The Art of the Glance
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Letters Are Made for Reading
Letters are made for reading A lot of things has to be taken into consideration when you make typographical choices. With the typography of logos and headlines, etc, the style and tone of your publication is determined. But when it comes to the body text, legibility is more important than anything else. BACK IN THE LATE SEVENTIES when I was study- In ”micro” typography, on the other hand, legi- ing architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts, one bility is more important than style. Or maybe we of the rules we were taught was: ”A building must ought to talk about ”readability”, a phrase used by have a distinctive entrance”. That ought to make some typographers, making the point that what sense: It hardly matters what’s inside a house if you fi nd legible depends more than anything else you can’t fi nd the door, does it? on what you are used to read. However perfect Good typography, I’d say, is like the entrance the letterforms of a new typeface, it may still ap- to a house. It should lead you inside, help you to pear hard to read if people think it looks strange. the contents—which is indeed the most important Perhaps this is why most people still prefer text thing. with serifs even though repeated surveys have But then again, what is good typography? Well, shown no legibility differences between sans and as there are numerous disciplines of graphic de- serif typefaces. sign, this question does not have one single—or If you read the same newspaper every day, simple—answer. -
Basic Styles of Lettering for Monuments and Markers.Indd
BASIC STYLES OF LETTERING FOR MONUMENTS AND MARKERS Monument Builders of North America, Inc. AA GuideGuide ToTo TheThe SelectionSelection ofof LETTERINGLETTERING From primitive times, man has sought to crude or garish or awkward letters, but in communicate with his fellow men through letters of harmonized alphabets which have symbols and graphics which conveyed dignity, balance and legibility. At the same meaning. Slowly he evolved signs and time, they are letters which are designed to hieroglyphics which became the visual engrave or incise cleanly and clearly into expression of his language. monumental stone, and to resist change or obliteration through year after year of Ultimately, this process evolved into the exposure. writing and the alphabets of the various tongues and civilizations. The early scribes The purpose of this book is to illustrate the and artists refi ned these alphabets, and the basic styles or types of alphabets which have development of printing led to the design been proved in memorial art, and which are of alphabets of related character and ready both appropriate and practical in the lettering readability. of monuments and markers. Memorial art--one of the oldest of the arts- Lettering or engraving of family memorials -was among the fi rst to use symbols and or individual markers is done today with “letters” to inscribe lasting records and history superb fi delity through the use of lasers or the into stone. The sculptors and carvers of each sandblast process, which employs a powerful generation infl uenced the form of letters and stream or jet of abrasive “sand” to cut into the numerals and used them to add both meaning granite or marble. -
Thai Typefaces (Part 1): Assumption on Visibility and Legibility Problems
Thai Typefaces (Part 1): Assumption on Visibility and Legibility Problems 1* 2 3 Rachapoom PUNSONGSERM , Shoji SUNAGA , Hisayasu IHARA 1 Graduate School of Design, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan 1 Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, Thailand 2,3 Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan Abstract Background Regarding the growing elderly population, which several countries are experiencing right now, various typeface designs have been developed to address the need for increased legibility and visibility. Certainly, common factors that affect the well-being of the elderly are related to visual acuity. The universal design fonts (UD fonts) developed in Japan are regarded as a role model for the development of highly legible and visible Thai typefaces. As Thailand’s society matures, the concern for creating a Thai UD font based on human-centered design is ideal for the purpose of supporting elderly people as well as people with amblyopia and low vision Methods As the first step to developing a Thai UD font, as a preliminary study, we qualitatively tested the tolerance of Thai characters under blurred conditions. We used the fifty Thai conventional text fonts in the boundary of ‘The Table of Thai Character's Relationship’ in the same character heights as stimuli. The stimuli simulated the visual acuity of people with poor vision at different blur levels. Results From the tests, we have established the expected Thai confused pairs, as the assumptions. We found the simulated condition revealed many problems with the visibility and the legibility matters of Thai Characters, as the assumptions; however, these findings led to ideas and possible solutions, which may provide assistance for the approach to designing the first Thai UD font. -
Vision Performance Institute
Vision Performance Institute Technical Report Individual character legibility James E. Sheedy, OD, PhD Yu-Chi Tai, PhD John Hayes, PhD The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the legibility of individual characters. Previous work in our lab [2], including the first study in this sequence, has studied the relative legibility of fonts with different anti- aliasing techniques or other presentation medias, such as paper. These studies have tested the relative legibility of a set of characters configured with the tested conditions. However the relative legibility of individual characters within the character set has not been studied. While many factors seem to affect the legibility of a character (e.g., character typeface, character size, image contrast, character rendering, the type of presentation media, the amount of text presented, viewing distance, etc.), it is not clear what makes a character more legible when presenting in one way than in another. In addition, the importance of those different factors to the legibility of one character may not be held when the same set of factors was presented in another character. Some characters may be more legible in one typeface and others more legible in another typeface. What are the character features that affect legibility? For example, some characters have wider openings (e.g., the opening of “c” in Calibri is wider than the character “c” in Helvetica); some letter g’s have double bowls while some have single (e.g., “g” in Batang vs. “g” in Verdana); some have longer ascenders or descenders (e.g., “b” in Constantia vs. -
Consuming Fashions: Typefaces, Ubiquity and Internationalisation
CONSUMING FASHIONS: TYPEFACES, UBIQUITY AND INTERNATIONALISATION Anthony Cahalan School of Design and Architecture University of Canberra ACT ABSTRACT Typefaces are essential to a designer’s ability to communicate visually. The late twentieth century witnessed the democratisation and internationalisation of typeface design and usage due to the ease of access to desktop computer technology and a related exponential growth in the number of typefaces available to users of type. In this paper, theories of fashion, consumption and material culture are used to explain and understand this phenomenon of the proliferation of typefaces. Theories are explored from outside art and design to position typeface designing as an activity, and typefaces as artefacts, within a more comprehensive societal picture than the expected daily professional practice of graphic designers and everyday computer users. This paper also shows that by tracking and thereby understanding the cultural significance of ubiquitous typefaces, it is possible to illustrate the effects of internationalisation in the broader sphere of art and design. CONSUMING FASHIONS: TYPEFACES, UBIQUITY AND INTERNATIONALISATION Technological and stylistic developments in the design, use and reproduction of text since the invention of the alphabet three-and-a-half thousand years ago were exponential in the last two decades of the twentieth century, due significantly to the ready access of designers to the desktop computer and associated software. The parallels between fashion and typefaces—commonly called ‘fonts’— are explored in this paper, with particular reference to theories of fashion, consumption and material culture. This represents the development of a theoretical framework which positions typeface design as an activity, and typefaces as artefacts, within a broader societal picture than the expected daily professional practice of graphic designers and everyday computer users. -
Typographic Terms Alphabet the Characters of a Given Language, Arranged in a Traditional Order; 26 Characters in English
Typographic Terms alphabet The characters of a given language, arranged in a traditional order; 26 characters in English. ascender The part of a lowercase letter that rises above the main body of the letter (as in b, d, h). The part that extends above the x-height of a font. bad break Refers to widows or orphans in text copy, or a break that does not make sense of the phrasing of a line of copy, causing awkward reading. baseline The imaginary line upon which text rests. Descenders extend below the baseline. Also known as the "reading line." The line along which the bases of all capital letters (and most lowercase letters) are positioned. bleed An area of text or graphics that extends beyond the edge of the page. Commercial printers usually trim the paper after printing to create bleeds. body type The specific typeface that is used in the main text break The place where type is divided; may be the end of a line or paragraph, or as it reads best in display type. bullet A typeset character (a large dot or symbol) used to itemize lists or direct attention to the beginning of a line. (See dingbat.) cap height The height of the uppercase letters within a font. (See also cap line.) caps and small caps The typesetting option in which the lowercase letters are set as small capital letters; usually 75% the height of the size of the innercase. Typographic Terms character A symbol in writing. A letter, punctuation mark or figure. character count An estimation of the number of characters in a selection of type. -
PRESS KIT Typecon2019: Nice MINNEAPOLIS, MN August 28–September 1, 2019 Typecon2019 MINNEAPOLIS, MN the CONFERENCE August 28–Sept 1
PRESS KIT TypeCon2019: Nice MINNEAPOLIS, MN August 28–September 1, 2019 TypeCon2019 MINNEAPOLIS, MN THE CONFERENCE August 28–Sept 1 50 WORDS Founded 21 years ago, TypeCon is the nation’s premier typography and lettering arts conference. Hundreds of attendees convene each year for an immersive five day program of inspiring presentations, workshops, and events. At TypeCon, both professionals and educators can learn, grow, and network in the company of like-minded enthusiasts. 120 WORDS Founded 21 years ago, TypeCon is the nation’s premier typography and lettering arts conference. Hundreds of attendees from around the world convene each year for an immersive five day program centered around typography, lettering, and design. TypeCon is best-known for its educational presentations, all of which are submitted via open-call, “by the community, for the community.” Recent speakers and workshop leaders have included Tobias Frere-Jones, Lance Wyman, Gemma O’Brien, Underware, Jessica Hische, Matthew Carter, and Louise Fili. TypeCon oers a unique opportunity for both professionals and educators to learn, study, network, and further their knowledge in the company of like-minded enthusiasts. TypeCon2019: “Nice” will take place August 28th–September 1st, at the Hilton Minneapolis in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. FULL Founded 21 years ago by The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA), TypeCon is the nation’s premier typographic and lettering arts conference. Hundreds of attendees from around the world convene each year for an immersive five day program centered around typography, lettering, and design. The conference takes place in a dierent city each year and is dedicated to promoting and disseminating knowledge of both historical and contemporary typography. -
Emotional Perception of Typography Messages in Fashion Design
I Emotional Perception of Typography Messages in Fashion Design Case Study: Amman City Prepared by: Amal Dahmoos Supervised by: Dr. Wael Al Azhari Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements of the Masters Degree in Graphic Design Department of Graphic Design, Faculty of Architecture and Design Middle East University, Amman, Jordan May- 2018 II Authorization I, Amal Fawzi Dahmoos, authorize the Middle East University for Graduate Studies to provide hard or electronic copies of my thesis to libraries, organizations, or institutions concerned in academic research upon request. Name: Amal Fawzi Dahmoos Date: 16 May 2018 Signature: III Committee Decision IV Dedication “And she loved a little boy very very much, even more than she loved herself” Anonymous I dedicate this humble effort To my little boy, my biggest muse, Issa Dughlas V Acknowledgment I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Wael Al- Azhari, for his patience, encouragement and immense knowledge. For being the best mentor and for instructing me through this whole journey. I could never thank you enough. I would like to thank the “Middle East University” for making this accomplishment possible. I would also like to thank all my professors at the university whom had given me invaluable assistance. I’m sincerely grateful for Prof. Ziyad Haddad’s massive guidance. For always believing in me, guiding me to the right directions and for his great help in getting me to this point. I would like to thank my hero, my idol, my infinite support, my dad Fawzi Dahmoos, and my strength, my siblings Arwa, Moe, Sandy and Ahmad. -
Taking It In
Legibility Takin PhotoDisc Read ability iti What makes type eas ypography, once a craft practiced quietly by trade spe- cialists, has been democratized. Thousands of computer users—not Tjust those in the publishing business, as in the past—are suddenly Tresponsible for setting type. Most of these new typographers are looking for advice on how to set type so it’s easy to read. That’s not surprising, since there’s not much useful guidance on this topic in computer manuals. And despite the recent boom in in- formation on type and typography—with magazine articles and a spate of books, both new editions of old classics and brand-new works—too many of the precepts seem counterintuitive, and some ng even conflict with each other. It’s not all that useful to look at what the pros do, either, since so much of what we get in the mail and on newsstands seems hard to read or ugly or both. (And a lot of it seems to ignore most of the advice in the books and magazines.) One solution is to turn to research for scientific assurance about what’s readable and what’s not. We may notice that type seems hard to read when it’s too small or set with no leading or reversed out of a color—but is it really hard to read, or merely irritating? In fact, there’s good news and there’s bad news: hundreds of studies of read- ability have been conducted over the years, but hard-and-fast an- swers to the most vexing typographic questions are surprisingly difficult to extract from the results. -
When Is Typography Conceptual? Steen Ejlers, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture
2013 | Volume III, Issue 1 | Pages 1.1-1.10 When is typography conceptual? Steen Ejlers, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture A conceptual artwork is not necessarily constituted the sentences disappeared in an even vertical/ by exceptional practical skill, sublime execution or horizontal pattern of letters: beautiful and orderly - whatever might otherwise regularly characterize and difficult to access. “fine art”. Instead, the effort is seated in the Both of these strategies of making stone preparatory process of thought – or as Sol Lewitt inscriptions appear strange to our eyes but once put it: “The idea becomes a machine that apparently it must have worked out. And even so! makes art” (LeWitt 1967). The conceptual work of – the everyday frequency of stone inscriptions that art typically speaks primarily to the intellect and not had to be decoded by the ancient Greeks can hardly necessarily to an aesthetic/sensual experience. be likened to the text bombardment, let alone the But what about the notion of “conceptual reading process, that we live with today. Moreover, type”? Could this be, in a way that is analogous to the Greek inscriptions, like the Roman ones of “conceptual art”, typefaces that do not necessarily the same time, consisted solely of capital letters, function by virtue of their aesthetic or functional all of which could, characteristically enough, be qualities but are interesting alone owing to the deciphered when laterally reversed. However, when foregoing idea-development process? Or is a boustrophedon was brought into practice with the typeface which, in its essential idiom, conveys a Latin alphabet’s majuscule and minuscule letters, message or an idea, conceptually? In what follows, I a number of confusing situations could arise and will try to examine these issues by invoking a series of crucial moments in the history of typeface, from antiquity up to the twenty-first century. -
Greek Type Design Introduction
A primer on Greek type design by Gerry Leonidas T the 1997 ATypI Conference at Reading I gave a talk Awith the title ‘Typography & the Greek language: designing typefaces in a cultural context.’ The inspiration for that talk was a discussion with Christopher Burke on designing typefaces for a script one is not linguistically familiar with. My position was that knowledge and use of a language is not a prerequisite for understanding the script to a very high, if not conclusive, degree. In other words, although a ‘typographically attuned’ native user should test a design in real circumstances, any designer could, with the right preparation and monitoring, produce competent typefaces. This position was based on my understanding of the decisions a designer must make in designing a Greek typeface. I should add that this argument had two weak points: one, it was based on a small amount of personal experience in type design and a lot of intuition, rather than research; and, two, it was quite possible that, as a Greek, I was making the ‘right’ choices by default. Since 1997, my own work proved me right on the first point, and that of other designers – both Greeks and non- Greeks – on the second. The last few years saw multilingual typography literally explode. An obvious arena was the broader European region: the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997 which, at the same time as bringing the European Union closer to integration on a number of fields, marked a heightening of awareness in cultural characteristics, down to an explicit statement of support for dialects and local script variations. -
SUBMISSION TIPS How to Submit a Proposal (With Only a Little Trying) Welcome to Typecon! We Are a Conference for the Community, by the Community
TypeCon SUBMISSION TIPS How to submit a proposal (with only a little trying) Welcome to TypeCon! We are a conference for the community, by the community. The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA) thanks you for your interest in submitting a programming proposal. As a non-profit organization, TypeCon relies on your ideas, knowledge, interests, skills, and generosity to fill our program each year. You are an integral part of this industry. Please come join us for one of the most vibrant and welcoming events in the typographic and lettering community! This year we are seeking proposals for 3 types of content: Main Conference Workshops Education Forum :20 Presentation Day, Full Day, or 2-Day :20 Presentation • Presentations exploring • Hands-on, instructional • Presentations devoted topics of interest to type, workshops teaching to addressing the design, and lettering practical skills and needs of typographic professionals; artists and techniques, in-depth and design educators, in printmakers; students exploration of various a day of dedicated and educators global writing systems, programming production intensives in Presentations typically design and engineering Presentations typically consist of a talk in apps, and professional consist of a talk in conjunction with slides. development conjunction with slides. TypeCon is an open, equitable, and diverse conference. We have welcomed speakers and workshop leaders from every continent except Antarctica (any letter lovers down there at McMurdo Station want to break the streak?). Half of our