In my last post, I explored stylistic alternatives in Pumped Up Kicks and how changing individual letters can transform a design. This time, I’m looking at ligatures: combinations of letters designed to work together as a single glyph. They give you another way to change the shape of a word, sometimes quite dramatically.
A different A or E can give a word a new look. A ligature lets me redesign how two letters fit together. That’s where things get interesting.
What is a ligature?
A ligature is a single glyph that replaces two or more letters. A glyph is the drawn form you see on screen or on the page.
Some ligatures improve spacing or prevent awkward collisions. Others give a letter combination a distinctive design.
The familiar lowercase fi is a good example. In some serif fonts, the overhanging top of the f can crowd the dot of the i. A ligature gives the designer control over that whole combination.
Here’s how that looks in Nimbus Roman.
On the left, f and i remain separate glyphs. On the right, the font replaces them with one designed combination.
It’s a small adjustment, but those details matter when you’re reading line after line of text.
How I use ligatures in Pumped Up Kicks
I’m usually after a more obvious change.
With Pumped Up Kicks, I use ligatures to explore how letters can tuck into each other, share space and form a more interesting shape. The combination becomes something I can design in its own right.
Here’s the uppercase FI pair.
The I fits beneath the top arm of the F. You still read FI, but the silhouette changes.
That’s the part I enjoy. I can make a word feel more individually drawn, even though you’ve typed it using a font.
There’s nothing wrong with consistent, orderly lettering. Plenty of jobs need exactly that. But when I’m designing a big, expressive display font, I want more possibilities than the same letters lining up in the same way every time.
What happens inside a word?
An isolated pair shows you the construction. A complete word shows you what it does for a design.
Take KICKOFF.
In the version on the right, the O nestles into the lower part of the K. The spelling stays the same, but the shape and rhythm of the word change.
Only the KO ligature is enabled in this comparison, so you can see exactly what that one substitution contributes.
The LI combination works in a similar way. Here it is in LIGHT, LITTLE, GLITTER, SLIDE and BLISS.
The I sits within the space above the foot of the L. Depending on where it appears, that combination changes the beginning, middle or end of the word.
Same ligature. Five different words to play with.
20 ligatures in short words
Here are 20 more examples using short words. Each word uses only the named ligature, so you can see what that particular combination does.
This example uses AM in JAM, AR in DARK and AS in FAST.
This example uses AT in CAT, EA in BEAM and ED in RED.
This example uses EE in BEE, EN in HEN and ER in HER.
This example uses ES in YES, ET in JET and FF in OFF.
This example uses FI in FIZZ, HA in HAZE and HE in HERO.
This example uses IT in HIT, KI in KISS and KO in KOI.
This example uses LA in FLAME and LI in BLISS.
How many ligatures does Pumped Up Kicks have?
Pumped Up Kicks Regular, version 1.001, contains 43 base ligatures and three alternate ligature designs — 46 ligature glyphs altogether.
The 43 letter combinations are:
- AM, AR, AS, AT, EA
- ED, EE, EN, ER, ES
- ET, FF, FI, HA, HE
- IT, KI, KO, KY, LA
- LE, LF, LI, LL, LO
- LU, ME, MP, NT, RA
- RN, SI, SS, ST, SY
- TE, TH, TI, TL, UP
- VE, WA, WE
The three additional designs are alternate versions of AT, LA and TI, available in Stylistic Set 1.
Here’s the complete collection.
Although these combinations have a decorative purpose, the 43 base ligatures use the font’s Standard Ligatures feature. That’s the setting you need to switch on in your design application.
How to turn on ligatures in Photoshop
For this article, I’m concentrating on desktop Photoshop. Otherwise, we’ll be here until somebody brings sandwiches.
To apply Pumped Up Kicks ligatures automatically:
- Select the Type tool and choose Pumped Up Kicks Regular.
- Highlight the text you want to change.
- Open Window → Character.
- Open the Character panel’s menu.
- Choose OpenType → Standard Ligatures.
Photoshop will substitute the supported letter combinations in the selected text. You can find these steps in Adobe’s OpenType instructions.
You can switch the same option off to compare the result. That’s useful when you’re deciding whether a particular word benefits from the combined shapes.
Can you leave ligatures switched on?
Yes — you can enable them before typing.
Adobe says that when you change an OpenType setting without selecting text, it applies to the new text you create. Choose your font and enable Standard Ligatures before entering your words.
Treat this as a text-formatting setting rather than a promise that every existing text layer or future document will use it. Check the setting when you start a new piece of work.
Get to know the Glyphs panel
You really should get to know this panel. It shows you what’s actually inside a font, including designs you might never discover by typing the alphabet.
To insert a glyph manually in Photoshop:
- Open Window → Glyphs.
- Choose Pumped Up Kicks Regular in the panel.
- Place the text cursor where you want the glyph.
- Find the ligature or alternate design.
- Double-click it to insert it.
If you’re replacing an existing pair, remove those two letters first so you don’t end up with both versions. Adobe’s Glyphs panel guide explains how to insert glyphs.
The Glyphs panel is also a useful way to inspect the alternate AT, LA and TI designs individually.
When should you use them?
Try ligatures in short, prominent text: a poster headline, a packaging name, a T-shirt graphic or a bold title.
Here’s CLASH in three versions. The bottom example combines stylistic alternatives with the alternate LA ligature from Stylistic Set 1.
Start with the word you actually need. Switch ligatures on, compare the result and see whether the new combination helps the lettering.
Sometimes it does. Sometimes the separate letters work better. You’re allowed to turn the clever bit off.
Ligatures also won’t appear in every word. Pumped Up Kicks substitutes the combinations listed above; it doesn’t invent a new pairing whenever two letters happen to stand next to each other.
That’s ligatures in a nutshell
Ligatures give me another way to shape a word. I can work on the relationship between letters as well as the letters themselves.
In Pumped Up Kicks, that means combinations that tuck together, change the silhouette and give your lettering more character.
Have a play with Pumped Up Kicks. Type a few words, switch the ligatures on and see what changes.
Kick on.
Written by Simon Stratford, type designer and graphic designer. These are my opinions, reached after too little sleep and too much coffee. You can take them or leave them. You can also follow my antics on Instagram, although “antics” may be overselling what is largely pictures of type, design and the occasional coffee.