Introduction to Typography

• Type is everywhere• It is a fundamental means of

communication• Origins as a mechanical process• Now very much a critical part of

the digital communications environment (WP, DTP, web and multimedia)

Type in EIMC

• Animation• Web design• Computer Interfaces• Creative Graphics• Titles and credit sequences• Publicity and promotional materials• Documentation

Times New Roman (bold) Arial (bold) Bookman Old Style (normal) Franklin Gothic Medium (normal) Garamond (bold)

Type anatomy and terminology

• Upper case• Lower case• Ascender• Descender• X Height• Cap height• Baseline

Styles

• Weight (heavy or light)• Emphasis (bold, italics, etc.)• Balance• Contrast

Spacing

• Characters– Leading– Kerning– Tracking

• Paragraphs– Centred– Justified– Left aligned (ragged right)– Right aligned (ragged left)

Type effects

• 3D• Drop caps• Animated type and motion

graphics– Flash– Animated gifs– Lightwave

Type as an issue in communication

• Who is the audience?• What is being communicated?• What effect is being achieved?

Legibility vs. decoration

• The requirement to produce legible type depends on who you are communicating to and what you are communicating.

• The more space that you have to work in the more flexible and creative you can be with type.

Font selection in Microsoft Word

Character settings in Adobe Illustrator

Letter a represented as a bit map

Letter a represented as a vector