REBEKAH RUGGERI
PREFACE
Typograghy is important to Graphic Design because text is the base of almost every design that a Graphic Designer creates. In order to get the point of the design across, it is necessary the the right font is picked in order to portay the idea. Not only does it need to go along with the narrative of the design, but it is also necessary that the text can be easily read whether is is in a brochure or on a billboard in the middle of Times Square in New York City.
The most important thing I have learned so far about type is how to arrange it in a way in a design that creates a story without even saying anything. Just the style of the text can say a lot more than the actual words.
HISTORY OF TYPE
-25,000 BC: The earliest cave drawings were discovered. -13,000 BC:Rock paintings were found as the first way of human communication. -3,000 BC: The Sumerians developed cuneiformsm which was a writing system that consisted of wedge shaped forms carved into clay and other hard surfaces. -1,000 BC: The Phoenicians developed twenty-two key sound of their language. -800 BC: The greeks embraced the Phoenician invention and took it a step further by adding vowels and naming the symbols. -114 AD: Roman letterform was created, and was very balanced. -1400’s: Johannes Gutenberg invented a system of moveable type that revolutionized the world and allowed for mass printing of materials- individual metal letters letterpress. -1500: Aldus Manutius for the first time invented the concept of pocket or portable books. He also developed the first italic typeface, one of the first variations. -Garamond produced the typefaces that are considered the typographical highligh of the 16th century in 1530 and 1545. Have been widely copied and are still produced and in use today. -1557: Granjon invented the first cursive typeface, which was built to simulate handwriting. -1734: Caslon issued the typeface bearing his name, straighter serifs and greater contrast between major and minor strokes. -1757: Bakersville introduced the first Transitional Roman which increased contrast between thick and thin strokes, had a nearly vertical stress in the counters and very sharp serifs. -1780: The first Modern Romans were developed by Didot and Bodoni. The moders carry the tradition to the extreme. Thin strokes are hairlines, plus a full vertical stress. -1815: Vincent Figgins designed a face with square serifs for the first time and this became known as the Egyptians or more recently known as the Slab Serifs. -1816: William Caslon IV produced the first typeface without serifs of any kind, but it was ridiculed at the time. -1880’s-Linotype: Invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler. Lines of type, no more single letters, this allowed newspapers to extend their deadlines. -1920: Fredric Goudy developed several innovative designs and became the world’s first ful time type designer. We owe the Broadway typeface to him. -1950-Phototype: Negatives/films meant no more metal letters, smaller equipment and better flexibility in typesetting. -1957: Max Miedinger, a Swiss artist created the most popular typeface of our time, Helvetica. The Swiss also championed the use of white space as a design element. -1980-Present: Digital Age
FONT FORMATS Type 1: -Postscript file, Reliable -Used by Graphic Designers -Former industry standards -256 available characters and fonts -Two components
True Type: -Windows Standard -System fonts (arial, verdana, tahoma) -Used by web designers -256 Available -One file contains both screen and printer -Hinting Technology -Not as reliable as Type 1
Open Type: -New Industry Standard -Enhanced mix of Type 1 and True Type -One file contains both screen and printer fonts -Includes more than 65,000 character -Foundries are recreating fonts in Open Type Format -Multi-platform support -Expanded character sets -Glyph substitutions
PARTS OF A CHARACTER
Arm- A horizontal stroke that is attached only at one end. Ascender- The part a lower case letter that is taller than the font’s x-height. Bar- The horizontal stroke in characters. Baseline- The imaginary line upon which a line of text rests. Bowl- A curved stroke that creates and enclosed space withing a character. Cap Height- The height of a capital letter from the baseline to the top of the letter. Descender- The part of a character that descends below the baseline. Serif- The lines extending off the main strokes of the characters of serif typefaces. Stem- Straight vertical stroke or main diagonal stroke in a letter that has no vertical. Shoulder- Curved stroke of the lowercase h, m and n. X-Height - The height of all lowercase letters.
ANATOMY OF TYPE
Legibility and Readability
Legibility- Referring to the design of a typeface, and its inherited traits, as a weight, x-height, size, shape, etc. Display types are more than likely not legible because the display type will not be used for smaller print.
Readability- Referring to the arrangement, size, line length and other factors that might affect someone who is trying to read your add or other product.
Classification of Typography Calligraphic-Letters associated with the art of calligraphy and the fonts developed from their production can be classified as calligraphic. Calligraphic letters can be, although do not have to be, classified as Chancery, Etruscan or Uncial. Chancery letters have slightly sloping narrow letters and were influential in the development of serif italics. Etruscan faces do not have lowercase letters and are based on an early form of Roman calligraphy in which the brush was held at a steep angle. The Celtic style, Uncial letters are created from holding the brush at an almost horizontal andle. There is only one case in Uncial designs, although they did become the basis for the devlopment of the roman lower case.
THIS IS CALLIGRAPHIC Blackletter-Blackletter typefaces are a script style of calligraphy that were popularized in Germany, although they were used all over Europe from the middle ages through the Renaissance. A highly ornamental style of typography, different styles are often associated with the different regions in which they were developed and used. The main classifications include Textura, Schwabacher, Cursiva and Fraktur. Textura is the most closely related to the calligraphic style and often includes a large number of ligatures. Schwabacher typefaces have a simplified, rounded stroke and several of their lowercase letters, including ‘o’, are often analagous forms.
THIS IS BLACKLETTER Serif-Serif typefaces were popular much earlier than sans-serif typefaces and include semi-structural details on many of the letters. People often refer to them as feet, although that is in no way a proper anatomical term when referring to typography. There are many different classifications for serifed typefaces, often named for their origins, including Grecian, Latin, Scotch, Scotch Modern, French Old Style, Spanish Old Style, Clarendon and Tuscan. Some of these classifications can also be placed into broader classifications of typography including the styles below.
THIS IS A SERIF FONT Old Style-The Old Style or Humanist serif typfaces developed in the 15th and 16th centuries and are characterized by a low contrast in stroke weight and angled serifs. Example: Garamond
This is an Old Style Font Transitional- The bridge for the gap between Old Style and Modern seridef typefaces, Trasitional type has a more vertical axis and sharper serifs and humanist form. Example: Bakersville.
THIS IS TRASITIONAL Modern- Modern serifed typefaces developed in the late 18th and early 19th century and were a radical break from the traditional typography of the time with high contrast of strokes, straight serifs and a totally vertical axis. Example: Bodoni
THIS IS MODERN Egyptian- Egyptian, or slab-serifed, typefaces have heavy serifs and were used for decorative purposes and headlines because the heavy serifs impeded legibility at small point sizes. Example: Rockwell
THIS IS EGYPTIAN
Classification Cont. Sans-Serif- Just exactly like what it sounds, a sans-serif typeface is a typefaces without serifs. They can be found in history as early as the 5th century, although the classical revival of the Italian Renaissance return to old style serified typefaces made them virtualy obsolete until the 20th century. There was much development of sans-serif typefaces in Germany as a revolt against the ornate lettering of the popular Blackletter styles which led to sans-serif typefaces based on the purity of geometric forms. Much like serifed typefaces there are many different classifications for sans-serif typefaces including Gothic, Grotesque, Doric, Linear, Swiss and Geometric.
THIS IS SANS SERIF Humanist-Humanist characteristics include proportions that were molded on old style typefaces, open strokes and a slightly higher contrast in strokes in comparison to other sans-serif typefaces. Example: Gill Sans
THIS IS HUMANIST Transitional-Closely related to the characteristics of transtitional serifed typefaces, these typefaces include a more upright axis and a uniform stroke. Example: Helvetica
THIS IS TRANSITIONAL
Geometric-Geometric sans-serif typefaces, as their name implies, are based on geometric forms. In some cases letters, such as the lower case ‘o’ are perfect geometric forms. Example: Futura
THIS IS GEOMETRIC Script- Script typefaces are based on the forms made with a flexible brush or pen and often have varied stroke reminiscent of handwriting. There are many different classifications including Brush Script, English Roundhand and Rationalized Script. However, the broadest forms of classification are Formal Script and Casual Script. Formal Scripts are based on the developments and writings of 17th and 18th century handwriting masers such as Bickham, Shelley and Snell. Casual scripts developed in the 20th century as a result of using a wet pen rather than a pen nib.
THIS IS SCIPT Pixel- Pixel fonts developed from the invention of the computer and were based on the on-screen display format of pixels. They are based on an array of pizels, are often called Bitmap fonts and are often designed only for a specific point size. Many type foundries offer a selection of bitmap fonts and some create only Bitmap fonts.
Text Alignments Flush Left-This is the most comment setting for latin alphabets such as ours, this is the style that is the most readable because our eyes are the most used to it FLUSH LEFT Flush Right-A more difficult text to read since our eyes want to red from left to right, this should only be used when a specific design objective is desired. FLUSH RIGHT Justified-Used to create a block of text so that both margins align. When lines of type are stretched this way, the color, texture, and readability of the type can be degraded tremendously by the white spaces the is inserted to align both edges
THIS IS JUSTIFIED Centered Type-This style can be very effective for short blocks of copy, such as headlines, subheads, titles, invitations, announcements and poetry.
THIS IS CENTERED Wrap around type- This is type that aligns around the contour of an illustration, photo or graphic element.
Contoured Type-Align to a particular shape for aesthetic purpose.
Hyphens and Dashes
Hyphens are used to hyphenate words that break at the end of a line/ sentence or to connect different sections of a compound word. -One-Three per paragraph -No more than two in a row -Use manual adjustments as necessary
En Dash -Medium in length -Least commonly used -Indicates ranges: time, years, dates, numbers etc
Em Dash -Longest in length -Indicates a new thought in a sentence -Do not create it using two hyphens
Windows & Orphans Window-Short line at the end of a paragraph (one or two words) This is what a window looks like Orphan-A single word or sentence appearing at the beginning or end of a column or page. This is what an orphan looks like
Kerning, Tracking & Leading Kerning-The adjustment of space between two characters -Kerning pairs built into fonts -Elements that need kerning: Display, Punctuation and Numbers Tracking-Adjusting the overall spave between two letters in a block of text -Smaller text needs positive tracking -Larger text needs negative tracking Leading-The vertical space between lines of type from baseline to baseline -Too much leading can make text hard to read -Leading depends on your amount of copy and your layout
Do’s and Don’t’s
Do’s:
-Leave white (negative) space -Consider how the design will be seen or used -Get familiar with a few typefaces or type families -Consider text proportion -Consider production issues -Consider the size of your type
Dont’s: -DON’T set copy to fit... unless it has meaning -DON’T tint type with thin strokes -DON’T distort type -DON’T skip proofing