How to Master Typography

Why typography matters

Every seasoned designer knows that typography is more than just choosing fonts; it’s a critical element of design that impacts readability, user experience, and brand perception. And in marketing especially, first impressions are everything. The right typography can convey professionalism, trust, and clarity while inconsistent typography can dilute your message and weaken your brand identity. Understanding typography’s nuances — from typeface selection to licensing and optical sizes — enables you to create visually engaging, cohesive, and persuasive materials to reach the goal of every campaign ever: capture attention, communicate your message clearly, and reinforce your brand’s value in the competitive market.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this two-day in-depth module, you will:

• Understand typography’s critical role in design systems.
• Evaluate and pair typefaces to create compelling marketing materials.
• Implement responsive and fluid type scales for versatile designs.
• Use weights, styles, widths, and optical sizes to enhance readability and aesthetics.
• Design for dark mode, ensuring your campaigns are effective across all platforms.
• Use a checklist for typeface selection to maintain consistency.
• Apply advanced techniques like hanging punctuation and managing widows and orphans for polished layouts.
• Understand type anatomy, line-height, line length, letter-spacing, and kerning.
• Implement alternate glyphs and OpenType features for unique designs.
• Manage font licensing and delivery, ensuring legal compliance.
• Compare font delivery services and self-hosting for cost-effective solutions.
• Optimize web fonts for faster loading times and better user experience.
• Use typographic controls in Figma, Adobe apps, and CSS to streamline your design process.

Who should attend?

This workshop is ideal for graphic designers, web designers, UI/UX designers, and front-end developers who already bring advanced knowledge to the table. Whether you’re an experienced professional refining your skills or a beginner willing to skip a few chapters ahead, you’ll gain valuable insights and practical techniques for digital and print projects.

About the educator

Elliot Jay Stocks is the founder of the typography magazine 8 Faces, creative director of Typekit (now known as Adobe Fonts), leader of the service’s transition into desktop fonts and the Creative Cloud ecosystem, collaborator with Google on launching the typography education resource Google Fonts Knowledge and the author of Universal Principles of Typography. Slay much, Elliot?