| HISTORY Link suggested by Gillian Thanks In his work of the 1920's the designer El Lissitzky pioneered a new approach to typographic art which had a huge impact upon graphic design. Lissitzky proved that a graphic designer can have a definitive style and philosophy and effectively use it to interpret the specific message and content of an assignment.he development or design of the shape of an alphabet letter more Before the inception of the personal computer, typography was limited to the few who had studied the drawing of letterforms, had the skills to be able to manipulate the precise drawing tools and processes, quality of handiwork and understood the history of type. Now anyone with a computer and the accompanying software can, to a certain extent, design a typeface. What has this meant to typography? more Type can take on a painterly quality creating an inviting visual texture much the same way as a Jasper Johns painting. It has been said that art director/designer David Carson uses type the way a painter uses paint - to create emotion, to express ideas. Carson uses new typographic forms in his layouts to express the meaning of his concepts and ideas. more more more |
| UPDATED 1 February 2006 |
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| A V I S U A L C O M M U N I C A T I O N C O M M U N I T Y W E B P A G E |
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| Typography |
| Wikipedia provides the following explanation with example Typography from the Greek words typos = form and graphein = to write is the art and technique of typesetting; that is, of selecting and arranging typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing for typeset applications. These applications can be physical or digital. Typography is performed by typographers. It was once exclusively a specialist occupation, but the advent of computers has given many more people the opportunity to experiment with the art. The primary function of typography is the presentation of text in a manner that is both easy to read and visually engaging (although there are plenty of examples nowadays which are more art pieces that are certainly visually engaging but NOT easy to read) . Visual interest is achieved through typeface selection, text layout, use of colour, and the interplay of text and graphical elements – all of which combine to give an "atmosphere" or "feel" to the material. Other issues that might interest a typographer involved with physical printed media are paper selection, ink choice, and the printing method. EXAMPLE 1 EXAMPLE 2 EXAMPLE 3 ANOTHER EXPLANATION www.definition-info.com/Typography.html includes links to Important typographers and type designers Typography (performed by a typographer) is the art of arranging letterforms in space in any medium (including the printed page, web pages, television, film, etc), usually using a recognised typeface, in order to achieve a combination of both aesthetic and functional goals ..... typography includes: * layout of blocks of text on the page, and throughout a publication; * thoughtful selection and use of typefaces (fonts); * correct use of emphasis; * optional decoration such as initials; * adhering to rules of typographical syntax, such as when to use a hyphen vs. a dash, or what glyphs to use for quotation marks, which varies greatly among different languages. The term typography has broadened to include arranging text on the computer screen. When an overall layout specification has to handle a range of actual content – whether on screen or not – the term more often used is information design. Note that type design is generally considered a separate activity from typography, although it can be considered a branch thereof. CONTINUE TO: NEXT PAGE page 2 - more information page 3 - LESSONS |
| letterform The development or design of the shape of an alphabet letter example letterform is a DESIGN ELEMENT more font a set of characters of the same size and style containing all the letters, numbers, and marks example typeface the DESIGN of alphabetical and numerical characters unified by consistent visual properties examples The terms font and typeface are often interchangeable type In printing, type refers to the metal forms of the letters used in typesetting example 1 example 2 |
