Importance of kerning?

[TXFB.INS]

Why do so many people get all worked up over kerning on every single design that is done?

I mean some of the most recognized company today have names / logos that completely ignore the "kerning rules" and are all the better for it

FedEx
3M
Oracal
DELL
Lexus
the goes on and on


granted certain letters have to be careful of, example click become d!ck

point is why so much fuss on kerning when it clearly is readable

 

[shoresigns]

Why do so many people get all worked up over kerning on every single design that is done?

I mean some of the most recognized company today have names / logos that completely ignore the "kerning rules" and are all the better for it

FedEx
3M
Oracal
DELL
Lexus
the goes on and on


granted certain letters have to be careful of, example click become d!ck

point is why so much fuss on kerning when it clearly is readable

Kerning does make body text more readable. In headings or logos, I think kerning is less about readability and more about making the text look attractive and balanced. Bad kerning looks unattractive and sloppy, which reflects poorly on whoever is responsible for it.

None of the examples you gave are what I would call bad kerning. All of them look to me like they were done by designers who know the rules well enough that they know when the rules can be bent.

 

[Billct2]

You can always tell the "designers" that are using poorly designed free fonts by the kerning. Like tx said, purposeful design is different than lazy design.

 

[Z SIGNS]

I dunno

Probably a bunch of right wingers out there that believe typography and it's execution is an art form.

Yeah who cares about kerning or design for that matter.
As long as you can read huh ?

This kind of thinking is the reason for garbage signage that is prevalent today.

The designers don't now the difference between good and bad and the people buying this crap know even less.

 

[OADesign]

Years ago this young lady I worked for making ada signs comes and looks over my shoulder one day.
She kind of (figuratively) spanked me a bit about the kerning in a layout. I got upset and fired back (like most high and mighty I know more than you type designers do). After she shut me up, she enlightened me on the subject. I had no clue! And I felt like an idiot afterwards for copping an attitude. The subsequent lesson was HOW to adjust it. Now poor kerning sticks out like a sore thumb. I may miss one now and again. But when I catch it, it is like there is a dill pickle just sitting there next to the letters. Out of place.

For me its aesthetics. Poorly kerned layouts look amateurish. Like a child that just learned how to dress themselves with the mis-buttoned shirt. Or the old curmudgeon that missed a stroke on his comb-over. Most people think fonts are just sort of a fixed thing. Just type it and done. Maybe stretch it or squeeze it (dare I say it?). Mind you, I'm not a Type Junkie. But you have to understand that fonts are no more a stand alone set and go item than you are. Put on a freshly pressed pair of slacks, fresh shave and a trim, even a monkey looks good.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

You're showing examples of tight kerning, as opposed to normal kerning or loose kerning. Unless you're referring to utilizing a proper amount and equal proportion of negative space between letterforms, I don't believe there are any rules as far as what is too tight, or what is too loose. How tight you kern can depend greatly on what typeface you choose to use and how the letterforms work in relation to each other. As in the FedEx logo, as we all know, it can also depend on the effect that you wish to achieve. In the case of FedEx, that would be the proverbial subliminal forward arrow, which is pure genius.

I seldom use tight kerning (although it has happened on a few occasions), but I use L O O S E kerning all the time for certain types of subcopy like a city and state attached below a logo or a wordmark.

 

[rjssigns]

You guys should have been in my typography class. Instructor was relentless in regards to kerning.(leading too) Ascenders, descenders and their relationship to the layouts overall kerning was also examined in detail.

 

[Billct2]

Yea, laying out text by hand at Butera Sign School and having to redraw everything when the spacing wasn't right definitely drives home the importance of spacing.
When I first started lettering I would have several different color markers or pens so I could keep track of my corrections on a paper pattern.

 

[d fleming]

Big huge piles of difference between logo and body text.

 

[SignManiac]

Few people know this but the word kerning derives from the early Romans. Back in the day when signs were hand carved into stone, letter spacing was calculated with kernels of corn spaced between the letters. Each combination of letters would require a specific number or kernels for the right spacing. If they wanted to open the spacing up between letters, they would pop the corn. Popped corn being larger than the kernels naturally. It wasn't until centuries later that somebody accidentally spilled butter on their lettering and today we all now enjoy pop corn.

 

[d fleming]

Few people know this but the word kerning derives from the early Romans. Back in the day when signs were hand carved into stone, letter spacing was calculated with kernels of corn spaced between the letters. Each combination of letters would require a specific number or kernels for the right spacing. If they wanted to open the spacing up between letters, they would pop the corn. Popped corn being larger than the kernels naturally. It wasn't until centuries later that somebody accidentally spilled butter on their lettering and today we all now enjoy pop corn.

Lol...But first we must ask ourselves, what is physics?

 

[Gino]

The examples you mentioned are more of a logo than a taste of bad kerning. Many rules go out the window, when creating a lasting image.

These images, known as logos are to be recognized at a glance, not read like normal type/copy.

We were just talking about this very thing the other day. Some here, think it's a waste of time to be so concerned about certain elements which create good visual connection while others thought it mattered deeply. I'm from the camp where it matters as far as what I'm giving to an end-user.

With thinking like kerning doesn't matter, or the leading will just do as the software dictates..... well, for those, I guess when you go to sell your house, you don't clean the toilets or spruce up the front porch. It doesn't matter how pathetic something looks, huh ??​

 

[Gino]

Lol...But first we must ask ourselves, what is physics?

Isn't that when ya have trouble going to the toilet ?? See, told ya it mattered.

 

[J Hill Designs]

keming is very important

 

[bob]

keming is very important

So is parallax.

 

[Marlene]

just hammering letters together by using a keyboard is OK for a hack as that is the best you can expect for someone with no knowledge of much of anything. a computer does its thing with math, we do ours with our eyes.

 

[player]

What font brands don't need kerning?

 

[Gino]

What font brands don't need kerning?

For the most part, old Gerber and ANAgraph fonts were usually pretty much spot on. You needed some tiny tweaks, but like Marlene said, to please the eye.

 

[player]

Those are not available now though?

I find everything I use needs kerning. I have a collection of fonts from different programs, downloads etc. from
over the years. Probably some good ones, some not so good, but usually they all need a going over.

I would like to find fonts that don't need kerning. I remember years ago Flexi or Casmate had a way of saving the kerning
on fonts. Does this exist anywhere?

 

[DesireeM]

Even though I was in typography class quite a few years ago(so some of this may not be 100% accurate) I think I remember that historically, good kerning was the mark of a quality typesetter. That back in the days where individual letters were hand-placed in order to print full books page-by-page that the really high-quality books had really great kerning (among other things). It was something of value because bad kerning caused interruptions in the flow of reading. Your eyes would pick up on those minute odd spacings and make it harder to 'lose yourself in a good book'. So famous writers and publishers would commission only the best typesetters to print their books. It was this attention to detail that separated the pro's from the hacks....much like today.