Six Classifications of Type
{ Baskerville {
Peggy Vespa | Typography | Fall 2014
Researching the Six Classifications of Type • Old Style • Transitional • Modern • Sans-Serif • Slab Serif • Decorative
Below are the websites I used for researching the typeface classifications and their history. • graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu • ilovetypography.com • designhistory.org • wikipedia.org
Q
Old Style Palatino Typeface
Q Modern Didot Typeface
Q Transitional Baskerville Typeface
Q Sans-Serif Gill Sans Typeface
Q
Q
Slab Serif
Decorative
American Typewriter Typeface
Zebrawood Typeface
Research & Inspiration for Type Classification Posters
Thinking about specific design principles such as tension, rhythm, contrast and hierarchy I was inspired by the designs below. These elements would help enhance and create one design layout that would work for all six posters. I was drawn to the uppercase Q because of its interesting swash qualities, and felt I could create some interest with it.
My 25 Thumbnail Sketches
During class critique it was determined that the Q design outlined in red would be a good candidate to work with.
The following are my first attempt to refining a layout to achieve a successful template design.
During class critique we determined that the typeface family classification was too scrunched within the space allocated. It was suggested to try reworking the area with the other typefaces within the family. Also, the paragraph font scale needed to be decreased to maintain hierarchy and there needed to be more space under the bottom of the Q. The paragraph also needed more alignment with the top of the Q , and the red hue also seemed a bit too red and overpowering, so revisiting the color swatches was a must. Another helpful tip we were given by Professor Ward was an important tool to document our research through Cmd/Shift/4 to take a screen shot.
Continued refinement of the posters produced the following revised posters. I felt the revisions enhanced the layout, especially the color and font changes.
The red hue was toned down to a warmer shade. I found my inspiration at Pantone.com. Their Fall 2014 color palette offered some nice rich tones, and Aurora Red worked well to refine my posters. See below for the website link. I also decreased the point size in my paragraphs and changed the family classifications and other typefaces to allow more breathing room within the layout. Another important tip we were given by Professor Ward was the importance of utilizing the paragraph function to turn off the hyphen to avoid unappealing word separations. During class critique some still felt that more space was needed around the Q to allow even weight.
Old Style Old Style typeface also known as Humanist typeface, was introduced in the 15th-17th century. The typeface families have strong roots in calligraphy. They possess small wedge shaped serifs, small x-heights and horizontal cross bars. They also have minimal contrast between thick and thin strokes. Another characteristic includes the lowercase ascenders often exceeding the height of the capital letters. Old Style typeface have larger open style proportions with a diagonal stress.
The Final Six Classification Posters
During this time in 1501 the very ďŹ rst italic typeface was designed for small formats or pocket books.
Bembo Goudy Caslon Palatino Garamond Jansen
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 1234567890
!@#$%^&*()
Transitional
Modern
Departing from the old style typeface, transitional typefaces surfaced in the 1700’s.
The first modern typeface is attributed to Frenchman Firmin Didot and printed in 1784. The typeface takes inspiration from John Baskerville’s experimentation with stroke contrast.
Characteristics of this typeface possess a vertical or almost vertical stress in the bowls of letters, a greater contrast between thick and thin strokes, and the serifs are generally wider with flat bases. There is also more emphasis on spacing, allowing more light to surround the typeface. Transitional typeface also possesses a larger x-height, and maintains the same height of capitals letters with that of the ascenders. Numerals are cap-height and maintain a consistent size.
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Baskerville Times Joanna Fournier Bell Mrs. Eaves
!@#$%^&*()
Modern typeface is not suitable for large amounts of body text. It is best to keep them for headings and sub-headings.
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Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 1234567890
Characteristics of modern typeface include hairline serifs, small apertures and a vertical axis with a strong horizontal stress.
Bodoni Bernhard Modern { Bedini { Onyx Didot Orgreave
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 1234567890
!@#$%^&*()
Slab Serif
Sans-Serif
The impact of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century brought profound changes in typography.
The emergence of the sans-serif typeface appeared in the late 19th century with a contemporary movement in type design. Characteristics of the typeface include little or no variation between thick and thin strokes, lack of serifs, larger x-heights and minimal stress in the rounded strokes. Sans-serif also retain a greater thickness in the vertical strokes and maintain a bolder weight.
The slab serif family, also referred to as Egyptian, have many distinguishing characteristics. There is minimal variation of thick and thin strokes, heavy serifs possess squared-o ends, large x-heights, and vertical stresses in the rounded strokes.
The ďŹ rst sans-serif typeface to appear in a type sample book was William Caslon IV in 1816. The term sans serif was coined by Vincent Figgins in 1832.
Futura Kabel Helvetica { Universal Arial Gill Sans {
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 1234567890
!@#$%^&*()
American Typewriter { Stymie Memphis Rockwell Courier {
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 1234567890
!@#$%^&*()
Decorative Art Nouveau spread throughout Europe in the 20th century. The decorative typefaces were a huge part of this movement. The bold typefaces are developed for a speciďŹ c purpose and utilized in larger headlines, posters and billboards to create impact and attract the public eye. Characteristics of decorative typeface include outlines and inlines, color and shaded, or three-dimensional shadow. Decorative typefaces should be used sparingly, since they are difďŹ cult to read, and extra attention should be given to leading and kerning.
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Rosewood Zebrawood Ponderosa Gigi Pepperwood
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 1234567890
!@#$%^&*()
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