TYPOGRAPHY

• Typography is absolutely everywhere. Just look at your phone,

a billboard, your coffee cup, or even the different styles used in
this blog post.

• Every font, letter, and character arrangement plays a part in

determining how a message is conveyed. 
WHAT IS
TYPOGRAPHY ?
• Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make
written language legible, readable, and appealing when
displayed.

• Your choice of typeface and how you make it work with your
layout, grid, colour scheme, design theme and so on will make
the difference between a good, bad and great design.
FONTS VS. TYPE
• A typeface is a set of typographical symbols and characters.
• It’s the letters, numbers, and other characters that let us put
words on paper (or screen).
• A font, on the other hand, is traditionally defined as a complete
character set within a typeface, often of a particular size and
style.
•Earliest known attempts to communicate
with imagery was around 25,000 B.C.

•This was primarily pictorial forms (i.e cave

drawings) Early humans used symbols to
communicate ideas
TYPE OF LETTER
FORMS
•Signographic
• Letter forms drawn or painted
•Calligraphic
• Free hand written letters

•Typographic
• Letter or Character that has been developed by
mechanical means(metal piece, negative film ,
digits on computer)
• Typeface is the image of the letter we get on paper
TYPOGRAPHY-STRUCTURE
DESIGN AND FUNCTION
• Type body
• The type body is the
metallic block
• Typeface
• The portion which
receives the ink
• Face structure
• Typeface is made up of
strokes, Combination of
strokes makes a typeface
different from others
THE ANATOMY OF A TYPEFACE
• The different letterforms within a typeface share a few
common characteristics.

• These characteristics can be important in determining whether

two (or more) typefaces work well together, or clash. Here are
the most basic parts of a typeface:
•  The baseline is the invisible line that all the characters sit on.
Rounded letters sometimes sit just a tiny bit under the
baseline, and descenders always drop below this line

• The mean line is the height of most of the lowercase

characters within a typeface

• The term “x-height” refers to the height of lower case fonts .

• The cap height is the distance between the baseline and the
top of uppercase letters like “A”.
PARTS OF TYPE
FACE
•Primary Strokes
•Curve Strokes
•Decorative Strokes
MEASUREMENT OF
TYPES
• A standard system of measurement within typography
came about in the late 19th century.

• Prior to that, different type foundries had different ways of

measuring their own type.

• Pierre Simon Fournier and Francois Didot developed the

first measuring unit of Type

• The Units developed by Fournier-Didot came to be termed

as point-pica scale

• This special sale which carries these units is called as the

Pica Scale.
POINTS
• The two units of measurement most commonly used for
typesetting and design are points and picas.
•  A point is equal to 1/72 inch. To be extremely precise, 1 point
is equal to .013836 inch, so 72 points are actually .996264
inch. For practical purposes, this is rounded up.
• Points are the measurement most commonly used in print to
indicate the size of type, as well as the space between lines,
referred to as line spacing or leading.
• In some instances, points are also used to measure the width
and depth of a column.
• Points are routinely abbreviated as ‘pt’
PICA SCALE
PICA SCALE
• The Pica Scale is used for measuring type sizes but also for
printing dimensions

• A point is the smallest unit of measurement in this scale and

Pica is the larger one

• Type is measured by the body and not the face. .

• The body height of the type remains constant , whereas the

faces being variable
CONVERSION
DIGITAL LETTER
FORMS
•The advent of computers and digital publishing techniques
have revolutionised the publishing industry

•A typeface or letter form that has been stored as a digital

information is referred to as digital type

•Three font formats used commonly

• Post Script

• True Type

• Open Type
POSTSCRIPT

•The PostScript font format was developed by Adobe in the

1980s, several years before the release of TrueType.

•The format is based on Adobe's PostScript printing

technology - a programming language that allows for high-
resolution output of resizable graphics.

•PostScript has long been viewed as a reliable choice,

particularly for professional designers, publishers and
printers.
TRUETYPE

•The TrueType format was jointly developed by Apple and

Microsoft in the late 80s, several years after the release of
the PostScript font format.
•Many of the fonts included with both the Macintosh and
Windows operating systems are TrueType.
• TrueType fonts contain both the screen and printer font
data in a single component, making the fonts easier to
install.
OPEN TYPE

•OpenType, a joint effort from Adobe and Microsoft, is the

latest font format to be introduced.
•Like TrueType, OpenType fonts contain both the screen and
printer font data in a single component.
•However, the OpenType format has several exclusive
capabilities including support for multiple platforms and
expanded character sets.
•OpenType fonts can be used on either Macintosh or
Windows operating systems.
•Additionally, the OpenType format permits the storage of up
to 65,000 characters.
GROUPING TYPEFACES

Face Groups

Classical Lineal Fancy Handwritten

TYPE CLASSIFICATIONS

•Most typefaces can be classified into one of four basic

groups:
•Those with serifs
• Those without serifs
• Scripts
•Decorative styles.
•Over the years, typographers and scholars of typography
have devised various systems to more definitively categorize
typefaces – some of these systems have scores of sub-
categories.
CLASSICAL TYPEFACES
•Inspired by early typography designers
•Known as old English style
•Today its mostly used as mastheads/ certificates /nameplates /
invitations etc
OLD ROMAN
•Early type developed by Germans and influenced by
Gutenberg
•Geometrical shapes
•Basic features thick and thin strokes within a letter and
a short cross line attached to the main strokes of the
letter, known as serif.
•Low x height
•The serifs are heavy and suitable for printing on course
paper/ handmade paper
•Used primarily for test and not display
TRANSITIONAL
ROMAN
• Their widths are uneven proportion
•Serifs bracketed
• Is not used much
•Example Baskerville is transitional Roman Face
ROMAN MODERN
• All purpose used both for text and display or books
•Packaging / posters/ billboards
•Associated with the industrial revolution phase
•Strokes of the letter are simple hairlines
•X height is large
•Examples Caledonia , Century and Melior
SERIF TYPE STYLES

• Typefaces are called “serifs” in reference to the small lines that

are attached to the main strokes of characters within the face.

•  Serif typefaces are most often used for body copy in print

documents, as well as for both body text and headlines online.

• The readability of serifs online has been debated, and some

designers prefer not to use serifs for large blocks of copy.
LINEAL TYPEFACES
•The term lineal is used for this group is because of its
even body
•These letter form originated when designers started
experimenting with types
•Monotype Grotesque, a grotesque lineal typeface.
Grotesque typefaces are sans serif typefaces that
originate in the nineteenth century. ...
•Univers, a neo-grotesque lineal typeface. ...
•Futura, a geometric lineal typeface.
• Within the serif classification, there are many sub-types. Old
Style serifs (also called humanist) are the oldest typefaces in
this classification, dating back to the mid 1400s.

• The main characteristic of old style characters is their diagonal

stress (the thinnest parts of the letters appear on the angled
strokes, rather than the vertical or horizontal ones).

• Typefaces in this category include Adobe Jenson, Centaur,

and Goudy Old Style.
EXAMPLES
•Centaur
•CENTAUR

•Goudy Old Style

•GOUDY OLD STYLE
SANS SERIF TYPE STYLES

•Grotesque
•Square
•Humanistic
•Geometric
TRANSITIONAL
SERIFS
• Date back to the mid 1700s, and are generally the most
common serif typefaces. 

• Times New Roman and Baskerville are both transitional serifs,

as are Caslon, Georgia, and Bookman.

• The differences between thick and thin strokes in transitional

typefaces are more pronounced than they are in old style
serifs, but less so than in modern serifs.
• Georgia

•GEORGIA
• Bookman
•BOOKMAN
•Times New Roman
•TIMES NEW ROMAN
MODERN SERIFS
• Modern serifs, which include typefaces like Didot and Bodoni,
have a much more pronounced contrast between thin and
thick lines, and have a vertical stress and minimal brackets.

• They date back to the late 1700s.

•Bodoni
•BODONI
SLAB SERIFS
• Slab serifs have little to no contrast between thick and thin lines,
and have thick, rectangular serifs, and sometimes have fixed
widths.
•The underlying characters hapes often more closely resemble
sans serif fonts.
SANS-SERIF

• Sans-serif typefaces are called such because they lack serif

details on characters.

• Sans-serif typefaces are often more modern in appearance

than serifs.

• The first sans-serifs were created in the late 18th century.

TYPES OF SANS SERIF
• There are four basic classifications of sans-serif typefaces:

• Grotesque, Neo-grotesque, Humanist, and Geometric.

Grotesques are the earliest, and include fonts like Franklin
Gothic and Akzidenze Grotesk.

• These typefaces often have letterforms that are very similar to

serif typefaces, minus the serifs.
• Neo-grotesque typefaces include some of the most common
typefaces:

• MS Sans Serif, Arial, Helvetica and Univers are all neo-

grotesques.
• They have a relatively plain appearance when compared
to the grotesques.
• Arial
• ARIAL
HUMANIST
TYPEFACES

•  It include Gill Sans, Frutiger, Tahoma, Verdana,

Optima, and Lucide Grande.

• These are more calligraphic than other sans-serif typefaces,

and are also the most legible (hence the popularity of some of
them for website body copy).

• They’re more calligraphic than other sans-serifs, meaning they

have a greater variation in line widths.
GEOMETRIC SANS-
SERIFS
• Geometric sans-serifs are more closely based on geometric
shapes. Generally, the “O”s in geometrics will appear circular,
and the letter “a” is almost always simple, just a circle with a
tail.

• They’re the least commonly-used for body copy, and are also
the most modern sans-serifs, as a general rule.
SCRIPT TYPE STYLES
• Scripts are based upon handwriting, and offer very fluid
letterforms.

• There are two basic classifications: formal and casual.

• Formal scripts are often reminiscent of the handwritten

letterforms common in the 17th and 18th centuries.

• Some scripts are based directly on the handwriting of masters

like George Snell and George Bickham.

• There are modern creations, too, including Kuenstler Script.

• They’re common for very elegant and elevated typographical

designs, and are unsuitable for body copy.
• Casual scripts more closely resemble modern handwriting,
and date back to the mid-twentieth century.

• They’re much less formal, often with stronger strokes and a

more brush-like appearance.

• Casual scripts include Mistral and Brush Script.

DISPLAY

• Display typefaces are probably the broadest category and include

the most variation.

• The main characteristic is that they’re unsuitable for body copy and
are best reserved for headlines or other short copy that needs
attention drawn to it.

•  Display typefaces can be formal, or informal, and evoke any kind of

mood.

• They’re more commonly seen in print design, but are becoming

more popular online with the use of web fonts.
DECORATIVE

•Grunge
•Psychedelic
•Graffiti