Elementary Type

A journey of Typography through school

Thomas Squire

Growing up with Type

Kinder garten

Elementary School

6pt

The Beanbags

I’m sans-serif,my mommy said not to talk to you

Hello, I’m serif

First Grade 7pt

The Sand Pit

My point size is bigger than yoursAaAaIn typography, a point is the smallest unit of measure, being a subdivision of the larger pica. It is commonly abbreviated as pt.

100pt 70pt

Second Grade 8pt

The Jungle Gym

You’re my best friendI h at e yo u

In typography, kerning (less commonly mortising) is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result. Kerning adjusts the space between individual letter forms

Third Grade 9pt

The Playground

You smell, I don’t like

you very much

This is my best friend, we do everything together In typography, leading refers to the distance between the baselines of successive lines of type. The term originated in the days of hand-typesetting, when thin strips of lead were inserted into the formes to increase the vertical distance between lines of type

30pt on 36pt30pt on 56pt

Fourth Grade 10pt

The Science Lab

a gBut I’m G and I have a Lobe, and ear and a Neck.I’m A and I have a Terminal and a Bowl.

Ear

Neck/link

Loop/Lobe

Terminal

Bowl

Fifth Grade

Middle School

11pt

Gym Class

Team CaptainI’ll take Gunman

I’ll have Smith

Rodriguez you’re on the bench

A typographic hierarchy expresses an organizational system for content, emphasizing some data and diminishing others. A hierarchy helps readers scan a text, knowing where to enter and exit and how to pick and choose among its offerings. Each level of the hierarchy should be signaled by one or more cues, applied consistently across a body of text.