Look at the word AV in a poorly set headline. The two letters may drift apart, leaving an awkward gap. Kerning fixes that. It adjusts the space between individual pairs of characters to make them look evenly spaced. The goal is optical, not mathematical. Letters have different shapes. A round O and a straight L need different spacing than two straight letters like H and I.

Type designers build kerning pairs into fonts, specifying adjustments for combinations like AV, Ta, Yo, and Wa. Designers also kern manually when working with display type. Logos often need custom kerning because the letterforms are large and any imbalance is obvious. Software offers automatic kerning, but it is a starting point, not a solution. The eye is the final judge.

When kerning matters most

• Large headlines and display type.
• Logos and wordmarks.
• All-caps text with awkward pairs.
• Any text where spacing looks uneven.

Kerning is invisible when done well. When done badly, it makes even a beautiful typeface look amateur. The difference is often a fraction of a millimeter.