| DESIGN ELEMENTS & PRINCIPLES DESIGN ELEMENTS: point line shape form tone texture colour letterform FOR TEACHERS DESIGN PRINCIPLES: figure-ground balance contrast cropping hierarchy scale proportion pattern |
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| INDEX Members only |
| DESIGN ELEMENT LETTERFORM LETTERFORM : An individual letter or character HISTORY OF LETTERFORM www.mediumbold.com/04_thinking/type/letterform/styles.html The Romans and Egyptians invented the letterforms and numerals that we use today and letters that they carved in stone were finished off with a serif. The original purpose of the serif was a practical one, to stop the stone from splitting beyond the main strokes, but serifs also provide a visual barrier to the tops and bottoms of letters. When put side by side, they create a horizontal emphasis that aids the eye in travelling along the line. SERIF SANS SERIF Sans serif (without serifs) typefaces were around in the 18th Century but weren't widely used until the 1920s. Type made from metal doesn't need serifs from a practical standpoint, so they were dispensed with in the spirit of modernity and the ever present quest for something different. As sans serif typefaces don't benefit from the horizontal emphasis that serifs give, they need more space between adjacent lines - leading. In recent years there has been much debate about the readability of serif and sans serif typefaces for print. Research shows that serif faces are generally more easily read but people from a technical background that read modern books set in sans serif faces give the opposite response. It all comes down to what you read most. Where all these principles hold good for the printed page, text display on a computer screen has different requirements. The 'normal' size for text in a web browser is about twelve pixels high which gives a fairly minimal representation of a letterform. As you go down from that size, the subtleties that help distinguish one letter from another start to disappear and readability goes with it. The default font for most browsers is a version of the ubiquitous 'Times Roman' originally designed in 1932 for the London Times newspaper by Stanley Morison. Unfortunately, its translation to the computer screen is not quite so successful. The only good reason that it is used is because it prints well on a wide variety of computer printers and is commonly found on most systems by default. Designing a typeface specifically for web use means throwing away all the old ideas about letterforms. Just as it was right to put a serif on type carved in stone, it is right that a font designed for the screen should be sympathetic with the square pixel grid of a computer screen. The above information is part of the content that appears on the following webpage For more detail go to www.wpdfd.com/editorial/wpd0698.htm More history at webpages.marshall.edu/~bruggemann1/typography_and_layout.htm Letter forms are art forms ..... Cultures throughout history have appreciated the visual aspects of their written language. In China, Japan, and Islamic cultures, calligraphy is considered an art. While personal writing in the West has never been granted that status, letters for public architectural inscriptions have been carefully designed since the time of the ancient Romans, whose alphabet we have inherited. www.webreference.com/dlab/9802/index.html The World of Fonts To be font literate, a designer has to study the history and the principles of font design redsun.com/type/abriefhistoryoftype/ www.atpm.com/10.01/design.shtml?print TERMS EXPLAINED cit.dixie.edu/vt/vt1300/type.asp Terms plus suggestions DESIGNING LETTERFORMS Noted calligrapher and designer Julian Waters teaches a core class to graphic design students called "Letterform Design" which combines the disciplines of calligraphy and digital design. This article explains CALLIGRAPHY, LETTERING and TYPEFACE DESIGN www.calligraphersguild.org/julian.html Since the first recordings of letterforms the concept of the typographic form has evolved into a seemingly endless variety of designs. Type design variations fall within specific categories. This is an excellent introduction to type graphicdesign.sfcc.spokane.cc.wa.us/tutorials/process/type_basics/design.htm also look at Introduction History Family Classifications Logos Tweak a letterform Often logos involve tweaking a letterform out of the ordinary. This can be a very simple addition or subtraction to a character, or it might involve an illustrative technique. Go to www.peachpit.com/articles/article.asp?p=20939&seqNum=5 Michael Doret EXCELLENT This work blends elements of lettering, illustration and graphic design into a sort of hybrid form which doesn't really have a name yet - although it's unmistakably oriented towards letterforms. I don't start out by setting type and then tweaking it. So if you have a logo assignment, I will not set type and then finesse it into twenty or thirty iterations, each slightly different from it's predecessor. I consider this to be a waste of everyone's time, and a way in which some design studios make it seem as if they're producing many solutions, but are only padding their billing. I don't believe that it gives a client the true variety of design solutions they're hoping to see. With few exceptions the letterforms that you see in my work are unique—created by hand. The work and the letterforms that you see here were generated from scratch specifically to solve certain problems, and are one of a kind. Go to www.michaeldoret.com/doret/artwork/index.html For more click here and here A Case Study The brief for the typeface (letterforms) was to produce a non-joining script alphabet for manufacture as backlit extruded plastic signage for the exterior store names www.letraset.com/us/info/type_gallery/co-op.asp Garry Emery Garry Emery is one of Australia's best-known designers "I have an essential interest in letterforms ........ ". www.jyanet.com/cap/1999/0309fe1.htm Keith Philip Not exactly letterforms but interesting This font, ITC Keefbats, designed by Australian graphic designer Keith Philip, is a collection of strange and highly likeable characters. The designs were sketched by hand, according to Philip, who prefers drawing with pencil and markers. The sketches were then recreated in a vector-based desktop drawing program. To see 'Keefbats' and for more info go to www.itcfonts.com/fonts/detail.asp?sku=ITC4041 HOME |
| EXCELLENT Animals made entirely from letterforms Click here may be slow to open Flash required |
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| IDEAS FOR ACTIVITIES |
| Using objects to design letterforms Click here |
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| Creating a Decorative Alphabet Click here |
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| If you are interested in getting your name "Ty-ed" Click here |
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