The secret of typography and print is that when it is done right it becomes a medium which is ‘invisible’. When we read the printed word we, as readers, do not judge the weight of the paper, its gloss or mat surface. The font which has been used and the leading of the headers. These are all elements which a competent typographer will be more than just aware of and which he will use to create a certain effect which will enhance your brochure or leaflet, magazine or newspaper project.

The reader (and this includes all of us) will not be aware of anything except the message and its effect which in turn will provide its effectiveness. If the typographer has not correctly done his work then the medium itself stops being ‘invisible’ and becomes a barrier which the reader must overcome in order to get to the message. In that situation the battle has already been lost. Most readers will simply not bother and whatever negative emotion has been generated regarding the medium will be transferred to the message which means your products or services are unlikely to be seen with a sympathetic eye.

Over the years we have seen enough magazine, newspaper, flyers and brochures to know that when a well-meaning client gets involved with the design the results can often be the opposite of what he wants. We have also seen over-enthusiastic designers make mistakes which work well enough in terms of a particular item but which in the overall effect of what they are creating, begin to work against them.

The ten typography mistakes outlined below are amongst the most common typography mistakes which spoil not just print projects like books, magazines and brochures but also digital ones such as eBooks and HTML Newsletters.

1. Leading

Leading  or linespacing is important in improving the readability of the blocks of text which appear on a page. Use too little and you create a cramped feeling which makes the reader feel uncomfortable, lose their place in the text and get frustrated. Use too much and the text begins to feel light in content and ‘spread’ to fill the space. Different fonts require different leading. This becomes even more important on documents which have little text on them in concentrated areas such as business cards or letterheads.

2. Tracking

Tracking is letterspacing and works in the same way as leading in terms of its effect except that it is applied to a group of letters. Tracking is used to prevent letters from running into each other, especially during the printing process where the wrong tracking can result in smudged letters and unreadable text. When used properly it can improve readability, the flow of text and the density and perceived ‘weight’ of a block of text.

3. Kerning

While tracking is applied to a group of characters, kerning is the adjustment of space between two letter pairs. Like tracking and leading, kerning is used to improve readability but it is most effective when used in headlines, capitalized text and logos. Many types of design software set kerning by default and more than eight out of ten times the design software sets the wrong value for the kerning resulting in logos which feel cramped and fail to convey the exact message required.

4. The length of the lines you use and the type of ‘message’ you send

Lengthy research in the neurosynaptic effects of reading has shown that long lines of text force the reader’s eyes to scan longer and their heads to move from side to side more. This has a corresponding effect to their state of alertness which tends to dampen the activity of the frontal lobes of the brain and decrease critical reader alertness. This is a great effect if you are typesetting a novel where you want the reader to suspend their disbelief and immerse themselves into the narrative. It is less effective when you are selling accounting software which might make them money and you want them to sit up and take notice so they can compare just how much money they will save if they buy your product. This is why the column-template you use for your print products is important. Basically you can choose to employ a one-column, two-column, or three-column template for text (with a corresponding increase in alertness produced in the reader) or a five-six column page for short news or information items which need to be scanned rather than read and the page just dipped into.

5. Not using a serif font for large printed projects

Serif fonts are easier to read than non-serif fonts. They can make reading lengthy material, such as books and magazines easier to read for long periods of time and the font itself reduces the strain on the eyes, making the magazine or book appear ‘friendly’ and more immersive.

6. Mixing typefaces and weights without a coherent, overall plan

Typefaces and their weight are designed to be a clear-cut and intuitive visual guide for the reader. They help them understand what’s important and what is less so and which area of text needs to be read first. Too many weights can cause a reader to be unclear where important elements are on a page. This creates the possibility of the reader missing something important. They also feel confused and frustrated and this causes feelings of anxiety which they then transfer to your service or product. It is always required to have a clearly defined strategy regarding the use of typefaces and their weight on each project and stick to no more than two or three variations which are consistently used.

7. Mixing colors of similar values

Large design screens and good screen resolution mean that what looks great on the screen is not so cool when it comes to print. Colors of similar value, for instance, printed on top of each other are ok when it comes to viewing them on a screen because the backlit nature of the screen makes them readable even if there is a little eye-strain involved. Put them on paper however and the eye-strain quadruples.

8. Reversed text and low tints

Again this is a typography problem caused by large screens and design software set out high resolution contrasts. Use reversed text with tints whose value has been set to be below 50% and the printed result is a low-resolution, eye-strain producing trap.

9. Overusing centred text

Most amateur designers and clients who have not been well versed in the stylistics of typography and its rules think that by using centered text they are drawing the reader’s eye to something important. The mistake here of course is taking the meaning of the word ‘centered’ which infers something at the centre and therefore important and transferring its value to the effect, i.e. text centered on a textbox or a page. Unless you are putting together a wedding invitation you will need to be very careful with your use of centered text on any project where large blocks of text are involved. Centered text creates a rugged, amateurish appearance, it is ‘rough’ on the eye and it is not perceived well by the reader.

10. Using large size font in body text

We have projects where the client happens to be over middle age and suffering from a little eye problems and they often ask for large font sizes in text thinking that their project will then suddenly become ‘reader friendly’ and be perceived as of greater value than any of its competitors (this is a request which we also encounter when building websites). Anything set at 12 point font will look amateurish and reminiscent of a child’s school homework project. Professional typography requires font settings to be at 11 point or 10 point, depending on the type of font used. This creates a crisp, professional look which makes it easy to read without much eye-strain or much travelling of the eyes of the reader.


Whether you are a designer just starting out or a pro who is expanding into new skills and areas of design or even a prospective client doing some valuable research on the typography rules and questions regarding the success of a print project, by bearing these common mistakes in mind you will ensure that the outcome of your project will be all that much better and more successful.

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