ITS MY TYPE! – Get Acquainted With Typography

December 16th, 2010 by Rakshith

As a kid, back in school (7th grade to be exact), I remember drawing out headings to each chapter before starting my home work  assignments, be it – Math, Chemistry or Biology.. what ever it was, I had to make it interesting for my sake!

I enjoyed drawing out each letter neatly (in Italics mind you), making sure the spacing was right between each letter and filling them in with Royal Blue Bril Ink (Classic), using my trusty Hero Pen (Cuh-laasick). So, every time I flipped through any chapter in my notebook,   I wouldn’t find it as boring as I used to. Reason being, that I had an excuse to add a bit of art into my homework.  Art? Definitely! These letters spoke to me. They conveyed a certain mood every time I saw them in my notebook. Just like a real person, they had their own style, their own character, distinct looks /features that made them interesting.

As the years progressed, I started experimenting more with the letters of the english alphabet. Combining hand – drawn illustrations into these letters making them look lively and more dynamic.

These are some of the things I did whenever I got bored:Typography Design

Getting inspired by movie posters, newspaper ads, various fonts on my PC, Sign boards, Billboards,  Buses, Lorries and MORE!  It was everywhere!

Little did I know that there was a title provided for such a thing – Typography.  I was having fun with “Typography or Typographic Illustration” all this while without realizing it until two years ago!

Do you know what’s even more cooler ?

Kanye West,the Hip Hop superstar (for the uninitiated) and I share the same views when it comes to typography!

Kanye ? Don’t believe me? Take a look!

KANYE WEST FONT EMOTION

Oh and typography plays a massive role in Graphic Design. I’m sure you’ve already noticed that by now. I’m still learning about it, little by little. It has ALWAYS had a bigger purpose when it came to communication you see!

In this blog post, I’m going to get you acquainted with just that! LET’S GO!

So, What IS Typography ?

Let’s break it down first. Typography is derived from Greek words Typos = Form, Graphy = Writing.

Wikipedia explains it as “the art and technique of arranging type, and modifying type glyphs. Type glyphs are created and modified using a variety of Illustration techniques.”

It takes incredible amount of patience and hard work to get it right. It is something that’s been evolving since the mid 15th century, so you know that people who created different typefaces over hundreds of years, had a sharp eye for detail as well.

Let me brush you up on the very basics:

What is Type or a typeface?

A typeface = Family of fonts. “So, what is a font? I thought, both of em’ meant the same…”  NOPE!

A Font = Member of a particular typeface.

Ex: Arial Black is a typeface. Arial Black  –  Bold, Regular, Italic etc. are the fonts of the Arial Black typeface?  So, we’re clear now? Good!

ARIAL BLACK typeface font usage

Usually typefaces are classified into two  – Serif and Sans Serif

Serif: Ever noticed those little pointy things (the thick and thin ones) that stand out at the end of some of the strokes that form a letter? Yup! Those little buggers are called Serifs.

Serifs are short lines or strokes at the end of each character stroke/stem. Don’t get it? Peep the picture below! (READ THE WORDS OUT LOUD TOO)

SERIF and SANS SERIF

Sans-Serifs on the other hand are typefaces without the Serifs. Pretty much, self explanatory.

What is a Type Glyph?

It’s the number of characters  available in your typeface (font family). Basically, Letters, Numbers, Special characters or symbols like $#!+ etc J An example:

glyphs font

What is Kerning?

Remember I told you, how I used to draw out these letters with appropriate spacing between them? Yup! That’s what it is. Adjustment of the spacing between individual characters.

Tracking on the other hand, is the even spacing between the characters.

An Example:

difference between tracking and kerning

Then there’s Leading: It’s the vertical spacing between two sentences.  Basically, the spacing between lines of type.

what is leading typography

Leading’s role in typography is to ensure legibility. Gotta make sure the leading is right so, the text is more readable. Here is an example:

GRIDS

These are what graphic designers all over the globe use to form page layouts. Very much ideal for organizing content . Appropriate for placement of copy and images. Grids play a crucial part in forming a good typographic layout. Go through some of your magazines, newspapers, leaflets and brochures. You’ll notice that the content has been organized with a proper placement of copy and images.

typography the grid system

Here is a website that literally implements the Grid system into its layout. What’s even cooler?

You can learn more about the implementation of the Grid System from the above featured site:  http://www.thegridsystem.org. Go ahead!

These are just some of the basics! I hope you guys have warmed up to this one! We’re gonna cover some interesting things next!

For more, you can visit these amazing sites, that contain a wealth of information on Typefaces :

Looking forward to some comments and your thoughts!

Rakshith

Intern

The Design Team, Outsmart360

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Choosing a Good Logo Design and the Bicycle Repair Man

August 12th, 2010 by admin

A simple Google Search would reveal there are approximately 178,000,000 results for “Logo Design”. This article is going to make it a 178,000,001. What’s so different about this one, you’ll know soon enough.
Image Credit: Oddsock
Your logo designers may not be the Pablo Picassos of today, but they sure are a cunning lot. Even if they’re [...]

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