Forced Narrow

Forced Narrow is a typographic technique where text is artificially compressed horizontally to create a condensed appearance, often through digital manipulation rather than through proper typeface design. This practice, while sometimes employed for space-saving purposes, is generally considered problematic in professional typography as it distorts the carefully crafted proportions and design integrity of the original typeface. Unlike properly designed condensed or narrow typefaces, where each character is thoughtfully crafted to maintain readability and aesthetic balance while occupying less horizontal space, forced narrowing applies uniform horizontal compression that can compromise letter recognition, legibility, and the overall visual harmony of the text. The technique emerged with the advent of digital typography and desktop publishing software, which made it technically possible to modify type dimensions freely, though not always with desirable results. Professional typographers and designers typically advise against this practice, as it can lead to irregular character spacing, distorted letter forms, and compromised readability, particularly at smaller sizes. The practice is sometimes observed in amateur design work or in situations where space constraints are severe and proper condensed typefaces are unavailable. In the context of design competitions, including the A' Design Award, such modifications to typefaces are generally discouraged as they demonstrate a lack of understanding of fundamental typographic principles and can negatively impact the overall quality of design work.

Author: Lucas Reed

Keywords: typography, condensed type, digital manipulation, legibility, typeface distortion, character spacing

Help us improve the Design+Encyclopedia, contribute your alternative definition for Forced Narrow today!

About the Design+Encyclopedia
The Design+Encyclopedia is a crowd-sourced reference of information on design. Unlike other crowd-sourced publications on design, the Design Encyclopedia is edited and actively monitored and publishing is only possible after review of submitted texts. Furthermore, editors of the Design Encyclopedia are mostly consisting of award winning designers who have proven their expertise in their design respective fields. Information posted at design encyclopedia is copyrighted, you are not granted a right to use the text for any commercial reasons, attribution is required. If you wish to contribute to the design encyclopedia, please first register or login to A' Design Award and then start a new design encyclopedia entry.