University of Houston Introduction to Typography Art 3334 class www http://design.uh.edu/beckett/ Project 1 Beckett/Spring 2017 email [email protected] Type Classification (Alphabetic Coasters) “Exploding,liquidizing,floating,mutating—theuse Project Introduction oftypetodayhasnobounds.Wheretypographywas We are bombarded daily by a richness and complexity For Next Class: Continue collecting twenty-six A–Z of typographic forms that confidently communicate typographic letters from a variety of contexts. Copy, oncemerelyatransparentmediumforpresentinglet- the style or image of a proposed message. These forms photograph, etc. and print new typefaces. tersandwords,todaythedesignofcharactershas are primarily symbols, that is signs that have meaning, becomeanartform,inwhichlegibilityisnolonger and visually represent our spoken language. When Read Thinking with Type, pp. 12–59, or read online at: http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/letter/ thesoleaim.Wordshavebecomepicturesratherthan making typographic selections, the designer must be aware of the history and stereotypes associated corresponding online sections: Anatomy, Size, Scale, supportingthem…”from Type in Motion with typographic form. In this assignment, we will use Type Classification, Type Families, Superfamilies our critical and creative eye to collect and evaluate ___________________ Letters are beautiful in themselves. Just like the faces typographic form from a variety of sources. We will Day 2 [M 23 January] of human beings, some letters are intricately complex study the abstract formal qualities of letterforms and ++ Parts of the Letter Presentation while others are blank and simple. Kiyoshi Awazu note the differences from one letter to another, and For Class: Present homework: Twelve 8.5 x 11 sheets, one type family to another. In doing so, we are better present a typeface from each of the 12 assigned Letterforms that honor and elucidate what humans see aware of the cultural, historical or stereotypical as- classifications along with corresponding typeface and say deserve to be honored in their turn. sociations connected to the forms. designer, classification, date, and one unique Robert Bringhurst characteristic. Project Work in Class: Compose thirteen selected letterforms Collect twenty-six A-Z typographic letters from a for coasters. Present label system—typeface/font Project Goals variety of contexts (type foundries, magazines, the name, type classification, designer, date. Consider To develop a critical and conceptual eye for street, books etc.). Develop twenty-six 3.5 x 3.5" al- placement or cropping within the 3.5 x 3.5” frame of typographic form by ... phabetic compositions showcasing a variety of unique the coaster. … becoming familiar with various typefaces and their typographic forms. The final compositions will be for- Day 3 [W 25 January] classifications matted onto drink coasters that you will also design. In Class: Vinyl Plotter demo (Tentative) … developing an awareness of the details and subtleties The letterforms in the compositions may be cropped For Class: Present 26 coasters. Typeset the label in letterforms from various families within the square format but consider legibility at all system—typeface/font name, type classification, … developing an appreciation for the abstract formal times. You may redraw, silkscreen, transfer, print, or designer, date. Refine placement/crop in 3.5 x 3.5" relationships that make up a letterform within a given use vinyl letterforms. In addition to the letterforms, frame of the coaster. family and noting the nuances of the point, line, plane, develop a consistent labeling system and apply to the Discuss final media + packaging concepts & design. surface, edge, stroke and curve back of each coaster or on the coaster packaging. ___________________ … collecting and analyzing typographic forms to aid in The label for each letter must contain the following Day 4 [M 30 January] your typographic decision-making for future assignments information: Typeface/font name, type classification, Present refined twenty-six letterforms. Consider designer and the date of design. placement or cropping within the 3.5 x 3.5” frame. References Include label system. Thinking with Type, Ellen Lupton Project Methodology & Schedule Day 5 [W 1 February] The Fundamentals of Typography, Day 1 [W 18 January] + In small groups review all 26 unique letterforms. by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris Introduce Syllabus and Assign Project 1 + Present final formatting, packaging design and http://www.adobe.com/type/browser/classifications. ++ Type Classification Presentation production ideas html Homework: On your own, critically study, compare and ___________________ contrast the differences among typefaces from each of Day 6 [M 6 February] Anatomy and Classification the 12 classifications found in this handout. Begin by + Review 26 unique letterforms with label system. http://www.whoisaaronbloom.com/content/ reviewing the typefaces found in the online foundries + Present final formating, packaging design and interactive/typography.html listed to the left. Next, find and print one typeface production prototypes. from each classification (12). Day 7 [W 8 February] Online Font Foundries (required research) In Class: Bring prints to class for discussion. These may Final Critique: Present final prototype of coasters and fontshop.com be printed from the web site (Make sure the font size is packaging. typography.com large enough to review the details of the form). Notate ___________________ processtypefoundry.com and present for each letterform the (1) type designer, Day 8 [M 13 February] commercialtype.com (2) type classification, (3) date of design, and (4) one Due 26 coasters and packaging emigre.com unique characteristic about the typeface. (other recommendations) A font is what you use, a typeface is houseind.com what you see. type-together.com t26.com fonthaus.com psyops.com myfonts.com A typeface family contains different weights belonging together. University of Houston Introduction to Typography Art 3334 class www http://design.uh.edu/beckett/ Project 1 Beckett/Spring 2017 email [email protected] 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