Typography, Headlines and Infographics

called boldface, which makes letters appear darker and thicker than
regular text, and one called italic, which slants letters to resemble hand-
written ones. Another special effect feature is the skew tool. The skew
special effect allows more flexibility than the italicized effect.

For example, italicized letters slant only to the right:

Spartans beat Cougars to become state champs

The skew effect can slant letters to both the left and right:

Spartans beat Cougars to become state champs

Almost all these effects can be combined. Bold and italic can be com-
bined as follows:

Spartans beat Cougars to become state champs

Another popular special effect is scale. The scale feature allows designers
to stretch the height and width of letters:]

Spartans beat Cougars to become state champs

Many production programs also allow users to layer words, letters, or
blocks of text. When correctly positioned, layered text can produce a
3-D effect:

LAYERS

Two other special effects help designers place words on top of pictures and
illustrations. If you want to place text on top of dark or black backgrounds,
you can use a reverse. With this effect, the letters appear white:

This is a reverse.

It is often best to use these effects sparingly. Too many special effects can
clutter pages and distract readers from the body of an article.

TYPOGRAPHY, HEADLINES AND INFOGRAPHICS^361

LAYERS

skew

a special effect that slants

letters to the left and right

scale

a special effect that stretches

the height and width of letters

layer

a special effect that layers

words, letters or blocks of

texts to create a 3-D effect

reverse

a special effect in which white

text is placed on dark or

black backgrounds or over

pictures

Your Beat

1. Look through a magazine and find three different
   kinds of serif type and three different kinds of sans
   serif type. Ads are a good place to look. Notice
   whether serif and sans serif typefaces are used to
   provide contrast with one another. Then find three
   examples of special type effects.
   2. Compare a font list in a word-processing program to
   determine what typefaces are used in your school
   yearbook and newspaper.
   3. Create a new typeface by designing all the letters of
   the alphabet in a special style all your own. Compare
   your work with that of other students.