The anatomy of a typeface and A typographic Jigsaw
The anatomy of a typeface:
Differant letters are made up of differant shapes, this project really made me appricaite the work that goes into creating a typeface. This next part also breaks down the terminology and what makes up a typeface. This is very helpful as it allows me to talk about and describe typefaces with the correct terminology.
There are also arms, ears, leg, feet, chins, links and brackets!
Different Typefaces:
Over the years typographers have developed ways of categorising typefaces into different families, these families have specific elements that set them apart. Each family has their specific uses and sorting fonts into these families allow a designer to pick the best font for the situation. Each font has a different feel and vibe that can completely alter and change a project.
Typefaces have a number of key characters that give them a clearly deformed style.
Serif fonts: Are one of oldest font families and originated in Roman times during the Latin alphabet. Because of the deep history carved into serif fonts they have been renowned to be used in luxury branding as well as serious documents. The tradition and heritage makes them highly trusted and sophisticated. They also have been used in newspapers and books as they are easy to read in small sizes given the defined elements and 'serifs'. The serif part of the font is the small bar at the top and bottom. The development of the serif was an aid to reading, given the quality of the paper the finished print could vary greatly. The serif provided a way to give letters more definition and a distinctive quality especially when the type size was small.
Sans-serif fonts: Sans serif fonts are an early typeface without serifs and can be found in the 19th century. They are a purely geometric font family. The fonts itself are quite curvy and rounded. They took off with web designers as they were seen as modern and relateable. They are used massively in branding and design. Because of their clean and fresh appearance. By contrast serif typefaces feel ornate and delicate whilst san serif typefaces are simpler and more functional in appearance.
Script Fonts: Typefaces that reference handwriting, calligraphy or the swirls of engravings. These fonts are popular in clothing brands specifically as they have a vintage retro appearance that references classic hand drawn signs often found in cafes. They are more personal and quaint than a serif font but lack professionalism. Script fonts are also commonly used in wedding invites and beauty products.
Black letter: Black letter is an incredibly interesting and cool font family. It references massively the handwritten scripts of medieval manuscripts. Their sharp angles emulate the line qualities of a flat quill or pen. In 1450 they were used for the first European movable type printing presses. It is still popular today with newspapers and tattoo artists.
In many software packages to make a typeface bold or italic you press a button, this is known as face bold or fake italic. However some typefaces over all the fonts inside a package. For example you can install 'Garamond Book' which is the standard version or 'Garamond Bold" which is a the bolder version of the font that isn't created automatically by a word processor.
Vernacular Typography: Its a type of design in common use, it is often created by untrained designers or specifically developed to suit the needs of a particular location or culture. Some examples include typography of: Fairgrounds, market stalls and cinemas. Vernacular comes from architecture and refers to the idea of native design.
Just from the images on the sheet, I was incredibly intrigued and wanted to collect other examples. I found a website literally called VernacularTypography.com. It had a huge collection of Vernacular typography that was split up into differant categries. I particularly liked looking at foreign typgography. It was very interesting to see the range of cultural influences in colour choice.
Exercise: A typographic jigsaw puzzle
This exercise is designed to help you look at typefaces more clearly. I was asked to reconstruct a sentance using the typeface BaskerVille. The font was deconstructed on a sheet. It only contained the strokes, serifs and bowls that are common for all the letterforms. My task was to use a trace out each part the typeface and create the sentance "The Quick Brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" this is a pangram containing all the letters of the alphabet in lowercase.
I started by drawing out my baseline, I worked out that I would require at least 3 baselines to draw the font out on. I determined my x height through a whole letter which in this case was 'e'. This allowed me to draw out my median line, I repeated this step over the three baselines.
I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, Firstly I identified the elements of the letter, then I used pencil to start off with and sketched the outline of the letters, after I had completed the intital sketch, I then used a 0.3 mm black pen to produce another outline but aimed to get this one neater and more refined. I then went over that outline again with a 0.7 mm black ball pen to produce a thicker outline and to clean up and wavy edges, I then used the same pen to fill the letters in.
It isnt fun being left handed: I wanted to try and fill each letter in but I kept smudging the ink, I developed a technique that allowed me to get past that, but it wasnt perfect and I ended up smudging quite a bit of the letters, I then attempted to thicken the line so the smudge wasnt visable. This is why some letters looks thicker than others.
Differant letters are made up of differant shapes, this project really made me appricaite the work that goes into creating a typeface. This next part also breaks down the terminology and what makes up a typeface. This is very helpful as it allows me to talk about and describe typefaces with the correct terminology.
Stem: The main vertical stroke this can be thick and thin
Crossbar: Is the horizontal stroke on letters
Serif: The short line on the open ends of letters
Terminal: The end of a stroke that isn't a serif
Ball Terminal: Any terminal that is circular
Open Counter: Partially enclosed area of white space
Closed Counter: Fully enclosed area of white space
Bowl: A closed round curve
There are also arms, ears, leg, feet, chins, links and brackets!
Over the years typographers have developed ways of categorising typefaces into different families, these families have specific elements that set them apart. Each family has their specific uses and sorting fonts into these families allow a designer to pick the best font for the situation. Each font has a different feel and vibe that can completely alter and change a project.
Typefaces have a number of key characters that give them a clearly deformed style.
Serif fonts: Are one of oldest font families and originated in Roman times during the Latin alphabet. Because of the deep history carved into serif fonts they have been renowned to be used in luxury branding as well as serious documents. The tradition and heritage makes them highly trusted and sophisticated. They also have been used in newspapers and books as they are easy to read in small sizes given the defined elements and 'serifs'. The serif part of the font is the small bar at the top and bottom. The development of the serif was an aid to reading, given the quality of the paper the finished print could vary greatly. The serif provided a way to give letters more definition and a distinctive quality especially when the type size was small.
Sans-serif fonts: Sans serif fonts are an early typeface without serifs and can be found in the 19th century. They are a purely geometric font family. The fonts itself are quite curvy and rounded. They took off with web designers as they were seen as modern and relateable. They are used massively in branding and design. Because of their clean and fresh appearance. By contrast serif typefaces feel ornate and delicate whilst san serif typefaces are simpler and more functional in appearance.
Script Fonts: Typefaces that reference handwriting, calligraphy or the swirls of engravings. These fonts are popular in clothing brands specifically as they have a vintage retro appearance that references classic hand drawn signs often found in cafes. They are more personal and quaint than a serif font but lack professionalism. Script fonts are also commonly used in wedding invites and beauty products.
Black letter: Black letter is an incredibly interesting and cool font family. It references massively the handwritten scripts of medieval manuscripts. Their sharp angles emulate the line qualities of a flat quill or pen. In 1450 they were used for the first European movable type printing presses. It is still popular today with newspapers and tattoo artists.
In many software packages to make a typeface bold or italic you press a button, this is known as face bold or fake italic. However some typefaces over all the fonts inside a package. For example you can install 'Garamond Book' which is the standard version or 'Garamond Bold" which is a the bolder version of the font that isn't created automatically by a word processor.
Vernacular Typography: Its a type of design in common use, it is often created by untrained designers or specifically developed to suit the needs of a particular location or culture. Some examples include typography of: Fairgrounds, market stalls and cinemas. Vernacular comes from architecture and refers to the idea of native design.
Just from the images on the sheet, I was incredibly intrigued and wanted to collect other examples. I found a website literally called VernacularTypography.com. It had a huge collection of Vernacular typography that was split up into differant categries. I particularly liked looking at foreign typgography. It was very interesting to see the range of cultural influences in colour choice.
Exercise: A typographic jigsaw puzzle
This exercise is designed to help you look at typefaces more clearly. I was asked to reconstruct a sentance using the typeface BaskerVille. The font was deconstructed on a sheet. It only contained the strokes, serifs and bowls that are common for all the letterforms. My task was to use a trace out each part the typeface and create the sentance "The Quick Brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" this is a pangram containing all the letters of the alphabet in lowercase.
I started by drawing out my baseline, I worked out that I would require at least 3 baselines to draw the font out on. I determined my x height through a whole letter which in this case was 'e'. This allowed me to draw out my median line, I repeated this step over the three baselines.
I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, Firstly I identified the elements of the letter, then I used pencil to start off with and sketched the outline of the letters, after I had completed the intital sketch, I then used a 0.3 mm black pen to produce another outline but aimed to get this one neater and more refined. I then went over that outline again with a 0.7 mm black ball pen to produce a thicker outline and to clean up and wavy edges, I then used the same pen to fill the letters in.
It isnt fun being left handed: I wanted to try and fill each letter in but I kept smudging the ink, I developed a technique that allowed me to get past that, but it wasnt perfect and I ended up smudging quite a bit of the letters, I then attempted to thicken the line so the smudge wasnt visable. This is why some letters looks thicker than others.
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