natalie’s type specimen booktype crimes 7 8 you’d think that the vpa department could get a...

Natalie’sType Specimen

Book

Advanced Graphic Design Journal of Documents and Identity

A Typhography Specimen Book© Spring 2012 Natalie GurneyAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be republished, systematically reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from Gurney Publishing.Gurney Publishing, 87321 Rocky Lake Lane

Production notes:This book was designed using Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop and output to Portable Document Format (PDF). The fonts in the book are Written on His Hands and Courier. Sixteen pages at 10” x 10”; 22 photos.

Contributers:The students of Advanced Graphic Design class of the Visual and Performing Arts Departments of California State University San Marcos

Publication Editor: Natalie Gurney

Table of ContentsType Specimen .......................................... 1Bitmapped Letter Forms........................ 3Text Heavy Spread ................................ 5Type Crimes ............................................. 7Type Samples ...........................................9Notable Projects ....................................... 11

Courier

CourierCourierCommissioned by IBM in 1955, Courier was designed by Howard Kettler for IBM’s typewriters. Unfortunately IBM did not secure the legal exclusivity to the typeface and it shortly became the standard font to use throughout the typewriter industry.

Courier is a monospace typeface. This means that each letter takes up the same width. These types of fonts are best used for items that need pre-formatted text. Because of this Courier doesn’t require any kerning.

Courier was originally called Messenger. Kettler stated that, “A letter can be just an ordinary messenger, or it can be the courier, which radiates dignity, prestige, and stability.”

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.




0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz







Scripts for films are required to be in 12 point Courier. Because of the font’s fixe pitch it is ideal for the “one page per minute” theory.

1 2

Bitmapped Letter Forms A bitmap font is one that stores each glyph as an array of pixels (that is, a bitmap). It is less commonly known as a raster font. Bitmap fonts are simply collections of raster images of glyphs. For each variant of the font, there is a complete set of glyph images, with each set containing an image for each character.(wikipedia)

3 4

COMMON TYPOGRAPHIC DISEASES

Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.Typophilia An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone.

Typophobia The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman.

Typochondria A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters.

Typothermia The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.Ellen Lupton, Thinking with Type, 2nd revised and expanded edition:

A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students (Design Briefs) (New York, Princeton Press, 2004, 2010)

“Print sit

uates word

s in space

more relen

tlessly th

an writing

ever did.

Writing mo

ves words

from the s

ound world

to a worl

d

of visual

space, but

print loc

ks

words into

position

in this

space. Con

trol of po

sition is

ev-

erything i

n print. P

rinted tex

ts

look machi

ne-made, a

s they are

.

In handwri

ting, cont

rol of spa

ce

tends to b

e ornament

al, ornate

,

as in call

igraphy. T

ypographic

control ty

pically im

presses mo

st

by its tid

iness and

invisibili

ty:

the lines

perfectly

regular, a

ll

justified o

n the righ

t side, ev

-

erything c

oming out

even visua

l-

ly, and wi

thout the

aid of gui

de-

lines or r

uled borde

rs that of

ten

occur in m

anuscripts

. This is

an

insistent

world of c

old, non-h

u-

man, facts

.”

Quote adap

ted from W

alter Ong,

Establish a hierarchy. Rank groupings into order of importance

what you wish to be read first, then

second, and so on. Don’t let the

given order of importance influence

you overly. You may wish to

emphasize a different order, based

on logic or aesthetics of your own.

Copy/paste each line of text into

its own text box so it may be moved

around and stylized

independently. Ranking now saves time

later.

Subdivide text groupings with line

breaks into smaller units and remove

extraneous punctuation and

conjunctions. Simplify text wherever

possible. (you can add these items

back in later, if necessary)

Use only high-resolution photos 300

ppi). Bear in mind that pixel

information can only scaled so far,

but vector information (text) can be

scaled without degradation of image.

James Miller,

hierarchy lecture

Spring 2011

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.” -- Jim Jarmusch

“Graphic design is primarily a medium of communication. Graphic designers balance the aesthetic against the communicative, the innovative against the expected. Asked to deliver not only the commercial interpretation of image, but also the accurate edification of word, graphic artists by definition must remain sensitive to external and internal influences, daring to open their eyes and really look. But then they must don their armor and thicken their skin to withstand the criticism and mixed reactions from an audience of varying tastes.”--James Miller

RANKING FOR HIERARCHYAccording to Scrojo (http://www.scrojo.com/), a promotional poster should answer three questions:Why? When? Where? All remaining information is subordinate. Unless restricted from doing so, consider adding information of your own to support or elaborate upon the primary question—why?

The existing fan is already sold. The goal of the poster (commercially) is to grab a potential fan who comes to the event based solely on the poster.

No job is finished without a few client changes; use the proofing process to your advantage. Go ahead and add supportive text or remove what you may consider extraneous. The client may like your words better than their own.

65

Type Crimes

7 8

You’d think that the VPA department could get a better poster designed.

Type Crimes are everywhere. Some of the most common type crimes are mix-ing too many different kinds of fonts in the same design, using overly used type faces, spelling errors, and bad contrasting colors.

Awesome Typography

9 10

Project Examples Project Examples cont.

11 12

May 18, 2012Designed by Natalie GurneyAdvanced Graphic DesignCSUSM