Which version of this business card where it says “neuer proximity platform” is correct in your mind? One version I have that text left-aligned with the “toothtag” text, and the other version I have it aligned with the stem of the lowercase t in “toothtag”
Also, any advice on where to learn some of these typography basics? I need a refresher hehe 
I don’t know anything about typography, but I prefer the first one.
I think this is more of a design than a typography question. If you were just to type those words in a program like Word (with similar font sizes etc.), it would look most like the second example. The crossbar of the “t” is definitely part of the letter.
From a design perspective it’s much more of a judgment call. My judgment agrees with fubbleskag, I think the first one looks better. (I am not a professional designer, although I have studied this some and done some freelance design work).
There are any number of books and online resources dealing with ad layout and design, that’s where I would start if I were you.
Roddy
In my professional opinion, the first one is better. It looks more even and that’s what design basically comes down to, it’s just that the professionals have developed a better eye.
It’s a nice card. Very clean, readable, and vibrant.
Another vote for the first.
Yes, the t’s crossbar is part of the letter, but it sticks out past the visual mass of the letter.
As someone said years back, bemoaning brain-dead page layout applications such as Word:
“But will they yearn to kern?”
First one’s better.
I like the first one as well. It lines up with the edge of the largest visual mass.
For me, this falls into the ‘nudge it around until it looks right’ category of adjustments.
First one, for the same reason Sunspace gives. On the second card “neuer” seems to hang out in space with nothing to anchor it.
Try giving them the old “squint” test. Squint your eyes until you can barely see the cards and then see which one seems better balanced and which one draws your eye around the card better.
The first one. No question. The second one looks like a mistake because it is. There are times you’re aligning type that you need to ignore serifs and even punctuation. This is a classic example.
Ok, I give. What the heck is a neuer proximity platform? Or is that just an Ipsumesque place holder for the real thing?
I’m guessing it’s a company name based on a person’s name.
I am a professional designer and typographer. The first logo is correct.
And you might want to adjust the logo’s centering. If you’re aligning the small type with the vertical stroke of the “t”, then you should use the same principle in centering the logo, i.e. you should ignore the part of the “t” that sticks out, and center the rest.
And you should also do some kerning in the phone number . . . remove some space before and after the “1”.
Huh. I’d’ve thought the other numbers needed more space. But I’m not designer.
Anyways, you say “correct.” Does this mean there’s some sort of principle that is being followed, as the word seems to imply?
Either way, as long as it looks evenly spaced.
Yes, the principle is that when things are aligning, they should ***look ***aligned, rather than aligning them mechanically. This is one of the basic rules of design, not limited to typography.
Heh. There’s no “incorrect” in arrangement of elements. There’s just what looks better or worse to the people involved.
Nice looking card Mr. goBuffalo. Either version is fine.
My own take is that the first example is better, but that the “neuer” needs to slide to the left a whisker to actually line up with the stem of the “t”. Or maybe even a whisker past it to counteract the motion of the sweeping “tail” on the “t”.
As for panache’s suggestion that “toothtag” isn’t optically centered, yeah that’s right, but…
If it got a tad bigger or looser you’d have to worry about how the “tag” graphic relates to the ascender of the “h” and the division between the blue and white letters of the logotype.
And or course you want to make sure the left edge of the circle doesn’t come close to lining up the left edge of the blue rectangle.
And if you adjust the spacing on both sides of “toothtag” you’ll need to worry about how the person’s name (flush right to align with the logotype) fits into the blue block.
Right now “dave mathews” fills the space nicely with just a touch more optical space on the left than on the right. How’s the design going to look with a longer name or a shorter name?
Have fun goBuffalo, but don’t sweat the details too much. Very nice design.
Another professional designer and typographer calling to endorse Panache45’s call. You align with the strongest graphic element, in this case the upright rather than the crossbar of the ‘t’ - otherwise, it will look off.
One thing I would add is that you have an awful lot going on on your card - your icon is centred with the name but your strapline aligns left and then your details align right. The blue box around your name also detracts from your logo.
With design, less is always more. Simplify things.
Forgot to add, if you want to read up on typography principles, there are many manuals on the market, but one I’d recommend is ‘Stop Stealing Sheep’ by the eminent German Designer Erik Spiekerman. The title refers to a quote from another typographer (whose name escapes me) who said something to the effect of ‘anyone who would letter space lower case type would steal sheep’, i.e., it’s a bad thing.
I think it was originally said by Frederic Goudy, but worded differently.
That’s the guy!
My only comment (well, aside from agreeing #1 looks better) is that the average person looking at this card is going to go “Wait, this is Dave’s card, but his e-mail is ‘steve@’. Is there a mistake somewhere here?”
If you’re not just putting in random names as placeholders here, you might want to consider how to deal with that (although perhaps beyond the scope of a business card designer).