Printer spreads. Image size. Resolution. System fonts. Color mode. There are a multitude of factors that can be controlled during the design and prepress process that will greatly improve a design’s usability in the real world. These rules vary for print and Web design, and it is important to learn them for both mediums. That being said, it is equally important to realize that a designer rarely gets exactly what they want. Sometimes visual perfection is not possible. There are always going to be compromises to be made, but a smart designer knows how to carefully weigh each factor and make an educated decision that benefits the design.

Part two of this blog will focus on “Ensuring your Print Design Can Be Realized in the Real World”.

Quality Web typography improves communication. It also enhances flow and interactivity. Your written content is usually the most valuable element on your Web site. Thus, prioritizing your Web site typography is actually highlighting your most profitable resource. Below are three basic, but important rules to abide by when considering typography on the Web.

1. Establish a Clear Hierarchy of Information with Your Text
Arranging type with varying size, style and weight in a consistent manner will make a big impact on your Web site. This allows you to share with the user what content is most important, so they can easily access the information they want. When your typography works as a visual “cue”, it allows the user to navigate throughout the site with easily with intuition.

2. Limit the Number of Fonts You Use on Your Site
It is best to never use more than three typefaces in a Web site design to avoid unnecessary visual confusion for the user. Minimalists might even argue that using three fonts is using one too many. Either way, limiting the number of typefaces in your Web design will help create cohesive, visual unity.

3. Consider the Space Surrounding Your Type
When designing for the Web, it is important that you create ample space surrounding your typography. It is best to create a visual “balance” between the positive space of the type and the negative space surrounding it. This will ultimately enhance readability for the user.

1. Create your initial logo as a vector file.
“Vector” logos, or logos built in Postscript, allow for maximum usage. You can scale the size of vector files greatly without loss of quality or sharpness. This means that the same logo file that looks great on a business card will also look great on a billboard­. Also, vector graphics are small in file size. This makes them much easier to manage and share. The bottom line—for print design, a vector logo will always look and act best. Your design agency will typically start with a vector logo, but can provide Web-friendly files from this format also.

2. Design your logo in black and white – at first.
It is best to avoid color while in the first round of logo design. If you design a logo that works without color first, you can avoid the possibility of the logo relying on color for its visual impact. This is important because most logos end up being displayed in black and white at some point­—in a newspaper or on a fax or copy. Once you do add color, it is best to limit it to two if you can. Too many colors can confuse the eye rather than helping to focus it. Limiting your colors will also save you money during the printing process. Since there is no limitation to color usage on screen, many companies shave been tempted to overuse color in their Web design. Bad design, however, is bad design in any context.

3. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify
Overly complicated logos are often difficult to read and understand. This is true even at a large scale, but especially so when reduced in size. And since these complex logos are difficult to really see, they are almost impossible to remember or recognize. Companies often mistakenly perceive their logo as their entire brand platform. Thus, they try to communicate everything about their company in the mark, instead of the essential, overarching qualities. You do need to put a lot of complex thought into your logo behind the scenes, but you do not want the viewer to see that in excessive detail work, color, or font usage. It is best to communicate a company’s brand attributes with a clean, simple logo design.

4. Always consider your logo’s size and ratio.
As a rule, logos should be recognizable and readable at a quarter inch. At some point, most logos will need to be reproduced at a very small size—on a plastic pen, key chain or usb drive. It is also best if your logo is not overly horizontal or vertical. Most logos will not be a perfect square, but a conservative width to height ratio is ideal. A balanced mark is adaptable, making it easier to successfully place in a variety of layouts.

With the advent of interactive communications such as email, online advertising, blogging, etc., print has taken it on the chin. Fewer clients request print and fewer agencies recommend print. Therefore, when engaging in a print project, you should look at the plethora of techniques available: emboss, spot varnish, custom bindery, metallic inks, laser cutting, synthetic paper, custom diecutting, etc. Don’t just use it because it’s there, but look for opportunities where the use of a non-standard printing technique fits the goals for the project and supports the strategy behind the creative.

One word of warning: overuse of these techniques could tread into tacky territory. They should be used sparingly and with great care.

On your next print project, take a step back to review all the different options that you can employ. If you are an agency, consult with your printer for ideas. If you are a client, ask your agency if additional print techniques could be used to push your strategy further.

I recently saw the documentary “Helvetica”, written and directed by the filmmaker Gary Hustwit. The feature-length film uses the famous, yet controversial typeface to tell a comprehensive story about typography and visual culture over the last fifty years.

The documentary includes opinionated commentary from influential graphic designers and theorists. Modernists consider Helvetica to be typographic perfection, while postmodernists think Helvetica is mindless conformity of the masses. It is Coke vs Pepsi. Mac vs PC. Good vs Evil. One professional compares using the typeface Helvetica to “going to McDonald’s instead of thinking about food”, while another designer compares it to air and gravity.

Either way, Helvetica is everywhere, and I’m voting yes. Yes to readbility, yes to communicating clearly, and yes to the right to use other typefaces when you choose. If even renowned modernist Massimo Vignelli believes two other typefaces are acceptable in this world, then I can at least stretch that far. Below are my suggestions for two beautiful sans serif typefaces to consider if you ever need a break from the ubiquitous Helvetica.

1. Avenir
The Avenir typeface was designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1988. Avenir is based on two earlier sans serif typefaces, Erbar and Futura. Avenir is unusual because each of its sizes and weights were uniquely designed for versatility in different contexts.

2. Univers
Released in 1957, Univers is one of a group of neo-grotesque sans-serif typefaces based on the 1896 typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk. The Univers family has a variety of weights and styles that even when mixed together, demonstrate homogeneity and steadiness. The clear and objective structure of Univers make it a very legible typeface. It works in almost any situation.

There is no doubt that creating a great logo won’t make your business succeed. Instead, think of it like this: creating a bad logo will hinder your business’s success.

Logos are not (as Seth suggests) just mere stand-ins for the company. They are not just ciphers. Done well, the logo helps position the company properly. It helps start the conversation. This doesn’t mean that the apple made Apple succeed. To be sure, there could have been many successful logos that would have worked equally well.

And this is why you don’t need to pay $800,000 for one. But, you do need to pay at least $10,000. Because if you don’t, you will get a design that starts to erect barriers between you and your customer. Barriers that you will first have to climb over before you can engage them.

Default templates are terrific for people who can’t or don’t want to design their own—but they’re terrible starting points for anyone attempting to establish their own unique brand. If you start with nothing, you’re forced to think about everything.

Since it’s general, the same applies to Web sites. Many companies think that they need a template and not a custom design. They don’t think it matters. In a certain sense, this is true. The content is the main attraction, not the design. On the other hand, I think that this attitude reveals a deeper attitude. It shows that a company doesn’t value branding. In this sense, branding means your public persona. And since they don’t think their public persona needs to be unique, they don’t think their Web site does, either.

Again, at one level, that’s fine. Maybe you’re going to focus on content to be unique. But, there is no sense in which you don’t have to be unique. Branding is not trickery. It’s a method to make it easy for your customers to clearly understand who you are and what it would be like to do business with you.

In making sure that customer know who you are, a custom Web site can go a long way.

In the agency world, it’s the same thing. The best example is designers who design for themselves, not their clients. They create what they think looks great, ignoring their client’s needs. The worst part about this is the clients often don’t realize this is happening. Unlike with parking spaces, clients often can’t tell when a design represents the designer and not them.

And this makes it hard for me, too. In explaining why Synaxis doesn’t do that, I first need to educate clients on how to hire an agency and on what to look for in design work.

To be sure, some things ought to be printed. That’s already well-argued in my earlier post. Today I’m worried about two factors surrounding printing: price and quality.

Printing is not inexpensive. A good set of well-printed corporate identity materials (business cards, letterhead, envelopes, etc.) can easily cost $3,000. This excludes the $10,000 it could cost you for the design and branding services. Note that I’m not talking about the office store sort of printing or digital copies from an office services store. I’m talking about high-quality commercial printing. Now, of course this cost could be considered to be amortized over the hopefully-2-3-year usefulness of the materials. Nevertheless, it’s a lot of money. Note that technological options have dramatically decreased their hard costs. While it’ll still cost you at least $10,000 for a good Web site, it’ll cost you $20/month to host it. The deployment expenses are much less.

And now think about quality. I said I was talking about high-quality commercial printing. This is supposed to be the best of the best. Yet, in the last 2 years, I have been substantially disappointed by the quality of the product (and the level of service) at many printers. It’s like they don’t care anymore. I know it’s hard to make a living as a printer. And I know that a press can cost over $100,000. Nevertheless, the printing industry seems determined to fulfill its own prophecy of obsolescence.

The result of these problems is that it’s hard for print-fans like me to argue for printing. When I know that a client can hardly expect high quality for a high price, I am forced to reconsider what should be printed. And less gets printed. And the industry declines some more.

Most people think that important things and events should be well-designed. They’re not willing to spend the time and effort required to go beyond that.

At Synaxis, we believe that *even the everyday should be beautiful*. This means that everyday things and events should *also* be beautiful.

The human interaction with the world is often difficult and confusing or just plain ugly. Why should we settle for that? And if we’re not willing to settle, then design helps make that possible. Well-designed things and events are easier-to-use and more enjoyable.