skills can be reinforced, including: repeated practice and revision, reading and writing about best practices, analyzing a wide range of typographic work, and critique. This presentation will demonstrate how a two-week class project builds core skills in typography through having students engage in collaboration and peer critique while creating a series of booklets based on William Strunk Jr’s The Elements of Style.

When students begin transitioning from introductory type projects to more complex typesetting and layout projects, they have a tendency to get overwhelmed with all the details that need to be addressed when dealing with large passages of text that have several layers of information. Complex content requires a sophisticated and informed approach to typography—students who are in their first or second year of learning typography often struggle with how to approach text-heavy projects.