Typography* *The art of setting and arranging type A few words (and illustrations) about the history and the art of type selection and application *The art of setting and arranging type

Throughout history, cultures developed symbols that they used to communicate their languages. Over time, the letters evolved.

Introducing…moveable type With the printing of his Bible in 1455, Johann Gutenberg introduced printing with moveable type to Western Europe, thereby making it possible for the written word to be reproduced and distributed quickly, relatively cheaply, and in large quantities. Only 48 Gutenberg Bibles are known to have survived. If you have one in your attic, it’s probably worth $25-$35 million. One page goes for about $25,000.

Artists decorated the printed pages of Gutenberg’s Bibles.

Words, words, words Gutenberg’s printing press revolutionized the written word. It supported the demand for information during the Renaissance, it fueled the Reformation, and it helped introduce the communications age.

Typefaces Along with the development of moveable type, came the development of a number of typefaces. We’re going to look at just a few of them. Classical (1480-1890) Caslon Garamond 20th century Arial Franklin Gothic Medium Times New Roman Modern Verdana

Serif vs. Sans Serif Typefaces Serif: Semi-structural details on the ends of some of the strokes that make up letters and symbols. Examples: Baskerville Old Face Times New Roman Sans Serif: A typeface without serifs. In French, “sans” means “without”. Examples: Tahoma Comic Sans

Caslon Benjamin Franklin chose Caslon for the first printing of the American Declaration of Independence. Identifying Characteristics cropped apex of A high, horizontal crossbar of e C has double serif italic V,W,A may appear to be falling over bowl curve of italic p overlaps stem long serifs on middle arm of E long arm on L bottom arm longer on Z narrow c has low stress large loop on k T has long serifs tapering out from thin arms, lower at center

Caslon Category Serif Classifications Old style Designer William Caslon I Specimen of Caslon (Adobe). Jim Hood

Helvetica Category Designers Released Sans-serif Max Miedinger, Eduard Hoffman Released 1957 Developed in Switzerland All purpose typeface for signs

Times New Roman Category Serif Designers Stanley Morison, Victor Lardent Commissioned by The Times Date released 1931

Script Ornamental or novelty Styles of Typefaces Serif or Roman Sans serif Script Ornamental or novelty

Timeline of Typeface Development

"Although typographers would like to pride themselves on the logic and precision of their profession, it is in fact not so clear-cut. Typography seems exact because much of it has been done in the same way for so long. There are really only a few fundamentals that are set: we read from left to right and from top to bottom. Letter shapes and letter sizes are reasonably limited. But beyond that we rely primarily on emotion." Gerard Unger, 1992

About that emotion… For what purposes would you use the following typefaces?

Arial Arial, sometimes marketed as Arial MT, is a sans-serif typeface and computer font packaged with Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft software applications. The typeface was designed in 1982 by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders. Arial is also a typeface family comprising standard Arial (Arial Std) and variants, including Arial Black, Bold, Extra Bold, Condensed, Italic, Light, Medium, Monospaced, Narrow, and Rounded.

Comic Sans Comic Sans is a casual scrip typeface designed by Vincent Connare and released in 1994 by the Microsoft Corporation. It is classified as a casual, non-connecting script, and was designed to imitate comic book lettering, for use in informal documents. Comic Sans is used in both print and webcomics as a substitute for hand-lettering, although many comic artists prefer to use custom-designed computer fonts instead.

Ban Comic Sans! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y50Dmh3SWys&feature=related

Garamond Garamond is the name given to a group of old style serif typefaces named for Claude Garamond (c. 1480-1561). Garamond’s letterforms convey a sense of fluidity and consistency. Some unique characteristics in his letters are the small bowl of the a and the small eye of the e. Long extenders and top serifs have a downward slope.

Brush Script Brush Script is a casual connecting script typeface designed in 1942 by Robert E. Smith. The face exhibits a graphic stroke emulating the look of handwritten written letters with an ink brush. Lowercase letters are deliberately irregular to further effect the look of handwritten text. The typeface was introduced in 1942 and saw near immediate success with advertisers, retailers, and in posters. Its popularity continued through the 1950s, and waned as influence of the International Typographic Style grew in the 1960s. The typeface has regained popularity for its nostalgic association with the post WW2 era.

Century Schoolbook Century Schoolbook is a Transitional classification serif typeface designed by Morris Fuller Benton in 1919. Century Schoolbook is based on the earlier Century Expanded typefaces begun by Linn Boyd Benton (Morris Fuller Benton's father) as a text and display face for The Century Magazine in 1890. Century Schoolbook is familiar to many in North America as being the typeface many first learned to read with. Morris Fuller Benton utilized research that showed young readers more quickly identified letterforms with contrasting weight, but with the lighter strokes maintaining presence. Tests also showed the importance of maintaining counter-form (the white space around the black letterform) in recognizing the face at smaller sizes. In designing Century Schoolbook, Morris Fuller Benton increased the x-height, the stroke width, and overall letter spacing. Use of the typeface remains strong for periodicals, textbooks, and literature.

Algerian Algerian is an exotic-looking typeface that offers only capital letters. The design for the typeface is owned by linotype, while the name 'Algerian' is a trademark of the international typeface corporation. Algerian comes in two styles: 'Algerian' (regular) and 'Algerian Condensed'. Although Algerian is reminiscent of Victorian era woodcut types, both styles were created in 1988. Algerian is reviled for its overuse.

Font Conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3k5oY9AHHM

The End …almost

…and here’s my confession Most typeface information was taken from (yes) Wikipedia. Nevertheless, you may not cite Wikipedia in your research papers. If I were publishing this PowerPoint (which I could not, because it contains copyrighted information), I would not be citing Wikipedia, either.