NG TYPE
CONTENTS 1
INTRODUCTION
2
PRINCIPLES
3
TYPOGRAPHIC BASICS
4
THE ANOTOMY
INTROD
The word, typography, is derived from the Greek words τύπος typos “form” or “impression” and graphein “to write”, traces its origins to the first punches and dies used to make seals and currency in ancient times, which ties the concept to printing.
The uneven spacing of the impressions on brick stamps found in the Mesopotamian cities of Uruk and Larsa, dating from the second millennium B.C., may be evidence of type, wherein the reuse of identical characters was applied to create cuneiform text. Typography also was implemented in the Phaistos Disc, an enigmatic Minoan printed item from Crete, which dates to between 1850 and 1600 B.C. It has been proposed that Roman lead pipe inscriptions were created with movable type printing, but German typographer Herbert Brekle recently dismissed this view.
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The essential criterion of type
identity was met by medieval print artifacts such as the Latin Pruefening Abbey inscription of 1119 that was created by the same technique as the Phaistos Disc. The silver altarpiece of patriarch Pellegrinus II (1195−1204) in the cathedral of Cividale was printed with individual letter punches. Apparently, the same printing technique may be found in tenth to twelfth century Byzantine reliquaries. Other early examples include individual letter tiles where the words are formed by assembling single letter tiles in the desired order, which were reasonably widespread in medieval Northern Europe Repeated printing wore the character faces down and the types could be replaced only by carving new pieces. Metal movable type was first invented in Korea during the Goryeo Dynasty, approximately
UCTION 1230. Hua Sui introduced bronze type printing to China in 1490 AD. The diffusion of both movable-type systems was limited and the technology did not spread beyond East and Central Asia, however.
Modern lead-based movable type, along with the mechanical printing press, is most often attributed to the goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg in 1439. His type pieces, made from a lead-based alloy, suited printing purposes so well that the alloy is still used today. Gutenberg developed specialized techniques for casting and combining cheap copies of letter punches in the vast quantities required to print multiple copies of texts. This technical breakthrough was instrumental in starting the Printing Revolution and the first book printed with leadbased movable type was the Gutenberg Bible Rapidly advancing
technology revolutionized typography in the latter twentieth century. During the 1960s some camera-ready typesetting could be produced in any office or workshop with stand-alone machines such as those introduced by IBM. During the mid-1980s personal computers such as the Macintosh allowed type designers to create typefaces digitally using commercial graphic design software. Digital technology also enabled designers to create more experimental typefaces as well as the practical typefaces of traditional typography. Designs for typefaces could be created faster with the new technology, and for more specific functions. The cost for developing typefaces was drastically lowered, becoming widely available to the masses. The change has been called the “democratization of type� and has given new designers more opportunities to enter the field.
WHAT’S YOUR TYPE?
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hree fundamental aspects of typography are legibility, readability, and esthetics. Though in a non-technical sense “legible” and “readable” are often used synonymously, typographically they are separate but related concepts. Legibility and readability tend to support esthetic aspects of a product. Legibility describes how easily individual characters can be distinguished from one another. Selection of case influences the legibility of typography because using only upper-case letters (all-caps) reduces legibility. Readability refers to how easy it is to read the text as a whole, as opposed to the individual character recognition described by legibility. Use of margins, word- and line-spacing, and clear document structure all impact on readability. Some fonts or font styles, for instance sans-seriffed fonts, are considered to have low readability,. The esthetic concerns in typography deals not only with the careful selection of one or two harmonizing typefaces and relative type sizes, but also with laying out elements to be printed on a flat surface tastefully and appealingly, among others. For this reason, typographers attempt to observe typographical principles. Legibility ‘refers to perception’ (being able to see as determined by physical limitations of the eye) and readability ‘refers to comprehension’ (understanding the meaning). Good typographers and graphic designers aim to achieve excellence in both. “The typeface chosen should be legible. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size; more often, however, it is a matter of typeface design. Case selection always influences legibility. In general, typefaces that are true to the basic letterforms are more legible than typefaces that have been condensed, expanded, embellished, or abstracted.However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable through poor setting and placement, just as a less legible typeface can be made more readable through good design.
PRINCIPLES
C I H P G A R G TYPO
S C I AS
Typefaces & Fonts
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ou may have heard the text you use in design projects referred to as both fonts and typefaces and wondered if the two terms mean the same thing. Technically and historically (in terms of typesetting) they’re different, but today, they’re often used interchangeably.
name — say, Times New Roman or Bodoni, would be considered the typeface. When those letters needed to be cast at a particular size or weight (10 point bold, for example), that would be considered a particular font. So 10 pt. Bodoni bold and 24 pt. Bodoni italic would be two different fonts, but the same typeface.
If you’re interested in understanding the difference, a few snappy definitions might help: The typeface is the design; the font is how that design is delivered. typeface + style + size = font A font is what you use; a typeface is what you see.
All that to say, that for most graphic design purposes today, the terms are more or less interchangeable; fonts are the digital representations of typefaces, and we can change either with a simple click on our computer screens… So unless you’re talking to a typography expert who you want to impress with your superior knowledge, no need to worry about the differences.
The distinction dates back to traditional printmaking with metal type. The unique style or design of the alphabet that we identify by
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Text Typefaces
raditionally, text is composed to create a readable, coherent, and visually satisfying typeface that works invisibly, without the awareness of the reader. Even distribution of typeset material, with a minimum of distractions and anomalies, is aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
CLASSIFYING
01
Blackletter
Blackletter typefaces are highly ornamental style of typgraphy, different styles are often associated with the different regions in which they were developed and used.The main classi cations include Textura, Schwabacher, Cursiva and Fraktur.
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Script
Script typefaces are based on the forms made with a exible brush or pen and often have varied strokes reminiscent of handwriting. There are many different classi cations including Brush Script, English Roundhand and Rationalized Script. However, the broadest forms of classi cation are Formal Script and Casual Script.
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Calligraphic
Letters associated with the art of calligraphy and the fonts developed from their production can be classi ed as calligraphic. Calligraphic letters can be,
although do not have to be, classi ed as Chancery, Etruscan or Uncial.
Pixel
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Pixel fonts developed from the invention of the computer and were based on the on-screen display format of pixels.They are based on an array of pixels, are often called Bitmap fonts and are often designed only for a specifc point size.
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Decorative
While serifed and sansserif typefaces can often be used for text typesetting.These typefaces are often developed with a speci c use in mind and are designed for larger point size use in headlines, posters and billboards.
Transitional The bridge for the gap between Old Style and Modern serifed typefaces,Transitional type has a more vertical axis and sharper serifs than humanist forms. Example: Baskerville.
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Serif
Typefaces in this category have serifs. Serif typefaces are very legible, provide improve credibility while leading the eye along a line of type. The typefaces There are many different classifications for serifed type- faces, often named for their origins, some of these classi cations can also be placed into broader classi cations of typography including the styles below.
Modern Modern serifed typefaces were a radical break from the traditional typography of the time with high contrast of strokes, straight serifs and a totally vertical axis.
Example: Bodoni.
Humanist
Old Style These typefaces are known by a low contrast in stroke weight and angled serifs. Example: Garamond.
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Egyptian
Egyptian typefaces have heavy serifs and are used for decorative purposes and headlines because the heavy serifs impeded legibility at small point sizes. Example: Rockwell.
Sans-Serif
Thes include proportions that were modeled on old style typefaces, open 3 strokes and a slightly higher contrast in strokes in comparison to other sans-serif typefaces. Example: Gill Sans.
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The word “sans” means “without” in french. Typhases in this category,therefore are those without serifs. Sans-serif typefaces have a clean desin and are very legible for display or emphasis. Much like serifed typefaces, there are many different classi cations for sans-serif typefaces, includ- ing Gothic, Grotesque, Doric, Linear, Swiss and Geometric.
Geometric
Geometric sans-serif typefaces, as their name implies, are based on geometric forms. In some cases letters, such as the lower case ‘o’, are perfect geometric forms. Example: Futura.
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THE ANATOMY
Counter
The inside of a bowl.
Bar
Bars are horizontal or diagonal lines of a letter and are open on at least one side.
Typog
Descender Line Baseline Cap Line
Descender
The part of a character that extends below the baseline.
Ascender
The part of a character that extends above the meanline is known as an ascender.
raphy Bowl
An open or closed circular line that creates an interior space.
Body Height
Stem
Cap Height
The stem is often the main “body” of a letter.
X-Height
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THE ANATOMY
THINKIN