Kieron Mannix
INTRODUCTION Digital type has taken away all the physical constraints, and with them much of the discipline that governed typography for hundreds of years. The seemingly infinite possibilities combined with speed of execution offer a creative freedom. It has also democratized typography, making it freely accessible to the masses. There is now an even greater requirement for both the new generation of professionals and the enthusiastic dabblers to have a fundamental knowledge of the basic principles of type. Without it they will be unequipped to enter the world that may sound suprisingly cruel and violent: where widows are castigated, punctuation is hung and, without due consideration, type can end up bleeding in the gutter.
CONTENTS 1. 3. 5. 7. 9. 11. 13. 15. 17. 19. 21. 23. 25. 27. 29.
Baseline X-height Type Weight En & Em Dash Small Capitals Leading Serif Old Style Figures Line Measure Kerning Tracking Point Size Hyphen Counter Form Ligatures & Diphthongs
31. 33. 35. 37. 39. 41. 43. 45. 47.
Ragged Setting Justified Setting Margins Column Gutter Rivers Paragraph Indent Apostrophe Orphans & Widows Word Space
BASELINE The baseline is where all the charecters sit. This is the most stablr axis along a line of text, and it is a crucial edge for aligning text with images or with other text.
Baseline Capital height
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“Typography is what language looks like� ~ Ellen Lupton
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X-HEIGHT Traditionally, X-height is the height of the lowercase ‘x’. It is also the height of the body of lowercase letters in a font, excluding the ascenders and descenders. Some lower case letters that do not have ascenders or descenders still extend a little bit above or below the X-height as part of their design. The X-height can vary greatly from typeface to typefac and even at the same point size.
Baseline Capital height X-height 3
“Words are of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind” ~ Rudyard Kipling
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Light
TYPE WEIGHT Medium Clarendon LT Std [Light]
Clarendon LT Std [Medium]
The reletive darkness of the charecters in the various typefaces with a type family. Weight is indicated by relitive terms such as thin, bold and extra bold and black.
Bold Clarendon LT Std [Bold]
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EN & EM DASH En Dash Roughly the width on a lower-case ‘n’. Used to denote a range of values or a connection between two things, For example Numbers, people or places. Also known as a ‘Nut Dash’ Em Dash Roughly the width of a upper-case ‘M’, and is used to denote a change of thought or a transition within a sentence. Also known as a ‘Mutton Dash’.
n – M —
En Dashes are used to express a connection, range of values or a distance.
Em dashes may replace commas, semicolons, colons, and parentheses to indicate added emphasis, an interruption, or an abrupt change of thought
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Small Capitals Small capitals are a range of capitals that match the lowercase letters of a given typeface in X-height, weight and colour. When used in a text setting they simply replace the lowercase element.
“A
typeface is an alphabet in a straightjacket� ~ Alan Fletcher
Baseline Capital height X-height 9
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LEADING The distance from the baseline of one line of type to another is called leading, in reference to the strips of lead used to seperate lines of metal type. The default setting in most layout and imaging software is 120 percent of the type size. Thus 10pt type is set with 12pts of leading. Designers play with line spacing in order to create distinctive typographic arrangments. Reducing the standard distance creates a denser typographic color, while risking collisions between ascenders and descenders. Expanding the line spacing creates a lighter, more open text block. As leading increases, ines of type become independent graphic elements rather
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“Don’t mistake legibility for communication”
36pt
60pt ~ David Carson
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SERIF Serif fonts are a type of typeface characterized by small details in the form or tiny lines at the tops and bottoms of certain letters. These details are called serifs. The four types of serif fonts are old style, transitional, slab serif and modern.
Old Style
Slab Serif
Old style serif fonts are characterized by only moderate transitions between the thinner and thicker parts of the stroke with a diagonal stress, meaning that the thinnest parts of strokes on a diagonal.
Slab serif fonts are almost like the serif form of the sans serif, in that the strokes are generally of equal weight or have little variation, and the serifs are thick and often angular. Slab serifs tend to be good for body text.
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Modern Modern serif fonts are characterized by a high contrast between the thinnest and thickest parts of strokes and have very thin serifs, often hairline thin. It is the most decorative and the least suitable for body text. Common examples are Bodoni and Didot.
Transitional Transitional serif fonts are characterized by a horizontal stress, unlike the old style which features a diagonal stress, and have a moderately higher contrast between the thinner and thicker parts of strokes than old style fonts. They are considered to be a neutral font and work well for body text.
T Y P E - Old style
- Slab Serif
- Modern
-Transitional
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OLD STYLE FIGURES Old style figures, also called non-lining figures, have ascenders and descenders, like lowercase letters . Old style figures returned to favour in the 1990’s, valued for their idiosyncratic appearence and their traditional typographic attitude. Like letterforms, old style numerals are
Baseline Capital height X-height 15
0123 456 789 16
“Designers provide ways into–and out of–the flood of words by breaking up text into pieces and offering shortcuts and alternate routes through masses of information. (…) Although many books define the purpose of typography as enhancing the readability of the written word, one of design’s most humane 82mm line measure. This measure works well and is easy to read.
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25mm line measure. This measure is too narrow for the point size; the eye jumps around and the setting is skittish. The bad hyphenation and rivers are also a consequence of the type size being too large for the measure.
122mm line measure. This is too wide for this point size (9pt), and if it were used for a large amount of text, the reaser’s eye would quickly grow tired.
A line measure is the length of a line of type. To a reader’s eye, long or short lines can be tiring and distracting. A long measure disrupts the rhythm because the reader has a hard time locating the next line of type. The only time a narrow measure is acceptable is with a small amount of text. For optimum readability you want the measure to be between 40 – 80 characters, including spaces. For a single-column design 65 characters is considered ideal.
“Designers provide ways into– and out of–the flood of words by breaking up text into pieces and offering shortcuts and alternate routes through masses of information. (…) Although many books define the purpose of typography as enhancing the readability of the written word, one of design’s most humane function is, in actuality, to help readers avoid reading.”
“Designers provide ways into–and out of–the flood of words by breaking up text into pieces and offering shortcuts and alternate routes through masses of information. (…) Although many books define the purpose of typography as enhancing the readability of the written word, one of design’s most humane function is, in actuality, to help readers avoid reading.”
LINE MEASURE
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KERNING Kerning is an adjustment of the space between two letters. Gaps occur, for example, around letters whose forms angle outward or frame an open space (W, Y, V, T). In metal type, a kerned letter extends past the lead slug that supports it, allowing two letters to fit more closely together. Metric Kerning Metric kerning uses the kerning tables that are built into the typeface. When you select metric kerning in your page layout program, you are using the spacing that was intended by the type designer. Metric kerning usually looks good, especially at small sizes. Cheap novelty fonts often have little or no built in kerning and will need to be optically kerned. *When kerning flip your page upside down, this makes it easier to spot areas that need attention.
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Optical Kerning Optical kerning is executed automatically by the page layout program. Rather than using the pairs addressed in the font’s kerning table, optical kerning assesses the shapes of all characters and adjusts the spacing wherever needed. Some graphic designers apply optical kerning to headlines and metric kerning to text. You can make this process effiecient and consistent by setting kerning as part of your character styles. “From all these experiences the most important thing I have learned is that legibility and beauty stand close together and that type design, in its restraint, should be only felt but not perceived by the reader.” - Metric kerning “From all these experiences the most important thing I have learned is that legibility and beauty stand close together and that type design, in its restraint, should be only felt but not perceived by the reader.” - Optical kerning
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“typography
is
the
craft
of
en d o w in g
h u m an lan g u a g e w it h a d u r a b le v is u al form,
an d
thus
w it h
an
in d e p en d ent
e x istence . its h ea r t w oo d is calli g r a p h y
TRACKING
–
the
d ance ,
li v in g ,
r eac h
into
b r anc h es
a
tin y
h an d
li v in g
m ay
be
sta g e ,
an d
soil ,
hung
of
its
though
eac h
y ea r
the
r oots its w it h
ne w m ac h ines . so lon g as t h e r oot li v es ,
typography
Adjusting the overall spacing of a group of letters is known as tracking or letterspacing. By expanding the tracking across a word, line, or entire block of text, the designer can create a more airy, open field. In blocks of text, tracking is usually applied in small increments. Creating a subtle effect not noticeable to the casual reader. occasionally, a single word or phrase is tracked for emphasis, especially when capitals or small capitals are used within a line. Negative tracking, rarely desirable in text sizes, can be used sparingly to help bring up a short line of text. White type on a black background is considered more legible when it is tracked.
on
s p ea k in g
r e m ains
a
so u r ce
of
true
d eli g h t , t r u e k no w le d g e , t r u e s u r p r ise . ”
~ Robert Bringhurst Small capitals are concidered to be more legible once tracking is increased.
“Typography needs to be audible. Ty p o gra p hy need s to b e felt. Typography needs to be e x p e r i e n c e d . ” ~ Helmut Schmid
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POINT SIZE Distance (in points) from the highest ascender to the bottom of a descender of a print type. Used in commercial and computer printing in UK, USA, and other countries, except mainland Europe where type size is expressed in Didot points or as the height of capital letters in millimeters.
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A 100pt
AA 60pt
AA
36pt
AA
18pt
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HYPHEN A hyphen is a punctuation mark used to link words or indicate a break (usually between syllables) in a word at the end of a line. As A general rule, it should be avoided if possible, by reconsidering the type size or the measure.
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“The most popular typefaces are the easiest to read; their popularity has made them disappear from conscious cognition. It becomes imposssible to tell if they are easy to read because they are commonly used, or if they are commonly used because they are easy to read.� ~ Zuzanna Licko
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COUNTER FORM A counter or apeture is the areas of typeface anatomy that is entirely or partially enclosed by a letter form or symbol.
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D 28
LIGATURE Two or three letters crafter into a single charecter the most commenly used are the ‘f’ and ‘i’. to achieve a more considered setting, and when using a typeface with a range of ligatures available and should be used
DIPHTHONGS A diphthong is a ligature of two vowels denoting a syllable that begins with the sound of the first vowel and ends with the sound of the second.
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fi ae æ fi
- Ligature
-Diphthongs
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RAGGED SETTING Alignment of text where the lines of text are allowed to end naturally, leaving varying amounts of white space at the end of lines rather than forcing it to line up flush with the margin is known as ragged. Ragged right is the most common ragged alignment. Ragged left would be right-aligned text where the lines (left margin) start in differing positions. Centre aligned “Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form, and thus with an independent existence. Its heartwood is calligraphy the dance, on a tiny stage, of the living, speaking hand – and its roots reach into living soil, though its branches may be hung each year with new machines. So long as the root lives, typography remains a source of 31
Range left, ragged right “Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form, and thus with an independent existence. Its heartwood is calligraphy the dance, on a tiny stage, of the living, speaking hand – and its roots reach into living soil, though its branches may be hung each year with new machines. So long as the root lives, typography remains a source of Range right, ragged left “Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form, and thus with an independent existence. Its heartwood is calligraphy – the dance, on a tiny stage, of the living, speaking hand – and its roots reach into living soil, though its branches may be hung each year with new machines. So long as the root lives, typography remains a source of true delight, true knowledge, true surprise.” ~ Robert Bringhurst 32
JUSTIFIED SETTING A style of setting where lines are spaced to the same length to create a block of text that aligns both range left and range right.
“Designers provide ways into– and out of–the flood of words by breaking up text into pieces and offering shortcuts and alternate routes through masses of information. (…) Although many books define the purpose of typography as enhancing the readability of the written word, one of design’s most humane function is, in actuality, to help readers avoid reading.” ~ Ellen Lupton
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MARGINS In the New Typography margins often almost entirely disappear. Of course type cannot in most cases be set right up to the edge of the paper, which would hinder legibility. In small items of printed matter, 12 to 24 points are the minimum margin required; in posters 48 points. On the other hand, borders of solid red or black can be taken right up to the edge, since unlike type they do not require a white margin to achieve their best effect.
“Typography has one plain duty before it and that is to convey information in writing. No argument or consideration can absolve typography from this duty. A printed work which cannot be read becomes a product without a purpose.� ~ Emil Ruder
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COLUMN GUTTER The inside margins or blank space between two facing pages is the gutter. The gutter space is that extra space allowance used to accommodate the binding in books and magazines. The amount of gutter needed varies depending on the binding method.
“Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form, and thus with an independent existence. Its heartwood is calligraphy – the dance, on a tiny stage, of the living, speaking hand – and its roots reach into living soil, though its branches may be hung each year with new machines. So long as the root lives, typography remains a source of true delight, true knowledge, true surprise.”
“Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form, and thus with an independent existence. Its heartwood is calligraphy – the dance, on a tiny stage, of the living, speaking hand – and its roots reach into living soil, though its branches may be hung each year with new machines. So long as the root lives, typography remains a source of true delight, true knowledge, true surprise.” ~ Robert Bringhurst
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RIVERS Rivers of white are visually unattractive gaps appearing to run down a paragraph of text. They can occur with any spacing, although they are most noticeable with wide interword spaces caused by either full text justification or monospaced fonts.
“When a type design is good it is not because each individual letter of the alphabet is perfect in form, but because there is a feeling of harmony and unbroken rhythm that runs through the whole design, each letter kin to every other and to all.� ~ Frederick Goudy
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“Typography is the craft of endowing human language with
PARAGRAPH INDENT Indentation determines the distance of the paragraph from either the left or the right margin. Within the margins, you can increase or decrease the indentation of a paragraph or group of paragraphs. You can also create a negative indent (also known as an outdent), which pulls the paragraph out toward the left margin. You can also create a hanging indent, in which the first line of the
a durable visual form, and thus with an independent existence. Its heartwood is calligraphy – the dance, on a tiny stage, of the living, speaking hand – and its roots reach into living soil, though its branches may be hung each year with new machines. So long as the root lives, typography remains a source of true delight, true knowledge, true surprise.” ~ Robert Bringhurst
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APOSTROPHE An apostrophe is a type of punctuation mark commonly used to show the omission of letters and convey possessive relationships.
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It’s just type. 44
This is a orphan
ORPHANS & WIDOWS Orphan A single letter word, a very short line or the tail of a hyphenated word at the the end of a paragraph that appears on the top line of the following column, resulting in too much white space around it and the appearance of poor alignment with other columns. Again, wherever possible, orphans should be avoided. Widow A single word, a very short line or the tail of a hyphenated word at the end of a paragraph. Because they leave too much white space and, if they appear above an indent or at the bottom of a column, cause the text visually to fall away, widows are best avoided.
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Digital type has taken away all the physical constraints, and with them much of the discipline that governed typography for hundreds of years. The seemingly infinite possibilities combined with speed of execution offer a creative freedom. It has also democratized typography, making it freely accessible to the masses.
This is a widow Digital type has taken away all the physical constraints, and with them much of the discipline that governed typography for hundreds of years. The seemingly infinite possibilities combined with speed of execution offer a creative freedom. It has also democratized typography, making it freely accessible
to the masses.
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WORD Got it? SPACE The space between two words.
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