By: Jessica Delvasto and Rich Wright

So, What Is Typography?

Monroe, Cupcake, Amy, MCM Hellenic Wide, FR Hopper, Velvet, and Biographer from myfonts.com

•The study of the arrangement and evolution of printed letters.

•How letters are used to optimize readability, impact and artistic form.

Why Is It Important???

Helvetica Neue, Cutoff Pro, Brandon Grotesque, Despeinada, Mrs Eaves, Narziss, Avant Garde Gothic from myfonts.com

Typography is important because

a typeface can influence how we view the content. Good typography

honours its content.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

Read the following quote:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

Etiam dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum in felis eu massa porttitor volutpat at a ante. Integer cursus est vel tortor vulputate lacinia.

Etiam ultrices dui et quam dictum eu consequat augue pellentesque. Praesent et augue risus.

Lorem ipsum ultrices dui et quam dictum eu consequat augue pellentesque. Praesent et augue risus.

Suspendisse sed sem ut nisi venenatis vulputate. Aenean bibendum tempus enim quis convallis.

Cras convallis elit et odio venenatis feugiat. Fusce in tellus ac quam adipiscing auctor.

There are several terms unique to typography, and most are quite

unfamiliar to us.

TYPEFACE A set of letters, numbers, punctuation, that are of the same design or form.

A reference to which typeface in particular is being used or displayed.

FONT

All of the typefaces under the same title; including options to slightly alter the appearance of the typeface.Ex// Bold, Italic, Underline

(Arrus by Richard Lipton)

TYPE FAMILIES

ITALICItalics refers to a font that is designed or redesigned to slant to the right. This is different from oblique type, which many word processors use to compensate for italics which they don't have.

Garamond in Roman, Italic, and Oblique

One of the oldest types of font is called Blackletter or Gothic.

It was influenced by the way the utensil was held in calligraphy.

(Gothique MN by Mecanorma Collection)

These include typefaces where small lines are included at the end of certain strokes that form a character. The purpose is to guide the readers eyes from one letter or word to the next making it easier to read. Times New Roman is a Serif Font.

SERIF FONTS

(Times New Roman by Timothy Ketcher and Victor Lardent)

SANS SERIF FONTS

The typefaces that fall under Sans Serif Fonts lack the small lines at the ends on a character and opts for a more simple approach.

(Avenir by Adobe)

“A single character in a font or typeface.”GLYPH

(designorati.com)

(Garamond)

LigatureA ligature is when more than one character is used in the same glyph. They are used to avoid collisions between letters. One common example is the pairing of “f” and “i”.

(Garamond)

KERNING The act of editing the space between glyphs in a font.

Tee from mysoti.com

COPPERPLATEThis kind of typeface is named after an old method of creating typefaces. The original writing would be transferred onto a plate made of copper, and sheets would be made using the plates.

Copperplate Example

Theodor Matham (17th century): Galant scene

How to Make a Typeface

There are also many

parts of the letter to consider

when making a typeface.

Types: Epic - Positype/TypeTrust (Neil Summerour) National - vllg (Klim, Kris Sowersby) Ligature, Loop & Stem poster by Scott Boms,

Grant Hutchinson and Luke Dorny

Helvetica

Gill Sans

Typography stemmed from the study of

handwriting. It grew as

print making became more

significant.

With more advanced technology, typographyhas been elevated to being

a more distinguished art form.

It is most prominent in advertising and in works in which the purpose is to make a

statement or convey emotion.

Logo examples from Chermayeff & Geysmar, Raymond Loewy, and Landor Associates; respectively.

A World of Type

Roman type can be traced back to the days of the Roman Empire. However the Roman type is not the world’s sole Typeface, there are also Greek

and Japanese.

Greek

Japanese

Roman This is an inscription found on Trajan’s Tower, which dates back to 113CE and was built by the Roman Empire to commemorate the victory of Caesar over the Dacians.

Nicholas Jenson 1420-1480

Jenson‘s signature brand

Nicolas Jenson• Opened a printery in Venice• Designed the serif style called Venetian Oldstyle,

keeping in mind typographic principles and unity rather than the elegance of each individual letter

• He also created Jenson• Centaur is a font designed in 1914 by

Bruce Rogers; based on one of Nicolas Jensen's designs

Centaur

Adobe Jenson Regular

Jenson's archetype of the Roman typeface

Excerpt taken from the "Laertis", published in Venice ca 1475.

Claude Garamond 1480-1561

Claude Garamond

Contributed much to the French language by introducing the apostrophe, accent, cedilla,

and Italic to printed type

Claude GaramondWent on to create several successful Roman

types such as Garamond

Adobe Garamond

Adobe Jenson Regular

Adobe Garamond

Compare…

William Caslon 1692-1760

He was asked by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge to create an Arabic

type in order for them to print the

New Testament and send it east; when he

implemented the design as a roman type, his popularity

skyrocketed

William Caslon

• It is said that Caslon gave England a national typeface

• “When in doubt, use Caslon”

• A favourite of Benjamin Franklin

LTC Caslon

Adobe Jenson Regular

Adobe Garamond

LTC Caslon

Compare…

Giambattista Bodoni 1740-1813

Giambattista Bodoni“The King of Typographers” and

the “Typographer of Kings”

Lived a life quite close to one as a wealthy aristocrat. His origins often reflect in his work which is

renowned for their ability to impress the eyes.

LTC Bodoni 175

Found a great amount of inspiration from other typographers and built on their typefaces with his

own style.

Created the Bodoni typeface series.

LTC Caslon

Adobe Garamond

Adobe Jenson Regular

LTC Bodoni 175

Compare…

Eric Gill 1882-1947

Eric Gill

His typeface, Gill Sans, was atfirst met with disdain anddisapproval…

…however, it became the most popular sans in the United Kingdom after being released to the public.

An eccentric man full of confusing contradictions.

Another well known font that he made is Perpetua.

Perpetua STD

Perpetua and Gill Sans

He was a devoted convert to Catholicism but held very liberal views on sex and thought of everything in terms of sex.&Gill Sans MT Condensed

Eric Gill, Ecstasy 1910-11

LTC Caslon

Adobe Garamond

LTC Bodoni 175

Perpetua STD

Gill Sans STD

Compare…

Herbert Bayer 1900-1985

Herbert Bayer• Trained in Art

Nouveau styles while at Darmstadt Art Colony

• Worked for Bauhaus (German art school with most influence on 20th century design) (head of printing and advertising workshops)

• In 1925, created Universal and created the sign for Bauhaus' new building

As well as typography, he also delved into various forms of abstract art.

He was an artistic consultant for several companies & institutions, including the “Container Corporation of America” and the “Atlantic

Richfield Company”.

Atlantic Richfield Company logo

Container Corporation of America Atlas

LTC Caslon

LTC Bodoni 175

Perpetua STD

Gill Sans STD

P22 Bayer Universal

Compare…

Max Miedinger 1910-1980

Max Miedinger• In-house designer at

the Haas house in Switzerland

• Designed Helvetica in 1957 as a result of being commissioned to produce a more modern version of Akzidenz-Grotesk BQ

Helvetica Roman

Akzidenz-Grotesk BQ Regular

Friendly, Familiar, and Trustworthy

LTC Bodoni 175

Perpetua STD

Gill Sans STD

P22 Bayer Universal

Helvetica Roman

Compare…

Another notable font to compare Helvetica to is Arial.

Arial was designed in

1982 by Patricia Saunders and Robin Nicholas and made for

use on computers. It is standard with all Microsoft operating

systems. Arial is often regarded

as being an imitation of Helvetica.

Typography Today

• Modern technology has made painstaking print work nearly obsolete

• Typography is now most prominent in both art and advertising

In The End by Tim Lahan

Choosing a Typeface

Julian Hansen

When choosing typefaces for a project, it may be necessary to use more than one. In this case it may be possible to use multiple typefaces from the same family. When pairing a serif typeface with a sans serif, use two typefaces with similar inner structures; typefaces of the same

designer or time period usually work well.

Univers Light

Frutiger Roman

Meridien LTSD-Roman

Above typefaces by Adrian Frutiger

abpfioegabpfioeg

Georgia by Ascender Corp

Arial Black by Patricia Saunders and Robin Nicholas

As the art of typography continues to evolve, so will the way we see

the world.

From signs to magazines and logos to computer screens; the subtle serifs, sans serifs, kerning, and ligatures will continue to affect

what we think and feel.