Wednesday, September 11, 2013

The Basics of Typography (Worksheet)



The Basics of Typography:
Typography-anatomy.jpg
1. Ascender Line- the imaginary line which determines the height of ascenders.
2. Base Line- the imaginary line on which all characters rest. Descenders hang below the base line.
3. Ascender Height-the x-height plus the height of the ascending stroke (or the distance between the base line and the ascender line).
4. Cap Height- the height of capital letters (or the distance between the base line and the cap line).
5. Descender- the stroke of a letter which dips below the base line (as in g and j).
6. Ascender- the stroke of a letter which rises above the mean line (as in d, f and k).
7.  X-Height- the distance between the flat top and the bottom of a lower case letter which has no ascender or descender (ex. x).
8. Cap Line- the imaginary line which determines the height of capital letters
9. Mean Line- the imaginary line which determines the height of lowercase letters. Ascenders rise above the mean line.
10. Descender Line- the imaginary line which defines the bottom reach of descenders.

Define Serif: The fine line that extends from the top and bottom of letters making them easier to read; often used for the body text of a book. (Also: has serifs).
Define Sans-Serif: A type of type face that is straight with no serifs or small extensions on letters; usually used for headers (Like Helvetica (accursed to some)).
When do you use Antique Fonts? You can use them to evoke a periodic feel.
At most how many words should be Decorative Fonts at a time? At most three words at a time, unless you are aiming for extreme confusion about what in the world you are trying to say.
What does a script font resemble? Script fonts resemble handwriting.
What element of design does script represent? (From elements lesson) Script can represent line.
Why use Symbol Fonts? Symbol fonts are used to embellish text.

Define Typography: Typography is the art and process of arranging type for media purposes (at least most of the time, you could use it for something else).
Why do designers need a solid foundation in typography? Designers need a solid foundation in typography because by understanding the underlying message that your choice of text contains, you will be able to become more effective as you design and present projects containing words and phrases.
Kerning: the space located between individual letters of a word.
Leading: the space between the lines of text.
Tracking: a condition in which “rivers” of white space are created throughout the text body.
When do you use the following?
Center Alignment: to draw attention; often used for Headlines or Titles.
Right Alignment: for a clean crisp professional look; often used for corporate business letters, return address labels, and business cards.
Justified Alignment: usually reserved for newspaper print and body text for textbooks, and is more difficult to work with because it creates perfect alignment on both the left and right margins without regard for the actual characters (resulting in … tracking!).
What is remembered: good styling or bad styling? Usually bad typography is the most memorable.
What is legibility? Legibility is the quality of being readable or distinguishable by the eye.
Type size smaller than 7pt is: difficult to read.
Type size smaller than 3pts is: completely illegible.
Type range for legible type is: 9pt and 10pt.
What do you use for long passages? For long passages you should use a size range between 8pt and 14pt.
What case do we use for Body? Body copy should always be set in upper- and lower-case rather than all upper-case.
What is measure? Measure is the width of a column of text.
What can you tell me about Ragged Edges? Ragged Edges affect the speed at which text is read.
What are some ways text can be used and what font types do you use for each? Text can be used for creating graphic configurations with a degree of legibility, to define spaces or provide silhouettes, to form an image by itself, etc. Font types that are normally used for these purposes are Calligraphic scripts


Choosing and Using Type:  http://www.will-harris.com/use-type.htm
Why is choosing and using the right font important? (Two reasons) Choosing and using the right font is important because different fonts affect legibility and emotions evoked, also, the right font can encourage people to read your message rather than ignore it.
What are the two most important things to remember? Type is on the page to serve the text and there are no good and bad typefaces.
What is appropriate? What do you have to consider? What is appropriate is choosing the most appropriate type face. What you have to consider is who your audience is and what message you are trying to get across.

Tell me the rules:  (there are 10)
  1. Body text should be between 10 and 12 point, with 11 point best for printing to 300 dot-per-inch printers. Use the same typeface, typesize, and leading for all your body copy.
  2. Use enough leading (or line-spacing). Always add at least 1 or 2 points to the type size. Ex: If you’re using 10 point type, use 12 point leading. Automatic line height will do this for your—never use less than this or your text will be cramped and hard to read.
  3. Don’t make your lines too short or too long. Optimum size: Over 30 characters and under 70 characters.
  4. Make the paragraph beginnings clear. Use either and indent or block style for paragraphs. Don’t use both.
  5. Use only one space after a period, not two.
  6. Don’t justify text unless you have to. If you justify text, remember to use hyphenation.
  7. Don’t underline anything, especially not headlines or subheads since lines separate them from the text with which they belong.
  8. Use italics instead of underlines.
  9. Don’t set long blocks of text in italics, bold or all caps because they’re harder to read.
  10. Leave more space above headlines and subheads than below them, and avoid setting them in all caps. Use subheads freely to help readers find what they’re looking for.

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