This document discusses the history and development of lettering. It begins with pictographic and ideographic forms of early writing and moves through the development of the Phoenician, Greek, and Roman alphabets. It then outlines the evolution of letter styles from Old English and Gothic to modern sans serif. The document also covers lettering guidelines and proportions. In summary, it provides a chronological overview of the origins and technical aspects of letter forms from ancient to modern times.

1. LETTERING

2. LETTERING – refers to the process by which letters and numbers are formed through writing in composition
composition to printing through the use of machine and devices.
1. PICTOGRAPHIC – the first form of writing used pictures.
2. IDEOGRAPHIC –after years, these drawings became more symbolic and meaningful.
3. PHONECTIC – later on, these drawings were merely used as models.
4000 BCE – the very first alphabet was originated in ancient Egypt.
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF LETTERS
CHRONOLOGY

3. 1050 BCE – the Greeks adapted the Phoenician and Assyrian alphabets and were responsible for the
expansion of 22 consonants.
700 BCE – the Ancient Greeks changed this form of writing into what they called boustrophedon writing.
They borrowed the system and ultimately developed an alphabet of 22 letters.
200 BCE – the Romans introduced the 23 letters of the present-day alphabet which became the basis of
present-day letters of the Roman alphabet except for letters J and U which not in the Old Roman
alphabet.
800 BCE – lowercase letters were used and called Carolingian letters.
350 CE – Roman cursive led the way to the more fluid appearance. It is done in single stroke instead of the
buildup method.
1100-1400 BCE – Old English letters were used, the hand used by the Anglo Saxons.
1200 -1500 BCE –the modern “technology” for Gothic includes the use of majuscule initials which have
elaborations at the end of the strokes.

4. 1140 BCE-800 CE – this is the period of Humanistic Hand Handwriting that developed during Renaissance
period.
1850-1940 – Roundhand Script was introduced in the United State, as influenced by the French aristocracy.
1890 – san Serif which means “without serif” was introduced.
1945 – Americans introduced cartoon script.
1. GOTHIC LETTERS – uniform width elements.
2. ROMAN LETTERS – all letters in this style have accented strokes made up of thin and thick elements.
LETTER STYLES

5. 3. TEXT LETTERS – these include all styles of old English text, church text, block text, German text.
4. ITALIC LETTERS – these are slanting letters used in the headings of newspapers, columns and in
advertisement.
5. SCRIPT LETTERS – these are composed of script elements. These are used making wedding invitations,
diplomas and certificates and Christmas cards.
1. HORIZONTAL GUIDELINES – these are used to keep the letters uniform in height.
A. CAPLINE – this is the uppermost horizontal guideline drawn for uppercase and letters with strokes
that extend upward known as the ascender.
B. WAISTLINE – this is a horizontal guideline drawn between the capline and the baseline used to
determine the general height of lowercase letters.
GUIDELINES IN LETTERING

6. C. BASELINE –this is a horizontal guideline where all the letters rest or stand.
D. DROPLINE – this is a horizontal guideline drawn for letter with strokes that extend downward known
known as the descender.
2. VERTICAL GUIDELINES – these are light lines which help keep the letters uniformly vertical.
3. INCLINED GUIDELINES – these are light lines used to guide the inclination of inclined letter.
1. NORMAL LETTERS – these are used if the space where the letters are to be printed or lettered is simple.
2. COMPRESSED/CONDENSED LETTERS – these are used if the space for lettering is narrow.
3. EXTENDENDED LETTERS – these are used if the space for lettering is very wide.
GENERAL PROPORTION OF LETTERS

7.  .
1. CRONOLOGY – the determination of the proper sequence of past events.
2. HIEROGLYPHICS – form of writing, especially as used in ancient Egypt, in which pictures or
symbols are used to represent objects, concept or sounds.
3. UPPERCASE – capital letters
4. LOWERCASE – small leters
5. SERIF – a smaller line used to finish off a main stroke of a letter.
TECHNICAL TERMS