graphic design typography quiz

early writing systems

• earliest known attempts to communicate with imagery was around 25,000 B.C.

• this was primarily pictorial forms (i.e. cave drawings)

• early humans used symbols to communicate ideas

pictographs

• system of symbols that represent concepts in a consistent manner

• simplified drawing represent objects

• example is egyptian system of hieroglyphics

• advantage of this system is the ability to communicate universally ( no language barrier)

early alphabets (phoenician)

• the phoencians devleoped an alphabet of 22 symbols around 1000 B.C.

• symbols related to the sounds in the language

• consonants only; no vowels

• eliminated the need for people to memorize thousands of symbols

• the term “phonetics” come from this concept early

early alphabets (greek)

• greeks expanded on Phoenician alphabet

• added vowels and named each character

• first system for reading left to right and top to bottom

early alphabet (roman)

• romans developed the Greek alphabet further

• modern alphabet that we now use

• added lowercase versions to letters, condensed forms of text and cursive writing that flowed more naturally by hands

writing during the dark ages

• books were hand-produced for hundreds of years of years

• primarily religious (illuminated manuscripts)

• due to the painstaking effort (often years) to create a single volume, books were considered very valuable treasures

what role does typography play in graphic design

• Helps clarify a message that the designer sends to an audience

  • The properly selected font has a huge impact on getting a message across to an intended audience

  • A poorly chosen font or bad typographic layout can detract from or even block the message all together

  • poor typography will prevent a reader from connecting with a design, and at worst may make your message illegible

  • Typography can provide an element of expression to accompany a message

    • A carefully crafted typography increases emotional impact of a message much more than just plain type by itself, adding another dimension to a message

    • A well-conceived typographic composition allows the designer to connect with the reader

    • letters and numbers can be arranged in a clever way that strengthens the message

typeface

refers to the upper and lower case letter and numbers of a specific design/font Ex: Helvetica, Times, ect

characters

• the individual letters, numbers and punctuation used when setting type

baseline

an imaginary line on which the characters seem to be standing

meanline

he imaginary line that runs along the top of most lowercase letters, such as i, c, e, m, n, u,v, w and x

X- height

The height of the body or main element of the lowercase letterform, which falls between the meanline and the baseline

cap height

• The imaginary line that runs across the top of capital letters and ascenders in a line of type

serif

Letters with finishing strokes, or brackets, that project from letters Gives letters “finished” appearance

Letters flow together, making serif typefaces easy to read Often used in books, magazines and newspapers

san serif

• Type with no serif

  Also has no variation in the width of its strokes; computer generated look Useful for signs and large-scale text meant to be seen from a distance Text is harder for a reader’s eye to follow in large blocks of text

script fonts

Script fonts are decorative and suggest a hand written appearance. Often used to suggest formality. Difficult to read in large bodies of text; most effective when used as headings or sub headings in a layout.

Ex: Porcelain

decorative and novelty

• General term used to describe fonts that can’t be easily categorized. This includes dingbats and contemporary specialty fonts.

  • Dingbats used most effectively as a decorative element within a layout or a heading/ sub heading to separate information on a page.

roman type style

• upright letterforms; represents the majority of typeset copy

italics typestyle

slanting version of a type face; meant to accompany roman style letters. usually slatns at a 12-15 dgree angle

oblique typestyle

type ithat is simply slanted to the right

regular type style

the standard weight of a type face

light

thinner or lighter version of the regular type face. also called thin

bold

a thicker, heavier version of the regular typeface

condensed typestyles

• A narrower version of the regular typeface to fit letters into small space; also called “compressed”

extended typestyles

• A wider version of the regular typeface; also called “expanded”

type families

 A combination of all typestyles (roman, bold, italic, etc) of a font Typestyles share common characteristics (design, x-height, etc)

two basic units of measurement used to desrcibe type

• points

• picas

points

• very small units used to measure both type sizes and the spaces in between the lines of type

picas

larger units of measurement. 12 points= 1 pica (6 picas in 1 inch) 72 point type= 1 inch

text type

• Refers to smaller sizes of type, usually between 5 and 14 points Used to print books, magazines, newspapers, etc.

display type

Refers to the larger sizes of type used to call attention, such as newspaper headlines or posters; usually 16-72 point type or larger