Typography: 10 Tips for your Blog Photos

I am a font snob. It's true. As a graphic designer, I am a full geek well-nigh typography. I even read type journals. People who design fonts are stone stars in my world. The reason I love fonts so much is because they are the foundation of good pattern.

Sometimes I become asked how I choose fonts for my blog photos, and what are my go-to tricks. My usual answer is that I wish I had tricks! Typography is an fine art form to me. There is no easy fashion to lay type over a photograph. It'south as hard for me today as it was when I kickoff started out. It takes time. Only you can build your conviction with do, and you can larn to brand the right choices. Information technology's all near developing your eye for design.

{Aye, I ended both of those paragraphs with the give-and-take design. It's my most of import message hither.)

There is a reason I'm interested in elevating the quality of your work…so I can pin it! I am pretty picky about what I curate for my Pinterest boards. I run into then many amazing projects that are ruined by blazon. Sorry, I hope I'grand not beingness mean. It's just that…well, at that place is room for improvement!

So here we get… Blog Typography 101. My ten tips that volition help y'all make better choices and put you on the path to proficient blueprint.

Tip 1: just say no {to fonts}

Let'due south be articulate. The only reason whatsoever of united states of america put type on our photos is to brand it stand out on Pinterest. So people will pivot it. Considering they can come across information technology, in theory. Merely here'due south the interesting thing, I believe that pins without type actually practise meliorate than pins with type.

My all-time pins this month take no type on them at all. In fact, they aren't fifty-fifty necessarily my main postal service photograph. Above are four of my best pins lately:

painted leaves // weaving with kids // cardboard paintings // animal templates

Except for the leaves, none of these were the primary photo in my post. Here is the reason they piece of work and so well without type: because they speak a thousand words. The colors and composition are pleasing to the eye, and there is zip more to say.

TAKEAWAY ~ Employ type for two reasons only:

ane. If y'all need to explain a fleck more than nigh your photograph. If your photograph is of a kid running down a beach and your post is nearly sensory processing issues by the shore, so you should add type.

Or…

2. If your photo would just look cool with the added design chemical element of type. Then become for it! The only reason I use type is to add to the design.

Tip 2: fonts are people likewise {make good choices}

You've decided to put some blazon on your photo. Time to choice a font! I bet y'all have a few that are your "go to" choices. The ones you feel comfortable with. Well, I am here to tell you to stop using those fonts! They are dull. It's fourth dimension to step out of your comfort zone a scrap and get-go existence creative.

Every font has a personality. Similar people, they come up in all shapes and sizes. It'south your job to figure out which ane goes best with the tone of your photo. This is really the most of import job, and the office that takes the longest. I tin't teach this because it just takes do and intuition. Simply I can share with y'all my thought process.

Above are four images with blazon. Hither is why I chose the fonts and the colors that I did, and the name of the font that I used.

Washer Necklaces: I loved how the necklaces looked a bit rustic on the kraft paper, and how you could come across the blast polish left on the paper. To me, it chosen for a stencil font, something with a rough, handmade feel. This one is called Portago. I paired information technology with a more modern font chosen Monod Brun. It's good to take a ying and a yang when pairing fonts. The colors I chose reflect the middle iii washers, creating a very satisfying blueprint because of the balance.

Bird Nests: There was a perfect space above the nest, but information technology was at a weird bending. Then after trying blazon straight beyond, I decided to put it sideways. The type isn't really needed anyway, it's simply a pattern element and so having it go sideways is cool and ads to the artful. I chose another stencil font called Hogwild (not quite equally rough), and a cleaner script chosen Pacifico. I used colors from the nest to create balance.

Watercolor Garland: I love this post, it is 1 of my favorites of all fourth dimension. The work that these 4-yr olds did was so amazing and costless. I loved the garlands on their own, but I did desire to add together some informational words at the top. Non to distract from the beautiful garlands, I chose to make the font very clean and subtle, all caps and in white so information technology well-nigh fades away. This font is chosen Orator. I also hand drew picayune circles at the sides just to loosen it up a scrap.

Weaving with Kids: This photo did not need a championship, I just wanted something fun to add together to the photo because it just looked besides apparently. The font is Peach Milk, and I used the colors from the weaving to create residuum, and decided on a curved placement to create movement and interest.

Tip 3: follow my lead (10 hard and fast font rules)

1. Figure out the tone of your photo. Is it happy, serene, playful, serious, goofy? Once you lot figure out the mood, then you tin commencement selecting your font.

2. Keep a list of your "go to" fonts (some new choices, have it out of your comfort zone). I have near 10-fifteen that I use the most, which are a mix of simple and playful.

three. Utilize script sparingly. It'due south harder to read.

4. Just because your mail service is for or virtually kids doesn't mean y'all should use kinder fonts. Child handwriting fonts are ane of my biggest pet peeves. Information technology degrades your hard work and information technology's generic. And delight, no Comic Sans.

v. Apply black prudently. I use about no black for fonts, but my photos are very colorful and child-oriented. I like black, don't become me wrong, but don't have it be the only color you lot use because you're agape to attempt other colors. Cover color!

6. Don't use fonts on a photo that already has words. I made a birthday imprint, it already says "Happy Birthday". I don't need more fonts.

7. Pair ii fonts together (only not more two). Mix and friction match. It adds interest and makes some words stand out more than others.

eight. Learn a few font vocabulary words, like serif, sans serif and display. (Read this helpful article on fonts for starters.)

9. Apply for rich pins through Pinterest. This allows your logo, profile name and post title to display nether your photo. Once you have this tool, information technology becomes redundant to put type on your photo with the aforementioned heading. Rich pins keeps you disciplined. You lot will rarely fifty-fifty have to worry about typography!

10. Less is more than. Don't add long sentences to your photograph, just a few key words. Let your post title and description do the talking. (This is where rich pins are so important.)

Tip 4: you get what you pay for {complimentary fonts vs. paid}

I did a somewhat loose survey of font usage inside my blogger community. It turns out that about 85% of bloggers utilize free fonts. Bloggers who are as well graphic designers are almost the but ones who buy fonts. I guess this makes sense. I mean, why not choose something that is free?

Equally someone who pays for almost fonts, I do take a position to take on costless vs. paid.

Think of fonts equally tools. Wouldn't y'all rather use a practiced tool than a bad i? Your tools decide your level of design. Paid fonts take more characters, like math signs or ampersands (glyphs), and they have amend kearning (the space between the letters) and spacing. Their edges are more rounded, which makes it look better when small. With a paid font, your chance of looking "generic" (because everyone has gratuitous fonts) is much lower. And at the very least, y'all are supporting designers when y'all buy a font.

In fact, you could even get further equally enquire… why pay for photographs when you have Google? Why pay for music when it's free on the web? Why pay a designer when there are many websites who will design your logo for peanuts? The point is this: Paying for fonts elevates your design.

With that in mind, I do download gratis fonts from fourth dimension to fourth dimension. Not very oftentimes, but sometimes I similar what I see.

Lesser Line: Try buying a font or two. Mix it up. Some free, some paid for. It will brand you feel similar a real designer! And sometimes, what nosotros really need is a new attitude earlier nosotros tin can accomplish great things. Fake it 'til you lot brand it!

(See Tip ten for font resource.)

Five: the eye has to travel {design is everything}

The 2011 motion picture nigh Diana Vreeland, the famous Harper'south Boutique magazine editor, was called The Middle has to Travel. I beloved this phrase and I want yous to love it, too. Let it be your mantra from now and forever. This phrase is about pattern. Pattern is everything.

But what does design mean? When I was in art school, the i word used above all others when talking virtually pattern was remainder.

Balance.

Y'all know good design when yous see it. Yes, you do! Whether it'south a smart phone, a car, or an old-fashioned soda canteen, we all have the ability to run across the difference between good and bad design.

Take this 1 pace further into two-dimensional design, and it gets a scrap murkier. From blog pages and ads, to invitations and magazines, we are bombarded with images from every angle. It gets harder and harder to sort through the racket. But when we observe something that is designed well, nosotros will stop and stare and capeesh the dazzler.

When you lot appreciate dazzler, every bit we all exercise, you lot are tapping into your own sense of taste and aesthetic. Developing that eye for design is something that takes fourth dimension, but yous can get-go by noticing what yous similar and what you find beautiful in what you lot see every day.

Notice that when your eyes country on something aesthetically pleasing, there is always a resting spot. And then your eye brings you around, and so it rests again. In that location is something at that place, something that makes y'all go on to stare. I am hither to tell you that this something is remainder.

When y'all love the fashion something looks, it'due south because the balance is perfect.

Above are iv photos from my blog where I added type specifically to create balance. Usually, I discover a space and and so use that space to reverberate a shape or color from the photo. I will likewise share the font name with you.

monster patches (Limoen & Papercute) // paper-thin animals (Ever Subsequently & Papercute) // ice cream cones (Tire Shop) // pom-pom napkin rings (Orator)

Six: shape up! {shapes are your friend}

When in uncertainty, add a shape and put some type in it. But don't be reckless. I almost want to reach out and shake people sometimes when I come across a giant shape covering their whole photograph with big type all over it. This is non what I hateful. No, no, no!! When I see this information technology tells me that this person either didn't like their photo, or couldn't discover the right photo. It'southward like when I turn my cell phone on in the centre of the night…I'1000 blinded! Definitely don't write big words all over your photograph. For me, as a devour-er of Pinterest, information technology makes me not even await at that pivot. I volition be scrolling away, and fast.

What I am talking near is using shapes aesthetically, to draw your eye in and to create a pleasing composition. Maybe you want to repeat a color that is at the bottom of your photo and y'all accept a squeamish space at the top. Or mayhap your photo needs a dial of color.

I personally like my shapes to disappear off of the edge. I don't do that all the time, but more than half of the time I do. (I will put shapes in the middle for collages, read more about collages and circular-ups in Tip 8). I also will make sure that the font doesn't crowd the edges.

I unremarkably draw my own shapes, only I likewise download some dingbat fonts which are helpful when I'k feeling like I'thou in a blitz. Visit my Fonts & Dingbats Pinterest board for ideas.

Here are the fonts I used for these photos:

pencil eraser art (Papercute) // bird garland (Papercute) // henna easily (Veneer & Pacifico) // scrape painting (Peach Milk)

7: composition is rex {photography tips}

Taking good photos comes before annihilation. For a skillful union between type and photos to work, y'all must have an idea of limerick, styling, and lighting. Top of my list is composition, considering if you have a totally crawly composition…you don't fifty-fifty demand to add together blazon!

I have teamed up with my fellow Rockin' Fine art Moms so that we can requite you the best, virtually well-rounded advice on taking photos and calculation blazon. There are so many elements to consider in photography!

The Rockin' Art Moms (RAMs) are xvi mom bloggers who believe in the power of inventiveness as a necessary office of family life! We developed this blog series in response to a question nosotros hear oft: "How did you accept such a smashing picture?" Each RAM participating in the series will be speaking well-nigh a different photo related topic.

Find all of the RAM links at the end of this postal service.

Eight: circular 'em up {type on photo collages}

Ok, this i needed lots of examples. The following points are my own guidelines for creating collages and adding type. There are lots of successful bloggers who become tons of repines and traffic to their web log making collages in a style that I wouldn't. For me, and likewise for you now that yous've read this far (y'all're well-nigh washed), it'southward almost design and aesthetics, non near creating an ad and getting a message across.

~ Most round-ups are put together like a patchwork quilt, square or rectangular photos fit together like a puzzle. Make certain you lot create a white border in between each photo, and that this edge is a consistent size. It should be an equal white border in betwixt each photo.

~ Ane way to find space for your type is to create a block of color, instead of a photo, equally one of the collage "patches", equally in the Paint Chips example above. In this collage, I also used blocks of color in some spaces. This is a good trick when the photos are not plumbing equipment together very well. Use the extra infinite as a pattern chemical element.

~ Another way to make space for type is to add together a cake of color on top of your collage, every bit in the Leaves and Etsy posts above. Make sure to not crowd your blazon within your cake of colour. I just recall it'southward more pleasing to the center to take a lot of color around your type. A place to residuum your eyes.

~ A 3rd way to place blazon on a collage is to create a fun shape, like a banner or a circle. This more whimsical arroyo, like in Princess Castles and Paperbag Crowns, is just fun and creates a mood.

~ A super cool (admitting fourth dimension consuming) mode to make a collage round-up is to "record" or "scrapbook" photos onto a neutral background. I accept washed this several times and information technology'due south very middle-communicable and makes a statement. The Easter Eggs post was i of my faves.

~ Still another thought for a round-upward is to utilise simply four photos from your listing of 10 or 20, and then create a block of color on one side where you can add your type. I did this with a Wall Murals mail service, and also a Book Nooks post.

~ One other thing that I exercise sometimes is I don't add any type at all, just some numbers. I let the rich pins championship practice the talking. And the numbers human action every bit a design chemical element. You lot can see this example with my Popular of Color post.

~ Try not to just add a block of black or white to the top of bottom of your collage and add type there. I know information technology's the easiest, simply information technology'south not the best. Try and integrate your blazon more with your collage then that it looks similar it has been cared for and designed well.

~ On that same annotation, try not to add a big ring of white space in the middle to put your blazon. It makes the prototype inclement with photos above and below.

~ Try not to clog your collage with tons and tons of blazon. Less is more. The photos will speck for themselves. And…if you accept rich pins, you won't need to echo every word of your title in your collage.

~ I accept a new pinterest lath that I started called Round-ups & Collages where I am curating the best collages I've seen on Pinterest. This board will exist a skillful reference for you when working on your collage.

Nine: don't mess with me {remember rule #i}

Ok, this is technically not a new tip. Just I feel then strongly that nigh photos do not need to exist messed with that I had to re-iterate my showtime indicate. Hither are iv more photos that I chose not to add blazon to that have done very well on Pinterest.

weaving with kids // poppy art // snowflake table runner // cardboard castles

I'm feeling uncomfortable at this signal with all of this self-promotion. I am not the queen of everything and I certainly accept had some flops. But I think that the more examples I tin give you, the more than you can learn.

10: a pep talk {and resource guide}

You can do it! You tin can do information technology! Information technology's hard, in that location is no denying this fact. But typography is soooo satisfying when you go information technology correct. Just remember these three things, if you call up nothing else:

1. The middle has to travel. Make sure you go out some space for the eye to rest. Don't make information technology too busy.

two. Balance is the primal to good pattern.

3. Less is more. When in doubt, leave it out.

And at present, hither are some links that volition aid you lot tremendously:

MAKE Amend Weblog PHOTOS: Tips for Creating Memorable and Pivot-Able Photos brought to yous past the ROCKIN' Fine art MOMS:

Photo Editing: Ana from Babble Fiddle Exercise

Composition: Meri from Meri Scarlet

Styling: Gina from Willowday

Lighting: Jeanette from Tiny Rotten Peanuts

Backdrops: Melissa from Mama Miss

(Follow Rockin' Art Moms on Pinterest….nosotros have a actually cool board that is certain to fill your lives with tons of artistic ideas.)

FONT SHOPPING:

Paid Fonts: My Fonts This is where I shop. I beloved information technology the best considering you can type in your discussion or phrase and so all of your searches will be with that sample text. This is such a helpful tool, I tin can't express information technology enough!! // Font Spring  // FontFont

Free Fonts: Font Squirrel // DaFonts

PINTERST BOARDS FOR FONTS, Photograph STYLING, and COLLAGES:

Fonts & Dingbats (my lath) // Font Obsession // Fonts // Type & Lettering // Photograph Styling // Round-ups & Collages (my lath)

OMG, that was really too long. Hopefully it will help those of y'all who want to be helped!! Ask me whatsoever questions.

xo, Bar

{PS: As if at that place is more to say…but actually, in that location is! Follow me on Instagram where you can see my creative ideas percolating.}

smithdertuary.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.artbarblog.com/typography-10-tips-blog-photos/

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