the Three Letter Pigs
Typeface by Century Gothic Invented by Sol Hess
THE THREE LETTER PIGS Typeface by Century Gothic Invented by Sol Hess First Written by Hand in 1936 First Publication in 1990 Published by Monotype in 2016
INTRODUCTION
Century Gothic is a minimalist, geometric, and clean font that applicable to different areas. It is commonly used in advertising, teaching, as well as web design. Unfortunately, today the application of Century Gothic is not really explored. Century Gothic can also become a good font for children book a geometric shape.
In this book, you will not only experience the Century Gothic as a children’s story book typeface, but also learn some basic knowledge about typography through a fun way the story of Three Letter Pigs.
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CHARACTERS
MOTHER PIG 56 pt years old mom, who thinks that she is young, that she loves to read Key Club Youth Magazine. She is the descendant of Twentieth Century family.
FIRST LETTER PIG Graduated from Monotype University in 1990, he was trained as a Teacher. Unfortunately, compared to his siblings, he is quite lazy. He spends most of his time playing his games on Samsung ATIV.
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THIRD LETTER PIG Graduated from Monotype University in 2007, majored in Graphic Design and his speciality is Web Design. Although he is the youngest, he is the most brilliant and ideal pig amongst all, because he watches Discovery Channel most of the time.
SECOND LETTER PIG Graduated from Monotype University in 1995, he majored in Advertising. He is a hard working pig who used to work at FedEx before and actively participates in environment conservation campaigns.
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WOLF His name is Comic Sans. He is the son of Mr Vincent Connare. His irritating friendly looks makes him the most hated creature in the universe! 4
E
.. .
N E O TIM C UP N A
O
5
There was a widow1 pig who stayed with three
120pt The three letter pigs grew so big, about
so mother pig asked them to build their own house.
1 2
Widow: A very short line – usually one word, or the end of a hyphenated word – at the end of a paragraph or column. Orphan: A single word, part of a word or very short line, except it appears at the beginning of a column or a page.
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Remember don’t ever talk with the wolf, or else the whole universe will hate you! And be eco-friendly, don’t waste ink!
vvvv
3
Yes, of course Mom! Last year we even received an award from a printing competition held by Wincosin University, because we saved 30% more ink than our rival, Arial.
vv
non-lining3 ground
Non-Lining: Numbers whose shapes are designed to harmonize with the proportions and rhythm of the lowercase.
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The three letter pigs set off. Soon they met a man who was selling some Regular Lowercase L. Quickly, the First Letter Pig decided to build himself a house from Regular Lowercase L, a kind of material that is as thin as straw.
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X
l l l l ll
ww w Apex4 grass
l l l l ll
l l l l ll
l l l l ll
l l l l ll
l l l l l l l l l l l l ll l l
l l l l l l l l l l l l ll l l
l l l l l llll l l l l l l l
l l l lllll
U
Now the wolf won’t be able to come near me!
l l l l ll
l l l l l l l l l l l l ll l l
l ll
l ll
An upside down Regular Uppercase U
l l l ll lll
I shall build a house bolder than yours! Me too!
Guess what’s the door made of?
ww w
www
Apex: Where strokes come together at the uppermost point of a character; examples of different types: rounded, pointed, hallow, flat, and extended. 4
9
The other brothers went on along the road and they met a man who was selling some Bold Lowercase L. Soon he decided to build himself a house out of Bold Lowercase L with x-height5 fence, and he was pleased with his house.
5
X-Height: The height of lowercase letters reach based on height of lowercase x; does not include ascenders or descenders.
10
l lll lllll lll l l l l l lllll l lll l l
l
At least, Bold Lowercase L is as strong as wood, and my house is safer than First Letter Pig’s house.
lllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllll llllllll llllllll llllllll mmm
ll
7
Ascender: A line marking the topmost point of the cap line. Baseline: The invisible line where all characters sit.
11
l
6
l
l
mmm x-height fence
I shall build a stronger house from Uppercase with Crossbar! And I will protect my house with Ascender6 fence.
baseline7 ground
ABCDE LMNOP UVWX 12
EFGIJK PQRST YZ123 Can you guess what material the Third Letter Pig will use? latnoziroh a si rabssorC :EULC YGNITS .esacreppu fo elddim eht ssorca ekorts
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The Third Letter Pig walked along the road by himself and soon he met a man selling some Bold Uppercase H. So the Third Letter Pig decided to build himself a house out of Bold Uppercase H, a type of material that is as strong as a brick. He also built a roof from Bold Lowercase C, and protected his house with an Ascender fence.
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l
HHHH HH H DDD DD D DDD D DD DDDD D DD DD D
LL
HH H HH H
l
ll
Can you help me build my house?
H H H H H H H
ff ffff
ascender fence
H esacreppU dloB 53 dna D esacrewoL dloB 72 fo stsisnoc ti ,yltcefrep esuoh eht dliub uoy fI :EULC YGNITS
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The next morning, the most hated Wolf, Comic Sans, was craving for Bak Kut Teh. “First Letter Pig, First Letter Pig, let me in�
By the minimalism and cleanliness of Century Gothic, I will not let you in!
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Then I’ll huff and puff and blow everything UNREADABLE!
l
l
ll
l
l
l
l
l
l
ll l
l l
l
ll
l
l
l
l
l l
l l
ll
l
DID YOU KNOW? Black text on red background, or vice versa, has the lowest readability.
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The next morning, the Comic Sans Wolf, decided to have Char Siew Pau for breakfast, so he decided to walk further along the road. “Second Letter Pig, Second Letter Pig, let me in!�
For the sake of high readability and legibility of Century Gothic, I will not let you in!
DID YOU KNOW? Black text on yellow background has the highest readability.
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Then I’ll huff and puff and blow everything UNREADABLE!
l l l
l
l
l
ll l
ll ll l l l ll l ll
l
l
ll l l lll DID YOU KNOW? Too tight linespacing, tracking, and wordspacing has low readability.
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The greedy Comic Sans Wolf felt like eating more pigs so he decided to walk even further along the road. Without knocking the door, he huffed and puffed immediately. But the house was just too strong, so the wolf went off and created a new plan.
20
AHA! I will come back tomorrow morning and disguise as your mother!
On that night, the Wolf went to Avant Garde9 store to shop for Women’s Clothing.
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21
Avant Garde: A font that is metrically identical to Century Gothic
The next morning, Third Letter Pig was so excited to see his
mother through the window
?
22
...BUT WAIT!! Remember the
wolf’s evil plan?
Let’s help Third Little Pig spot 5 differences between the fake mother at the window and his real mother on the photograph!
?
? !rewsna rof pilF
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BCDEF MNOPQ VWXYZ
l e H do c
FIRST CHALLENGE!
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i o n l h t o r s o e e t s h k d t e re a e ll. r g e m o n , a gw e u b s n i k l o k o e a e y hes c l ed i r e ’ t e m y e f s f ou , , u y T t s m u o e e y . c llo well n oynoI hop olloewhen r biikc loud u e d c om , c st s g n c h , o e a n g a uh ee y c n i r n w e u u t k t o doy yo gogs yo ide, ma ch ulp s s a m r r ntkck! thin k, stick ja n llo u d e e t c a ca H w eaare tohnbelo y: oollec a,kew na s a e , c e,rm l s e n r k a e o oc a iku dr Thboorm ed i drag lup r bt , or m o ds a y u ! w e u c k c a d o r i l s r a dbn k, he c ac k o o h t sn u c j t a wka e a d day! a oo ! g y m ave a a d H d o , e o g Lov a e v Ha om
FGIJK QRST Z123 M
Know your mom’s handwriting, SPOT THE FAKE LETTER!
M
, m o 25
I’ve cooked you delicious food using A-Z ingredients from the secret recipe. I challenge you to reveal the secret recipe, only if you’re meticulous enough!
The Third Letter Pig was so pleased because you saved him from the wicked Wolf. So he invited you for dinner!
i i C
e
J u
u
u
u uuh
hh
u
8
ssss a o a o o o
D D C
Q
lining8 table
Lining: An arabic numeral that aligns with the base of a type line or printed line.
26
a
SECRET SECRET RECIPE RECIPE a: 3 grams B: 5 tsp c: 2 ml D: 2 cups e: 1 pinch f: 2 tbsp g: 0 h: 3 grams i: 2 litres J: 0 k: 0 L: 1 ml m: 4 drops
!rewsna rof pilF
P ttL
f
f
V
XX
n
SW VV W
oL
BB BB B
n
mm n m m nn n
n: 6 tsp o: 4 packs P: 3 grams Q: 1 tsp R: 1 ml s: 8 cups t: 2 pinch u: 7 tbsp V: 3 ounces W: 2 grams X: 2 litres y: 0 Z: 0
S SS
PP R
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The smell of the food is just too good. The hungry wolf climbed to the roof and entered the house through the chimney, so he can join the dinner and ...
... eat the Third Letter Pig and You!
28
l HHH
H H H H 29
The Third Letter Pig was just so brilliant. He quickly boiled hot water and...
C
C www 30
The poor wolf fell into the pot!
And the Third Letter Pig lived happily ever after.
31
ABCD LMNO UVWX But wait.. This is not the end if you’re not able to end it perfectly!
FINAL CHALLENGE
32
Trace the word “THE END“ in Century Gothic perfectly!
DEFGIJK THE OPQRST END XYZ123 33
Orphan: A single word, part of a word or very short line, except it appears at the beginning of a column or a page. (Pg 6)
2
Non-Lining: Numbers whose shapes are designed to harmonize with the proportions and rhythm of the lowercase. (Pg 7) 3
Apex: Where strokes come together at the uppermost point of a character; examples of different types: rounded, pointed, hallow, flat, and extended. (Pg 9) 4
1
Widow: A very short line – usually one word, or the end of a hyphenated word – at the end of a paragraph or column. (Pg 6)
GLOSSARY
1
X-Height: The height of lowercase letters reach based on height of lowercase x; does not include ascenders or descenders. (Pg 10) 5
Ascender: A line marking the topmost point of the cap line. (Pg 11) 6
Baseline: The invisible line where all characters sit. (Pg 11) 7
Lining: An arabic numeral that aligns with the base of a type line or printed line. (Pg 26) 8
Avant Garde: A font that is metrically identical to Century Gothic. (Pg 21) 9
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RY TU EN C
1 10 Century Gothic is a geometric sans serif typeface released by Monotype foundry in 1991.
I TH O G
It was first drawn by Sol Hess in 1936. This typeface is strongly influenced by Twentieth Century typeface. The main difference is Century Gothic has higher x-height than Twentieth Century.
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C
The geometric structure and thin stroke make this font looks minimalist. Century Gothic is widely used in advertising, websites, and learning. Some designers also use this typeface in a logo designs, such as Discovery Channel, FedEx, Samsung ATIV, Key Club magazine, etc.
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