Concord and contrast

There are two main ways to approach going about a typographic project: concord and contrast. There has to be a decision whether to have uniformity of appearance between typographical elements, or contrast between them. Concord is the blending of typographical elements to give a uniform impression. To achieve complete concord, the same type family must be used, the borders and decorative elements must match in tonal value, and the white space must be evenly balanced. As an example, if one used Bodoni as a typeface, since it has thick and thin lines, to achieve concord it would be necessary for other elements, like the border or illustrations, to also have thick and thin lines (Dair 50).

Contrast is the opposite of concord in that it is the unity of differences.

For contrast to be effective, it needs to be sharp. Subtle and meek differences between typefaces will result in conflict—something the typographer wants to stay away from. If you mix two typefaces from the same category, like Roman Old Style, the result will likely be that the faces are too different to have concord but too similar to have contrast. This result is unpleasing to the eye. If you use a directness and a concern for function, you have a good chance of achieving effective contrast (Berryman 28).

There are many elements through which one can achieve either concord or contrast. Some of those elements are size, weight, letter structure, form, color, texture and direction. When contrasting type, you are not limited to just changing one of these variables, but you can adjust multiple elements at the same time. For example, you can contrast weight, structure and form by having an upper case bold sans serif letter with a lowercase script. One common use of contrast that newspapers use is the contrast of size when the first initial letter of a story is enlarged. This is done to draw the reader into the story.

Image source: http://sofia.fhda.edu/gallery/typography/quizzes/images/contrast.gif