Cotton-Ch 4 & 5

         Chapter 4 is a very important chapter that seems like common sense, but due to some ads that I have seen myself is something that is sometimes over looked. Legibility is by far one of the most important things a designer must consider when creating a design. The chapter begins by talking about characteristics of letters and how certain typefaces are harder to read and distinguish letters especially when spacing is highly dramatic. The chapter also talks about how using all caps makes it very hard for the word to be read, so its good to use both lower and uppercases in a design. The next section was about interletter and interword spacing and how far you can stretch both of these before the viewer is unable to read what you have created. Interline spacing is also very important if all your type is stacked on each other it slows reading or makes it illegible all together, so its important to make sure that enough room is given to body of texts. The chapter then talks about how you can use the weight of a type to separate text from the background of the design or make it stand apart from a title or headline. Another thing the chapter talks about is the use of color and text and how complementary colors can be used in order to make text standout. Justified type is also discussed and the use of it, showing that if the reader has a clean line to follow the type is much easier to read.

        Chapter 5 discussed the importance of the typographic grid. Structure and space were the first thing discussed in this chapter. It talks about using space to convey movement or to emphasis something within the design such as a title. Placement within the grid is discussed in order to show how to create a dynamic and exciting design. Proportion is also talked about and the balancing of a design through the use of proportion on the grid. Single column and multi column grids are both explained in the next section. It shows how a page of text may be laid out so that it is easier to read and more visually pleasing while still incorporating designs and pictures. Modular graphs- a more complex graph similar to the single and multi column graph is also explained. This allows for many different aspects of a design to come together while still maintaining a very organized predetermined structure. The last thing in the chapter was improvisational structures which allows for a more dynamic design while still keeping everything organized a visually appealing. Someone that would use this kind of structure, however, would need a very strong understanding of asymmetrical balance and the use of positive and negative space in order to create an effective design.