University of Houston Graphic Design Program Intermediate Fall 2014 Art 3330 Instructor: M/W Sibylle Hagmann www.design.uh.edu/hagmann/intermediate/ Instructor: T/Th Fiona McGettigan www.design.uh.edu/mcgettigan/intermediate/

Project 1 : Type Classification (Alphabetic Coasters)

“Exploding, liquidizing, floating, mutating — the use Project Introduction of type today has no bounds. Where typography was We are bombarded by a richness and complexity of typographic forms that confidently communicate once merely a transparent medium for presenting the style or image of a proposed message. These forms are primarily symbol-signs that have meaning, and visually represent our spoken language. When making typographic selections, the designer must be letters and words, today the design of characters aware of the history and stereotypes associated with typographic form. In this assignment, we will use has become an art form, in which legibility is no lon- our critical and creative eye to collect and evaluate typographic form from a variety of sources. We will ger the sole aim. Words have become pictures rather study the abstract formal qualities of letterforms and note the differences from one letter to another, than supporting them…” from Type in Motion and one type family to another. In doing so, we are better aware of the cultural, historical or stereotypical associations connected to the forms. Letters are beautiful in themselves. Just like the faces Day 3 [M 9.1 no school/T 2 Sept/W 3] of human beings, some letters are intricately complex Project Methodology/Schedule Day 1 [M 25/T 26 August] ++ Present 13 unique letterforms. Notate Typeface/ while others are blank and simple. Kiyoshi Awazu ++ Introduce Syllabus font name, type classification, designer, date, etc. Letterforms that honor and elucidate what humans see ++ Assign : Project 1 Consider placement or cropping within the 3 1/2 x 3  Critically study, compare and contrast the differences 1/2" frame. and say deserve to be honored in their turn. between in typefaces from each of the 12 classi- Discuss final media and packaging concepts. Robert Bringhurst fications on the handout. Begin by reviewing the typefaces found in the online foundries listed to the Day 4/5 [W 3/TH 4 September] Project Goals left. Find and print one typeface from each clas- ++ Present refined 26 letterforms. Consider placement or cropping within the 3 1/2 x 3 1/2” frame. Notate • to become familiar with various typefaces fonts, and sification (12) and bring to class for discussion. Typeface/font name, type classification, designer, their classifications. Notate and present: Type designer, classification, history, date, one unique characteristic, usage, date, etc. • develop an awareness of the details and subtleties in other etc. Day 6 [M 8/T 9 September] letterforms from various families. ++ Read Thinking with Type, pp. 12 -59, Lasercutter and Vinyl Plotter demo (Tentative) • develop an appreciation for the abstract formal ++ http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/letter/ ++ In small groups review all 26 unique letterforms. relationships that make up a letterform within a given Anatomy, Size, Scale, Type Classification, ++ Present final formating, packaging and production family and note the nuances of the point, line, plane, Type Families, Superfamilies ideas surface, edge, stroke and curve. Day 7 [W 10/TH 11 September] • to collect and analyze these typographic forms to aid in Day 2 [W 27/TH 28 August] ++ Review 26 unique letterforms. Notate Typeface/ your typographic decision-making for future assignments. ++ Typography Slide Presentation font name, type classification, designer, date, etc. • to develop a critical and conceptual eye for ++ On an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, present a typeface from ++ Present final formating, packaging and typographic form. each of the 12 assigned classifications along with production ideas. Type designer, classification, history, date, one Day 8 [M 15/T 16 September] References unique characteristic, usage, other etc. These may ++ Final Critique Thinking with Type, Ellen Lupton be printed from the web site (Make sure the font size Day 9 [W 17/TH 18 September] The Fundamentals of Typography, by Gavin Ambrose is large enough to review the details of the form). ++ Due 26 coasters and packaging. and Paul Harris Collect 26 A-Z typographic letters from a variety of ++ Assign Project 2 http://www.adobe.com/type/browser/classifications.html contexts (type foundries, magazines, the street, books etc.). Develop 26 - 3 1/2 x 3 1/2" (may be cir- cular) alphabetic “coaster” compositions showcasing Online Font Foundries (required) a variety of unique typographic forms. The final fontshop.com letterforms may be cropped within the format but typography.com consider legibility at all times. You may use cropped/ processtypefoundry.com composed found images, you may redraw, silkcreen, commercialtype.com print, letterpress, vinyl, or lasercut letterforms. emigre.com Develop a consistent label system either on the back of the coaster compositions or on the packaging that (other recommendations) includes: Typeface/font name, type classification, houseind.com psyops.com designer and date designed. type-together.com vllg.com t26.com fonthaus.com veer.com myfonts.com University of Houston Graphic Design Program Intermediate Fall 2014 Art 3330 Instructor: M/W Sibylle Hagmann www.design.uh.edu/hagmann/intermediate/ Instructor: T/Th Fiona McGettigan www.design.uh.edu/mcgettigan/intermediate/ University of Houston  Type Classification ART 4395 / 6395 / 3330

Blackletter Blackletter is the earliest printed type, and is based on hand-copied texts. It is traditionally associated with medieval German and English (Old English). Blacklet- ter was revived as a ‘pure German’ form in Nazi Germany, and is extensively used by (particularly) Latino gangs as implying officialness or deep seriousness. Blackletter dates from around 1450.

Humanist or Oldstyle Humanist, humanistic, or humanes include the first Roman typefaces created during the 15th century by Venetian printers, such as Nicolas Jenson. Oldstyle has uppercase letter forms based on Roman inscriptions, and lowercase based on Italian humanist book copying. It is typified by a gradual thick-to-thin stroke, gracefully bracketed serifs, and slanted stress, as indicted by the line through the uppercase ‘O’, and as measured through the thinnest parts of a letter form. It remains one of the most readable classes for text, due to the moderate stroke variations and good distinction between letter forms. Oldstyle dates from around 1475. > Garamond, Jenson, Caslon, Sabon, Palatino, Bembo, Hoefler Text.

Italic Usually considered a component of the roman family of a font, italic really deserves its own class. Based on Renaissance Italian Humanist handwriting, italics are casual as opposed to the more formal roman forms of a font. Italics are generally used for emphasis, captions, and the like, and not for body text. It is important to remember to use true italics as opposed to digitally generated versions. Italics for sans-serif (and occasionally other) fonts are often called obliques. Date from around 1500.

Script As mentioned above, oftentimes anything seemingly based on handwriting is lumped under script. To be more precise, script is a formal replication of calligraphy. Script may also be based on engraved forms. As type, script is unsuitable for text, but is widely used to lend a formal element to a layout. Dates from 1550.

Transitional As the name implies, transitional bridges the gap between oldstyle and modern. Largely due to technological advances in casting type and printing, transitional embodies greater thick-to-thin strokes, and smaller brackets on serifs. Stress moves to be more vertical. Dates around 1750. > Baskerville, Times Roman, Perpetua, Caledonia, Bookman, Century, Georgia, Plantin.

Didone or Modern Didone or Modern serif typefaces, which first emerged in the late 18th century, are characterized by extreme contrast between thick and thin lines. These typefaces have a vertical stress, long and fine serifs, with minimal brackets. Serifs tend to be very thin and vertical lines are very heavy. Most modern fonts are less readable than transition- al or old style serif typefaces. Furthering the trends started with transitional, modern pushes to extreme thick-to-thin strokes, and unbracketed (square) serifs. Many modern typefaces lose readability if set too tight, or at too small a size, particularly with strong vertical stress. Dates from 1775. > Bodoni, Didot, and Walbaum. Slab (Square) Serif Slab or square serif was developed for heavy type in advertising. Also known as Egyptian (it appeared during the Egyptology craze in Europe), slab serif generally has little variation in stroke weight: it’s generally uniformly heavy. Also with slab serif, letter forms are becoming more geometric, and less calligraphic. Dates from 1825.

Sans Serif Humanist Although appearing earlier, sans (sans = without in French)serif gained much popu- larity in the twentieth century, mainly as a move towards an international aesthetic in typography. Sans serif can be strictly geometric, as in Futura, or more humanist, as with Gill Sans. Designed by Eric Gill in 1928 it has humanist characteristics. Note the small, lilting counter in the letter a, and the calligraphic variations in line weight.

Sans Serif Transitional Helvetica Helvetica was developed in 1957 by Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann. It is one the world’s most widely used typefaces. Its uniform, upright character makes it similar to transitional serif letters. The aim of the new design was to create a neutral typeface that had great clarity, no intrinsic meaning in its form, and could be used on a wide variety including for signage. These fonts are also referred to as “anony- OxFa mous sans serif”. Futura Sans Serif Geometric Some sans-serif forms are built around geometric forms. In Futura, designed by Paul Renner in 1927, the Os are seemingly perfect circles, and the peaks of the A and M are sharp triangles. It is based on geometric shapes that became representative of visual OxFa elements of the Bauhaus design style of 1919–33.

Grunge, Postmodernism, Digital Grunge typography was a development spring from postmodernism and deconstruc- tionism. It was developed as primarily image, and less for its readability. Grunge typography was a big enough movement to rate its own category, and encompasses a wide variety of ‘decomposed’ typefaces. Postmodern is another catch-all category, encompassing a wide variety of styles. Many, fall into display faces, as they are unsuitable for text. Around 1995 to present.

Handwritten, Brush, Lettering Seemingly a contradiction in terms, these fonts actually harken back to the original idea: mimicry of handwriting, brush, or lettering. These can be considered scripts, but their generally informal nature tends to separate them out.

With the advent of digital typography, we have been inundated with typefaces. Face it (pun intended), most are of poor quality or design, and often both. But even discounting the losers, there remains an overwhelming amount of very good contem- porary typefaces to be added to traditional standards. It is even more important for a designer to be discerning, and really consider what faces are being used, and how.