Basics of Typography from A to Z

Start by getting to know Álvaro Franca, who will tell you about his experience in the design world, his biggest influences, and what inspires his work. Next, he gives you a rundown of the course content and explains the final project.

Then, jump right into the theory and start laying the groundwork for a typography project. Learn how to search for fonts and find materials without making any big investments. Discover what different font formats are used for and explore one of the most important concepts of working with typographies: use licenses.

Álvaro then explains why it’s important to have an in-depth knowledge of letters and each member of the typography family. Learn about the history of the Latin alphabet, discover the origin of upper and lowercase letters and why italics are slanted, and take a closer look at typographic hierarchy, a concept that dictates how to organize fonts to improve readability.

“The letters used throughout human history capture and reflect the essence of their time period.” This quote summarizes the history of typography and helps you understand how it influences design. Álvaro explains how to quickly and easily identify typography categories and shows you his approach to choosing typographies based on their shape and purpose. He also teaches you how to control the visual tone of your pieces.

To close out the course, learn how to combine different typography families and further explore typographic hierarchies as these two concepts are helpful for deciding on your project's typographic system. As a final note, Álvaro shares some tips for using InDesign on future typography projects.