The Personal
Alphabet Adrian Gauci of
Unit 17 Typographic Skills Task 1 HND GD1
a
The Ultra Light version of Helvetica Neau is the most version that I use because of the elegant and unobstructed thin nature. The generous spaces generated with its thinness allows space for the eyes to breath. The horizontal and vertical endings of the terminal and spur are perpendicular, reducing the confusion when having multiple characters.
Name Helvetica Neue Ultra Light Date 1983 Designer René Kerfante Publisher Adobe
b The character’s spur is very defined. Due to it’s small nature, the character looks better when small. This also helps the printing and the legibility of the letter when it is printed in a small size. Also, the Cap height is shorter than other fonts making it unique in it’s length as a Sans-Serif font.
Name Trebuchet Date 1996 Designer Vincent Connare Publisher Ascender Corp
Name ITC Avant Garde Gothic Book Designer Edward Benguiat Publisher Adobe
Although the font is quite wide, certain characters like this are built basely on the basic shape of the circle. This is easily more accepted because of the perfection in the roundness. The uniform contrast in each part of the character makes it even rounder and makes it look more like an ellipse rather than a circle.
Name Univers Ultra Condensed Thin Date 1957 Designer Adrian Frutiger Publisher Adobe
The condensed version is very interesting, not in its legibility but in its elegance. The Cap height is much smaller than the x-height making it easier to read. The joints are slightly tapered making it easier on the eye because of the condensed style. The condensed style gives an industrial feel as though the it is packed and forms a block.
The oval shape together with the very high contrast makes this character stand out by its own. It’s bold nature makes the white space defined better and smaller details are exaggerated. The vertical white space of the bowl contrasts with the rest of the character and makes it more interesting.
Name Sphinx RR Solid Designer Steve Jackaman Publisher Red Rooster Collection
The calligraphic rounded shape of the “f” makes it very unique. The thick line forming the character is not common in joint calligraphy. The character on it’s own is very mysterious because it is written in a different way than we normally write. On the other hand, joint calligraphy is unique to each person.
Name RadioTime Date 2009 Designer John Moore Publisher Sudtipos
Name Priori Serif OT Regular Date 2003 Designer Johnathan Barnbrook, Marcus Leis Allions Publisher Emigre
Priori is a Serif font full of style. It’s features are very unique in a way that it mixes traditional serif motifs together with non-western motifs. The harmony between the curves and the sharp edged, pointed bar makes it very stylish. The extension to the bowl gives it a calligraphic aspect as well.
Name Gothic Outline Date Designer Publisher URW++
A plain H in it’s pure form. The outline of the character is continuous like how a circle is made. Also, the outline helps in reducing weight to the character due to the fact that an black H makes it even heavier than the other characters.
Lack of legibility is typical of script fonts. Buttermilk is a very geometric script font with ligature. The italic orientation, the curved nature, and the ligature makes the character very defined which clearly shows the aspect of the “I� when left by itself. The tittle, being a circle, gives it a more geometric look.
Name Buttermilk Date 2009 Designer Jessica Hische Publisher Jessica Hische
Freehand script fonts are low in legibility but are full of character. The anarchic feel of the letter does not obey any of the rules but is still recognised. The way it is written makes the character very sketch with the least amount of order when written.
Name Rats Regular Date 1997 Designer Jean Evans Publisher Font Bureau
Name Gill Sans Standard Light Designer Eric Gill Publisher Adobe
This “K� is best for its simplicity. Sometimes the joints of a K are complicated but this one is a fairly simple one. The nearly symmetrical aspect of the right part makes it very simple. The upper part does not line up with the leg though. In fact the leg is slightly more elongated.
Name Courier New Designer Howard Kettler, Adrian Frutiger Publisher Ascender Corp.
Inspired from a typewriter, the terminals are quite exaggerated. In fact the larger the font gets, the more big they look in comparison to the rest of the character. Although the terminal size was for an utilitarian aspect, this typeface became a cult because of the various relations to writers and story-tellers.
The very high contrast of this character is the most prominent feature of the font. This feature gives the “M� a very elegant and chic look. The exaggerated length of the terminals give it a contemporary look while still keeping the classic motif. Due to its very light and heavy parts of the letter, the font is best used in large formats.
Name Modern No. 20 Designer Edward Benguiat Publisher Bitstream
The ligature of the letter makes it look exactly how it is supposed to be written in real life. The uniform weight of the character and the space between the stems makes it easier to be read. Also the x-height is very low compared to the width of the character giving it a more defined look.
Name Alright Date 2004 Publisher K-Type
Name Brauhaus Regular Date 2004 Designer Matt Desmond Publisher MADType
The block-inspired, hexagon shaped “O” gets most of it’s uniqueness in the uniformly pointed corners. The stroke effect adds to depth to the weight. The elongated form matches classic and gothic themes but the reduction of the many typical motifs makes it adaptable to many situations and can give it also a more contemporary feel.
Name Bryant Regular Date 2005 Designer Eric Olson Publisher Process Type Foundry
The child-like aspect of the font are the rounded endings of the descender and terminal. Together with the circular bowl and the uniform weight, it gives it a playful look, which can be used to creative and children’s projects. The reduced length of the descender also helps to make the font more friendly with it’s look.
When having single characters, sometimes having a symmetrical shape makes an interesting twist to it. The typeface is very standard looking on the other hand making it more usable. Only with proper use can the “Q” be identified because of its unusual position. Similar orientations could only be creating by physically altering the character.
Name Peignot Demi Date 1937 Designer Adolphe Mouron Cassandre Publisher Adobe
This character has a lot of classic inspiration involved. While some typefaces are overly used for body text, this font is a very interesting replacement, particularly it’s “r”. The stroke like effect of the finial gives it a more script-like effect while still keeling the weight in the right position.
Name Perpetua Standard Date 1925-32 Designer Eric Gill Publisher Adobe
Name Klavika Light Date 2004 Designer Eric Olson Publisher Process Type Foundry
The bends that create the finials and the spine create a very specific “s”. This makes it very different from other fonts. The aesthetic similarity to the a digital font is present from the uniform weight throughout the line and the vertical, horizontal and sharp bends that form the letter.
Name Narziss Regular Date 2009 Designer Hubert Jochham Publisher Hubert Jocham Type
A very elegant “t”. This is visible through the use of very high contrast in the weight. By keeping a very thin crossbar, the character appears longer and straighter. The angled top side of the ascender makes it look as though it was not merely cut out while the finial tapers the character to a smooth finish.
The simple transition between the different weights of the character make it very uniform. The light part of this “U” of good contrast with the heavy part making it usable both in small font size or large. The serifs are of different width to adjust properly to the size.
Name Bauer Bodoni Date 1926 Designer Giambattista Bodoni, Heinrich Jost Publisher Bitstream
The decorative victorian styled font is to be used at very specific situations. The decoration that fills up the black space makes it look as though it is made using lithography. The black outline and the shadow pops out and separates the character’s detail to the background making it more readable.
Name Roman Ornamented Date 2008 Designer Paulo W Publisher Intellecta Design
Name Aeronaut Base Date 2009 Designer Georg Herold-Wildfellner Publisher FaceType
The “W� is inspired from Old English. The styling though is not very similar, together with the stroke effect. The joints have been adjusted to balance the weight of the stems. The style of this character can be easily used in different situations because of the influences both from the past and the present.
Name Akimoto Date 2008 Designer Ossi Gustafsson Publisher Hiekka Graphics
The slab font is inspired from the far-western culture, but a slight twist is added. The white space that separates the heavy black, is stylized in a very discreet way. The very heavy parts of the font make it wider than normal and creates a bold effect that easily leaves it mark on the viewer.
Baskerville is popular replacement to some popular serif fonts. It has very harmonious weight throughout and there are no sharp corners which sometimes can look quite hard in some texts. The “y” has an interesting descender because of the curved part. The serifs are thick enough to adapt easily to the weight of the rest of the letter.
Name Baskerville Roman Designer John Baskerville, George William Jones Publisher Bitstream
The handcrafted, curved “Z” from Liza, is an has an interesting form. The decorative loop is very random but it still keeps order and a presentable form factor. The different weight in the character suggest that the font is made using a brush which also shows the fluidity of the curves.
Name Liza Standard Date 2009 Designer Bas Jacobs, Akiem Helmling Publisher Underware
Name Frutiger Roman Date 1976 Designer Adrian Frutiger Publisher Linotype
Frutinger has the simplest number possible in the gothic style and still keeps it definitive from other characters. In fact may mathematicians use this symbol to avoid misinterpretation of certain numbers. The angle of the terminal is neither close nor far enough to the stem making it stand out as a number on its own.
Name Graphique Ar Date 1946 Designer Hermann Eidenbenz Publisher ARTypes
The elongated form of the number “2� is elegant. The upper curvature of the number balances the smother curvature of the stem. The outline and the shadow creates a balance between its actual weight and the shadow, creating both contrast and emphasis at the same time.
Using a stencil font is not a very interesting thing to do if you are not going to use it as an actual stencil. Luckily the joints in this number “3� create a very interesting effect. While the number is a very normal Slur Serif, the joints help to balance out its heavy weight and divides the letter into 3 parts.
Name Sra. Stencil Date 2008 Designer Sergio Ramirez Publisher Sardiez
Thin, handmade and yet very elegant. The elongated effect of the ultra thin number 4, gives a certain aspect of do-it-yourself manner but still keeping everything in a clean manner. The character is still very readable while still keeping a chic anarchic feel, unlike many hand generated fonts.
Name Strangelove Text Date 2009 Designer Marcus Sterz Publisher FaceType
Name Ambroise Standard Regular Date 2001-2008 Designer Jean François Porchez Publisher Porchez Typofonderie
This number “5” as a letter head would work nicely because of it’s decoration. The decorations are not over ornate while still keeping certain characters. Certain parts of the weight of the number gives it a playful look and also with its exaggerations to certain aspects of the serifs.
Name Deibi Date 2009 Designer Wete
A slight variation to the x-height of a character can impact the feel of the character. The number “6” looks good both at a large or small case. More interestingly is that the font is rendered in a way as though it is cut out from cardboard in a very neat manner but still keeping certain irregularities that suggest that it has been hand-cut.
The curve formed in this “7” is very interesting because of its three dimensionality. This pop-out effect is easily achieved using an illusion with a white outline. To reduce clutter because of this effect, the weight of the font is uniform throughout. Although it looks as though it is made by hand, the font looks more as though it is modelled which defies the boundaries of two dimensional type.
Name Sneaker Script Date 2009 Designer Ryoichi Tsunekawa Publisher Flat-it
This heavy character has a high contrast in its weight making it very interesting, both in how it is generated and even for its looks. The “8” is bold enough to be presented on its own. The joints are rather thin for its size making it quite difficult to use in smaller sizes.
Name Sahara Bodoni Date 1996 Designer Bob Alonso Publisher BA Graphics
Name Bruce double Pica Date 2009 Designer Paulo W Publisher Intellecta Design
This ornamented “9” is rather intriguing. The descender covers only half of the character which makes it quite different from many other fonts. The low contrast weight tapers the descender nicely with a curve. Also, the ornaments on both sides of the bowl make it stand out even more from some fonts making it more playful.
Name Memoriam Date 2009 Designer Patrick Griffin Publisher Canada Type
This extremely high contrast of the “0” is very delicate as though it will soon break up or vanish. Maybe it is because it is a zero and that means absence. The weight at the thinnest part does not allow the font to be used in a small scale making it look more like a “C”. On the other hand, since it is asymmetric it can adapt to some idealised curved motifs.