willem van lancker
the process of typography I
rhode island school of design
autumn 2007
typography I
the purpose of this course is to familiarize the student with the letter as type, the way type is used to produce effective, legible, and aesthetically pleasing word shaped, sentences, and columns. through various exercises, drawing and otherwise, the student is introduced to letter forms, word shapes, sentence, and column structure as well as letter, word, and line spacing. we will look at the letter forms with an emphasis on their defining characteristics and details and the means for controlling unity of design concepts throughout an entire typeface and type family. the effect of tools/technology, and personal expression on the letter form will be explored. word, letter, and interline spacing will be manipulated in light of aesthetic legibility, expressive, and economic concerns. - hans van dijk, instructor
contents 1 3-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13-16 17-18 19-22 23-24
typography I it could lead to typography H + O scale and composition it could lead to typography poster paragraph tracking leading and hyphenation character spacing on title pages paragraph spacing poetry in type closing statement.
144pt baskerville a&p rendering, first day of course
it could lead to typography
printed ephemera lacks the beauty of the designer’s hand. practical objects are made without reference to design and typography. they often lack any awareness of beauty, compostion or sophistication. motor vehicle registrations, parking tickets, and license plate stickers. we were required to take these objects and scale, crop, color, and wholly improve the aesthetic quality while still staying true to what was found. this process allowed us to start from the bottom and appreciate design everywhere in our environment.
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H + O scale and compositions
after setting the capitals h, o, and + in futura medium, it was our task to manually create four weights ranging from extra light to extra bold by changing the stroke widths. above is the final product. this exercise allowed us to learn more about the make-up of a font from ultra-light to extra bold. it is not merely adjusting the stroke weight, the type must also line up on the baseline as well as at the cap height and the new character must be optically pleasing. our second task was to combine these three characters in compositions with a central focus, edge focus, and a jagged pattern to guide the eye in a particular pattern.
HH HH H H
O
H HHH HH
H HHH HH
HH HH H H
O
H HHH HH
HH HH H H
O
+++ +
HH HH H H
H HHH HH
+++ +
O
O
O
it could lead to typography poster
this poster was the culmination of the “it could lead to typography” and “h + o scale and composition” projects. the poster was required to include the letterforms combined with the final result of the “it could lead to typography” project. placement and color were contrasted from the original plate. the following composition is a combination of the parking ticket and futura h + o.
Type face: Sabon Roman and Italic Type size: 10/14 pt Column width 9 pica, fl/rr Hyphenation off Track 0
Task: 1 - justify, hyphenation off 2 - justify, hyphenation on
“A free America, democratic in the sense that our forefathers intended it to be, means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave man to the machine and make him like it.” Frank Lloyd Wright
paragraph tracking, leading, and hypenation
“A free America, democratic in the sense that our forefathers intended it to be, means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave man to the machine and make him like it.” Frank Lloyd Wright
“A free America, democratic in the sense that our forefathers intended it to be, means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave man to the machine and make him like it.” Frank Lloyd Wright
the paragraph is often a largely overlooked form of art and design. in typography, the big and bold letterforms usually steal the attention. but the paragraph is a dynamic and complex design as a whole as well as when broken down into the rhythm and pace of words. we were presented with several pages of paragraph problems dealing with tracking, leading, justification and hyphenation. to achieve the appropriate aesthetic, texture and rhythm we had to adjust these elements. above, and on the following page, are two examples.
Those part of the system that you can hit with a hammer (not advised) are called hardware; those program instructions that you can only curse at are called software. Author unknown
Those part of the system that you can hit with a hammer (not advised) are called hardware; those program instructions that you can only curse at are called software. Author unknown
Those part of the system that you can hit with a hammer (not advised) are called hardware; those program instructions that you can only curse at are called software. Author unknown
Type face: Bodoni Book Type size: 14/16 pt + 9 pt Column Width: 9p75, justified Hyphenation: off Track: 0 Wordspacing: 100, 100, 100%
Task: 1 - improve texture with standard hyphenation and justification 2 - manually change tracking values line-by-line to achieve optimal even texture
character spacing on title pages
the title page is an integral part of book design and subtle changes in the way simple type is set on the page can have a profound effect on the message the text announces. manually spacing the characters, we arranged the text for the best optical effect. we were required to keep the text in center alignment and work in capitals and lowercase in five categories including: old roman, transitional roman, slab serif, sans serif, bold, condensed, italic, and regular. the final prints measured 6 5/8 x 9 1/2 inches.
1931
an essay on
Typography
eric gill
baskerville regular 16/24 pt
helvetica regular 15/18pt
helvetica regular 15/30pt on 80lb medallion gray
baskerville semi-bold 16/30pt on lettra
paragraph spacing: texture
The passage above is from the book of Luke 2:1-12. much like the paragraph problems earlier in the semester, the challenge was to create an appealing aesthetic without losing the readability and meaning of the text. it is apparent what tracking, leading, type size, font and composition on the page can do to the effect of the passage. we were required to create 20 paragraph explorations on 8 1/2 x 11 inches.
opposite: helvetica regular 15/30 pt on lettra
and it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from caesar augustus that all the world should be taxed. and this taxing was first made when cyrenius was governor of syria. and all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. and joseph also went up from galilee, out of the city of nazereth, into david: to be taxed with mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
and so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. and she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
poetry in type
based on what was learned throughout the semester we were presented with an excerpt from james joyce’s “a portrait of the artist as a young man.” this was the culmination of our understanding of the compostion of type. we worked with several design and typographic concepts such as space, type as an image, composition on the page, alignment, symmetry and the meaning of the poem. our first experimentation explored indent, leading, tracking and spacing designed in several solutions. next we moved onto variations in type size, face, weight, slant, and width. the nine compositions above are an example of this exploration and progression. on the facing page is the final composition created, forming a harmonious aesethic between type size, face, weight, and pace.
poetry in type
the final task of the “poetry in type” project was to create a book of our most successful explorations of the poem for each problem. i created a perfect bound book with a classic look covered in two tones of grey book cloth and an inlayed title. the look of my book mirrored the feeling of the poem’s content, the time it was written and the rhythm and texture of my poems. this was my first attempt at bookbinding and bookmaking and it was an enriching experience. i have certainly learned from my mistakes but my finished product was a handsome book that i am proud of.
closing statement.
above is the lowercase baskerville g. this g is where typography I began, by drawing a three foot tall rendering of it, and it is where i will be leaving it. as i continue to gain my education in typography this character will stay with me for quite some time. its graceful curves, subtle stroke variations, and the presence it demands. this semester i learned to respect the page, paragraph, sentence, word and finally the character as individual art forms. mastering the design of type is no easy task. in just twelve weeks i have gained knowledge of a world unknown to most of the public who merely read the words on a page. they do not look deeper into them as form and counter form and never respect the literally thousands of interactions and relationships on a single page. i know i am just beginning but i will never look at type in the same way again.
colophon
willem van lancker typography I rhode island school of design autumn 2007 instructor: hans van dijk all type in this book was set in helvetica regular and bold 8.5/11.5pt. the cover type was set in garamond regular. all page numbers were handdrawn by the designer. book printed on 80lb laser matte.