This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Design Your Own Ligature
- Companies of every kind sign their names with letters that link.
There is probably no artistic style more intuitive than blending two or more letters into one. The result is a letterform called a ligature. Ligature means to tie. Letters that are tied make a compact signature perfect for companies that are known mainly by their initials.
Ligatures are fun to design. They require no special drawing talents, just an ordinary sense of rhythm and an interest in putting puzzles together. Some letters, you’ll find, link naturally while others do not. Some link in one typestyle but not another. Others link in lower case but not upper. Some can be doctored to link, others cannot. And some can be fooled into linking.
As children we got acquainted with our own initials. As designers, we must get acquainted with different letters. What follows are techniques, ideas, and advice to help you line up as many different letters in the most expressive ways you can.
1 Start with Letters That Share Strokes
Many letter pairs form natural links. By natural we mean that the letters have identical parts or complementary shapes that fit hand in glove. Let’s begin with the easiest letters to link—those that have adjacent matching strokes, like NR, AV, and HK, and similar strokes, like UR and AB. These are linked by using the matching stroke for both characters.
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Top crossbars
A few letter pairs share top crossbars. These link so obviously they can appear to be merely kerned tightly. The way to avoid this impression is to add an outline (above left) or pattern, or alternately, use a serif typeface and share the serif (above right).
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Watch for unplanned letters!
Some letter pairs that have matching strokes should not be joined. While the L fits the T perfectly, the odd result looks like we’ve invented a new letter. An attribute of a good ligature is that its letters read as individuals even after being joined.
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Curved to vertical
The more decorative the typeface, the more easily dissimilar strokes can be linked. Even a curving stroke can replace a vertical. You need gentle curves for this to work, though—circles won’t do.
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2 Many Ways to Link!
Letters can be linked in many other ways. They can be looped, overlapped, bridged, filled, outlined, and more. Every letter pair is special and can usually be made to link in more than one way. Try these:
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Will it stand up?
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A good ligature is well balanced and rests on solid footing. To achieve this, it may help to think of it as a physical object. Here R and P have been linked in a logical but unstructured way. If this ligature were a physical object, it would tip over. This inadvertent lack of stability sends a subliminal message about your company.
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What’s in the negative space?
Negative space is the empty area in and around your letters: It has shape and presence and always affects the viewer’s perception. Negative shapes are often trivial but sometimes take on familiar forms—note the plump P (top right)—that rise to an active role in the design. They can add energy that’s available in no other way and turn ordinary work into great work. Watch for negative shapes.
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Build Bridges
This technique works when nothing else will: Abut your letters, then conceal the junction with a simple graphic, line, or series of lines and shapes.
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Bright yellow dots mask the junction of the two letters. In this case, the dots just lay on top.
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Here, barely touching letters are brought together by playful shapes and colors. Although completely different, they feel so similar that the eye reads the letters as a single image.
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The diamond does double duty—joining the letters and helping to form the shape of the R.
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See the similarities!
Some letters appear to link not because they physically connect but because they look alike. Watch for similarities. Here, changing typefaces turn the a into an almost mirror image of the b, making an interesting visual form.
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