4 1 0 L2
L A F ET n
C A T S
EL esig D N &d A ’ D EY type
Assignment 1: The Anatomy of Type
Is it surprising that something so fundamentally human as type would have been anthropomorphized? We speak of font “families”; like male and female we have serif and sans-serif (and more recently marriages of both). Individual letterforms have arms, legs, beaks and tails, eyes and ears, spines and shoulders. A knowledge of the lexicon helps designers and typographers to talk about fonts, their appearance, formal qualities and subtle variations.
Assignment 2: Overlays
The apparent size of a typeface is directly connected to the mean, or body size. Within any given size (72pt.) there can be wide variation in the way it appears on the page. While the x-足height remains the same the length of the ascenders and descenders grows longer or shorter and the point size must be adjusted accordingly.
Assignment 3 & 4: Cropping and Readability
There is a difference between “legibility”and
harmony to their spatial relationship. Elements
“readability. Which is more legible when
have a counterpoint relationship when they
covered, the bottom half of the word or the top
have contrasting characteristics, such as size,
half of the word? How much of the letterform
weight, color, tone, or texture. Counterpoint
can you remove and still read the word? How do
relationships bring opposition and dissonance
the serifs, curves, diagonals and other details
to the design.
of each letter assist with legibility? After you have removed a portion of each letterform what does the viewer become aware of? As in music, elements can have a counterpart or a counterpoint relationship. Typographic counterparts are elements with similar qualities that bring
fillet
crossbar
stroke
arc
tail
loop
tittle
shoulder
eye
ascender
shoulder
eye
tittle
double arc
bowl
descender
stroke
shoulder
crossbar
ascender
Stacey D’Andelet: Didot
Stacey D’Andelet: Futura
Univers 85 Extra Futura Black Condensed Extrabold
Futura Condensed Extrabold
Univers 85 Extra Black Rockwell Extra Bold
Assignment 5: The Parts to the Whole
S: Century Schoolbook
X: Times New Roman
F: Baskerville
B: Perpetua Impact Futura Light + Poplar
Impact
Form and counterform, positive and negative Futura Light++Madrone Poplar Franklin Gothic Condensed space. The space inside and between letters is every bit as important as the strokes themselves. Typography demands the observation and awareness of the abstract qualities of the forms
K: Caslon
N: Rockwell
E: Garamond
within the form. Designers can activate counter
D: Century Schoolbook
space to create distinctive and memorable monograms, marks and logotypes – embedding meaning in these formerly empty spaces. Egyptienne F
Univers 39 Thin Ultra Condensed Didot Bold
Courier Bold
A: Baskerville
P: Perpetua
U: Helvetica
T: Futura
G: Gill Sans
R: Helvetica
W: Futura
Z: Univers b c: Didot
Bauhaus 93
B: Helvetica
Q: Futura
Avenir Roman
Silom
Didot Bold
Stacey D’Andelet
Stacey D’Andelet
d
Courier Bold
g f: Baskerville
Charter Roman + Charter Black
Univers 85 FExtraEgyptienne Black Egyptienne F + Univers 39 Thin Ultra Condensed
L V:Sans Gill Sans U: Gill
Y: Univers
Perpetua Bold
j s: Caslon
f d: Georgia
Haettenschweiler
Univers 85 Thin ExtraUltra BlackCondensed Perpetua Univers 39Bold Thin Ultra Univers Condensed 39 + Univers 39 Thin Ultra Condensed
a s: Rockwell
d i: Univers
Perpetua Bold Bauer Roman Bodoni Black Avenir Roman Avenir + Bauer Bodoni Roman
h v: Helvetica
Helvetica Neue Condensed Black
Rockwell Extra Bold
Stacey D’Andelet
ndensed ne + Madrone
a x: Bodoni
Gill Sans93 UltraBold Bauhaus Bauhaus 93 Univers 39 Thin UltraUnivers Condensed 39 Thin Ultra Condensed
Avenir Roman
Avenir Roman
B g: Caslon
Univers 93 Extra Black Extended Futura Condensed ExtraBold Univers 85 Extra Black+ Univers 39 Thin Ultra Perpetua Bold Perpetua Bold Condensed Charter Roman + Charter Black Charter Roman + Charter Black
Stacey D’Andelet D’Andelet Stacey Stacey D’Andelet
Rockwell Exra Bold Rockwell Extra Bold Haettenschweiler Haettenschweiler
Stacey D’Andelet
Stacey D’Andelet y j: Caslon
q f: Century Schoolbook
t y: Didot
Gill SansRoman UltraBold Impact Roman + Charter + Charter Black Charter Charter Black
G Y: Perpetua
Futura Condensed Bauhaus Extra 93 Rockwell Extra BoldExtraBold Rockwell Bold
o y: Didot
i Y: Times New Roman
Impact Courier Bold Haettenschweiler Haettenschweiler
r a: Futura
Times
w x: Bodoni
Bauhaus 93 Avenir Next Heavy EgyptienneHelvetica F BlackCondensed Black Condensed Neue Helvetica Neue
y a: Rockwell
t b: Garamond
Assignment 6: Visual Semantics
In this project we aim to enhance the meaning of words through expressive typography. A word set on a page is an abstract representation of a sound and a concept. Except by chance a word doesn’t look like the thing it represents. Typographers, however can manipulate letterforms to define a concept visually as well as literarily.
Assignment 7: Structure
While letterforms are each distinct in their structure, they all are built by combining four strokes; vertical, horizontal, slanted, and curvilinear. These elementary strokes form the foundation, a visual “code” that is recognizable through our long experience with reading and writing. Light or bold, wide or narrow, roman or italic, sans serif or serif – these are details and decoration. As the example illustrates the entire alphabet can be created using only the most minimal of elements.
UPPER CASE
lower case
Assignment 8: A Hybrid Typeface
Writing began as pictographic images
The ready availability of tools to create digital
representing object in the world. As societies
fonts now allows every designer to create their
became more complex alphabets evolved
own typefaces. Post-足Structuralism, radical
from simple pictures to abstract shapes which
experimentation and remix culture has created
could represent more subtle qualities and
a third wave of type design, as free and open to
ideas. The first printed typefaces were based
interpretation as the internet itself.
on medieval and renaissance scripts but slowly became more refined. By about 1800 type designers had isolated the purely geometric form of letters from their calligraphic origins leading to a wildly inventive period which helped define the early industrial revolution.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Eurostile
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Didot
Stacey D’Andelet
Assignment 9: Identity
Typography is, above all else a system, an ecology on the page. A visual identity applies a systematic typographic voice across several different mediums; a business card, letterhead, portfolio, website, etc. This system should be visually coherent, fulfil the needs and express the persona it stands for – above all it must be versatile, flexible and never redundant.
stacey d’andelet type compendium design & type | fall 2014 instructor: edwin utermohlen ringling college of art + design