Typography BasicsSean Adams

Illuminated Manuscript

Monks use reed pens for calligraphic forms

1439

Blackletterset in metal, imitates calligraphic forms

Johannes Gutenberg

a long time ago

1470

Old-styleSimplifies the calligraphic form for more cost effective printing.

Nicolas Jensonis inspired by typography on

Roman monuments.

Roman Type

1495

Aldus Manutiusdesigns a more condensed letterform

to fit more text on a page.

Italics

1540

Claude Garamonddesigns a typeface to use 25% less ink.

1728

William CaslonWhen in doubt, use Caslon.

1757

Transitionalrepresent the transition between Old Style

and Modern or Didone Typefaces

John Baskerville

1813

Modern or DidoneBetter printing techniques allow for finer letterforms with more extreme

thicks and thins.

Giambattista Bodoni

1852

Firmin Didotwanted even more extreme thicks and thins.

1828

Woodtypegood for big letters and advertising

Darius Wells

1845

Egyptians or Slab SerifEveryone wants all things Egyptian

after Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign

Robert Besley

1927

Geometric Sans Serif

Paul Rennerdesigns a typeface with universal forms:

circles, straight lines and diagonals

1928

Humanist Sans Serif

Eric Gillthinks Futura is too cold.

1957

Neo-Grotesque Sans Serif

Max Miedinger Eduard Hoffmanndesigned a neutral sans-serif as a family.

1960

Photo-typesetting.allows for more extreme letterforms

no longer made in metal.

Herb Lubalinsaw type as an expressive form,

not neutral or cold.

1984

Digital TypeThe Macintosh democratizes typesetting.

Typography can more easily be manipulated and layered.

Arial and Georgiadesigned for the screen and operating systems

Typography TodayScreen-based, in motion, interactive, and expressive

Classification Differences

Neo-Grotesque Sans Serif

System Fonts

Blackletter

Calligraphic forms

Janson

thick serifs

little variation between thick and thin parts

Garamond

thick serifs

slightly more variation between thick and thin parts

Caslon

thick serifs

simpler curves straighter lines

slightly more variation between thick and thin parts

Baskerville

thinner serifs

much more variation between thick and thin parts

simpler curves even more straighter lines

Bodoni

very thin serifs

extreme variation between thick and thin parts

even simpler curves even more straighter lines

Didot

very thin serifs

extreme variation between thick and thin parts

even simpler curves even more straighter lines

Clarendon

small variation between thick and thin parts

very thick and square serifs

Futura

very small variation between thick and thin parts

no serifs

geometric

Typesetting 101

Punctuation

dash or hyphen

to connect words

Punctuation

en dash in place of “to” 12:00 – 2:00

Punctuation

em dash to connect ideas like a semi-colon

Punctuation

quotation marks

Punctuation

inch mark

Typographic terms

Aligning Figures

Typographic terms

Aligning Figures

Typographic terms

Old-style or Expert Figures

Typographic terms

Old-style or Expert Figures

There is no such thing as a bold old-style

classic serif. Like short sleeve dress

shirts, they do not exist.

G GWilliam Caslon did not toil for years to see his typeface

mutated like this.

This is a designer who uses beautifully drawn sans-serif typefaces

This is a designer who chooses bold old-style serif typefaces

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