CHAPTER: TITLE
STRUCTURE
T YPOGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE
MARK JOHN MANGAYAYAM
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Copyright Š 2013 By Mark John Mangayayam First Edition
All right s reser ved. No par t of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher (or in the case of photographing in Canada, without license from Canopy, the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agenc y). Critic s, however, are welcome to quote breif passages by way of critizism and review.
CHAPTER: TITLE
STRUCTURE
T YPOGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE
MARK JOHN MANGAYAYAM
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This book is dedicated to my family and friends.
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STRUCTURE: T YPOGR APHY AND ARCHITECTURE
CONTENTS 0. INTRODUCTION
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1. LET TER
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2. TEX T
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3. GRID
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iNTRODUCTION
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00. INTRODUCTION
This is a book inspired by the futuristic bridges that are designed by Santiago Calatrava, a world famous architec t.. Santiago Calatrava is a well known architec tengineer that has produced about t wo hundred projec ts that could be seen around the world. Throuhout this book you’ll be able to see the similarities bet ween t ypography and architec ture.
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I N T R O D U C T I O N: AV EN I R
AVENIR A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ! @ # $ % ^ & * ? . , ; : ’ ” LIGHT OBLIQUE BOOK OBLIQUE ROMAN OBLIQUE MEDIUM OBLIQUE HE AV Y OBLIQUE B L ACK OB LIQUE
“It ’s ver y atmos pheric. It ’s not a building that is a severe s tatement in the sk yline. We need the heig ht; other wise, the building almos t disa p pear s bec ause it is so slend er.” — Santiago C ala trava
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STRUCTURE: T YPOGR APHY AND ARCHITECTURE
T Y PE DE SIGNER Adrian Frutiger
FOUN DARY Linotype GmbH
RELE A SE DATE 1988
C ATEGORY Sans Serif
CL A SSIFIC ATION Geometric Sans Serif Humanist Sans Serif Avenir is a t ypeface that is designed by Adrian Frutiger and was released in 1988 by Linot ype GmbH, who is now a subsidiar y of Monot ype Corporation. Adrian Frutiger looked up to multiple geometric sans serif t ypefaces of that time for inspiration, like Erbar by Jakob Erbar and Futura by Paul Renner. Frutiger created Avenir as a more organic interpretation of the highly known geometric t ypefaces during that time. Originally, Avenir was released with only three weights, both with a oman and oblique version. These weights were also used the t wo-digit weight and width convention for names, like the t ypeface Univers. Throughout the years, Frutiger expanded the t ypeface to a total of sex weights, all with a roman and oblique version.
Avenir is a t ypeface that has the gemotric designs of the early t wentieth centur y, but also influences the gemor tric t ypefaces of the t went y-first centur y. Like the architec t Santiago Calatrava, both designers are the source of inspiration for the fur ture.
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LET TER
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01. LETTER
Each let ter in a design is as impor tant as the design itself. It is impor tant to know the dif ferences bet ween each charac ter in the alphabet. Ever y let ter has a distic t st yle that makes it dif ferent from ever y other let ter. By learning the similarities and dif ferences of each let ter, you’ll know how to set t ype ef fec tively.
“Type is a beautiful group of let ters, not a group of beautiful let ters.” — Matthew Car ter
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L E T T E R : T Y P E C L A S S I F I C AT I O N
A
Centuar
A
Baskerville
A
Bodoni
A
Rockwell
A
Gill Sans
A
Helvetica
A
Futura
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STRUCTURE: T YPOGR APHY AND ARCHITECTURE
T Y PE CL A SSIFC ATION A basic system for classif ying typefaces was advised in the nineteenth centur y, when printers sought to identif y a heritage for their own craf t analogous to that of ar t histor y.
O ld St yle
Humanis t
The roman t ypefaces of the fif teenth and sixteenth centuries emulated classical calligraphy. Sabon was designed by Jan Tschichold in 1966, based on the sixteenth-centur y t ypefaces of Claude Garamond.
Sans-serif t ypefaces became common in the t wentieth centur y. Gill Sans, designed by Eric Gill in 1928, has humanist charac teristic s. Note the small, lilting counter in the let ter a , and the calligraphic variations in line weight.
Tr ansitional
Sans Serif
These t ypefaces have sharper serifs and a more ver tical axis than humanist let ters. When the fonts of John Basker ville were introduced in the mideighteenth centur y, their sharp forms and high contrast were considered shocking.
Helvetica, designed by Max Miedinger in 1957, is one of the world’s most widely used t ypefaces. Its uniform, upright charac ter makes it similar to transitional serif let ters. These fonts are also referred to as “anonymous sans serif.”
Moder n
Geometric
The t ypefaces designed by Giambat tista Bodoni in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are radically abstrac t. Note the thin, straight serifs; ver tical axis; and sharp contrast from thick to thin strokes.
Some sans-serif t ypes are built around geometric forms. In Futura, designed by Paul Renner in 1927, the Os are per fec t circles, and the peaks of the A and M are sharp triangles.
Sla b Serif Numerous bold and decorative t ypefaces were introduced in the nineteenth centur y for the use in adver tising. Egyptian t ypefaces have heav y, slab-like serifs.
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LET TER: SIZES
ASCENDER
DESCENDER
BASELINE
X-HEIGHT
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A SCEN DER
The par t of a let ter that extends above the x-height, as for instance with a ‘ k ’ or a ‘ d ’.
DE SCEN DER
The descending strokes in let ters such as ‘ j’ and ‘y’.
BA SELINE
The horizontal line that all the let ters sit on.
These are only a few par ts of the anatomy of t ype. There are many dif ferent terms for each par t of a single let ter or sentence. Each par t contributes to the charac teristic, or st yle, of the whole body of text. It is up to the designer to determine how the body of text will be displayed in a design.
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LE T TER: DASHES
H Y PHEN The shor test in length of the three dashes. It is used to divide words that break at the end of a line, or to connec t par ts of compound words.
EN - DA SH This is the longest of the three dashes, and is used to indicate a break in thought.
EM - DA SH This dash is shor ter than an emdash and longer than a hyphen. It is used to indicate a range of dif ferent values, such as a span of time or numerical quantities.
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Hyphens, en-dashes and em-dashes are frequently used punc tuation marks that are just as frequently misunderstood. All three marks are essentially horizontal lines, though their lengths var y. However, these three dif ferent marks have ver y dif ferent purposes, and using a hyphen to do an em-dash’s job is just as much of a punc tuation error as using a question mark in place of a comma.
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EN-DASH
HYPHEN
EM-DASH
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TEXT
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02. TEXT
In t ypography “text” is defined as an ongoing sequence of words, distanks from shor ted headlines or captions. The main block is of ten called the “body”, comprising the principle mass of content. Also known as “running text”, it can flow from one page, column, or box to another. Text can be viewed as a thing —a sound and sturdy objec t— or a fluid poured into the containers of a page or screen. Text can be solid or liquid, body or blood.
“It is the designer/typographer’s task to match form with content; to create an authoritative document.” — Nick Shinn
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T E X T: L I N E S PA C I N G
14 pt
32 pt
65 pt
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STRUCTURE: T YPOGR APHY AND ARCHITECTURE
LINE SPACING The distance from the baseline of one line of type to another.
HEIGHT
WI DTH
The point system, used to measure the height of a let ter as well as the space bet ween lines ( leading ), is the standard measurement for t ype. One point equals 1/72 inch or .35 millimeters. Twelve points equal one pica , the unit commonly used to measure column widths.
The horizontal dimension of a let ter is its set width . The set width is the body of the let ter plus a sliver of space that protec ts it from other let ters. The width of a let ter is intrinsic to the propor tion of the t ypeface. Some t ypefaces have a narrow set width, and some have a wide one.
Typography also can be measured in inches, millimeters, or pixels. (A point is roughly equivalent to a pixel.) Most sof t ware applications let the designer choose a preferred unit of measure; picas and points are a standard default.
You can change the set width of a let ter by fiddling with its horizontal or ver tical scale. This distor ts the propor tion of the t ypeface, forcing heav y elements to become thin, and thin elements to become thick. Instead of tor turing a let ter form, choose a t ypeface with the proportions you need, such as condensed, compressed, or extended. Type families such as Helvetica, Univers, and Interstate include a variet y of widths.
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T E X T: C O N T R A S T
CONTR A S T The dif ference in brightness between the light and dark in cer tain areas.
Contrast in t ypography is impor tant because it guides the viewer throughout the design. When you create contrast you guide the to what is impor tant on the page. Hierarchy is created with the correc t use of contrast. High contrast at trac ts the viewer at a fast pace. By having high contrast in a design, you will be able to determine what the viewer would look at first. Low contrast is the complete opposite of high contrast. Basically, low contrast could confuse the viewer because there are lit tle-to-no contrast in the design. This could throw of f the heirarchy in the design.
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HIGH CONTR AST
LOW CONTR AST
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T E X T: A L I G N M E N T
FLUSH LEF T The lef t edge is hard and the right edge is sof t.
FLUSH RIGHT Right edge is hard, while the lef t edge is sof t
Choosing to align text in justified, centered, or ragged columns is a fundamental t ypographic ac t. Each individual mode of alignment carries unique formal qualities, cultural associations, and aesthetic risks.
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FLUSH LEFT
FLUSH RIGHT
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GRID
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03. GRID
A grid breaks space or time into regular units. Grids could be simple or complex, specific or generic, tightly defined or loosely interpreted. Typographic grids are all about control. They establish a system for arranging content within the space of a page, screen, or in the built environment. A grid is designed in response to the internal pressures of content (text, image, data) and the outer edge or frame (page, scree, window). An ef fec tive grid is not a rigid formula but a flexible and resilient struc ture, a skeleton that moves in concer t with the muscular mass of dif ferent information.
“The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee.” — Josef Müller-Brockmann
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GRID: T YPOGR APHIC GRID
MODULE
GUT TER
SPATIAL ZONE
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STRUCTURE: T YPOGR APHY AND ARCHITECTURE
T Y P OGR APHIC GRI D A pat tern of regularly spaced horizontal and ver tical lines forming squares.
MO DULE An individual unit of space that is separated by inter vals. Each module creates columns and rows when it is repeated in a pat tern
SPATIAL ZONE A group of modules that form spaces for images, headlines, or text.
GU T TER The blank space between facing pages
Grids belong to the technological framework of t ypography, from the concrete modularit y of let ter press to the rulers, guides, and coordinate systems emplyed in graphic s applications. The grid ser ves as an armature on which a designer can organize graphic elements (images, glyphs, paragraphs) in a rational, easy to absorb manner. A grid can be use to organize graphic elements in relation to a page, in relation to other graphic elements on the page, or relation to other par ts of the same graphic element or shape
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CITATIONS Lupton, Ellen. “Ellen Lupton: Thinking W/ Type.” Thinkingwitht ype.com. Ellen Lupton, n.d. Web. <ht tp://papress.com/thinkingwitht ype/index. htm>. Lupton, Ellen. Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students. New York: Princeton Architec tural, 20 04. Print. Pohlen, Joep. Let ter Fountain: (on Printing Types). Köln: Taschen, 2011. Print. “Quotes About Typography.” (15 Quotes). Good Reads, n.d. Web. <ht tp://w w w.goodreads.com/ quotes/tag/t ypography>. Segalini, Alessandro. “Quotes on Typography and Type Design.” As8. N.p., n.d. Web. <ht tp://w w w. as8.it /quotes/ T-quotes.html>. Strizver, Ilene. “Hyphens, En-dashes and Em-dashes.” Fonts.com. N.p., n.d. Web. <ht tp:// w w w.fonts.com/content /learning/f y ti/glyphs/hyphens-and-dashes>. “Typeface Anatomy and Glossar y.” Fontshop. com. Font Shop International, n.d. Web. <ht tp:// w w w.fontshop.com/glossar y/>.
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This book was designed and set in t ype by Mark John Mangayayam in San Francisco. Printed by Imagink, located in San Francisco, California, and bound by Mark John Mangayayam in San Francisco, California. The t ypeface used is Avenir, designed by Adrian Frutiger, released by Linot ype GmbH, who is now a subsidiar y of the Monot ype Corporation.
It is supplemented here with Avenir Light, used with the permission of Adrian Frutiger and Monot ype.
The paper is Mat te Four-Star Premium Presenation Paper (Double-Sided) made by Epson.
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