Nam: 1 In ordr to hlp you s your progrss at th nd of this ntir xrcis, you nd to provid som vidnc of your starting point. To start, draw th a on th lft into th box to th right, dpicting th sam siz and placmnt. Thr is no wrong way to do this. If it looks bad, don t worry, this worksht will hlp with that. TIP: Us pncil. Concntrat on th lins of th lttr first. If going back and filling it in is important to you, go for it. If not, no worris, what w ar concrnd with is th shap of th charactr and its rlationship to th spac nvloping it. Dat: 2 Now, using th grid lins to hlp you, try th xact sam lttr all ovr again. Instad of worrying about th ntir lttr at onc, mak sur ach chunk in th panls of th grid ar accurat. Thn pull back and your lttr will look so much bttr. Using th grid hlps you utiliz your natural obsrvational skills. 3 Th point is, you can draw lttrs bttr than you thought you could. You hav all th basic skills ndd to bcom an informd, rlvant typographr. Who cars if it taks som practic? You ar always worth th ffort. Th following pags ar intndd to hlp you gain snsitivity and confidnc whil larning about svral phass of typographic dsign: th Fiv Familis of Typ. Typ & Mdia Pag 1
Old Styl Family: Garamond (15 th -17 th cntury) This typfac was dsignd in Franc in 1615 by Jan Jannon (Claud Garamond was givn crdit originally). At this tim, inks and papr wr coars and typ tchnology was still rathr rough. Th stroks ar rlativly thick and th srifs ar havily bracktd or curvd. Basically, th lttrforms mulatd classical calligraphy. a d g s o z Typ & Mdia Pag 2
Transitional: Baskrvill (mid 18 th cntury) This typfac was dsignd in England in 1757 by John Baskrvill at a tim whn inks and papr wr considrably smooth and typ tchnology had rfind a grat dal. Th lttrs hav mor contrast btwn thick and thin stroks and th srifs ar mor sculptd; thy also possssd sharpr srifs and mor vrtical axs. 1 Okay, lt s up th ant: you will transfr th smallr lttr to th largr ara, thrby xrcising your ability to obsrv all th mor. As usual, go ahad and s how you do at drawing th lttr with no assistanc whatsovr. No worris, this is just to hlp you gaug your progrss latr. 2 Onc again, concntrat on ach panl of th grid. B patint and hav fun making ach sgmnt work, thn pull back and mak th ntir lttr work. Typ & Mdia Pag 3
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Modrn: Bodoni (lat 18th cntury) Giambattista Bodoni dsignd this typfac in Italy in 1788 at a tim whn printing tchnology had bn rfind trmndously. Notic th xtrm contrast btwn stoks and hairlins, and th brackts ar virtually liminatd. Typ & Mdia Pag 5
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Egyptian or Slab Srif: Clarndon Light (19th cntury) Clarndon is an English slab-srif typfac that was cratd in England by Robrt Bsly for Thorowgood and Co. in 1845. Bsly wnt as far as trying to patnt th typfac, and Clarndon is now known as th first rgistrd typfac. Slab srifs ar charactrizd by havy srifs with vry littl contrast btwn thin and thick stroks. Typ & Mdia Pag 7
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Sans Srif: Hlvtica (19th-20th cntury) Th forc known as Hlvtica was dsignd in Switzrland in 1957 by Max Midingr and Eduard Hoffman. Sans srif fonts wr usually considrd too hard to rad as txt, but th Swiss rfind this fac until it bcam quit balancd and lgibl Alright, hr w ar: you ar now going to go totally solo and draw without any grid. You can do this, just tak your tim and trust yourslf and your prcption. Tak a momnt and compar your frhand from th first pag of this worksht to th on you just drw. Amazing, right? You can do this. You always could! Evn if it s not prfct, it s WAY bttr than you vr knw. This is how w all start, it s up to you whr you want to tak it. Typ & Mdia Pag 9
a d g o s z That s it! You hopfully hav pickd up a littl on th diffrnt shaps and spacs involvd with ach xampl of th Fiv Familis of Typ. Just so you know, thr ar othr familis byond thos, thy ar just considrd th classics. Typ & Mdia Pag 10