TYPEAN INTRODUCTION TO

Contents

Character Structure

Measurements

Type Classification

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10

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Character Structure

4

Ascender

Descender

Stroke

5

Link

Loop

6

Stem

Arm

Ligature

7

Apex

Crossbar

8

Serif Finial

9

Bowl / Counter

Measurements

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11

x-height

AscenderCap

Median

Baseline

Descender

Type Classification

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Centaur1914-29

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Humanist (Venetian) 1460

Named after the first roman typefaces that appeared in Venice in 1470, Venetian typefaces were initially designed to imitate the handwriting of Italian Renaissance scholars. A distinguishing feature of Venetian typefaces is the sloped horizontal bar on the lowercase e. These typefaces originated as book type and still serve that function well because of their clarity and legibility.

Examples Jenson, Centaur, Lynton, Kennerley, Verona, Lutetia

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Garamond1499-1561

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Old Face (Garalde) 1500

Old Face typefaces include some of the most popular roman styles in use today. The distinguishing features of Old Face typefaces are apparent in Garamond, which has a horizontal bar on the lowercase e, a slightly greater contrast between thick and thin strokes than the Humanist (Venetian) types, axis curves that are inclined to the left, and bracketed serifs.

Examples Bembo, Garamond, Goudy Old Style, Granjon, Janson, Palatino, Perpetua, Plantin, Caslon

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Baskerville1706-75

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Transitional faces 1750

Containing elements of both Garalde and modern (Didone) typefaces, transitional typefaces are beautifully suited to text because of their regularity and precision. The axis of the round characters is vertical or barely inclined, the contrast between hairlines and main strokes is slightly pronounced, and serifs are thin, flat and bracketed.

Examples Baskerville, Fournier, Bell

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Didot1784

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Modern (Didone) 1775

Improvements in late 18th century paper production, composition, printing and binding made it possible to develop a type style with strong vertical emphasis and fine hairlines. Named after Didot and Bodoni, Didone or Modern types include strong contrast between thick and thin strokes, curved strokes on a vertical axis, and often, serifs with no brackets.

Examples Didot, Bodoni, Walbaum

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Rockwell1934

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Slab Serif (Egyptian) 1825

In the early 1800s the Slab Serif appears, otherwise known as Egyptian (Egyptology was a major obsession at the time: there is no other connection between the typefaces and that country). The Slab Serif was born in Britain, and was no doubt inspired by a new wave of advertising. Until this time, type was designed to serve one purpose it was designed for long stretches of texts, for books. But with mechanisation, and major innovations in printing technology advertisers in particular were looking for a type that stood out from crowd.

Examples Rockwell, Egiziano, Officina, Archer

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Gill Sans1992

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Sans Serif (Lineale) 1900

Though the first sans serif (without serif) typeface was issued in 1816, another hundred years passed before this style gained popularity. Highly legible for both display and text use, sans serifs generally fall into one of four categories: Grotesque, Neo-Grotesque, Geometric and Humanist.

Examples Futura, Gill Sans, Helvetica, Univers, Frutiger, News Gothic

Designed by Charlie Garrod