The Craft of Kerning: Why Letter Spacing Is Never Finished

What Kerning Actually Is

Kerning is the adjustment of space between individual letter pairs to achieve visually even spacing throughout a word or phrase. It's different from tracking (which adjusts spacing uniformly across all letters) and different from the metrics built into the typeface (which the font designer sets for common letter pairs).

In most body text at small sizes, the font's built-in metrics handle spacing adequately. In display text, headlines, logos, and any type meant to be examined closely, those metrics are a starting point that requires manual refinement.

The Optical Standard

The goal of kerning is visual evenness — equal apparent space between each pair of letters. This is not the same as equal measured space. Different letter combinations create different optical space based on their shapes.

VA pairs (like "WAVE") need to be pulled significantly tighter than VV pairs to look the same. LC combinations have different natural spacing than LL. The eye is the instrument; the measurements are a rough guide.

Common Problem Pairs

Certain letter combinations consistently cause optical spacing problems in display settings. Combinations involving diagonal letters (V, W, A, Y) and adjacent letters (T, L, F) are typically the worst offenders. Capital letters followed by lowercase letters create different problems than all-caps settings.

I know these problem areas from experience and address them actively when setting display type, rather than waiting to notice them in a final proof.

Kerning in Logo Work

Wordmark and logotype kerning is different from text setting kerning because the letter spacing in a mark becomes a fixed property that needs to work across all applications. Kerning that looks right at the mark's display size needs to still feel right when the mark is very small.

I kern wordmarks at multiple sizes simultaneously — viewing at both intended display size and at smaller application sizes — to ensure the spacing decisions work across the range.

When to Stop

Kerning can be pursued indefinitely. There's always another pair that could be slightly tighter or looser. At some point the eye stops registering incremental adjustments as improvements.

My rule: if I'm making a change I can't see clearly after looking away and returning to the work fresh, I've reached the point of diminishing returns. Stop.

The Proofreading Flip

One useful technique for catching kern problems: view the type upside down or mirrored. This removes your reading comprehension from the evaluation and forces you to see the letter spacing as pure visual pattern. Uneven spacing becomes obvious when you can't read the words.

Kerning is boring, careful work. It's also what separates headlines that look professional from headlines that look almost professional.