rockwell type specimen book

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class

overtones

attendent critiques

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&&&&&& class overtones

attendent critiques

ockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell std ockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell std ockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell std ockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell td rockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell std abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ockwell std rockwell std rockwell std ockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell std B C Drockwell E F G H I J Kstd LMN OPQRSTUVW XYZ ockwell std rockwellAstd rockwell std a b cstd d e frockwell ghijklm p q r s t u std vwxyz ockwell std rockwell stdn orockwell ockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell std rockwell A B C D E F Gstd H I J K L M N O P Q R S T /////////////////// UVWXYZ

full title

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

erica ochoa ***************** text from elliot earls 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8@@@@@@@@ 9 0 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ??????????????????

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; 9 0 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

“this monkey’s gone to heaven—if the devil is six then god is seven”

Things have changed.

Type design light, 22 pt

has lost its urgency,

bold, 38 pt

No longer do designers lust

regular, 13 pt

and has regained its

soul.

regular, 31 pt

for the quick buck and easy fame that a signature font will bestow.

bold, 11.75 pt

bold condensed, 28.75 pt

bold condensed, 62 pt

Everywhere you turn, there it is. regular, 17 pt

In the mid to late 90s, one of those ideas was

type design bold, 11.5 pt

bold condensed, 53 pt

Type design was viewed as THE shortcut to

graphic design graphic design fame, fame, light, regular, 13 pt

italic, 27 pt

and everybody wanted a piece of the action. light, 23 pt

regular, 16 pt

regular, 48 pt

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

light, 16 pt

12 3 4 5 6 78 9 0

It seems as if there is always one idea or medium that is inescapable.

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuv wxyz

light, 29.25 pt

regular, 12 pt

I learned that the craft of drawing by hand is still a most valuable asset when it comes to designing fonts, and that computer tricks are a poor substitute for intent.

I know what I’m talking about because I was there, and I did inhale, happily indulging in the so-called typographic computer “experiments” of the 90s.

light, 11/18

extra bold, 20.5 pt, 28 pt

vernacular interpretation extra bold, 18 pt, 13 pt

formal

extrapolation. extra bold, 29 pt, 14.5 pt

How thick? bold, 74 pt

How black? How thin? Thinner? regular, 32 pt

thin, 32 pt

bold condensed, 30 pt

Thicker! Bigger!

Blacker! extra bold, 41 pt

italic, 56 pt

bold condensed, 120 pt

Smaller! Whiter! Grayer? Closer?

Farther! bold italic, 26 pt

light italic, 12 pt, 31 pt, 12 pt

revival

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

historical

1234567890

italic, 10/14

light, 10/15

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

When an individual sets out upon the arduous journey of designing a typeface, I suggest that the generative formal impulse can be located in one of three areas:

The hand moves, the mark changes, and the eye responds. The eye, and how it relates to mark making, or more accurately, how it responds to the mark made,is the most important thing. I am not suggesting that the type design process necessarily adheres to a strict taxonomic progression. And I’m certainly not an advocate of a rigid categorical approach to design of any form.

While making marks on paper, the internal nonlinguistic dialog between retina and cortex may go something like this: regular, 9 pt

light italic, 29 pt

bold, 29 pt

condensed, 31 pt

extra bold, 78 pt

Tighter? Too tight! bold condensed, 45 pt

bold italic, 51 pt

The simple process of making marks on paper is less of an intellectual process than a biological process.

One must cultivate a feel for proportion, solidity, balance, etc. Excuse the digression, but when I talk about developing a feel, I know that some of you are rolling your eyes. Some of you may think that the term “feel” might be likened to the term “taste,” with all of its

class overtones and attendant critiques. bold, 12.25 pt

Well, back the f@*k up. I’m suggesting that one

develops a feel not magically, or through attendance at the finest schools, but through rigorous application, and through working damn hard at acquiring a set of very concrete skills, then forgetting them. light, 10.25/17

italic, 13.25/19

The question I am most often asked by students is some variation of the following:

“

regular, 12 pt

Where do you begin?

”

How do you get an idea or a concept for a typeface?

My answer is twofold. First, never use the term “concept” in the same sentence as the word “typeface.” bold, italic, 15.5 pt

Typefaces

are not

extra bold, 20 pt

condensed, 51 pt

conceptual,

they are

bold, 22 pt

formal. light, 34 pt

bold condensed, 42 pt

light italic, 43 pt, 17.5 pt

Second, I tell them to study examples such as light italic, 12 pt

condensed, 21.5 pt

condensed, 36 pt

I am not suggesting that the type design process necessarily adheres to a strict taxonomic progression. And I’m certainly not an advocate of a rigid categorical approach to design of any form.

Mrs. Eaves,

j r z 0

bold, 56 pt

b c d e f g h i l m n o p q t u v w x y 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Zuzana Lickos’

a k s 1

which is an excellent example of an historical revival; Christian Schwartz Los Feliz, which is an excellent example of vernacular reinterpretation; and Frank Hines Remedy, which is based on pure formal extrapolation.

light, regular, light italic, 21 pt

Although Modernism ha s become shorthand for light italic, 41.25 pt

dogmatic, imperious, do ctrinaire, dry and anal,

condensed, 55.5 pt

it is also rigorous, studied, quintesse ntially optimistic and highly formal. bold, 23.1 pt

Does this imply that all letterfo rms must have serifs or strokes light italic, 30 pt

that are in some way informed b y the ruling pen, nib, or chisel? regular, 27.9 pt

Of course not! A s a matter of fact, italic, 57 pt

some of the most interesting typographic s pecimens bear no correlation to these tools. light, 22 pt

The great artist or designer is s/he wh o is no longer contricted by the rules.

bold condensed, 26.5 pt

But anti-mastery c omes after mastery. extra bold, 36 pt

must first learn to look at typefaces.

Students who begin drawing typefaces

light italic, 28 pt italic, 29.5 pt

Access to Fontographer enabled the designer, for better or worse, to cut the development time and cost of creating an alphabet to almost nothing.

The “Blend” menu in Fontographer would take two fonts and mathematically extrapolate, to produce a third new font. This process took seconds, and the results were fluid, kinetic, and seemed, from an historical perspective, refreshing. I’d like to also point out that in 1984, the hairdo worn by the front man for Flock of Seagulls, Mike Score, looked fluid, kinetic, and, from an historical perspective, refreshing. The letterforms produced in this way were a complete rejection of everything that type design represented to this point. italic, 11/15

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

1234567890

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz italic, 12 pt, 31 pt

Kick it old skool style.

How do you Kick it old skool style. light, 28.5 pt

design condensed, 31 pt

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz bold italic, 12 pt, 31 pt

Kick it old skool style. bold, 24.25 pt

letterforms? Kick it old skool style. italic, 40 pt

bold condensed, 29 pt

condensed, 32 pt

Kick it old skool style. extra bold, 19.6 pt

Draw them big,

with a ruling pen and Plaka,

light, 24 pt

and some Pro White. italic, 20 pt

regular, 33 pt

Focus on the serifs or the bold italic, 19 pt

termination of the character.

condensed, 31 pt

A BCDE FGHIJK LMNOPQRSTU V W X YZ

1234567890

regular, 26.5 pt

Don’t so much understand how a letter is drawn: regular, 11 pt

experience how a letter is drawn. bold italic, 25 pt

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

12 34 5 678 9 0 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz extra bold, 10 pt, 31 pt

Then refine the letterforms through successive redrawing. regular, 12 pt

Then draw them again. bold condensed, 28 pt

*

it is nuance or “feel” that separates condensed, 31 point

&

the chimps from the apes. bold condensed, 35.5 point

It’s when you invent

armature, that you can benefit most from regular, 11 point

bold, 36 point

you devise a new

bold, 37 point

terminates, or when

traditional techniques.

the way a stroke

light, 225 point

It’s when you begin

with the blank page of purely formal

It was a reflection on all the horrible emerging grad school typographic cliches BEFORE they made their slow death spiral into the mainstream, and subsequently onto your tray liner at Taco Bell. light, 23/31

Does that make it superior in kind to the aforementioned aborted undergrad type projects? light italic, 14/20

extrapolation that the old skool skills are most important. regular, 11 point

You be the judge. extra bold, 31 point

design and production

erica ochoa

font

rockwell std

printer hp color laser 5550

st. edward’s 2010

back cover