a newsletter for advanced typography students
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Course Description
Terms, Rules, and Standards Typographic Syntax
Contrast
Process of arranging elements into a cohesive whole. The oder of study starts with the letter, then progresses to the word, line, column, and finally margin.
In order to create visually interesting pieces, you must use contrast to set the piece apart. By adding areas of contrast, you are creating an attraction of the eye to that area of the piece. This can work to an advantage in many cases.
Letter Existing in various weights, sizes, and shapes, the letter is a well drawn form exhibiting subtlety and precision. It is the unit that distinguishes one family of type from another.
Word By defenition, a word can mean anything. It could express an idea, event, or and object. On the other hand, from a design aspect, a word can be molded and formed to look like what it means.
Visual Hierarchy This is the practice of aranging elements of type on the page from the most prominent to the least prominent. The most prominent element on this page is the header at the top of the page. You can tell by the size of the type and the placement of the type.
Welcom to Honors Advanced Typography In this course you will learn the in’s and out’s of typography and the logic behind a page layout. You will learn about the many rules of type, the historical classifications of type, and the parts of the letter, to name a few. Although a demanding class, it is a fun one. Along with learning everything there is to know about type, you will be given a few projects to help you with the learning process. For example, the final project was this newsletter. This newsletter took a lot of arguing with myself when it came to color and design, but I decided to keep it simple and easy to understand. I really wanted the typography and the layout of the piece to speak for itself. Another example of a project is the picture on page three. This picture is of the letter A, but it looks like it has white paint splattered on it. On the other hand, the project was the create a “flower letter.” This means the assignment was the take a letter and find a flower that’s name started with that letter. Then we had to mold them together.
Unfortunately, those college dollars with be hard at work because there is a book for the class, but do not get too upset right off the bat. This book is actually very useful. So useful, that I have decided to keep it and to use it in my professional career for referece material. There is so much useful and interesting information in the book that makes it worth the arm and leg you have to pay for it. For example, some of the information in the newsletter came from the book. Well, welcome yet again, and I hope this newsletter helps you with some of Honors Advanced Typography. Or, maybe it will just peek your interest a bit to explore the world of typography a litter deeper or look at posters and magazines a little bit differently.
Grid In order to create properly organized peieces of art, you must utilize the use of a typographic grid. by using a grid, you are making the piece feel organized while not being boring. As you may have noticed, this piece has been put into a four column grid.
Typographic Character Diagrams
Apex The peak of the triangle of an uppercase A. Shoulder A cerved stroke projecting from a stem Stroke Any of the linear elements within a letterform; originally, any mark or dash made by the movement of a pen or brush in writing. Serif Short strokes that extend from and at an angle to the upper and lwer ends of the major strokes of a letterform.
Crossbar The horizontal stroke connecting two sides of the leffterform (as in e, A, and H) or bisecting the main stroke (as in f, and t). Hairline The thinnest stroke within a typeface that has strokes of varying weights. Fillet The contoured edge that connects the serif and stem in bracketed serifs.
Ear A small stroke that projects from the upper right side of the bowl of the lowercase roman g. Eye The enclosed part of the lwercase e. A good way to remember this is eye starts with an e.
Bowl A curved stroke enclosing the counterform of a letter. An exception is the bottom form of the lowercase g, which is called a loop. Descender A stroke on a lowercase letterform that falls below the baseline.
Historical Type Classifications Old Style Type “Humanist”
The roman typefaces of the 15th and 16th centuries emulated classical calligraphy. The typeface displayed at the left and below is “Garamond” witch was created in the 16th century by Claude Garamond.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Transitional Type
Transitional typfaces have sharper serifs and a more vertical axis than the old style typeface letters. The typeface “Baskerville”, displayed at the left and below, was considered shocking when it was introduced in the mid 18th centrury.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Modern Type
Useful Resources World Wide Web Typographic Design: Form and Communication http://www.typographicdesign4e.com/ DaFont: Free Online Font Database http://www.dafont.com I Love Typography http://www.ilovetypography.com
In the late 18th and early 19th century, mondern typefaces were introduce such as “Bodoni”, displayed at the left and below. When these were introduced, they were considered radically abtract because of the thin, straight serifs; vertical axis; and sharp contrast from thick to thin.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Egyptian Type “Slab Serif”
For use in advertising, many Egyptian fonts were introduced in the 19th century. Egyptian fonts are distiguishable by their heavy, slablike serifs, like “Courier” displayed at the left and below.
San Serif Type
Becoming popular in the 20th century, sans serif type is broken down into different cantegories of itself. Humanist Sans Serif like “Gill Sans”, Transitional Sans Serif like “Helvetica”, and Geometric Sans Serif like “Futura.” The font displayed at the left and below is “Futura.” It is easily spotted as a Geometric Sans Serif type because the O’s are perfect circles.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Books Typographic Design: Form and Communication - 4th edition by Rob Carter, Ben Day, and Philip Meggs Thinking With Type: A critical guide for designers, writers, editors, and students by Ellen Lupton
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