Month: October 2017

The Type Book: Assembly Instructions

October 23, 2017 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

Every type book exercise is to be included. All of the exercises are listed below and should appear in your book in this order. The titles are based on the assignment sheets. Some of those handouts included more than one exercise. Hopefully this list is clear. If you have questions, please ask for clarification. Use the handout as a guide for the number of pages included for each exercise

Front Cover
Anatomy
5 Families (5 pages)
Variations (6 pages)
Alignment
Alignment 2
Leading (2 pages)
Tracking (2 pages)
Kerning
Type on a Path
Legibility (in color)
Hierarchy
Grid (2 pages)

Your type book is to be printed out (8.5″x11″ pages) and bound along the left edge where we left space for such details. Use a clear vinyl (acetate) front cover and a black vinyl back cover with spiral binding along the left side. You can print the pages out in class, in lab or on your own printer. The only page printed in color is the Legibility: Type Color page. The spiral binding is done at Staples or FedEx Kinkos. Don’t wait until the last minute to get this done because they may require that you pick it up the next day.

The finished books are to be submitted no later than Monday, Oct 30, 2017. All projects submitted late will have lowered grades by 5%.

Class 12: Visual Hierarchy

October 17, 2017 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

In graphic design, visual hierarchy is when elements are arranged in such a way as to imply the order of importance. If you missed the lecture or need a refresher, you can download the slide presentation or view the following videos that were shown in class.

Typographic Hierarchy Explained

Typographic Hierarchy

We also viewed a view on creating contrast with type

Reminder: Mid-Term on Wed Oct 18, 2017

Reviewing the Five Families of Type

October 17, 2017 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

We have discussed the five families of type since the early days of the semester. Sometimes these are referred to as type categories. Make sure you are prepared to identify the differences.

Here is quick review:

Old Style: Garamond
(15th-17th century)

designed in France in 1615 by Jean Jannon (Claude Garamond was
given credit originally)
designed in a time when inks and paper were coarse and type
technology was still rather rough
relatively thick strokes and heavily bracketed or curved serifs
emulated classical calligraphy

Transitional: Baskerville
(mid 18th century)

designed in England in 1757 by John Baskerville
designed in a time when inks and paper were considerably smoother and
type technology was refined
increased contrast between thick and thin strokes and the serifs are more sculpted
sharper serifs and more vertical axis

Modern: Bodoni
(late 18th century)

designed in Italy in 1788 by Giambattista Bodoni
designed in a time when printing technology was refined by leaps and bounds
extreme contrast between stokes and hairlines
brackets virtually eliminated

Egyptian or Slab Serif:
Century Expanded
(19th century)

designed in the United States in 1894 by Linn Boyd Benton
type design, freed from technical constraints, became eclectic
characterized by heavy serifs
very little contrast between thin and thick strokes

Sans Serif: Helvetica
(19th-20th century)

designed in Switzerland in 1957 by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffman
sans serif fonts were usually considered too hard to read as text, but the Swiss refined this face until it became quite balanced and legible