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typographic principles a booklet of typographic exercises compiled by alanna scott

typographic principles

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an excercise from 2nd year, exploring typographic principles

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typographicprinciples a booklet of typographic exercises

compiled by alanna scott

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typographicprinciplesa booklet of typographic exercisescompiled by alanna scott

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contents

Kerning 8

Leading, Measure and Character Count 10

Paragraph 12

Cropping for Meaning 14

Hierarchy 16

Grid System 18

Tabular Matter 20

H&J and Hanging Punctuation 22

Introduction 7

exer

cise

s

Conclusion 24

Bibliography 24

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introduction

The purpose of the booklet is twofold. Firstly, it is a demonstration of the typographic prin-

ciples explored in Clément Vincent’s COMD 210 Core Studio II course. Over the course of eight weeks the class focused on the principles of typo-graphic design such as kerning; leading, measure & character count; paragraphs; cropping for mean-ing; hierarchy; grid systems; tabular matter; and hyphenation & justification, ligatures and hanging punctuation. It is the goal in designing this booklet that I might put to practice the knowledge I have gained from the exercises completed over the past eight weeks on macro and micro levels.

Secondly, this booklet is a way of documenting and gathering the work I have completed from the first part of the semester, to form a small portfolio and record of my learning.

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8 typographic principles

OverviewThe objective is to create visually even and balanced

spacing between all of the letters in the word. Interletter spacing and kerning are critical to the aesthetic and legibility of typesetting and lettering. (Vincent/Mazzucca assignment sheet)

Kern consistently and modestly or not at all.Inconsistencies in letterfit are inescapable, given the

forms of the Latin alphabet, and small irregularities are after all esential to the legibility of roman type. Kerning — altering the space between selected pairs of letters — can increase consistency of spacing in a word like Washington or Toronto, where the combinations Wa and To are kerned. But names like Wisconsin, Tübingen, Tbilisi and Los Alamos, as well as common words like The and This, remain more or less immune to alteration. (Bringhurst 32)

Meta, 80pt, graphite on vellum

exercise onekerning»

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Cheltenham, 80pt, graphite on vellum

“Typefaces with small letterforms require less space between letters than those with large counter forms. If the letterspace is visually larger than median counterforms of the lower case letters the type appears too open.” (Kunz 28)

Gill Sans, 80pt, graphite on vellum

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10 typographic principles

OverviewLeading is a term carried over from metal typesetting.

It refers to the strips of lead added between lines of lead type. Leading is measured from baseline to baseline. When we say the type is ’10 on 14’, it means 10 point type with a 14 point leading. It is written out like this: 10/14pt. The term ‘setting solid’ refers to a leading that’s the same size as the type, ie 9/9pt.

Do not leave your type at auto leading in your typesetting software (Auto leading is usually 120% of the type size). The typeface chosen, point size, x-height, ascender and descender lengths and line length all affect how much leading should be used. Sanserifs typefaces typically need slightly larger leading. What’s important is the lines of type don’t run into each other or too loose that they don’t cohere together.

Measure is the term specified for the column width of a paragraph or block of type. Text columns have an optimum measure based on variables such as typeface, point size, ideal “character count” and ideal word count. (Character count is all letters, spaces and punctuation per line of text). Often times a text column measure is confused with

“li ne length”- which is different as the length of each individual line can vary based on the para-graphs alignment (i.e. flush left/rag right type will have a varying line length based on word breaks and hyphenation). (Vincent/Mazzucca assignment sheet)

exercise twoleading, measure& character count

»

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A handleable for-mat—which can be held, if possible, in just one hand—thus relative-ly small and narrow; pa-per that is soft, fl exible, not too heavy and not dazzlingly white; not less than 45 and not more than 65 characters in a line; a readable, time-less typeface, suffi cent-ly large in size (but not too big!) and set to the right measure, with cor-rect word-spacing (as small as possible and as large as necessary); suf-fi cient space between the lines; indented fi rst lines, so that sections of text can be recognized; chapter headings, which make a break, but do not disrupt the fl ow of the whole: a typography that holds itself back as far as possible. And the motto that ‘typography serves’ holds good for almost every book, where it serves with special mod-esty. Modest, not uncar-ing: even the simplest ty-pography can be decent, appropriate, yes even beautiful. With the cri-teria given here and the right page and text-area proportions: what more does one need?

The make-up, i.e. the division into separate pages of an endless col-umn of text, does not, at least in theory, pose any great problem for a book of continuous text. But in practice it is some-times simpler to make up the pages of a strong-ly structured and heavi-ly illustrated book so that a new page never be-gins with the last line of a paragraph (a ‘widow’). If the fi rst line of a new paragraph falls on the last line of a page (sometimes called an ‘orphan’), this is tolerable, though certain-ly not ideal; but an in-complete line at the start of a column should un-der all circumstances be avoided. The space above and below headings can perhaps be reduced or increased; but then, if nothing else is possible, this mistake should be avoided by spacing out or bringing in the pre-ceding lines. That means that a new make-up of

A handleable format—which can be held, if possible, in just one hand—thus rel-atively small and narrow; paper that is soft, fl exible, not too heavy and not dazzlingly white; not less than 45 and not more than 65 characters in a line; a readable, time-less typeface, suffi cently large in size (but not too big!) and set to the right measure, with correct word-spacing (as small as pos-sible and as large as necessary); suffi cient space between the lines; indented fi rst lines, so that sections of text can be recognized; chapter headings, which make a break, but do not disrupt the fl ow of the whole: a typography that holds itself back as far as possible. And the motto that ‘typography serves’ holds good for almost every book, where it serves with special modesty. Mod-est, not uncaring: even the simplest typog-raphy can be decent, appropriate, yes even beautiful. With the criteria given here and the right page and text-area proportions: what more does one need?

The make-up, i.e. the division into sep-arate pages of an endless column of text, does not, at least in theory, pose any great problem for a book of continuous text. But in practice it is sometimes simpler to make up the pages of a strongly structured and heavily illustrated book so that a new page never begins with the last line of a paragraph (a ‘widow’). If the fi rst line of a new paragraph falls on the last line of a page (sometimes called an ‘orphan’), this is tolerable, though certainly not ideal; but an incomplete line at the start of a column should under all circumstances be avoid-ed. The space above and below headings can perhaps be reduced or increased; but then, if nothing else is possible, this mis-take should be avoided by spacing out or bringing in the preceding lines. That means that a new make-up of lines is achieved, either by losing a line with reduced word-space, or by gaining one through increase of word-space. If this too is not possible, a column of text can exceptionally be re-duced by one line, or, if one is dealing with an incomplete last line, then the column may be increased by a line. But on no ac-count should the register–the constant line increment–be altered.

A handleable format—which can be held, if possible, in just one hand—thus relatively small and narrow; paper that is soft, fl exible, not too heavy and not dazzlingly white; not less than 45 and not more than 65 characters in a line; a readable, timeless typeface, suffi cently large in size (but not too big!) and set to the right measure, with correct word-spacing (as small as possible and as large as necessary); suffi cient space between the lines; indented fi rst lines, so that sections of text can be recognized; chapter headings, which make a break, but do not disrupt the fl ow of the whole: a typography that holds itself back as far as pos-sible. And the motto that ‘typography serves’ holds good for almost every book, where it serves with special modesty. Modest, not uncar-ing: even the simplest typography can be decent, appropriate, yes even beautiful. With the criteria given here and the right page and text-area proportions: what more does one need?

The make-up, i.e. the division into separate pages of an endless col-umn of text, does not, at least in theory, pose any great problem for a book of continuous text. But in practice it is sometimes simpler to make up the pages of a strongly structured and heavily illustrated book so that a new page never begins with the last line of a paragraph (a ‘widow’). If the fi rst line of a new paragraph falls on the last line of a page (sometimes called an ‘orphan’), this is tolerable, though certainly not ideal; but an incomplete line at the start of a column should under all circumstances be avoided. The space above and below headings can perhaps be reduced or increased; but then, if nothing else is possible, this mistake should be avoided by spacing out or bringing in the pre-ceding lines. That means that a new make-up of lines is achieved, either by losing a line with reduced word-space, or by gaining one through increase of word-space. If this too is not possible, a column of text can exceptionally be reduced by one line, or, if one is dealing with an in-complete last line, then the column may be increased by a line. But on no account should the register–the constant line increment–be altered.

bembo 8.5/11measure: 20pchar count/line: 67-77justifi cation: 90-100-110

Bembo 7/9measure: 10pchar count/line: 40-46justifi cation: 90-100-110

Bembo 6/8measure: 5pchar count/line: 21-26justifi cation: 90-100-110

A handleable format—which can be held, if possible, in just one hand—thus relatively small and narrow; paper that is soft, fl exible, not too heavy and not dazzlingly white; not less than 45 and not more than 65 charac-ters in a line; a readable, timeless typeface, suffi cently large in size (but not too big!) and set to the right measure, with correct word-spacing (as small as possible and as large as necessary); suffi cient space between the lines; in-dented fi rst lines, so that sections of text can be recognized; chapter head-ings, which make a break, but do not disrupt the fl ow of the whole: a typography that holds itself back as far as possible. And the motto that ‘ty-pography serves’ holds good for almost every book, where it serves with spe-cial modesty. Modest, not uncaring: even the simplest typography can be decent, appropriate, yes even beautiful. With the criteria given here and the right page and text-area proportions: what more does one need?

The make-up, i.e. the division into separate pages of an endless column of text, does not, at least in theory, pose any great problem for a book of con-tinuous text. But in practice it is sometimes simpler to make up the pages of a strongly structured and heavily illustrated book so that a new page never begins with the last line of a paragraph (a ‘widow’). If the fi rst line of a new paragraph falls on the last line of a page (sometimes called an ‘orphan’), this is tolerable, though certainly not ideal; but an incomplete line at the start of a column should under all circumstances be avoided. The space above and below headings can perhaps be reduced or increased; but then, if nothing else is possible, this mistake should be avoided by spacing out or bringing in the preceding lines. That means that a new make-up of lines is achieved, ei-ther by losing a line with reduced word-space, or by gaining one through increase of word-space. If this too is not possible, a column of text can excep-tionally be reduced by one line, or, if one is dealing with an incomplete last line, then the column may be increased by a line. But on no account should the register–the constant line increment–be altered.

Frutiger 10/13ptmeasure: 30pchar count/line: 76-82justifi cation: 90-100-100

The intent of the digital exer-cises was to explore optimal settings for typesize, leading and character count within measures of 5p, 10p, 20p, 30p, 40p set in Bembo and Frutiger.

The aim of this exercise is to introduce how the line increments (leading) work in typographic design and compare how different line increments and fonts x-height affect the typographic color of a block of text.

“Longer measures need more lead than short ones. Dark faces need more lead than light ones. Large-bodied faces need more lead than smaller-bodied ones.” (Bringhurst 37)

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12 typographic principles

exercise threeparagraph

OverviewParagraphs organise ideas into portions that are easy

for readers to comprehend. This in-class exercise explores how paragraphs are indicated and compares how different paragraph indication methods affect how a block of type is read. Paragraph indications that are too subtle might be confusing; if they are too strong, the smooth flow of reading is disrupted. First line indents of extra space between paragraphs are the two most conventional methods for indicat-ing paragraphs. As a typographic designer you have to select a method that’s suitable for the content and meet the readers needs (or challenge expectations). (Vincent/Mazzucca assignment sheet)

»

Initial sketches to explore possibilities in distinguishing paragraphs.

“The fuction of a paragraph indent is to mark a pause, setting the para-graph apart from what precedes it.” (Bringhurst 139)

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Notes on paragraphs

· units of thought· boundaries between thought· rhythm & proportion· flow of thought· visual indication of new ideas within a whole

· too little distinction causes confusion, the much fragments the whole text and derails concept

· consider content and what is appropriate

most common ways to set paragraphs apart:· indents, outdents (should correspond to leading), pilcrows, droplines and paragraph rules

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14 typographic principles

Methods· zooming, rotating, and framing an image for a directed intent and impact

Key Ideas· subtraction of elements· reduction to simplify or elicit curiosity· changing context in a visual sense· taking away unnecessary information

exercise fourcropping for meaning»

OverviewCommunication designers often shape the message of

an image through the use of cropping. They can do this to both direct the content that is essential to the objective of the communication, as well as do address form aspects of the image and the overall composition of a page. A designer may not feel obli-gated to retain the “purity” of the full frame photo-graph, and may use principles of content heirarchy by employing simple methods of zooming, rotating, and framing and image for a directed intent and impact. Often this is done in concert with the for-mal aspects of the image (shape, contrast, direction, scale, etc.) as well as the dynamics with other ele-ments of the page. In essence, the communication designer is an editor of content by the choices of what to show and what not to show to the viewer as well as using form in the image crop and com-positional orientation to build the desired image. (Vincent/Mazzucca, assignment sheet)

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By using a cropping tool (two L shaped pieces of illustration board, one side black, one side white) new meanings and messages were explored by creating new croppings at dif-ferent sizes and rotations.

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16 typographic principles

OverviewCommunication designers use hierarchy to orches-

trate the visual experience of the viewers/readers. Through the use of hierarchy, the attention of the audience is directed, so elements are placed accord-ing to their relative importance. Hierarchy often (though not always) works on the macro and micro scales. The dominating element in a piece of com-munication design might be an interesting image that would entice and engage the audience, or the most important piece of textual information, set in a bold and distinctive typeface, in a vibrant colour. After the viewer’s attention is sufficiently engaged, elements in a smaller scale–text or image–would provide further information. Hierarchy is typically achieved through the use of contrast–of space, scale, weight, colour, texture, etc. An intricate sys-tem of hierarchy could then be applied consistently through the use of the principles of proximity, simi-larity and repetition. (Vincent/Mazzucca assignment sheet)

“Through minimal changes in type size and weight, visual layers can be created. Some elements protrude to the foreground while others recede into the background, establishing a visual hierarchy that is essential to all typographic communication.” (Kunz 99)

exercise fivehierarchy»

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Notes for the hand-gener-ated exercises. Before I started cutting and pasting each line I tried to identify group-ings and the most important information within the text.

Spread and book cover designs for the book Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

INVISIBLE CITIES

Italo CalvinoTranslated from the Italian by William Weaver

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

InvisibleCities

Translated from the Italian by William Weaver

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

INVIS

IBLE

CITIES

Italo Calvino

Translated from the Italian

by William Weaver

The man who is traveling and does not yet know the city awaiting him

along his route wonders what the palace will be like, the barracks, the

mill, the theater, the bazaar. In every city of the empire every building is

different and set in a different order: but as soon as the stranger arrives

at the unknown city and his eye penetrates the pine cone of pagodas and

garrets and haymows, following the scrawl of the canals, gardens, rub-

bish heaps, he immediately distinguishes which are the princes’ palaces,

the high priests’ temples, the tavern, the prison, the slum. This–some

say–confi rms the hypothesis that each man bears in his mind a city made

only of differences, a city without fi gures and without form, and the

individual cities fi ll it up.

This is not true of Zoe. In every point of this city you can, in turn,

sleep, make tools, cook, accumulate gold, disrobe, reign, sell, question

oracles. Any one of its pyramid roofs could cover the leprosarium or

the odalisques’ baths. The traveler roams all around and has nothing but

doubts: he is unable to distin-guish the features of the city, the features

he keeps distinct in his mind also mingle. He infers this: if existence in all

its moments is all of itself, Zoe is the place of indivisible existence. But

why, then, does the city exist? What line separates the inside from the

outside, the rumble of wheels from the howl of wolves?

Now I shall tell of the city of Zenobia, which is wonderful in this fash-

ion: though set on dry terrain it stands on high pilings, and the houses

are of bamboo and zinc, with many platforms and balconies placed

on stilts at various heights, crossing one another, linked by ladders and

hanging sidewalks, surmounted by cone-roofed belvederes, barrels stor-

ing water, weather vanes, jutting pulleys, and fi sh poles, and cranes.

No one remembers what need or command or desire drove Ze-

nobia’s founders to give their city this form, and so there is no telling

whether it was satisfi ed by the city as we see it today, which has perhaps

grown through successive superimpositions from the fi rst, now undeci-

pherable plan. But what is certain is that if you ask an inhabitant of Ze-

nobia to describe his vision of a happy life, it is always a city like Zenobia

that he imagines, with its pilings and its suspended stairways, a Zenobia

perhaps quite different, a-fl utter with banners and ribbons, but always

derived by combining elements of that fi rst model.

This said, it is pointless trying to decide whether Zenobia is to be

classifi ed among happy cities or among the unhappy. It makes no sense

to divide cities into these two species, but rather into another two: those

that through the years and the changes continue to give their form to de-

sires, and those in which desires either erase the city or are erased by it.

THIN CITIES 2CITIES & SIGNS 3

34 35Invi

sible

Citi

es

Invisible Cities

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18 typographic principles

OverviewFor complex, extensive assignments, a pre-determined

structure—the grid system—is necessary. In contrast to the optically improvised structure, the grid is a closed system that is implemented consistently once the structure has been developed.

Modular grids consist of a series of modules separated by a consistent space and organized into columns and row. Modules determine the dimensions and placement of graphic and typographic elements, which may include pictures, headings, text, cap-tions, and page numbers. In this way, the grid system serves as a strong organizational device, pro-viding unity between page elements and the pages themselves, while at the same time allowing for a vast number of variations.

The grid functions strictly as an organizational device, one that provides order but is itself invisible. Graphic and typographic elements are guided by, but never subordinated to, the grid. Although it facilitates order, using a grid does not necessarily yield unimaginative and rigid solutions. Like any systematic approach, it can lead to lively results if used with imagination and applied to the right task. (Kunz 58)

exercise sixgrid system»

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“The challenge for a designer is to develop a structure with the appropriate number of subdivisions of space: too few limit the expressiveness of the design; too many increase the difficulty of work, even though they render an often necessary fineness of detail.” (Kunz 64)

2 3

Since 1934 the nation has had universal suffrage. In 1988 Brazil promulgated a new constitution—the eighth since the country’s independence in 1822—that abolished many traces of the military regime (1964–85), defi ned civil rights, and outlined the functions of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. It restricted the president’s power to legislate, proscribed government censorship of the arts, cond-emned the use of torture, prohibited extradition for po-litical crimes, set the minimum voting age at 16 years, and allowed the federal government to intervene in state and lo-cal affairs. The constitution has been amended several times since its promulgation, but some of the changes have been temporary, with specifi cally designated timespans.

Brazil is a federal republic divided into 26 states and the Federal District (Distrito Federal), the latter including the capital city, Brasília.

Designed by the Brazilian architect Lúcio Costa, its form is emphasized by the Highway Axis (Eixo Rodoviário), which curves from the north to the southwest and links Brasília’s main residential neighbourhoods, and the straight Monumental Axis (Eixo Monumental), which runs northwest-southeast and is lined by federal and civic buildings. At the northwestern end of the Monumental Axis are municipal buildings, while at the southeastern end, near the middle shore of Lake Paranoá, stand the executive, judicial, and legislative buildings around the Square of Three Powers, the conceptual heart of the city. These and other major structures were designed by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. In the Square of Three Powers, he created as a focal point the dramatic Congressional Palace, which is a

BrasíliaBrazilThe plan of the central city has been likened to a bird, a bow and arrow, or an airplane.

Brasília, Exio Monumental

composition of fi ve parts: twin administrative towers fl anked by a large, white concrete dome (the meeting place of the Senate) and by an equally massive concrete bowl (the Chamber of Deputies), which is joined to the dome by an underlying, fl at-roofed building. Also in the square are the glass-faced Planalto Palace and the Palace of the Supreme Court. Farther east, on a triangle of land jutting into the lake, is the Palace of the Dawn (Palácio da Alvorada; the

4 5

presidential residence). Between the federal and civic buildings on the Monumental Axis is the city’s cathedral, considered by many to be Niemeyer’s fi nest achievement (see photographs of the exterior and interior). The paraboli-cally shaped structure is characterized by its 16 gracefully curving supports, which join in a circle 115 feet (35 metres) above the fl oor of the nave; stretched between the supports are translucent walls of tinted glass. The nave is entered via a subterranean passage rather than conventional doorways. Other notable buildings are Catetinho Palace,

Brasília

Congress Building, Brasília, Brazil, by Oscar Niemeyer, 1960.

Itamaraty Palace (the Palace of Foreign Affairs), and the pyramidal Boavontade church.

Both low-cost and luxury housing were built by the gov-ernment in the central city area. The residential zones of the inner city are arranged into superquadras (“superblocks”), groups of apartment buildings along with a prescribed number and type of schools, retail stores, and open spaces. At the northern end of Lake Paranoá, separated from the inner city, is a peninsula upon which stand many fashion-able homes; a similar neighbourhood exists on the southern

lakeshore. Originally, the city planners envisioned extensive public areas along the shores of the artifi cial lake, but, during early development of the area, private clubs, hotels, and upscale residences and restaurants gained footholds around the water. Set well apart from the city are suburban “satellite towns,” including Gama, Ceilândia, Taguatinga, Núcleo Bandeirante, Sobradinho, and Planaltina. These ar-eas were not planned as permanent settlements and thus of-fer stark contrasts to the symmetry and spacing of Brasília.

The city has been acclaimed for its use of modernist architecture on a grand scale and for its somewhat utopian city plan; however, it has been roundly criticized for much the same reasons. After a visit to Brasília, the French writer Simone de Beauvoir complained that all of its superquadras exuded “the same air of elegant monotony,” and other observers have equated the city’s large open lawns, plazas, and fi elds to wastelands.

Brasília, ministerios, cathedral, museum

6 7

Brasilia, courthouse

Congress Building, Brasília, Brazil, by Oscar

Niemeyer, 1960.

Niemeyer studied architecture at the National School of Fine Arts, Rio de Janeiro. Shortly before his graduation in 1934, he entered the offi ce of Lúcio Costa, a leader of the modern movement in Brazilian architecture. He worked with Costa from 1937 to 1943 on the design for the Ministry of Education and Health building, considered by many to be the fi rst modern architectural masterpiece in Brazil. Le Corbusier, the Swiss-born French architect, was a consultant on the building, which shows his infl uence. Niemeyer also worked with Costa on the designs for the Brazilian Pavilion

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Niemeyer Soares Filho Brazilian architect and early exponent of mod-ern architecture in Latin America, particularly noted for his work on Brasília, the new capital of Brazil.

for the New York World’s Fair of 1939–40. The plan for Pampulha, a new suburb of Belo Horizonte, was Niemeyer’s fi rst major project on his own. The project, commissioned in 1941 by Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, then mayor of Belo Horizonte, is notable for the free-fl owing forms used in many of its buildings. Other commissions followed, and in 1947 Niemeyer represented Brazil in the planning of the United Nations buildings in New York City.

Following his election to the presidency of Brazil in 1956, Kubitschek asked Niemeyer to design the new capital

city of Brasília. Niemeyer agreed to design the govern-ment buildings but suggested a national competition for the master plan, a competition subsequently won by his mentor, Lúcio Costa. Niemeyer served as chief architect for NOVA-CAP, the government building authority in Brasília, from 1956 to 1961. Among the Brasília buildings designed by Niemeyer are the President’s Palace, the Brasília Palace Hotel, the presidential chapel, and the cathedral. In 1961 Niemeyer returned to private practice and lived in Paris and Israel. In 1966 he designed an urban area in Grasse,

near Nice, France, and a building for the French Communist Party in Paris. From 1968 he lectured at the University of Rio de Janeiro.

Niemeyer’s other architectural projects included the Ministry of Defense building in Brasília in 1968 and Con-stantine University (now Mentouri University) in Constantine, Algeria, in 1969. The recipient of many international archi-tectural awards, he was a cowinner (with Gordon Bunshaft) of the 1988 Pritzker Prize. In 1963 Niemeyer received the Lenin Peace Prize.

This project is structured to allow you to experiment with the spatial organization of editorial elements, text and images within spreads. The goal is to develop a grid that is appropriate for managing the various levels of content.

(Vincent/Mazzucca assignment sheet)

Page 20: typographic principles

20 typographic principles

OverviewTables are commonly used to organize and present

data. This presentation of data in a table is often referred to as ‘tabular presentation’. Tables work on two axes – vertical and horizontal, but they don’t all present information in the same way. It all depends on the type of table you use – whether textual (word), statistical, or numerical. (Vincent/Mazzucca assignment sheet)

Important Aspects to Consider

Contrast· make key elements of your table stand out from on another by grouping or distinguishing data from each other· remember, “less is more” when it comes to designing effective tables

Alignment· alignment is very important for keeping your table neat clear and easy to understand· use open and clear numerals and lining numerals which provide a clear horizontal axis

Ordering· group items that are similar in nature to give a sense of structure and meaning to your table· you should indent subordinate data when it falls under specific column data

Spacing· use white space in your table to organize and clarify data, e.g., you should always have enough space around and between text so that it stands out· use white space to separate groups or emphasize them

(selected from the Table Anatomy handout)

exercise seven tabular matter»

Page 21: typographic principles

21

Year

Gro

ss D

omes

tic

Prod

uct

Private Industries

Tota

l pri

vate

in

dust

ries

Agr

icul

ture

, fo

rest

ry, fi

shi

ng,

and

hunt

ing

Min

ing

Cons

truc

tion

Util

ities

Who

lesa

le tr

ade

Reta

il tr

ade

Tota

l M

anuf

actu

ring

Dur

able

Goo

ds

Non

-dur

able

go

ods

1987 4739.5 4080.4 79.8 71.5 218.2 811.3 483.8 327.5 123.0 285.3 349.9

1988 5103.8 4399.1 80.2 71.4 232.7 876.9 519.0 357.9 122.8 318.1 366.0

1989 5484.4 4732.3 92.8 76.0 244.8 927.3 543.2 384.1 135.9 337.4 389.0

1990 5803.1 4997.8 96.7 84.9 248.5 947.40 542.7 404.7 142.9 347.7 398.8

1991 5995.9 5138.7 89.2 76.0 230.2 957.50 540.9 416.6 152.5 360.5 405.5

1992 6337.7 5440.4 99.6 71.3 232.5 996.70 562.8 433.8 157.4 378.9 430.0

1993 6657.4 5729.3 93.1 72.1 248.3 1039.90 593.1 446.8 165.3 401.2 458.0

1994 7072.2 6110.5 105.6 73.6 274.4 1118.80 647.7 471.1 174.6 442.7 493.3

1995 7397.7 6407.2 93.1 74.1 287.0 1177.30 677.2 500.0 181.5 457.0 514.9

1996 7816.9 6795.2 113.8 87.5 311.7 1209.40 706.5 502.9 183.3 489.1 543.8

1997 8304.3 7247.5 110.7 92.6 337.6 1279.8 755.5 524.3 179.6 521.2 574.2

1998 8747.0 7652.5 102.4 74.8 374.4 1343.9 806.9 537.0 180.8 542.9 598.6

1999 9268.4 8127.2 93.8 85.4 406.6 1373.1 820.4 552.7 185.4 577.7 635.5

2000 9817.0 8614.3 98 121.3 435.9 1426.2 865.3 560.9 189.3 591.7 662.4

2001 10128.0 8869.7 97.9 118.7 469.5 1341.3 778.9 562.5 202.3 607.1 691.6

2002 10487.0 9154.1 96.9 104.9 479.1 1347.2 771.9 575.3 210.7 624.9 744.3

2003 11004.0 9604.2 113.9 130.3 501.3 1402.3 798.0 604.4 222.2 645.4 770.5

Percent Industry value added as a percentage of GDP (percent)

1987 100 86.1 1.7 1.5 4.6 17.1 10.2 6.9 2.6 6.0 7.4

1988 100 86.2 1.6 1.4 4.6 17.2 10.2 7.0 2.4 6.2 7.2

1989 100 86.3 1.7 1.4 4.5 16.9 9.9 7.0 2.5 6.2 7.1

1990 100 86.1 1.7 1.5 4.3 16.3 9.4 7.0 2.5 6.0 6.9

1991 100 85.7 1.5 1.3 3.8 16 9.0 6.9 2.5 6.0 6.8

1992 100 85.8 1.6 1.1 3.7 15.7 8.9 6.8 2.5 6.0 6.8

1993 100 86.1 1.4 1.1 3.7 15.6 8.9 6.7 2.5 6.0 6.9

1994 100 86.4 1.5 1.0 3.9 15.8 9.2 6.7 2.5 6.3 7.0

1995 100 86.6 1.3 1.0 3.9 15.9 9.2 6.8 2.5 6.2 7.0

1996 100 86.9 1.5 1.1 4.0 15.5 9.0 6.4 2.3 6.3 7.0

1997 100 87.3 1.3 1.1 4.1 15.4 9.1 6.3 2.2 6.3 6.9

1998 100 87.5 1.2 0.9 4.3 15.4 9.2 6.1 2.1 6.2 6.8

1999 100 87.7 1.0 0.9 4.4 14.8 8.9 6.0 2.0 6.2 6.9

2000 100 87.7 1.0 1.2 4.4 14.5 8.8 5.7 1.9 6.0 6.7

2001 100 87.6 1.0 1.2 4.6 13.2 7.7 5.6 2.0 6.0 6.8

2002 100 87.7 0.9 1.0 4.6 12.8 7.4 5.5 2.0 6.0 7.1

2003 100 87.7 1.0 1.2 4.6 12.7 7.3 5.5 2.0 5.9 7.0

(Billions of dollars; except as noted)

Table B-12 Gross domestic product (GDP) by industry, value added, in current dollars and as a percentage of GDP, 1987–2003

Note.–Value added is the contribution of each private industry and of governmebt to gross domestic product. Value added is equal to an industry’s gross output minus its intermediate inputs. Current-dollar value added is calculated as the sum of distributions by an industry to its labor and capital which are derived from the components of gross domestic income.

Working interests in productive wells

Gross Net

North America

U.S

Natural Gas 11,533 6,609

Crude Oil 2,722 1,313

Canada

Natural Gas 5,768 4,458

Crude Oil 1,147 581

International

Natural Gas 198 62

Crude Oil 166 46

Worldwide

Natural Gas 17,499 11,129

Crude Oil 4,035 1,940

Total Worldwide 21,534 13,069

Note: Year ended December 31,2004

“If the typeface family used for the text includes a condensed version, this is often chosen for table work because it’s so much more economical of space.” (Felici 243)

These two tables were re-designed from the original table designs, in an attempt to make them easier and quicker to read.

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22 typographic principles

exercise eighthyphenation & justification and hanging punctuation

The freedom and control of the typographic tools in your possession comes with hidden responsibility.

The most basic and ignored details of type control are often the aspects that determine the difference between what often constitutes good typography and poor typography.

Designers are required to realize and determine both the macro aspects of the page/ typographic design (content, understanding, grid, etc...) - and as well- be attentive to the typographic details that unite all the parts into a cohesive typographic system. The following aspects are some of the often ignored principles of the type control. It is essential to rec-ognize that by diminishing these details, one’s type control can quickly manifest into a communicative mess-drawing the reader’s attention to the visual errors, rather than the content. (Vincent/Mazzucca assignment sheet)

Justification is the process of filling lines of a given measure with type, which comprises both characters and spaces.

Hyphenation is a means to that end, allowing words to be broken into fragments that can better fill out the ends of lines, reducing the leftover space on those lines. (James Felici 133)

Characters that extend beyond the margin of a column of text are said to hang.

Hanging punctuation is sometimes used with justi-fied margins to give the right-hand edge of the text block a smoother appearance. (James Felici 191)

Ligatures, are joined characters, two or more characters fused into one and set as a single unit. (James Felici 133)

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Overview

Page 23: typographic principles

23

A handleable format—which can be held, if pos-sible, in just one hand—thus relatively small and narrow; paper that is soft, flexible, not too heavy and not dazzlingly white; not less than 45 and not more than 65 characters in a line; a readable, time-less typeface, sufficently large in size (but not too big!) and set to the right measure, with correct word-spacing (as small as possible and as large as necessary); suffi cient space between the lines; indent-ed fi rst lines, so that sec-tions of text can be rec-ognized; chapter headings, which make a break, but do not disrupt the flow of the whole: a typogra-phy that holds itself back as far as possible. And the motto that ‘typography serves’ holds good for al-most every book, where it serves with special mod-esty. Modest, not uncar-ing: even the simplest ty-pography can be decent, appropr iate, yes even beautiful. With the cri-teria given here and the right page and text-area proportions: what more does one need?

The make-up, i.e. the division into separate pages of an endless col-umn of text, does not, at least in theory, pose any great problem for a book of continuous text. But in practice it is some-times simpler to make up the pages of a strong-ly structured and heavi-ly illustrated book so that a new page never be-gins with the last line of a paragraph (a ‘widow’). If the fi rst line of a new paragraph falls on the last line of a page (sometimes called an ‘orphan’), this is tolerable, though certain-ly not ideal; but an in-complete line at the start of a column should un-der all circumstances be avoided. The space above and below headings can perhaps be reduced or increased; but then, if nothing else is possible, this mistake should be avoided by spacing out or bringing in the preced-ing lines. That means that a new make-up of lines is achieved, either by los-ing a line with reduced

A handleable format—which can be held, if possible, in just one hand—thus rel-atively small and narrow; paper that is soft, fl exible, not too heavy and not dazzlingly white; not less than 45 and not more than 65 characters in a line; a readable, timeless typeface, suffi cently large in size (but not too big!) and set to the right measure, with cor-rect word-spacing (as small as possible and as large as necessary); suffi cient space between the lines; indented fi rst lines, so that sections of text can be recognized; chapter headings, which make a break, but do not disrupt the fl ow of the whole: a typography that holds itself back as far as possible. And the motto that ‘typography serves’ holds good for al-most every book, where it serves with spe-cial modesty. Modest, not uncaring: even the simplest typography can be decent, appro-priate, yes even beautiful. With the criteria given here and the right page and text-area proportions: what more does one need?

The make-up, i.e. the division into sepa-rate pages of an endless column of text, does not, at least in theory, pose any great prob-lem for a book of continuous text. But in practice it is sometimes simpler to make up the pages of a strongly structured and heav-ily illustrated book so that a new page nev-er begins with the last line of a paragraph (a ‘widow’). If the fi rst line of a new para-graph falls on the last line of a page (some-times called an ‘orphan’), this is tolerable, though certainly not ideal; but an incom-plete line at the start of a column should un-der all circumstances be avoided. The space above and below headings can perhaps be reduced or increased; but then, if nothing else is possible, this mistake should be avoid-ed by spacing out or bringing in the preced-ing lines. That means that a new make-up of lines is achieved, either by losing a line with reduced word-space, or by gaining one through increase of word-space. If this too is not possible, a column of text can excep-tionally be reduced by one line, or, if one is dealing with an incomplete last line, then the column may be increased by a line. But on no account should the register–the con-stant line increment–be altered.

A handleable format—which can be held, if possible, in just one hand—thus relatively small and narrow; paper that is soft, fl exible, not too heavy and not dazzlingly white; not less than 45 and not more than 65 characters in a line; a readable, timeless typeface, suffi cently large in size (but not too big!) and set to the right measure, with correct word-spacing (as small as possible and as large as necessary); suffi cient space between the lines; indented fi rst lines, so that sections of text can be rec-ognized; chapter headings, which make a break, but do not disrupt the fl ow of the whole: a typography that holds itself back as far as possible. And the motto that ‘typography serves’ holds good for almost every book, where it serves with special modesty. Modest, not uncaring: even the sim-plest typography can be decent, appropriate, yes even beautiful. With the criteria given here and the right page and text-area proportions: what more does one need?

The make-up, i.e. the division into separate pages of an endless col-umn of text, does not, at least in theory, pose any great problem for a book of continuous text. But in practice it is sometimes simpler to make up the pages of a strongly structured and heavily illustrated book so that a new page never begins with the last line of a paragraph (a ‘widow’). If the fi rst line of a new paragraph falls on the last line of a page (sometimes called an ‘orphan’), this is tolerable, though certainly not ideal; but an in-complete line at the start of a column should under all circumstances be avoided. The space above and below headings can perhaps be reduced or increased; but then, if nothing else is possible, this mistake should be avoided by spacing out or bringing in the preceding lines. That means that a new make-up of lines is achieved, either by losing a line with re-duced word-space, or by gaining one through increase of word-space. If this too is not possible, a column of text can exceptionally be re-duced by one line, or, if one is dealing with an incomplete last line, then the column may be increased by a line. But on no account should the register–the constant line increment–be altered.

bembo 8.5/11measure: 20pchar count/line: 67-77justifi cation: 90-100-110

Bembo 7/9measure: 10pchar count/line: 40-46justifi cation: 90-100-110

Bembo 6/8measure: 5pchar count/line: 21-26justifi cation: 90-100-110

A handleable format—which can be held, if pos-sible, in just one hand—thus relatively small and narrow; paper that is soft, flexible, not too heavy and not dazzlingly white; not less than 45 and not more than 65 characters in a line; a readable, time-less typeface, sufficently large in size (but not too big!) and set to the right measure, with correct word-spacing (as small as possible and as large as necessary); suffi cient space between the lines; indent-ed fi rst lines, so that sec-tions of text can be recog-nized; chapter headings, which make a break, but do not disrupt the flow of the whole: a typogra-phy that holds itself back as far as possible. And the motto that ‘typography serves’ holds good for al-most every book, where it serves with special modes-ty. Modest, not uncaring: even the simplest typog-raphy can be decent, ap-propriate, yes even beau-tiful. With the criteria given here and the right page and text-area pro-portions: what more does one need?

The make-up, i.e. the division into separate pages of an endless col-umn of text, does not, at least in theory, pose any great problem for a book of continuous text. But in practice it is some-times simpler to make up the pages of a strong-ly structured and heavi-ly illustrated book so that a new page never be-gins with the last line of a paragraph (a ‘widow’). If the first line of a new paragraph falls on the last line of a page (sometimes called an ‘orphan’), this is tolerable, though certain-ly not ideal; but an incom-plete line at the start of a column should under all circumstances be avoided. The space above and be-low headings can perhaps be reduced or increased; but then, if nothing else is possible, this mistake should be avoided by spacing out or bringing in the preceding lines. That means that a new make-up of lines is achieved, ei-ther by losing a line with reduced word-space, or by gaining one through increase of word-space. If this too is not possible, a column of text can ex-ceptionally be reduced by one line, or, if one is deal-ing with an incomplete last line, then the col-umn may be increased by a line. But on no account should the register–the

A handleable format—which can be held, if possible, in just one hand—thus relatively small and narrow; pa-per that is soft, flexible, not too heavy and not dazzlingly white; not less than 45 and not more than 65 characters in a line; a readable, time-less typeface, suffi cently large in size (but not too big!) and set to the right measure, with correct word-spacing (as small as possible and as large as necessary); suffi cient space between the lines; indented fi rst lines, so that sections of text can be recognized; chapter headings, which make a break, but do not disrupt the fl ow of the whole: a typography that holds itself back as far as possible. And the motto that ‘typography serves’ holds good for almost every book, where it serves with special modesty. Mod-est, not uncaring: even the simplest typography can be decent, appropri-ate, yes even beautiful. With the cri-teria given here and the right page and text-area proportions: what more does one need?

The make-up, i.e. the division into separate pages of an endless column of text, does not, at least in theory, pose any great problem for a book of continuous text. But in practice it is sometimes simpler to make up the pages of a strongly structured and heavily illustrated book so that a new page never begins with the last line of a paragraph (a ‘widow’). If the fi rst line of a new paragraph falls on the last line of a page (sometimes called an ‘orphan’), this is tolerable, though certainly not ideal; but an incomplete line at the start of a column should under all circumstances be avoided. The space above and below headings can perhaps be reduced or increased; but then, if nothing else is possible, this mistake should be avoided by spacing out or bringing in the pre-ceding lines. That means that a new make-up of lines is achieved, either by losing a line with reduced word-space, or by gaining one through in-crease of word-space. If this too is not possible, a column of text can excep-tionally be reduced by one line, or, if one is dealing with an incomplete last line, then the column may be in-creased by a line. But on no account should the register–the constant line increment–be altered.

A handleable format—which can be held, if possible, in just

one hand—thus relatively small and narrow; paper that is soft,

fl exible, not too heavy and not dazzlingly white; not less than 45

and not more than 65 characters in a line; a readable, timeless

typeface, suffi cently large in size (but not too big!) and set to the

right measure, with correct word-spacing (as small as possible and

as large as necessary); suffi cient space between the lines; indent-

ed fi rst lines, so that sections of text can be recognized; chapter

headings, which make a break, but do not disrupt the fl ow of the

whole: a typography that holds itself back as far as possible. And

the motto that ‘typography serves’ holds good for almost every

book, where it serves with special modesty. Modest, not uncar-

ing: even the simplest typography can be decent, appropriate, yes

even beautiful. With the criteria given here and the right page

and text-area proportions: what more does one need?

The make-up, i.e. the division into separate pages of an end-

less column of text, does not, at least in theory, pose any great

problem for a book of continuous text. But in practice it is some-

times simpler to make up the pages of a strongly structured and

heavily illustrated book so that a new page never begins with

the last line of a paragraph (a ‘widow’). If the fi rst line of a new

paragraph falls on the last line of a page (sometimes called an ‘or-

phan’), this is tolerable, though certainly not ideal; but an incom-

plete line at the start of a column should under all cir cumstances

be avoided. The space above and below headings can perhaps

be reduced or increased; but then, if nothing else is possi ble, this

mistake should be avoided by spacing out or bringing in the pre-

ceding lines. That means that a new make-up of lines is achieved,

either by losing a line with reduced word-space, or by gaining one

through increase of word-space. If this too is not possible, a col-

umn of text can exceptionally be reduced by one line, or, if one is

dealing with an incomplete last line, then the column may be in-

creased by a line. But on no account should the register–the con-

stant line increment–be altered.

Frutiger 8/12measure: 20pchar count/line: 67-77justifi cation: 90-100-100

Frutiger 7/10measure: 10pchar count/line: 34-41justifi cation: 90-100-110

Frutiger 5/7measure: 5pchar count/line: 21-27justifi cation: 90-100-110

The most common ligatures involve the letters f, l and i. In normal settings, the hooks of consecutive f‘s come so close to touching that they may appear to actually do so. An f with a kerning hook (that is one that extends beyond its bounding box) may even overlap an f or an l that follows it.

To avoid these unattractive collisions, common sequences of these letters are typically designed as an integrated unit, in which the liaisons among the characters can be resolved in a more shapely way. The most common of these ligatures are fi, ff, fl, ffi, and ffl. (James Felici 133)

These exercises were intended as practice in resolving the issue of too much word spacing when setting text justified, with the use of hyphenation.

Page 24: typographic principles

24 typographic principles

conclusionOver the course of the last eight weeks, the knowledge

I have gained about normative type principles has been invaluable in completing this booklet as well as in working on projects I am pursuing outside of school. I have gained a more thorough under-standing of typographic principles by practicing them through the design of this booklet. Through the process of making this booklet, and especially during the final editing and refining stages, I have identified principles that could benfit from more focused practice. I feel I could use more practice kerning display type. At this point I feel as though I am still guessing when I am trying to kern letters. I would like to become more comfortable desiging more effective grid structures based on the needs of the content.

Overall, I feel more confident in tackling projects with these principles to guide my decision making.

Bibliography

Kunz, Willi. Typography : macro- and microaesthetics. Sulgen, Switzerland : Niggli ; New York, NY : Willi Kunz Books [distributor], 2000.

Baines, Phil. Type & typography. New York : Watson-Guptill Publications, 2002.

Bringhurst, Robert. The elements of typographic style. Vancouver, BC : Hartley & Marks, 1992.

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26 typographic principles

notes

This booklet is set in ITC Mendoza RomanCollage by Alanna Scott

Compiled for Clément Vincent’s COMD 210Core Studio II S004, in the Spring semester of 2007

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28 typographic principles