Nothing bothers a graphic designer more than opening a “Thank You” card that reads “Thank Y ou.” Among the character pairings that require extra attention, the “Y” next to the “O” is prime suspect numero uno. To ignore the kerning between these two letters is just plain lazy. Allow me to explain.
Kerning is the art of adjusting the visual spacing between individual characters in a string of text. Unlike letter spacing (also known as tracking), which changes the spacing uniformly across all characters, kerning focuses on specific letter pairs. If you’ve ever worked with type, you might recall the unusual distance between an uppercase “A” next to an uppercase “V” or “W.” It creates a natural AVERSION. How AWKWARD is that, right? The goal of kerning, then, is to achieve a visually pleasing hunk of typography.
Finalizing the Font
In the final week of designing and developing my debut font, Pepperoni, I spent an absurd amount of time on letter spacing and kerning. Why? I know how frustrating it can be to have to individually adjust the spacing between each letter of a long headline. I’m not looking to turn off my primary audience. The final push included creating the remaining punctuation marks, refining several uppercase letters, and obsessively adjusting kerning pairs in Fontself. While Fontself makes spacing adjustments intuitive, the sheer number of combinations in the English language meant extra hours of tweaking. I want the customer’s first trial with a font I design to be pleasing. I also want their purchasing experience to be seamless, which is why I created a "Read First" document for users that have never installed a font.
Advertising
After three weeks of focusing on typographic design nuance, I needed to shift gears and prepare for digital product launch. Once the font was complete, I turned my attention to branding and delivery. I designed four key visuals to showcase Pepperoni in playful contexts. With a name like Pepperoni, how can you not have a little fun with the marketing assets? These visuals were created for multiple purposes: product promotion, customer inspiration, and personal gratification. In the weeks to come, they will also form the basis for marking on social media.
Digital Marketplace
Initial research lead me to believe that Creative Market would be the best digital platform to sell Pepperoni. However, my application to become a shop owner was denied. The project timeline leaves no time to feel bummed out. I switched my focus to Buy Me a Coffee, a creator-friendly digital market that asks for customers to “buy them a coffee” instead of making a purchase. Setting up shop here took just a few hours, and the community has plenty of helpful tips. One small hitch: While the platform instructions recommend square images, the layout clearly favors horizontal formats. You live and you learn. Still, it’s quite amazing how quickly any creator can publish their digital product online using Buy Me a Coffee.
Product Expectations
I think customers will value Pepperoni for its overtly heavy graphic presence. The font is ideal for creatives who want to experiment with bold, unconventional type for logo design, editorial headlines, or consumer packaged goods. Twelve people have already downloaded the font to test, and the initial feedback has been positive. Without the friendly encouragement, though, would anybody actually make a purchase? We’ll have to wait and see.
Reflecting on the creation process to date, there’s no doubt I’ve learned quite a bit in a short amount of time. Designing a font from scratch is part technical know-how, and part historical observation. Both skills will become more intuitive with practice. In terms of creating a digital product, the most valuable lesson I’ve learned is the importance of testing early and often. After uploading the font and sharing it with friends, for example, I discovered that a few punctuation marks hadn’t been imported correctly. It wasn’t user error, it was mine. That feedback helped me catch a few issues before publishing to a wider audience.
Next up? Possibly a serif font, and maybe a lowercase set, but definitely a longer timeline. It’s not just the shapes and curves I need to consider, it’s also the damn letter spacing. And, at least for now, Pepperoni has seen its final kern.
