Sure there are lots of things you can do to improve yourself as a typographer, like reading books and becoming a generally more observant person. And there’s no getting around that. You’ll eventually have to do it and it’ll take time. “But what can I learn right now?,” you ask.

The same consistent typographic threads binding print, web, and email campaigns now extend to native apps. FontShop announces App Fonts from more foundries, including TypeTogether, exljbris, and Dalton Maag.

Our monthly review of movie poster typography looks at the posters for Therapy for a Vampire, Me Before You, Our Kind of Traitor, The Neon Demon, Wiener-Dog, Shelley, Carnage Park, Ghostbusters, Captain Fantastic, and Under The Sun.

Typefaces that fall into the category of geometric sans are by definition deceptively simple in appearance. But as any young designer who’s tried to construct one with a ruler and compass (or its digital equivalent) knows, it’s not so easy. Here’s a rundown of a few families that get it right.

In the spirit of summer blockbusters, I am adding a sequel to my Adventures In Space series. In the second part, about kerning, I mentioned the Optical Kerning setting in Adobe Illustrator. It can improve the spacing of amateur fonts or some typefaces in large display sizes, but – because it ignores the careful manual spacing and kerning of any typeface by a pro-level designer – the setting often creates more problems than it solves. Below are three instances where it will definitely not work. And yes, I am writing this post because I have been there too, scrutinising my screen and wracking my mind trying to figure out why the text looks off. And then go “Argh, of course! Optical kerning…”