H o g e s c h o o l R o t t e r d a m

J y o n a J a c o b s 0 8 6 4 3 9 7

S h a r o n N i b b e r 0 8 4 8 0 3 2

K r i s t e n T j o n g - A - H u n g 0 8 6 4 4 5 4

L u s h k a G i b b e s R a m i e r z 0 8 4 4 1 2 3

Visual Communication

Paper

Typography

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Contents

Typography ................................................................................................................... 3

Fonts .................................................................................................................................... 4

Colour ................................................................................................................................ 7

What is Typography used for and how is it seen in our

daily lives ...................................................................................................................... 9

Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 14

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Typography

Typography refers to the

arrangement of text on a

page, and appears in some form or another in all

instances of written communication. Depending on the

purpose, it can be used for optimum readability, impact,

or an artistic statement. Some graphic designers work totally in text, and study how text

is arranged extensively while they perfect their art. Quality design can make a big

difference in communications, because it can

affect the way the reader sees and feels about the

topic being discussed.

At the most basic, typography is a combination of

font, size, spacing, and color. For example, many

online articles use a clear sans serif font

in a moderate size, arranged on the

screen for maximum readability. The

text is black on a pale background,

further enhancing the readability, and

links within the text stand out

because they are underlined and in a

different color. The overall purpose behind the layout of the

article is to clearly communicate written information to a reader.

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Fonts

There are several families of fonts and only one will be presented, the sans serif groups. Specifically, only four fonts will be discussed: Helvetica, Arial, Century Gothic and Calibri.

Helvetica Helvetica was designed by Max Miedinger on Eduard Hoffmann’s request, who was the director of the Haas Type Foundry in Switzerland, in 1956. Miedinger was an artist and graphic designer before training as a typesetter. He then came up with a design by the summer of 1957, which was a new sans serif typeface and it was then named ‘Neue Haas Grotesk’. After which, the design was offered to customers of the Haas Foundry in Germany. But the company felt it would be too difficult to sell a new font under such a complicated name, so they started looking for a name that would simply embody the spirit and heritage of the font. Which is how the company came up with the name ‘’Helvetica’’ (comes from the Latin name for Switzerland; ‘’Helvetia’’). Helvetica is now known as one of the most famous

and popular fonts in the world, one of the main reasons for the immense popularity is that the design of Helvetica embodies the primary goal of typography, namely; clear communication.

Usage Helvetica is one of the most widely used sans serif fonts and has

been a popular choice for corporate logos, including those for American Airlines, BMW, Microsoft and Orange, just to name a few.

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Arial

Arial was originally created for IBM (an American multinational technology corporation). Arial had been designed by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders in 1982. But the design had gotten its most important send-off in 1992 when Microsoft decided to make Arial part of the system fonts for the Windows operating system. Since that day, Arial has been used on almost every computer and in every graphical application imaginable. Usage The reason for Arial’s popularity is because it is easy to read in all sizes, which is why it is not only used on-screen. Arial is also often used for advertising, book design and office communication.

Century Gothic

The century gothic design is very much influenced by the geometric

sans serif styles of the 1920s and 30, which were a part of the post-

Victorian design evolution. The font is also influenced by modern fonts,

which makes Century Gothic easier to use in digital technology.

These influences of both classic and modern styles make Century Gothic

to have a compelling new look and it has the best of both worlds.

Today, Century Gothic is amongst a select group of ‘’core’’ fonts used in

over 90% of all computers. Because of its wide availability, the Century

Gothic design is considered a perfect font to use in websites.

Usage

As you can see, Century Gothic has a very open and friendly

design, which is why you will often see this font used in television show

logos or media titling.

Even the logo for the

James Bond film

‘’Casino Royale’’

used Century Gothic.

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Calibri

Calibri was designed by typographer Lucas de Groot in 2002 for Microsoft. De Groot then devoloped a subtly rounded and curved font, which worked astonishingly well for Microsoft, after which they decided to use it in their flagship product; the Office suite of solutions. Since then Calibri has become one of the most prominent fonts in current use. Usage Calibri is the default font for Microsoft Office since 2007. It is also used as default font for all other Microsoft software, such as; PowerPoint, Outlook and Excel.

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Colour

Colour derives from the spectrum of light, as it is reflected or absorbed, interactingby the human eye and processed by the human brainwith the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors. Here's a surface level overview of how it all works:

The world is full of light. Visible light is made of seven wavelength groups. These are the colours you see in a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The reddish colours are the long wavelengths. The greenish colours are the mid-size wavelengths. The bluish colours are the short wavelengths.

When light hits objects, some of the wavelengths are absorbed and some are

reflected, depending on the materials in the object. The reflected wavelengths are what we perceive as the object's colour.

What do colour means? Colours have deep subliminal meanings that affect our thinking and rational. They have symbolic meaning that changes amongst different cultures and countries.

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Colour in Typography

In typography, colour is the overall density of the ink on the page, determined mainly by the typeface, but also by the word spacing, leading and depth of the margins. Suitable colour combination is also a major aspect to be considered for designers. A right combination of colour and typography gives the project the final and correct shape and design.

For example:

Red colour is a good colour to use for accents that need to take notice over other colours! Many pharmaceutical and nutritional companies use Green colour in their logos and material to advertise safe natural products. Black is a colour that can

fit into almost every Typography to add contrast, type, and make the other colours stand out more.

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What is Typography used for and how is it seen in our daily lives

Typography can do everything from adding meaning to drawing attention.

Without knowing it, our eyes catches so many written information a day, with the help of typography going from any advertisements to simply the typography that is used on your cup of coffee in any fast food restaurant. Now a day typography isn’t only used for sending a message to people. It is also used for attention grabbing and art. Using typography in a way that it gives the message in every possible way either written or visually. Typography is used in many more areas then we would think. Here are examples of where typography is used in our everyday life:

1. Posters Typography art is widely used in posters. Posters are designed to attract the eye and relay information. Most posters use images, text and other graphic elements. The key is that they are used to convey a particular message to the audience. They are used for:

- Campaigns - Propagandas - Advertisements - Education

posters - Movie posters

1) Starvation posters that uses typography to relay the message.

2) posters to make people aware of a certain message

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2. Web designs You will also find websites that uses typography art in their designs. In order for websites to be unique, appealing and attention grabbing, people use web designs. Here are some websites that uses great typography in their sites.

3. Logos

Logos also use typography in a creative manner. Logos are emblems or graphic representation of a company or an individual. Logos give an identity or brand for companies. It is a way of having recognistion of a company through a creative design that customers recognize.

3) propaganda poster

4 ) The logo Youtube. uses typography and is recognised by all his users.

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4. Business cards

Even business cards use typography. Business cards bear information about a company or an individual which is one way to introduce their business and be remembered by prospect clients.

5. Typographic portraits Typography has also been used for making amazing portraits. It is indeed very impressive that characters can be used to portray human faces. The disigner uses different font sizes and several colours to make the portrait beautiful.

6. Street art

Graffiti artists commonly use text to communicate to their viewers. They use different type of typography and sizes to make their graffiti more original and appealing.

5) made by Juns Satya in 2012

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7. Billboards Like posters, billboards are installed vertically but these are larger than posters. You can see them along the road or on tall buildings. Billboards are made for advertising and promoting a product, a company or just anything. Most of them use eye-catching and striking images to get the public’s attention. A side from the main picture, it always uses different front sizes and colours.

6) In this billboard, we can see that the thing that catches your attention is the “FOREVER 21”the use of typography is a simple one yet effective. You can clearly read it and it stands out with the chosen colour and the size of the letters.

8. Book and magazines covers Some books and magazines use typography in their covers to impart uniqueness and creativity. Now a day, with all the thousands of different books and magazines, what makes them even more interesting is the typography art that is used on the covers. It immediately gets the interest of the readers when is looks different from the usual.

7) In this cover book, if you look at it carfully, you can see that the creator of the cover book has used typography not only on the word “COVER”but also everywhere on the picture.

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9. Album covers Several albums cover uses images. Usually it would be the picture of the artists posing according to the theme of his album. Then there would be a text stating the album title. Although there are more and more albums you use typography as a background of the album cover.

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Bibliography Google and Images Wikipedia

"Century Gothic." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Nov. 2012. Web. 19 Jan.

2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_Gothic>. "Color â  What Is Color?" Crayola.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

<http://www.crayola.com/for-educators/resources-landing/articles/color-what-is-color.aspx>.

"Creative Use of Typography in Print Ads." - Speckyboy Design Magazine. N.p., n.d.

Web. 20 Jan. 2013. <http://speckyboy.com/2012/01/13/creative-use-of-typography-in-print-ads/>.

"Font." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Jan. 2013. Web. 22 Jan. 2013.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Font>. Strizver, Ilene. "Select Your Language." Arial vs. Helvetica. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan.

2013. <http://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fyti/typefaces/arial-vs-helvetica>.

"Typography." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Jan. 2013. Web. 22 Jan. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typography>.

"Typotheque Type Foundry - High Quality Fonts for Print and Web." Typotheque

Type Foundry - High Quality Fonts for Print and Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2013. <http://www.typotheque.com/>.

"What Is Typography? Learn the Basic Rules and Terms of Type!" Creative Bloq. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2013. <http://www.creativebloq.com/typography/what-is-typography-123652>.