Basic tips for more fashionable typography

Every time I see an underline, it sets my teeth on edge. Underlining text on an otherwise nice-looking print piece cheapens it beyond repair, like wearing Crocs with a business suit.

A desperate cry for help

Underlining is an antiquated holdover from the typewriter age. Before we had computers, underlining was the only typographic tool we had to give text emphasis. But now we have so many better options: italics, bold, a different font, size, or color. Not only are these other options better looking; they are also better for readability.

The problem with underlines

There are several very good reasons to avoid underlines:

• Underlines introduce another element into the design – the line -  which draws attention to itself at the expense of the other more important items on the page. This is especially problematic when you underline an entire headline rather than a couple of words. The strong horizontal line shrieks for attention and drowns out the other “voices” on the page.
• It indicates a lack of sophistication. Underlines are long, loud, artless and clunky, and reek of low budgets and amateurism.
• It looks low-tech. If you’re going for a retro look, fine. But if you’re trying to look clean and modern, don’t use underlines.
• On the Web, underlines indicate hyperlinks. When you underline for attention, it only serves to confuse and annoy your web visitors when they try to click and nothing happens.

But I want my text to really stand out. What should I use instead of an underline?

You’ve got several good choices, depending on how you want the text to sound. It’s best to use only one text attribute to differentiate it from the surrounding text. You don’t need to use bold and italics and all caps. Pick one: it looks better and has exactly the same effect.

Italics
If you use italics, that slows down the reading speed of the sentence, which gives it extra emphasis. But it doesn’t make it louder. It’s like leaning into a microphone, making eye contact with your audience, and saying something important.

Bold
Bold text is “louder” than italics, like a firm, confident voice. It has the advantage over italics of being instantly scannable. If you scan down a page, the bold will jump out at you first. (Just make sure not to overdo a single paragraph with too much bold, or you’ll hurt legibility and make none of it “pop.”)

ALL CAPS
Capital letters shout loudest. All caps in a short headline can be quite sophisticated, as long as you use a good typeface that behaves nicely and doesn’t overwhelm. But using all caps in the middle of a sentence is harder to pull off: it looks casual, so it’s not recommended in corporate materials. Using all caps in the middle of a sentence is equivalent to ANIMATEDLY RAISING YOUR VOICE, LIKE AN EXCITABLE TEEN!!! It can come across as amateurish and not very credible. Don’t set long sentence in all caps: it is very hard to read.

Color
Color is another way to differentiate text. But be careful: 5% of the overall population suffers from some form of colorblindness, so make sure that you’re not too dependent on color for your message. Visicheck is a useful website to see what your design will look like to a person with various types of colorblindness.

Extra space.

Giving a headline more air above and below makes it appear more important, and also more confident. It doesn’t need to shout, because it knows it is important enough to be heard. (Watch for a future post on the importance of white space in design.)

L E T T E R S P A C I N G
When you put extra space between each letters and set them in all caps, it can makes your text look quite elegant. And rather than shouting, as close-set letters do, it gives your text more of a stately, important look.

You’ll be surprised how much better your design will look when you stop using underlines. There’s really no excuse for it to exist in the modern world, outside of website hyperlinks (and even then, underlining text may not always be the best idea.) So don’t commit a typographical faux pas: ditch the underline.