In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, which used movable pieces of metal type that could be arranged into words and pages. This changed printing from hand copying individual books to faster mechanical printing using type. Previously, books were individually written by hand or printed using woodblock printing. The printing press allowed faster, easier printing and mass-produced books for the first time.

1. A Brief Hist ry of Type

2. In 1440, German inventor Johannes
Gutenberg created a machine that
changed history: the
printing press.
This press used movable pieces of
type
that were arranged into words and pages and
then printed onto a page with ink.

3. How do you think people
created books before this?

4. In the beginning, people had to write out entire books by hand.
Can you imagine copying a book as long as the
dictionary by hand?
People also used a method called
xylography
which involved carving an entire page from wood and then printing it
over and over again.

5. Movable type was actually invented in China in 1041, but it didn't catch
on the way the printing press did.
Why do you think it would be harder for movable pieces
of type to be used for printing the Chinese language ?

6. Over the centuries, many different typefaces have been
designed, such as the well known Helvetica (1957).
The font many of you use on your computers called Arial (1982)
is based on Helvetica.
Can you see the difference?

7. Minor differences can change an entire typeface.
These variations in letter forms are what make typefaces unique.
The parts of letter forms have specific names and vary between each different typeface.

9. Where you find it….
Serif - body of text, title of books
San serif - headlines signs flyers
Script - invitations graduation announcements, formal parties
Old English - newspaper names, old time events
Decorative - company names, logos, party flyers, hand writing

10. Unique typefaces also help us identify products and logos.
How many of these famous fonts can you recognize???