Typography
“The last secret weapon”

Typography

Typography
“The art of printing from
moveable type, including the
skilled planning of typeface
and size, composition, and
layout, to make a balanced
and attractive whole.”

Alphabets

Alphabets
• We actually use several distinct alphabets

Alphabets
• We actually use several distinct alphabets
• majuscules or upper case
CAPITAL LETTERS are also known as

Alphabets
• We actually use several distinct alphabets
• majuscules or upper case
CAPITAL LETTERS are also known as
• Lower case letters are also known as
minuscules

Upper and Lower
The terms “upper case” and
“lower case” date from the
earliest days of printing, when
the different alphabets were
kept in different parts of the
printer’s case of letters

CAPITALS

CAPITALS
• The early printers copied their
capital letters from
inscriptions carved in stone

CAPITALS
• The early printers copied their
capital letters from
inscriptions carved in stone
• The letters from TRAJAN’S are
COLUMN in Rome (113 a.d.)
the classic model for Roman
typefaces

ABCDE
FGHIM
N O P QV
RSTVX

Italics

Italics
• Italicsofare a third alphabet based on a popular
style cursive handwriting, used in the
Vatican

Italics
• Italicsofare a third alphabet based on a popular
style cursive handwriting, used in the
Vatican
• They were originally used to save paper and
print cheaper books because they were more
compact than Roman types

Italics
• Italicsofare a third alphabet based on a popular
style cursive handwriting, used in the
Vatican
• They were originally used to save paper and
print cheaper books because they were more
compact than Roman types
• But there were no Italic capitals, so standard
Roman capitals were used!

Pairings
It took until the 16th
Century (in France) before
someone used an Italic type
alongside a Roman type for
contrast and emphasis.

Serifs

Serifs
• All the early typefaces had “serifs” – the
short cross lines at the end of the
strokes forming the letters

Serifs
• All the early typefaces had “serifs” – the
short cross lines at the end of the
strokes forming the letters
• These were based on the way the
stonecutters would finish inscriptional
letters with their chisels

Serifs

Serifs

Serifs

old-style type -
15th Century

old-style type -
15th Century
old-style type -
16th Century

transitional type
- early 18th C

transitional type
- early 18th C
modern type -
later 18th C

Pinnacle

Pinnacle
• The 18th Century was in many ways
the pinnacle of letterpress printing.

Pinnacle
• The 18th Century was in many ways
the pinnacle of letterpress printing.
• In the 19th Century, mechanisation
offered greater speed at a lower quality

Pinnacle
• The 18th Century was in many ways
the pinnacle of letterpress printing.
• In the 19th Century, mechanisation
offered greater speed at a lower quality
• The fine types of Didot and Bodoni
couldn’t survive the poor conditions

“Grots”

“Grots”
• In the 19th Century, a new form of letter
appeared, without serifs.

“Grots”
• In the 19th Century, a new form of letter
appeared, without serifs.
• These were called sans-serif typefaces

“Grots”
• In the 19th Century, a new form of letter
appeared, without serifs.
• These were called sans-serif typefaces
• They were also called “grotesques” or
“grots” because some thought them ugly

“Grots”
• In the 19th Century, a new form of letter
appeared, without serifs.
• These were called sans-serif typefaces
• They were also called “grotesques” or
“grots” because some thought them ugly
• They were also (ironically) called
“Gothics”

Arts and Crafts

Arts and Crafts
• At the end of the 19th Century and beginning
of the 20th, the Arts and Crafts movement set
out to revive the use of fine typography

Arts and Crafts
• At the end of the 19th Century and beginning
of the 20th, the Arts and Crafts movement set
out to revive the use of fine typography
• People like Charles Rennie Mackintosh, William
Morris, and (especially) Eric Gill were part of
this movement

Arts and Crafts
• At the end of the 19th Century and beginning
of the 20th, the Arts and Crafts movement set
out to revive the use of fine typography
• People like Charles Rennie Mackintosh, William
Morris, and (especially) Eric Gill were part of
this movement
• Eric Gill’s designs are still in wide use today

Meanwhile, in Germany

Meanwhile, in Germany
• the “new typography” movement was
futurist in outlook and sought to
revolutionise the use of type

Meanwhile, in Germany
• the “new typography” movement was
futurist in outlook and sought to
revolutionise the use of type
• they wanted to do away with capital
letters and serifs, calling them
“irrational”!

Meanwhile, in Germany
• the “new typography” movement was
futurist in outlook and sought to
revolutionise the use of type
• they wanted to do away with capital
letters and serifs, calling them
“irrational”!
★ Hitler hated “new typography” and
insisted that German newspapers use
traditional black letter (called Fraktur)

futura

Futurists
Futura was seen as a
completely rational type
face, based on “pure”
geometric principles

This early Nazi
propaganda poster
mixes Hitler’s
favoured fraktur
gothic font with
ultra-modern
Futura

1938 Newspaper published in Dresden

Times New Roman

Times New Roman
• Times New Roman was developed around
1930 in response to the criticisms of the Arts
and Crafts movement.

Times New Roman
• Times New Roman was developed around
1930 in response to the criticisms of the Arts
and Crafts movement.
• It was a type designed to be robust enough
for high-speed rotary printing.

Times New Roman
• Times New Roman was developed around
1930 in response to the criticisms of the Arts
and Crafts movement.
• It was a type designed to be robust enough
for high-speed rotary printing.
• The letters are chunky, solid, yet narrow:
much less fragile than the “Moderns” of
Bodoni and Didot.

Times

Sans Serifs
• There are two styles of sans-serif type
• One, growing out of the Arts and Crafts
movement, is called humanist (Gill Sans,
Helvetica, Frutiger etc.)
• The other, growing out of the “new
typography” movement is called
geometric (Futura, Avant Garde, 20th
Century etc.)

Switzerland

Switzerland
The founder of the “new typography”
movement fled to Switzerland to escape
Hitler’s persecution

Switzerland
The founder of the “new typography”
movement fled to Switzerland to escape
Hitler’s persecution
He influenced the Swiss Typography
movement of the 1950s

Switzerland
The founder of the “new typography”
movement fled to Switzerland to escape
Hitler’s persecution
He influenced the Swiss Typography
movement of the 1950s
Swiss Typography is still widely
imitated and looks quintessentially
“modern” to most eyes.

SwissTypes

SwissTypes
•The classic Swiss typeface is
Helvetica (of which Arial is a copy)

SwissTypes
•The classic Swiss typeface is
Helvetica (of which Arial is a copy)
•But look outand Univers
too for Frutiger,
Eurostyle,

Fashion Trends

Fashion Trends
• Every era tends to reinvent
typography

Fashion Trends
• Every era tends to reinvent
typography
• In the 80s, the explosion of computer

Fashion Trends
• Every era tends to reinvent
typography
• In the 80s, the explosion of computer
type saw a growing trend in “grunge” types

Fashion Trends
• Every era tends to reinvent
typography
• In the 80s, the explosion of computer
type saw a growing trend in “grunge” types
• Magazines like The Face and Emigre
Graphics pioneered the use of this new
“vernacular” typography

Review
• What are the three alphabets commonly
combined in typography?
• What are the short cross lines at the end of the
strokes in Roman letters called? And what is a
grot?
• Name two of the major typographical
movements of the 20th Century
• What typeface would you use in your magazine?

Home
work

Home
work
Try it for yourself: plan a
sample magazine page
using nothing but type &
colour for visual effect.
Sketch in advance &
complete in class.