In our most recent blogs, we’ve been working to increase our design vocabulary and knowledge. This way, we can elevate our presentation design, making our visuals strong and memorable by learning some of the tools of the trade.
Earlier in the week, we talked about the design term leading (rhymes with “sledding”). Basically, it’s the spacing between lines of text. Today, we’ll be covering two more design terms you’ll want to be familiar with: kerning and tracking.
Kerning
Design company Elegant Themes gives a great, clear-cut definition of kerning. They say, “it’s the space between two side-by-side characters.” Sometimes you’ll notice that there seems to be excess space between letters. This occurs because most fonts are monospaced, meaning there is the same amount of space between each letter. But not all letters are shaped the same. Some have more negative space on one side than another. For instance, a “J” takes up less space than a “K,” so it might seem to have more white space beside it. Specific letter combinations tend to highlight the differences in shape more than others.
Design giant Canva suggests adjusting the kerning “to avoid awkward-looking gaps between your letters and improve legibility.” And they remind us that “kerning is a visual exercise; it’s about the perceived amount of space between letters rather than the actual distance between them. Kerning involves adjusting your typography to look right rather than creating mathematically equal spacing.” So trust your gut when adjusting kerning. Go for what looks best to you. And begin to pay attention to the spacing in professional logos to help you hone an eye for kerning.
Tracking
Adobe says tracking is “the process of loosening or tightening the spacing between the characters in selected text or an entire block of text.” So instead of concentrating on individual letters or letter pairs, you are looking at the spacing of entire line of text. Adjusting the tracking just a little bit can make your text easier to read.
You’ll want to be cautious, however, about adjusting the tracking with script or handwritten fonts. As Elegant Themes discusses, “Handwriting fonts and cursive typefaces are set with specific kerning, and if you adjust the tracking, you will get gaps in an otherwise unbroken line. Or going the other direction to compress the lines, you might simply make the script unreadable.”
I’d suggest you start by visiting the help menu in whatever presentation design program you are using. Find out how to manually adjust the leading, kerning, and tracking. Then, give yourself permission to play. You might just be surprised at how a little design knowledge can give you more professional looking presentation media.
Leading, kerning, and tracking all deal with the relationship between text and space. As we begin to understand how to talk about and use these design concepts, we can create presentation media that is more attractive and readable for our audiences. And the end result is that we are able to get our messages and brands across more effectively.
For more information about presentation design and delivery, check out our full line of resources at Ethos3.com. Or get a quote now from one of our presentation experts.
