Monday, November 30, 2009
Project 4 Q & A
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Type Project 4 Article
Saturday, November 21, 2009
clarendon flash video
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
flash
Sunday, November 1, 2009
VisCon Reading: Data Flow
After looking at all the infographics I really enjoyed seeing how different projects tried to represent time. In the two projects shown here a full day of time is shown. My favorite part about 9/02/08 is that sleep is shown as the same color as the background and it shows that the designers day begins and ends in sleep. In the Typical Day Poster, the information conveyed is getting 8 hours of sleep in the day. I liked the fact that the clocks in the poster made a large T, but I wonder if it even needs the key at the bottom to show that black represents awake and red represents sleep. Also I thought it was great that the poster used military time to make the poster more clear.
Clarendon
2) Robert Besley (1794–1876) & Hermann Eidenbenz (1902-1993)
3) Originally in 1845, redesigned in 1953
4) Slab serif
5) Linotype.com – Slab serifs
Many typeface catalogs, including our own, group all serif typefaces together under one umbrella-category. But in truth, there are many different kinds of serifs, e.g., Renaissance serifs, baroque serifs, unbracketed modern serifs, Latin serifs, wedge serifs, etc. One of the most popular styles of seriffed letter, especially for display type, remains the slab serif.
The slab serif is a genre of letterforms that has been in use for almost 200 years. Throughout this time, many different sub-styles and groups have come in and out of use. The following Font Feature discusses five categories of slab serifs that may be found in the Linotype library. For our sake, we will call these categories Clarendons, Contemporary Text Faces, Classic Text Faces, Standard-Bearers, and Massive Display Examples.
During the early 19th century, especially in Britain, letter drawers began creating thicker versions of letterforms common in European printing during the 18th century, e.g., the types of the Fourniers, Giambattista Bodoni, or the Didots. These new letter styles began to appear throughout British society. Artists, artisans, printers, and typefounders … they all would come to embrace these new ideas. In the realm of typefounding, these faces came to represent the age of industrialization, and also the beginnings of advertising. This also marked the birth hour for typefaces that would be marketed by their makers for “display” use. Quite common today!
As far as the typefaces go, the first examples seem to have been all-caps alphabets; faces with lowercase letters would come a bit later. In the UK, many of these early slab serifs were called “Egyptians,” even though they had very little to do with Egypt. Enthusiasm in Western Europe was quite high during this time period; Napoleon and his army had faced off against the British there, and hieroglyphics were in the process of decipherment. Perhaps the naming of typefaces as “Egyptian” had something to do with this popularity.
6) Belizio, Serifa, Figaro
7) The Raven by Poe published. Annexation of Texas. Rubberband invented. Naval Academy opens. Texas admitted into statehood. Great Irish Famine. Manifest Desitny first discussed. Florida becomes a state.
8) I couldn’t find any!
9)
“Clarendon is among the most evocative and colorful of the Victorian faces. The lighter weights are a later development that extends the functionality of the face, being more suitable for text setting than the bold form that is the basis of the genre. Although the broad width of the letters makes it a relatively uneconomical face for setting extended texts, the serifs are exceptionally durable and will retain their form under conditions for poor reproduction, surviving either low screen resolution or unsympathetic conditions of printing. Clarendon will hold its legibility fairly well when used as a screen font in web applications or when printed onto low-quality paper. It is also effective for architectural and environmental applications, because the strong serif forms can be easily cut out and reproduced in 3D media.”
-From The Complete Typographer by Will Hill
“Besley designed the original Clarendon in 1845 while working on the design staff of the Fann Street Foundry in London. Besley had joined Willian Thorowgood, owner of the firm, in 1838. After Thorowgood retired in 1849, Besley took over the firm and renamed it Besley & Co. Besley’s partner was the skilled punchcutter Benjamin Fox who had assisted him in creating Clarendon.
In 1845, Clarendon was the first typeface registered under a new English law that permitted type designs to be copyrighted for a three-year period. However, despite the legal protection, the face soon became one of the most plagiarized typefaces of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
The name Clarendon came to not only refer to a specific face, but also to a subcategory of slab- or square-serif typefaces with bracketed serifs. Some of the later faces that belong to this subcategory include Consort, Egizio, Fortune, and Playbill. In England, Clarendon became synonymous with the term boldface as a description of weight, and the face is sill used in the Oxford English Dictionary to offset entries from their definitions.
The original Clarendon was modeled after the Egyptian faces, with bracketed serifs replacing the Egyptian square serifs. Unlike its progenitors, which were used only as display types, Clarendon was designed to serve as a condensed text type. Overall, Clarendons have the structure of romans, but lack the thin strokes typical of those faces. In fact, Clarendons often accompanied roman types, playing a role similar to contemporary boldface.(Type families containing both roman and boldface were not common until later in the century.) The bracketing of the serifs and an increased thick-and-thin stroke contrast allowed Clarendon to blend harmoniously with roman type. The intermixing of Clarendon with roman types represents one of the first instances when boldface was used instead of italics as a means of indicating emphasis – a practice that continues to this day.
Clarendons sit midway between the sever blockiness of the Egyptian slab serifs and later bracketed slab serifs such as Century Schoolbook. The serifs of19th-century Clarendons are not as thick as those of most Egyptians and the tapering provided by the brackets softens the harsh angularity typical of slab-serif faces.
The original Clarendon was a bold, condensed face, but Besley later released a slightly expanded version. This version became popular in the printing business as a display face and later its pleasing proportions made it the model for most Clarendon revivials.”
-From Revival of the Fittest edited by Philip B. Meggs & Roy McKelvey
“Clarendon is an English slab-serif typeface that was created in England by Robert Besley for the Fann Street Foundry in 1845. Besley went as far as trying to patent the typeface, and Clarendon is now known as the first registered typeface. However, the patents at the time lasted only three years; as soon as the typeface became popular, it was copied by other foundries. The original matrices and punches remained at Stephenson Blake and later resided at the Type Museum, London. They were marketed by Stephenson Blake as Consort, though some additional weights (a bold and italics) were cut in the 1950s.
It was named after the Clarendon Press in Oxford. The typeface was reworked by the Monotype foundry in 1935. It was revised by Hermann Eidenbenz in 1953.
The font was used extensively by the government of the German Empire for proclamations during World War I.
Clarendon was used by the United States National Park Service on traffic signs, but has been replaced by NPS Rawlinson Roadway. In 2008, the typeface was utilized extensively by the Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain in the re-launch of their corporate identity. “
-From the Clarendon Wikipedia page
10)
“The most useful Founts that a Printer can have in his Office are Clarendons: make a striking Work of Line either in a Hand Bill or a Title Page, and do not overwhelm the other lines: they have been made with great care, so that while they are distinct and striking they possess a graceful outline, avoiding on the one hand, the clumsy inelegance of the Antique or Egyptian Character, and on the other, the appearance of an ordinary Roman Letter thickened by long use.”
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Objective: Parts of Didot
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Didot
02) who designed it, dates of birth and death
Firmin Didot: April 14, 1764 – April 24, 1836
03) when was it designed
1784
04) which classification does it belong
Serif
05) write at least 75 – 100 words about the classification
Serifs are the finishing strokes in all letters other than O, o, and Q. Since the fifteenth century, the shape of these little feet has defined the evolution of serif typefaces as typographers reacted to the work of their predecessors and adapted to new printing technologies. Transitionals, with more defined serifs and a more vertical structure, paved the way for a distancing from calligraphic letterforms with the introduction of the Didones- the name derives from Firmin Didot and Giambattista Bodoni- or Moderns in the eighteenth century, with their simplified serifs and high contrast.
06) name 3 fonts that are from that same classification
Baskerville, Trajan, Bembo
07) what was happening in the world in the year the font was designed
On January 14, 1784, the Treaty of Paris was ratified by the Congress of the United States, while they met in the Senate Chamber of the Maryland State House. The Treaty formally ended the Revolutionary War and established the United States as a free and independent nation.
In the North, slavery was abolished in the state constitution of New Hampshire in 1784.
Benjamin Franklin invents bifocal spectacles.
08) name any other fonts by the designer (if the did a lot you can stop at 3)
09) Write at least 500 words about your designer or history of the font.
When designing Didot, Firmin Didot moved away from the handlettering and calligraphic characteristics of the era in search of a cleaner and more legible solution. This was accomplished with high contrast in the strokes and the use of hairlines and horizontal serifs with little bracketing. These changes personified the beginning of the modern style, and Didot became the French standard for over a century. As happens with older, successful typefaces, Didot has been redrawn many times, weathering the process of reinterpretation and new technologies; Adrian Frutiger’s version for Linotype may be the best regarded; but the more modern interpretation by Hoefler & Frere-Jones, designed for Harper’s Bazaar and later made available for retail, features seven optical sizes- from 6 point to 96 point- that optimize each size to maintain the contrast and finesse deserved by the elegant Didot.
The House of Didot in Paris, France, was one of the most illustrious in the annals of typography. In 1789, no less than seven members of the family were engaged in various branches of the book trade. The House of Didot were the King's printers and encouraged the cutting of new types.
The most important of the three generations of Didot as far as type design is concerned is Firmin. He is responsible for the first modern roman typeface in 1784, which became known as "type Didot". It remains France's greatest contribution to type design. was a French printer, engraver, and type founder. He invented the word "stereotype", which in printing refers to the metal printing plate created for the actual printing of pages (as opposed to printing pages directly with movable type), and used the process extensively, revolutionizing the book trade by his cheap editions. His manufactory was a place of pilgrimage for the printers of the world.
Firmin Didot was born in Paris into a family of printers founded by François Didot, the father of 11 children. Firmin was one of his grandchildren. The family's paper manufactory was located at Essonnes, a town c. 30 km southeast of Paris near Corbeil, which had notable paper factories.
France is indebted to the Didot family for the publication of the Biographie Nationale, and Belgium is also indebted for the establishment of her Royal Press. Relatives of Firmin Didot include François Ambroise Didot (1730–1804); Pierre François Didot (1732–95); Henri Didot (1765–1862); and Pierre Didot (1760–1853).
Along with Giambattista Bodoni of Italy, Firmin Didot is credited with establishing the use of the "Modern" classification of typefaces. The types that Didot used are characterized by extreme contrast in thick strokes and thin strokes, by the use of hairline serifs and by the vertical stress of the letters. Many fonts today are available based on Firmin Didot's typefaces. These include Linotype Didot and HTF Didot.
Firmin Didot cut the letters, and caszt them as type. His borther Pierre Didot used the types in printing. His edition of La Henriade by Voltaire in 1818 is considered his masterwork. The typeface takes inspiration from John Baskerville's experimentation with increasing stroke contrast and a more condensed armature. The Didot family's development of high contrast typeface with an increased stress is contemporary to similar faces developed by Giambattista Bodoni in Italy Didot is described as neoclassical, and is evocative of the Age of Enlightenment
10) one quote (by the designer, by someone talking about the font, or a quote about design that "fits").
“Typography fostered the modern idea of individuality, but it destroyed the medieval sense of community and integration.”
Sunday, September 27, 2009
TYPE CLASSIFICATION
Sans Serif- Font that loses the serif. First appeared broadly in the mid-nineteenth century with the introduction of typefaces carved from wood. The increased production of sans serifs in all widths and sizes remains today, as sans serifs prove to be quite malleable.
Examples: Akzidenz Grotesk, Futura, Franklin Gothic
Script- The typographic form of handwriting. Script typefaces strive to translate the inherently dynamic, fluid, and imperfect act of writing into metal, wood, photo, and digital typefaces, amounting to and inordinate amount of choices in a dizzying number of approaches.
Examples: Brush Script, Choc, Mistral
Monospace- Monospace typefaces take their cue from typewriters, where all letters conform to a specific physical width, resulting in letterforms that must expand or condense to make the best use of the allotted space- hence the wide is and tight ms. They are also referred to as nonproportional, in contrast to typical proportional typefaces, where each character is a different width.
Examples: Courier, Orator, and OCR A
Information found from Thinking with Type: Classifications and Graphic Design Referenced by Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
House Industries
Chalet- very versitle
Neutraface- designed in 2002 by Christian Schwartz
Ed Benguiat Fonts- Fonts that show tribute to Ed Benguiat, very unique
I really enjoyed looking at the Ed Benguiat Fonts. They carried a lot of character and were just really fun to look at. A very casual font family.
Emigre
Fonts by Zuzana Licko:
1. Mrs. Eaves- transitional serif typeface designed by Zuzana Licko in 1996, Mrs Eaves is a revival of the types of English printer and punchcutter John Baskerville, and is related to contemporary Baskerville typefaces.
2. Filosofia, based on Bodoni
3. Others include Solex and Tarzana, blackletters like Totally Gothic and Totally Glyphic, and the swirling Hypnopeadia patterns.
Fonts by others
1. Dead History, Designed by Scott Makela 1990
2. Keedy Sans, Designed by Jeffery Keedy in 1989 (pictured below)Dead History originally caught my eye because it is a pretty funky font, but Mrs. Eaves is a popular font and looks very classic.
Font Bureau
David Berlow designed:1. Giza- (pictured above) designed in 1994, font based on Vincent Figgins’s 1845 specimen
2. FB Titling Gothic- designed in 2005, Ideal for newspaper titling due to its nearly 50 styles
3. Moderno FB- designed 1994-2008, Evolving for various clients strting with Esquire and Gentleman and ending with Montreal Gazette
Other fonts by Font Bureau:
4. Sloop- (pictured below) designed by Richard Lipton 1994-2002, Inspired by the calligraphic work of Raphael Boguslav
5. Miller- Designed by Matthew Carter 1997-2000
6. Quiosco- Designed by Cyrus Highsmith 2006, Allows for compactness without compromising legibility
I really enjoyed at looking at the variety that was in the FB titling Gothic font (pictured below). The variety made it fun to look at and the font was eye catching because it looks like headlines to newspapers.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Completely random things I enjoy
Mike Stimpson describes himself as a photographer of plastic. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at his photos, because as a kid I always played with legos with my brother. His photography is playful and just all around entertaining.
http://www.mikestimpson.com/gallery/107368#7
Most people aren't big fans of Chris Brown these days, but I still like watching this video when I need a little inspiration out of the ordinary.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
G
Anyways during the game I couldn't help but see the Gatorade logo that was changed this year. Instead of writing Gatorade all over everything, the company now just simply puts a G. Its impressive to me that a sports drink is so well known that a simple letter from the alphabet can represent its product.
Adrian Frutiger was a skilled typeface designer in the twentieth century. He was born in Switzerland in 1928 as the son of a weaver. His father and school teachers discouraged his interests in sculpture and instead encouraged him to work in printing. He was an apprentice to the printer Otoo Schaerffli. He later went to study under Walter Kach and Alfred Willimann in the Kunstgewerbeschule school of applied arts in Zurich.
Charles Peignot from the Deberny and Peignot foundry recruited Frutiger because of his skilled wood-engraved illustrations. At Deberny and Peignot foundry, Frutiger designed the typfaces President, Phoebus, and Ondine. He also created Meridien and Egyptienne.
His most known font is Univers. Universe is the first modular type family designed. It hold a matrix of options totally 21 faces, coded by number. This includes five weights and 4 widths: ultra condensed, condensed, regular, and extended. Univers is unique in that it uses a two-digit code where the first digit indicates the weight and the second digit indicates the face-width. This system is known as the Univers grid.
Universe is a popular alternitive to Helvetica. Universe is very helpful when a wide range of variation is required. The condensed versions can be used as text faces that allow for narrower columns to be used. Although Universe is less known
John Baskerville
John Baskerville was born in England in 1706. He is remembered for being a skilled typographer. He was a member of the Royal Society of Arts. With the help of his punchcutter, John Handy, he designed many typefaces. The University of Cambridge hired him to print works in 1758. He also printed a folio Bible in 1763 despite his atheist beliefs. Since the 1920’s new fonts have been created based off his work and mostly called ‘Baskerville’.
Not only was Baskerville skilled at typography but he also was quite the inventor. He developed ways to produce a smoother whiter paper, which was excellent for showing the contrast between black type. He also established a new style of typography by adding wide margins and leading between each line.
The font New Baskerville reinvents Baskerville’s original forms while refining the font. It has a larger x-height than the Monotype, which improves legibility and makes the face more economical to use. The family also includes a small-cap font. New Baskerville is unique because of its extended range of weights, which consist of roman, semi-bold, bold, and heavy. It is extremely effective when used in larger text sizes and looks very graceful.