Yesterday, We had our first session with Lorenzo looking at the deconstruction of magazines and newspapers and experimenting with type, layout, grid and format. We each made a 'Type Scale' and measured 'type' and ' body copy' and 'leading'. Here are some images from the session;
Notes from the session
- The make-up of type consists of components, weights and sizes and styles.
- Technical things; points, picas and Em's
- Linefeed, Interline spacing, Leading
- Tracking and Kerning
- During the session yesterday we looked at measuring 'type' and 'leading' using points. Here are some images and examples;
- The pica, which measured 4.21mm, was divided into 12 equal parts called 'points', which makes the size of a point approximately 0.35mm
- From the example above, in a 10 pica line (or measure) there will be 24 characters per line (24cpl) (48 in 200 picas etc.)
- Divide by 6 for the average number of works... 48/6=8 words per line of 20 picas.
- 100 words / 8 words = 12.5 lines
- The image below is an example of how we measured type during the session;
- Although type may have the same point size, because the x-height may vary it creates a different visual appearance making some fonts seem smaller than others in the same size of points.
- Ligatures are examples of type where the two letters have been bonded together to give a better visual appearance, these are still available digitally today. However, they were created when type was created using blocks and the blocks created unnecessary space between certain letterforms. See below;
- Using type; readability, Hierarchy (headings, subheadings, running heads, introductions, body text, captions, folios), Specials, Breakouts, Drop caps.
- Sometime we don't always read the text but understand what is it saying because of it's shape and format. See below;
(Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works) by E. Spiekermann
- Type can also define characters by the way it appears visually. We can understand peoples personalities or the purpose of a piece of text by the typeface used.
- The font 'Transport Medium' is used commonly among road signs. This is because it is easily readable and understandable and can be read from further distance and understood because of the shape of the letters without even really reading the word or place itself. (This has inspired me to experiment with using this typeface in my OUGD405 brief, which looks at signage)
Capitals
- use of
The use of capitals is a complicated issue. The rule in English is that all proper names should begin with a capital letter and there is the common practice that within titles all words other than 'the', 'and', 'of' etc.. should also start with capitals. However, the latter practice can make titles look ugly or difficult to read and in many cases old-fashioned.
Q DO INITIAL CAPITAL LETTERS REALLY MAKE HEADINGS CLEARER?
A No, initial capital letters do not make headings clearer.
- Kerning is clear to see here where the two examples of '1958' are found. The second is much clearer and easier to read than the first.
- Emotions and meanings; appropriateness, impact, scale, colour
- Layout; Application (Bible, Cook book, Manual, Novel, Script, Magazine), Grids, Conventions, Paras, Columns, RL/RR/ Justified, line length
- Taking forward this idea of grid we will now be looking at newspaper form and re-styling newspapers. Here are some examples and this shall continue into our new brief next week.
