TY PO GRA PHY
Basic
Manual
contents
Typeface and Fonts
01
Evolution of Type
02
Anatomy of Type
06
Type Spacing & Positioning
10
Classification of Type
12
examples
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“Font” and “typeface” are not interchangeable. “Typeface” should be used when referring to the design, while “font” should be used when referring to the file, copy or file-type. Fonts are the things that enable the printing of typefaces. For example, there is only one Times New Roman typeface designed by Victor Lardent, but nearly everyone with a computer has a copy of that font. “font is what you use, and typeface is what you see.” Are you wondering what are these terms? Welcome to the world of typography, But before getting to the typographic terminology, let’s have quick look at evolution of modern alphabets. 1
EVOLUTION OF
ALPHABETS Where does our alphabets come from?
We see it every day on signs,
We know more about the history because of writing. Writing is essential to what it means to be modern human in 21st century, all the way back to 3000 BC. The Sumerians first invented writing as a means of longdistance communication which was necessitated by trade. With rise of the cities in Mesopotamia, and the need for resources which were lacking in the region, long-distance trade developed and, with it, the need to be able to communicate across the expanses between cities or regions.
billboards, packaging, in books and magazines; in fact, you are looking at it now — the Latin or Roman alphabet, the world’s most prolific, most widespread ABC. Typography is a relatively recent invention, but to unearth the origins of alphabets, we will need to travel much farther back in time, to an era contemporaneous with the emergence of (agricultural) civilization itself. From intricate and beautiful Egyptian hieroglyphs, to wedge-shaped cuneiform imprints from ancient Mesopotamia - our ancestors developed many ways of recording their thoughts and information, which are instrumental in shaping the alphabets used across the world today.
The earliest form of writing was pictographs – symbols which represented objects to convey information yet were probably devoid of direct linguistic content – and served to aid in remembering such things as 2
TIMELINE
which parcels of grain had gone to which destination or how many sheep were needed for events like sacrifices in the temples. These systems may be described as proto-writing. This they carved it on an object which is made of clay, it was easy to bake, mould and form shapes.
3200 BCE
Hieroglyphic script developed in Egypt
2000 BCE
Minoan hieroglyphic script is invented.
1700 BCE
Minoan linear A script.
1600 BCE
Canaanite alphabet
1400 BCE
Ugaritic alphabet of 30 letters was developed
Cuneiform
Next we jump 2000 years to see same sort of cuneiform form of writing. Cuneiform means wedged shaped characters. These shapes are now much more developed in the sense, here they are not writing on the clay, they are writing on rosette, which is a black sort of a stone as shown in the image below. Cuneiform primarily written on clay tablets was used for a vast array of economic, religious, political, literary, and scholarly documents.
1100 BCE
Phoenician alphabet
800 BCE
Earliest examples of Greek alphabetic acript
350 CE - 950 CE
Estimated use of the Ogham in ireland and southwestern England
In China, the first real evidence for writing was in complete sentences written on bone articles. It was in the form of fortune telling. Chinese asked the spirit of the animal in the bones to reveal their future by heating of the
Black stone Cuneiform
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The fourth era in the world where writing developed is Egypt. The writing was developed into higher glyphs the writing was on papaya and with ink. Higher glyphs which are the origin of Hebrew alphabets and many other different alphabets used in the Middle East. Chinese script
Greek script
bone,it cracked. And the way in which it cracked formed answers to their questions. Mexico script
The Greek alphabet is actually the closest of the ancient alphabet to modern script alphabet. It also differs from the other alphabet as it has different signs of vowels. The alphabets stops at letter T. It is this form of alphabet which eventually was borrowed by the Romans and which gives our modern alphabets today.
In Mexico, where the man civilization was in complete different form of writing from ancient popular India own or ancient china own and there are some examples of man’s glyphs. Glyphs as they called a graphic symbol that provides the appearance or form or a character.
Egypt script
Latin script
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The Latin alphabet that we still use today was created by the Etruscans and the Romans, and derived from the Greek. It had only 23 letters: the J, U and W were missing. The J was represented by the I, the U was written as V and there was no need for a W.
In whatever age, since its inception, writing has served to communicate the thoughts and feelings of the individual and of that person’s culture, their collective history, and their experiences with the human condition, and to preserve those experiences for future generations.
“Even though today the greek alphabet is only used for the greek language, it is the root of most of the scripts used today in the western world.
Early writing systems, imported to other cultures, evolved into the written language of those cultures so that the Greek and Latin would serve as the basis for European script in the same way that the Semitic Aramaic script would provide the basis for Hebrew, Arabic, and possibly Sanskrit. The materials of writers have evolved as well, from the cut reeds with which early Mesopotamian scribes marked the clay tablets of cuneiform to the reed pens and papyrus of the Egyptians, the parchment of the scrolls of the Greeks and Romans, the calligraphy of the Chinese, on through the ages to the present day of computerized composition and the use of processed paper. 5
anatomy of typeface
Here’s a glossary of common type terminology FOOT The part of a stem that rests on the baseline.
CHARACTER Individual Letters, figures, punctuation marks, etc,. of the alphabet.
LEG The down-sloping stroke on the letter ‘K’, ‘k’ and ‘R’.
STEM Any vertical stroke in a character.
ARC Any curved contour of a letter.
SWASH An elegant extension on a letter form.
ARM The horizontal stroke in a character that does not connect to a stem at one or both sides.
SHOULDER The curved part projecting downward from a stem in the lowercase ‘h’, ‘m’, ‘n’. 6
COUNTER The enclosed or partially enclosed circular or curved negative space (white space) of some letters such as d, o, and s is the counter.
DESCENDER Any part in a lowercase letter that extends below the baseline, found for example in g, j, p, q, y, etc.
ASCENDER Any part in a lowercase letter that extends above the x-height, found for example in ‘b’, ‘d’, ‘f’, ‘h’, ‘k’, etc.
DOUBLE-STOREY A double-story ‘a’ or ‘g’ has two counters, as opposed to their single-storey variants which only have one counter.
APEX The point at the top of a letter where two strokes meet, for example in the capital ‘A’.
SINGLE-STOREY A single-storey ‘a’ or ‘g’ only has one counter, as opposed to their doublestorey variants which have two counters.
VERTEX The point at the bottom (or top) of a character where two strokes meet, for example the ‘v’, ‘V’, ‘w’, ‘W’ etc.
BOWL The curved part of the character that encloses the circular or curved parts (counter) of some letters such as ‘d’, ‘b’, ‘o’, ‘D’, and ‘B’ is the bowl.
TERMINAL The end (straight or curved) of any stroke that doesn’t include a serif.
JOINT The spot where a stroke joins a stem.
BALL TERMINAL A terminal that resolves into circular shape. 7
HAIRLINE The thinnest stroke in a typeface design with strokes of different width.
TEARDROP TERMINAL
A terminal that resolves into teardrop shape.
EYE Much like a counter, the eye refers only to the enclosed space in a lowercase ‘e’.
CROSSBAR The (usually) horizontal stroke across the middle of the uppercase ‘A’ and ‘H’.
APERTURE The partially enclosed, somewhat rounded negative space in some characters such as ‘n’, ‘C’, ‘S’, the lower part of ‘e’, or the upper part of a double-storey ‘a’.
CROSS STROKE The (usually) horizontal stroke that intersects the stem of the lowercase ‘f’ and ‘t’.
CROTCH The inside angle where two strokes in a character meet
FINIAL The curved or tapered end of a stroke that has no serif.
LIGATURES Special characters that are actually two letters combined into one. In cases where two adjacent characters would normally bump into each other, a ligature allows the letters to flow together more gracefully. This usually makes word shapes more aesthetically pleasing. Some common ligatures are ‘fi’, ‘fl’, ‘ff’, ‘ffl’, etc.
GLYPH Every character in a typeface, (e.g: G, $, ?, and 7), is represented by a glyph. One single type design may contain more than one glyph for each character. These are usually referred to as alternates. 8
BRACKET The bracket is a curved or wedge-like connection between the stem and serif of some fonts. Not all serifs are bracketed serifs.
SPINE The main curved stroke in the letter ‘S’ and ‘s’.
GADZOOK An embellishment that connects the letters in a ligature but is not originally part of either letter.
AXIS An imaginary line drawn from top to bottom of a glyph bisecting the upper and lower strokes is the axis. The slant of the axis (or lack thereof) often helps determine the type classification.
LINK/NECK The small, usually curved connecting stroke between the upper bowl and lower loop in the double-storey ‘g’.
BEAK A triangular, serif-like protrusion at the end of a stroke in certain serif type designs.
LOOP/LOBE In a double-storey ‘g’, the loop is the enclosed or partially enclosed counter below the baseline that is connected to the bowl by a link. The enclosed or partially enclosed extenders on cursive ‘p’, ‘b’, ‘l’, and similar letters are also called loops.
SPUR The small protruding part off a main stroke, often where a curve meets a straight stem.
TAIL The descending, often decorative stroke on the letter ‘Q’.
TITTLE The dot on the ‘i’ and ‘j’. 9
type spacing & positioning BASELINE The imaginary line upon which the letters in a font appear to rest.
CAP-HEIGHT The height from the baseline to the top of the uppercase letters
X-HEIGHT The height of the lowercase letters, disregarding ascenders or descenders, typically exemplified by the letter x.
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LEADING It means the vertical space between lines of text, from baseline to base line. Also known as line spacing.
GUTTER SPACE The inside margins or blank space between two facing pages is the gutter.
PROPORTIONAL Characters designed to respect their normal proportions. Wide characters will occupy more horizontal space than narrow characters.
KERNING Kerning refers to the horizontal spacing between two consecutive characters.
TRACKING Adding space between successions of characters, as opposed to kerning which only adds space between two consecutive characters.
MONOSPACED Characters designed to all have the same width, ignoring their normal proportions. This allows for neatly setting columns of text and tables, for example in programming code, accounting, etc
POINT SIZE The point size of a typeface refers to the size of the body, the imaginary area that encompasses each character in a font. small x-height at the same point size. 11
Classification of type A classification system can be helpful in identifying, choosing and combining typefaces. First published in 1954 as the Vox system – and still widely accepted as a standard today.
CLASSICAL
MODERN
CALLIGRAPHIC
This is broken down into old style, Garald and transitional categories, and are characterized by triangular serifs, oblique axis and low stroke contrast.
The moderns can be broken down into Didone and linear categories, & are characterized by a simple, functional feel that gained momentum during the industrial period.
This is under LINEAL All typefaces without serifs (called sans-serif). The British Standard 2961 broke this into 4 sub-categories.
The Calligraphics can be broken down into glyphic, script, graphic, blackletter, and Gaelic categories, and are characterized by a suggestion of being handcrafted.
Old Style Garalde Transitional
Didone Slab Serif
Grotesque Neogrotesque Humanist Geometric
Glyphic Script Blackletter Graphic Gaelic
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CLASSICAL
OLD STYLE
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
Ren - Created in 15th Century
Centaur Palatino Goudy
- Formerly known as “Venetian” - Sloping e-bar - Axis curves inclines to the left - Serifs are bracketed - Ball terminals are like teardrops.
- Subtle contrast for thick and thin strokes
- Excellent readability - Best type for large body text - Used heavily in newspapers, books and also on web. 13
CLASSICAL
GARALDE
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdef ghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
Ren Garamond Caslon Bembo
- Also called Aldine - Named after Claude Garamond and Aldus Manutius. - Finer proportions than the humanists. - Weights are distributed as per oblique axis. In France, under King Francis I, the garaldes were the tool which supported the official fixing of grammar and orthography. 14
CLASSICAL
TRANSITIONAL
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
Ren Times New Roman Georgia Bookman
- Most commonly used serif fonts. - Between Old Style and Modern - More vertical axis, less inclined stress - Serifs bracket or swell as in old style - Serifs terminate at sharp straight ends - Serifs sit tangent along baseline.
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MODERN SERIF
DIDONE ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
Ren Bodoni Modern no 20 Bernhard
- Made in late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries with improvements in the printing process. - Tend to look very structured and cold - Really eye-catching at larger sizes - Not suitable for large amounts of body text - Best to keep them for headings and sub-headings. - Abrupt contrast: thick, thin strokes - Axis of curves is vertical - Main strokes meet serifs at 90째 - Main strokes do not bracket into serifs. 16
MODERN SERIF
SLAB SERIF
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
1234567890
Ren COURIER ROCKWELL PLAYBILL
- Also called Egyptian - Became popular in the 19th century for advertising display
- Better presses, inks and paper also allowed for increased ink coverÂŹage. - Commercial demand for bolder, heavier fonts led to the creation of Slab-Serif fonts. - Heavy, square-ended serifs - Square, mostly unbracketed serifs - Axis of curves is vertical.
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LINEAL
GROTESQUE
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R ST U V W X Y Z abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
Ren Franklin Gothic Grotesque Eurostile
- Sometimes referred as ‘Gothic’,
named for their ugly appearance.
- Similar to Geometric typefaces, appear as perfect circles - Rounded strokes (like on ‘o’, ‘b’ or’d’) with all strokes being a constant width. - Some contrast: thick, thin strokes - Axis of curves is vertical
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LINEAL
NEO-GROTESQUE
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
Ren Helvetica Arial Univers
- Derived from their grotesque cousins, - Jawed characters are much more open. - Round characters are more circular - The ends of the curved strokes are usually oblique.
During the 1950s a simplification in design, called Swiss modernism, gave birth to the even cleaner typefaces of the neogrotesque classification. The Arial font family is a modern favorite, developed in 1982 by Monotype for exclusive use in IBM’s 3800-3 laser printer. 19
LINEAL
HUMANIST ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
Ren Myriad Pro Gill Sans Tahoma
- The most calligraphic looking of all.
- Most readable. - Contrast in stroke weight - Based on Roman scriptional letters
Starting around 1930, typeface designers wanted more readable sans serif fonts that could be used for body text. The result was humanist typefaces, which returned to the smaller x-heights and capitals typical of traditional serif fonts. 20
LINEAL
GEOMETRIC
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
Ron
- Geometric typefaces are based on geometric shapes
Futura Century Gothic Erbar
- Have a more modern look. - Based on simple geometric shapes circle or rectangle. - Axis of curves is vertical constant, uniform stroke weight Development of this typeface is a result of the Bauhaus modernization movement. Bauhaus style was devoted to extreme simplification, usefulness, and the ability to sustain artistic qualities in mass-produced products.
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CALLIGRAPHIC
GLYPHIC
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
Ren - Usually a greater emphasis on the capital letters - Some faces not containing a lowercase.
Copper Plate Gothic Trajan Albertus
- Type faces which are chiseled rather than calligraphic handwriting. - Small, triangular serifs or tapering down strokes.
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CALLIGRAPHIC
Script
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP Q R S T U V W X Y Z abcdefghijklmno p q r s t u v w x y z 1234567890
Ren Mistral Brush Script Segoe print
- Often connected to each other - It is written with a quill, and has a strong slope. - Evoke the formal penmanship or cursive writing - Harder to read than most serif and sans-serif fonts - Work well as headlines or in designs with limited text 23
CALLIGRAPHIC
Script
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
Ren - Exaggerated terminal flourishes - Strong contrast: thick , thin strokes - Often hard to read, mainly for display
Fraktur Rotunda
Blackletter fonts were created with the invention of th RoN e printing press. They received their name based on their strong resemblance to Blackletter calligraphy.
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CALLIGRAPHIC
Graphic
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
Reo - Characters suggest that they have been drawn rather than written
BANCO KLANG
- Not intended for body text, but for display or headline purposes - Generally do not represent writing Vox originally included the blackletter and uncial faces in this categorization. 25
CALLIGRAPHIC
GAELIC ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890
RoN - Distinctively celvic calligraphy
American Uncial
- Widely used from the 16th until the mid- 20th centuries but is today rarely used merely for decorative typesetting - A number of traditional Irish newspapers still print their name in Gaelic script on the first page, and it is also popular for pub signs, greeting cards, and display advertising. Gaelic type was added to the classification at the AGM of the Dublin meeting of ATypI, on 12 September 2010 26
Examples
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After understanding the typefaces and their terminolgies, you can now observe different types of typefaces used. Here are some famous logos and examples given below shows how typefaces are used to depict different identity.
The rare use of blackletter in the logo. This logo shows the vintage look showcasing the experience.
Sony’s famous logo using Slab serif typeface. 28
Mercedes vintage print ad. Lack of tracking in the logo making readability poor.
Mercedes Benz current print ad with clear typeface 29
Bibliography Basic Typography by James Craig, p32, Choosing typefaces Graphic Design Cook Book by Leonard Koren & R. Wippo Meckier, p103, layouts Evolution of ABC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ magazine-14544388 Anatomy of type: https://www.fontshop.com/glossary Position and Spacing: https://www.fontshop.com/glossary Text Source: http://www.howdesign.com/designcreativity/fonts-typography/letterforms/ http://www.creativebloq.com/logodesign/typographic-3132206 http://www.fonts.com/content/learning/ fontology/level-1/type-anatomy/typeclassifications http://uxmovement.com/content/ how-sans-serif-typeface-styles-affectreadability/ http://www.howdesign.com/designcreativity/fonts-typography/letterforms/ 30
Thanks for reading!
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Š 2015 Nidhi Desai
PGDP Visual Communication Srishti Institute of Art, Design & technology 32