Sampling of Modern Typography presentation for students at Fairleigh Dickenson University; an element in the gestalt of graphic design and communication basics.

1. Modern Typography and the Creation of
the Public Sphere
5

2. “Plate 1” is seen labeled in the upper-left
corner.
When Joseph Moxon, printer in 1683, spent
time in the Netherlands he discovered the
Dutch seemed to have their type design and
printing well situated compared to the
British.
He wrote a book called the Mechanick
Exercises. In it, he detailed every aspect of
the industry. His book was encoded with
procedures meant to establish the
standards of production.
Type casting – printing – papermaking –
engraving – binding - publishing

3. Lililutu images
Rookebooks.com
Letterspace.com
Birth of Printing
Wollamshram.ca
A Joseph Moxon press

4. William Playfair, one of the first designers
of information graphics
Chart reflects the administrative side of
the 18th C culture
Demonstrates how to group and divide
information
What data parameters to use
Graphics evolving continuously
Charts used today in business to measure
a variety of information
Manage human situations and cultural
affairs.
Thomas Williams’s trade card set in
Baskerville
More contemporary influence without all
the decoration of previous texts.

5. Specimen sheets = an exercise, a skill
They present the construction of all
minuscules according to stroke,
proportion, angle, and shape
Technical sophistication is quite apparent
Creating the letterform is only half the
art. The other half… is taking into
consideration the skill level one must
develop to achieve such success.

6. French printer and typesetter
Perfected the 72 point-per-inch system

7. Metal decorations known as printers’ flowers brought symmetry and harmony to
18th C page designs.
Rococo influence (elegant styles)

8. Additional facts:
Romain du Roi, a Roman typeface in 1692
designed at the order of French King Louis
the XIV, designed with mathematic
precision, to be used specifically and solely
for royal purposes…
Controlled entirely by the royal printing
house Imprimerie Royale, it was considered
a criminal offense to use the designs for any
other purpose…
Precursor for neoclassical forms of Modern
design which came some 50 years later
…so design was then considered a skill
rooted in education
Chinoiserie (pronounced Shin-wahr-ie) is
the French term for Chinese Art influence

9. Additional facts (continued):
Pierre-Simon Fournier le Jeune extended
the rationalization of type designed by
standardizing POINT sizes and the height
of type to paper so that types used by one
foundry could be used by another
Note: A foundry is a shop in which TYPES
were cast
Fournier’s typographical ornaments, or
fleurons, designed to be used with the
same combinatorial (combination) with
any other font.

10. Notable figures in type and design:
William Caslon, type designer, & John
Baskerville, writer and designer, in 18th C
England, 1734.
Characteristics:
uniform characters, legible and robust
letters do not have elaborate tails or curves
the “Q” may be the only exception to this
the horizontal bar on “e” – not slanted
Note the spacing between the letters and
the spacing before the “?”
Centered? Justified?
Orthography (correct spelling!), punctuation
Comfortable reading in sizing, leading and line
length.

11. Another important individual who
influenced type and design was John
Baskerville, writer and designer, in 18th C
England, 1734.
Baskerville type characteristics:
round and sturdy , Dutch Old Style
influence
Appeared in French and Italian publishing
Spacing and leading command authority
Fleurons surround and even separate
Baskerville font mocked for what was
considered “illegibility”
After his death, Baskerville’s widow sold the
type and punches to a French dramatist and
publisher, Pierre Beaumarchais
100+ years later they were revived

12. Another major figure of modern typography
Italian printer
Refinement – borders, ornaments, serifs
Neoclassical interest in order
Bodoni refined letterforms into basic
elements of serifs, straight lines, and curved
strokes as if separate units and not script
writing/gestural text.
A font we still use today.