Typography?typog… what?

Typography is the art and techniques of arranging type, type design, and modifying type glyphs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typography

Type historythe quick and dirty version

Cave painting 30000 BC

From figures/symbols to characters/letters

Demotic

Greek

Ancient Egyptian

Rosetta stone discovered in 1799, it was the key for the decryption of the old Egyptian Hieroglyphic code.

Roman inscriptional capitals on the base of Trojan's Column, ca 113.

Sample of Carolingian writing from the Carolingian Gospel Book produced between 820 and 830 AD

Invention and technology of movable type in the 1430s

The systems involved were first assembled in Germany by the goldsmith Johann Gutenberg.

Classical 1450-1800

Industrial 1800-1880

Modern 1880-1960Bauhaus -- the radically simplified forms, the rationality and functionality, and the idea that mass-production was reconcilable with the individual artistic spirit -- were already partly developed in Germany before the Bauhaus was founded.

Swiss Modern 1945-1970

Postmodern 1970

Digital 1985, Neville Brody art director at Face

Raygun and Wired magazine mid 1990’s

David Carson, art director of Raygun

Spread from Raygun magazine, 1997

Digital use of characters and symbols, back to the cave painting…

Type classificationthe elevator version

Palatino

Old Style

Old style fonts have the following characteristics:

* Based on pen drawn forms * Little contrast between thick and thin strokes * Bracketed serifs * Small x-heights * Counters with a diagonal stress

Garamond was introduced in 1541, and is known as the first Old Style Roman. It remained popular for hundreds of years. Caslon was introduced in 1734. Caslon was used in the first printings of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.

Old Style typefaces were designed to imitate handwriting. They are good book types, being highly legible

Example fonts: Bembo, Palatino, Trajan, Garamond, Caslon

Times

Transitional

The transitional typefaces bridged the Old Style and Modern periods, and took design elements from both styles. Transitional typefaces have the following characteristics:

* Greater contrast between thick and thin strokes * More vertical counters * Very sharp serifs

Baskerville introduced the transitional typefaces in 1757.

Transitional typefaces are often used in text-heavy designs.

Examples: Baskerville, Caslon, Times

Bodoni

ModernModern typefaces are distinctive: they employ strong vertical elements and very fine hairlines for a very contrasty look.

* Strong vertical elements * Contrast between thick and thin strokes * Very fine hairlines

Modern roman typefaces were introduced in the 1780s.

Modern typefaces are well suited to headings and title pages.

Examples: Bodoni, New Century Schoolbook

Courier

Slab SerifSlab serif typefaces use heavy, squared off finishing strokes — hence the name "slab" serif. They have the following characteristics:

* Heavy, square serifs * Few or no thin strokes * Few or no delicate curves * Lack contrast

All of this makes slab serif typefaces ideal for low quality printing: faxes and newsprint. They also read well on screen, and look good in presentations.

Examples: Clarendon, Courier, Memphis, Rockwell

Helvetica

Sans SerifIronically, it was William Caslon IV (great-grandson of the "original" Caslon, who produced the first type without serifs in 1816. Sans serifs were not embraced at first, and in fact, in Great Britain the common term for them is still Grotesque.

It is hotly debated whether or not sans serif is suitable for text. Most will say that it isn't, because it's the serif that leads the eye and makes type readable. Others will argue that sans serif type, when properly set, is perfectly suited to text.

Examples: Franklin Gothic, Univers, Helvetica, Futura, Frutiger

Brush Script

ScriptBased on had drawn lettering

Examples: Kunstler Schrift, Comic Sans

DingbatIllustrative symbols

Examples: Zapf Dingbat, Webdings

Type rulesthe 10 dont’s

Do not use every font you own in one document

DO NOT USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS

Capital letter were not designed to stand next to one another

We read words not letters

We read words not letters

Da er det bare å glemme stavekontrollen: En visktenpaleig unsdelrøkese gjort ved et untivseriet i Enlgnad har vist at desrom de to føsrte- og to siste botsvkeane i alle oredne i en tekst er riktig plessart, spllier det liten rolle hvkilen reføkkelge de øvirge boskvetane i oredne kommer. Tektsen er fullt lesbar selv om de andre bokeastvne kommer huilbtertlulter! Dette er fordi vi ikke leser hver eneklt botksav, men ser bidlet av ordet som hehleet.

Ha en fin dag!

This text is in norwegian, sorry…

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Do not center large amounts of text

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Do not leave colums with one word.

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Don’t make rivers flow through your colum.

type!LOVE

Type on screen?more rules...

Size

Amount of textLine length

Color contrast

What font is at the other end?

HTML vs FLASH

HTML use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)

FLASH embedsfonts, images, video, sound

Type where?Links and resources

Type and community:http://www.typophile.com/

Type and motion:http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/11/19/monday-inspiration-typography-in-motion/

Experimental type:http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/05/12/sexy-bold-and-experimental-typography/

Type posters:http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/02/25/breathtaking-typographic-posters

Type management:http://www.linotype.com/fontexplorerX/

Type recognition:http://new.myfonts.com/whatthefont/

Type posters:http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/02/25/breathtaking-typographic-posters/

Type love:http://ilovetypography.com/