If you do design of any kind, read this post on ink traps.
Calculated Errors – The Ink Trap | Blog | design mind
Ink traps refer to printed typeface and are intentionally designed to account for ink soaking into paper over time. The goal is to preserve legibility after the type is applied to paper, like so:
Image from frog design
For a human analog, think about how a black ink tattoo fades over several decades, losing its color and sharp lines.
The ink trap typeface also offers a design paradigm:
I like the concept of ink traps in a direct sense (as a solution) and I also like them metaphorically, as the output of a creative process is a filter towards the destination, and where the deliverable is a variable. Ink traps are interesting because they reduce the perceived aesthetic impact of a typeface as a standalone piece of design. They make the typeface “uglier”. The spaces added around the stems create an awkward feel to the shape which to some extent reduces the simplistic beauty of the form. The perception of “ugliness” is only valid however, if you look at it as the end result, as the final “form” – when it should merely be considered a connection; a vehicle towards the final form. Perfection then, does not happen when the project is handed over, but when the project comes alive, at the hand of the client, in print.
Interesting story and useful lesson. Happy Monday.
