MEET YOUR TYPE a Field Guide to Love & Typography CONTENTS
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MEET YOUR TYPE a field guide to love & typography CONTENTS TIME FOR “THE TALK” the elements of typography page 04 COULD THIS BE THE ONE? appropriate typeface selection CONTENTS page 16 MAKING IT WORK typographic details page 26 TIME TO COMMIT font licensing and creation page 38 Ø5 THE BIRDS & THE BEES typeface vs. font Why settle for casual flirtation when looking for a long-lasting relationship? Finding the perfect typography. match is easy if you know the rules. MEET YOUR TYPE will help you overcome common obstacles, and keep your heart thumping for your one true love: TIME FOR ”THE TALK” the elements of type peach FF MILO TEXT 08 007 THE BIRDS & THE BEES typeface vs. font You may notice that you’re changing. You’re noticing different letterforms. You may feel different around them. Don’t be embarrassed; these feelings are natural. A few basics can help you through the awkward years. FF MILO REGULAR ITALIC fuFF MILO THIN zz TRAINING TYPEFACE A typeface is a single set of characters that share stylistic unity. A typeface usually comprises an alphabet of letters, numbers, punctuation and diacritical marks. FF MILOTHIN.OTF = FONT FONT Old school typographers defined a font as a complete character ABCDEGHIJK set of a particular typeface in one size. When type made the leap LMNOPQRST to the digital realm, a font became an electronic file that rendered UVWXYZ the typeface in all sizes. abcdefghijkl A typeface is what you see– mnopqrstuv a font is what you use to make wxyz bFF MILO EXTRA BOLD ra it happen. YOU JUST WANT ME FOR MY BODY type anatomy X-HEIGHT More than any other part of the body, the x-height can dramatically affect type readability. Avoid extremely small or The height of a lower Double chin, big feet, or bowed legs. Little details will very large x-heights if that is important to you. case x or the height of lower case letters. tell you a lot about your type. Go ahead and check them out – it’s not shallow. It’s your job. ASCENDER SET WIDTH Quite ambitious, this part Width of a character in relation to of a lower case letter rises the height. Being wider than you FF DIN PRO above the x height. are tall isn’t always a bad thing. CAP HEIGHT BASELINE COUNTER DESCENDER TERMINAL The distance between the baseline The imaginary, yet crucial line The enclosed negative The male anatomy of a Even though it sounds and the top of a capital letter. where all obedient letterforms sit. space within a letter. lower case letter that hangs life-threatening, it is below the baseline. just the endpoint of the letterform. 12 POINTS = 1 PICA POINT DOES (POINT) SIZE MATTER? 010 011 PICA type measurement INCH 72 POINTS = 1 INCH 6 PICAS = 1 INCH You’ve probably heard the rumor: the bigger your type, 196 PT the better. While that is sometimes true, on other occasions smaller is better. No matter what size you’re working with, if used properly, it can be effective. THE POINT SYSTEM The point system is used by women everywhere to reward their men for good behavior. A similarly archaic system, using points and picas, measures typographic dimensions. POINT SIZE Worrying too much about size can lead to an Oh,17.5 PT THE LENGTHS I GO When concerned about inferiority complex. Point size has very little to do readability, pay as with the actual size of your type anyway. Some 44 PT much attention to the typefaces can appear much larger than others x-height as the point to plea∞e you. at the same point size. So measure however size. X-heights that are OXTAIL OT too small or too large you want – points, picas, inches, centimeters, can dramatically affect or (gulp) millimeters. Just remember to always readability. print a test page before committing to a size. ARE WE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER? 013 type history & classification SERIF SANS SERIF SLAB SERIF BLACKLETTER DISPLAY NON-WESTERN SCRIPT SYMBOLS Everyone has a past. While some things can be overlooked, type history is not GARAMOND FF SCALA SANS STYMIE FETTE FRAKTUR ZEBRAWOOD HELVETICA CYRILLIC WAZA ZAPF DINGBATS one of them. Based on Lean and clean, The big-boned Blackletter type Display faces are Don’t expect your The trashy Telling someone the carvings these love cousin in every was originally the crazy ones parents to romance novel how you feel can Pre-screen with a of the ancient machines were type family — designed to you date before understand the you hope will be hard to put little background Romans — now designed for the their serifs are mimic the getting married lure of exotic, never end — into words — there’s a group industrial age. blunt and calligraphy of to someone nice non-Western script evolved enter dingbats, check and avoid a lot who knew about They’re hard- opinionated. No 12th century from the Midwest. type. The from cursive or symbol fonts — lovin’ — serifs working and nonsense here — European monks. They’re not built language of love styles. Best used the best way of baggage later. feature small modern, with no say I love you like Poor lonely, for long-reading knows no when things start to say… ‘feet’ at the end of need for fancy you mean it. single monks. relationships. bounds. to get serious. the letterforms. serifs. f+O=Ù At FONTSHOP.COM you can browse through thousands of fonts in these and other categories. Consider it your “If I could rearrange the alphabet I would put U and I together.” personal ”little black & yellow book”. MEET THE PARENTS 014 type family TRADITIONAL FAMILY : FF Scala just wait BOLD Whoa! It seems early, but sometimes the true test comes when you meet the family. Regardless, it’s always good to SMALL CAPS know ‘what you’re getting into.’ until you meet ITALIC my family ROMAN (REGULAR) TRADITIONAL FAMILY The traditional type family includes roman, italic, SUPER FAMILY : FF Scala / Scala Sans bold, and small cap styles. Modern families can break the mold and include other styles. EXTENDED FAMILY Extended families can branch out to include not- BLACK ITALIC ‘isn’t our so-distant cousins like hairline, black, extended Uncle Rick family super?’ and condensed styles, to name a few. SMALL CAPS SUPER FAMILY The yours, mine, and ours of typography: some FINALLY MADE families include serif, sans serif, and every style in between. They begin to work as complete typographic systems–in-laws and all. ï Parole! CONDENSED BOLD COULD THIS BE THE ONE? appropriate typeface selection THE CHASE 018 type selection WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE? COUGAR? In order to attract a mate, you’ve got to set the bait. Some people are drawn to curvy swashes, some like AQUAMARINE OT grungy scripts, and some go for bold and simple. on the Knowing what your audience wants can help you choose a typeface that will make ’em tingle. prowlPOSTER BODONI BT OFFICE ROMANCE? When surveying the dating Avoid the embarrassment of typographic rejection pool, consider the following: by first determining the likes and dislikes of your age, income, marital status, target audience. Get inside their head. Grab their dental hygiene, ethnicity, sex, B education, geographic attention. Unleash the pheromones and cast your Play the location, buying patterns, spell. Understanding their preferences is essential political interests, etc. before wooing them with type. Make Game yourself FF FONTESQUE SANS & FF BOKKA SHADOW PRESENTABLE TIMES NEW ROMAN FIRST CRUSH? headline copy? DISPLAY FACE Life of the party FF MINIMUM NO YES Consider this type when you need to make a statement, put on a show for your friends, or boy toy just have some fun. These outspoken faces are FF TOKYO known for setting a mood, but can sometimes be over the top. They may be great for a summer does it need to set a mood? YES fling – just don’t get too attached. TEXT FACE NO WHAT’S YOUR MESSAGE? After a wild night on the town, sometimes a little one quiet is what you need. Look for someone who is My HOW ARE YOU USING THE TYPE? easy to read and in it for the long haul. Classic faces may not be as flashy, but their loyalty and simplicity ONLY will win you over in the end. &FF SERIA PRINT what medium? SCREEN friend request SCREEN FONT FF META OFFICE NO MASS TEXT Avoid the disappointment of an online profile that doesn’t quite measure up in real life. Some FF SCREEN MATRIX fonts simply look better on screen while others look better in print. large amounts of copy? YES MAKE ME A MATCH 022 023 type pairing Any love doctor will tell you, to make it work, you’ve got to be in synch. So when playing matchmaker, choose your typefaces carefully. Each one has a role to play — whether the task is commonplace or kinky. SIMPLICITY One lover at a time; maybe two. No need for three if you’ve got a winner. Even the most complicated projects, like the Frederick’s of Hollywood catalog, can be solved using only one or two typefaces. When combining CONTRAST Opposites attract. If your fonts are too similar two typefaces (even to each other, it seldom works. Consider if they’re the same pairing a flashy, extrovert (display face) with an point size), you may need to adjust their understated, introvert (text face). Also consider point sizes to make pairing another weight from the same family their x-heights match. (type family that is). MAKING IT WORK typographic details TAKING THE LEAD 026 hierarchy FF CHAMBERS SANS BLACK ITALIC 1 Someone always seems to dominate in a relationship.