Real-world uses of Carl Dair's rules for typographical contrast
Through working on design projects, I've realized how versatile typography is. In one of my college design courses, I was introduced to Carl Dair's rules for typographical contrast. When contrast is applied to typography, designers can influence what information a viewer reads first or considers to be the most important information. Dair’s rules include size, weight, form, structure, color, direction and texture. Below, I examine three examples of Dair's rules for typographical contrast in use through display typography.
I would consider the example of a “Dear Evan Hansen” poster as effectively using Dair's rules for typographical contrast. The words “DEAR EVAN HANSEN” immediately catch the viewer's eye because of the increased scale, use of all caps as form contrast and varying color. I appreciate how the colors start lighter at the top of the title “DEAR EVAN HANSEN” and end darker toward the bottom, because it engages the viewer's visual path. The use of handwritten lettering is also eye-catching in the “#youwillbefound.” Another use of the rules I noticed was the use of the color white and increased scale as methods to create contrast in the titles of other works the director produced.
When analyzing the above design of “The Singer's Musical Theatre Anthology” for Dair's rules, I would consider it a poor example of typographic contrast. This design feels very cramped, and the typographic contrast is a contributor. The kerning (the spacing between two characters) on the word “THE” is too wide. It makes “THE” read as separate elements rather than a word, especially with the dots in between the letters. The increased size contrast of the “S” at the end of “Singers” also comes off as distracting and maybe unnecessary. Given the context of the design, that design choice does not make sense. Leaving that ending letter “S” smaller or lowercase would leave breathing room and white space in the design. I also would suggest using some lowercase letters in the title to add more contrast in its form.
“The Lion King” musical poster image above is an effective use of Dair's rules for typographical contrast. The title and typographic focus of this poster, the words “The Lion King,” are emphasised through the use of increased scale, heavy weight, underlined and small caps form, and red coloring. The rest of the text on this poster is all caps, smaller, and not underlined, which contrasts with the title. This design uses multiple principles of creating contrast; it was done successfully and is not overwhelming.
Overall, Dair's rules for typographical contrast create a visual hierarchy. This signifies perceived importance and influences the direction of the viewer's visual path. These rules are important tools to keep in mind when wanting to create emphasis or a focal point in a design.
