Typography

Typography should only ever be aligned in two ways: Left-aligned or centered. Never right-align or force-justify typography.

Setting Type
Alignment

Typography should only ever be aligned in two ways: Left-aligned or centered. Never right-align or force-justify typography.

Headline Alignment

YES: Left-aligned YES: Centered
NO: Justified NO: Right-aligned

Paragraph Alignment

YES: Left-aligned NO: Centered
NO: Right-aligned NO: Justified

Setting Type
Margins

Our margins are dictated by the logo clearspace, which varies based on the size of the logo. Once the margins have been set, make sure typography is aligned to them.

Setting Type
Case

When setting typography, sentence case should always be used unless working with a tagline or different tiers of information. The examples below set out the rules for capitalizing typography.

When the copy is a longer sentence, phrase, or block of copy, sentence case is always used.
When the headline is part of an intentional phrase or tagline that is less than 6 words, title case is used.
When the headline has a new piece of information on each line, title case is used, with each word capitalised.

Setting Type
Tracking

Tracking is the amount of space given to an entire group of letters in a word. Tracking should be generally tight, but very loose or very tight tracking is to be avoided. Below are some examples to help guide tracking.

Setting Type
Kerning

Kerning refers to the space between each individual letter in a word. Once tracking is set correctly, go into any word and manually adjust the kerning to make sure that the space between the letters feels even throughout.

N.B. Kerning always should be set to Metric.

Before After

Setting Type
Wordspacing

Wordspacing is the space between words. It is the final variable of horizontal spacing. Wordspacing must be adjusted to match the tracking and kerning.

Setting Type
Paragraph Leading

Leading is the space between lines. The visual effect of leading should always be optically greater than the wordspacing, which should always be optically greater than the tracking. This will prevent words from being read out of order and keep the eye from jumping around the page.

Setting Type
Headline Leading

Headline leading should be generally tight, but very loose 
or very tight leading should be avoided. The headline below is set at 135/120. As long as the ascenders and descenders don’t crash, this is a desired leading. In most instances, 135/135 is acceptable and ensures a safe amount of leading.

Desired Leading 135/120
Acceptable Leading 135/135

Setting Type
Examples

Below are examples of kerning, tracking and leading all working together. Notice how the bigger the type is, the tighter the tracking and leading becomes relative to type size. These elements become looser with smaller type to maximise legibility.

Setting Type
Don’ts

There will undoubtedly be occasions where a type problem arises that isn’t addressed in this toolkit. In these cases, refer to the guidelines as much as possible and try to find a solution that feels consistent with the overall brand. Below are some things that should always be avoided when setting type.

1. Do not use an alternative typeface 3. Do not let ascenders and descenders touch. 5. Do not use ALL CAPS. 7. Do not stretch type. 9. Do not set all lowercase.
2. Do not combine weights in the same block of copy. 4. Do not justify type vertically. 6. Do not outline typography. 8. Do not squish type. 10. Do not apply drop shadows to type.