Karissa Costa

Design and Type

Type Compendium
Fall 2014

Table of Contents:

In a badly designed book, the letters mill and

Unit 1.1 Anatomy of Type

stand like starving horses in a field. In a book

Understanding Anatomy

designed by rote, they sit like stale bread and

Anatomy Cropping

mutton on the page. In a well-made book,

Typographic Kinetics

where designer, compositor and printer have

The Structure of Letters

all done their jobs, no matter how many thou-

Form and Counterform

sands of lines and pages, the letters are alive.

Typographic Page

They dance in their seats. Sometimes they rise

Typographic Hang Tag

and dance in the margins and aisles.

- Robert Bringhurst

Anatomy of Type

Understanding Anatomy

Individual letter forms have unique parts

It is common to mix a serif family with a

Generally, the top half of letters are more

which have changed in visual form over the

sans serif family, because it helps to create a

legible than the bottom half of letters when

centuries. A nomenclature helps identify

deliberate contrast. You can mix the old with

covered.

major elements of their construction. The

the new, or the ornate with the simple.

A fragment of a letter can be legible

evolution of lettering styles over time is a

Strokes on letters and the baseline on words

depending on how you cover it. People can

result of optical adjustments to these basic

are the 2 attributes that all families share. All

complete certain letter forms because of

components by type designers over the ages.

typography is designed to sit on a baseline,

their unique characteristics.

Manipulation or drafting letter forms requires

and all families are comprised of horizontal,

an application of these basic elements

vertical, diagonal and curved strokes.

successfully.

Ear

Link

Serif

Eye

Ascender

Stroke

Apex

Anatomy of Type

Capline
Meanline
x-height

Loop

Descender

Stem

Fillet

Terminal

Leg

Bowl

Baseline

Crossbar

Hairline

Unit 1.1

Awakening
Awakening
Awakening
Awakening
Awakening
Awakening
Awakening
Awakening

Awakening
Awakening

Anatomy Cropping

Each individual square and its letter form

should be seen as an independent typographic
composition that investigates form and
counterform, figure ground relationships,
asymmerty / symmetry, static and dynamic
placement.

Anatomy Cropping Continued...

Typographic Kinetics

The Structure of Letters

Every letter has a personality you can identify.

Both must be juggled to finalize the solution

The marking properties of brush, reed pen,

Since the time of ancient Romans, capital

Fragmentation is not the goal in and of itself.

structured with value. You cant use the same

and stone engravers chisel influenced the

letter-forms have consisted of simple

Everything is adjustable and its a case-by-

el-ement over and over just because it worked

early form of the alphabet. The reed pen was

geometric forms based on the square, cirlce,

case decision of how far to go. The form you

in one place. Every ex-ample should change

held at an angle, called a cant. This produced a

and triangle. This structure indicates the basic

seek is one that keeps

somewhat. Because range is a persistent goal

pattern of thick-and-thin strokes.

shape of each capital letter.

the letter identifiable enough to be able

of design, you want to invent in each example.

to read the word. So this determines the

Expect some noble failures at first. Revisions

degree of fracture. Its the part(letterform)

are a necessary part of any assignment.

towhole (word).

Basic strokes :

EFHILT

fijlt

KMNY

VWX

vwxy

AZ

UBDGJPR

abdghmnpqru

COQS

ceos

G
Form and Counterform

Form and Counterform continued...

Fundamental to all typographic design is the

Form and counterform are reciprocal values

interplay between letterform and background.

and completely interdependent and integral

An awareness of this inter-relationship of form

to a letters completeness as a design. The

and counterform is essential in typographic

counterform is not just whats left over in

design. Every letterform defines a particular

the background. The counter form is a new

counterform.

entity that emerges through interaction

with the form. Typically these counterforms
are either geometric or organic in quality
depending on the structure or style of the
letter. In the counterforms of letters there
exists a fascinating world of form waiting to
be explored by the designer.

Typographic Page Continued...

Typographic Page

Using the initials of your designer, impose

Designer: Michele De Lucchi

the letterforms in a typographic study that

Chair: First

interprets a relationship to the form of the

Year: 1983

chair they designed.

Material: varnished tubular steel, varnished

wood, rubber

L
Weight Case Size

Slant Size Weight

Weight Slant

Size Weight

Typographic Page Continued...

Typographic Page Continued...

Size Case

Size Slant Weight

Weight Width

Size Weight Face

Typographic Page Continued...

Size Weight Case

Typographic Page Continued...

Size Weight Case Slant

ichele ucchi

Size Weight Case

Size Weight Case

Typographic Page Continued...

Width Case Height

Typographic Hang Tag

First by Michele de Lucchi

was one of the few designs intended for the broad
public, and quickly became a bestseller. The back
and armrest construction is a true eye-catcher. It
consists of a steel tube, bent to form a circle,
which supports a flexible backrest comprising a
round wooden disk on rubber bearings and two
wooden spheres as armrests.

The tube is welded to

the front legs of the simple stool, which
forms the seat frame, almost completely engulfing
the sitter. Although the construction is extremely
stable, the reduced elements radiate a strong
impression of lightness. The restrained use of
decorative elements gives First an almost classic
air among the Memphis objects, making it suitable
for furnishing conventional interiors.

Size Width Slant

The
ornamental
style belongs to
the world of electronics,
just as functionalism is
part of the world
of machines and
machine aesthetics.
-George P. Sowden

Typographic Hang Tag Continued...

First by Michele de
Lucchi was one of the few designs intended for
the broad public, and quickly became a
bestseller. The back and armrest construction
is a true eye-catcher. It consists of a steel tube,
bent to form a circle, which supports a flexible
backrest comprising a round wooden disk on
rubber bearings and two wooden spheres as
armrests.

The ornamental
style belongs to
the world of electronics,
just as functionalism is part of the
world of machines
and machine aesthetics.
-George P. Sowden

The tube is welded to

the front legs of the simple stool, which
forms the seat frame, almost completely
engulfing the sitter. Although the construction
is extremely stable, the reduced elements
radiate a strong impression of lightness. The
restrained use of decorative elements gives
First an almost classic air among the Memphis objects, making it suitable for furnishing
conventional interiors.

Typographic Hang Tag Continued...

First by Michele de Lucchi

was one of the few designs intended for the broad
public, and quickly became a bestseller. The back
and armrest construction is a true eye-catcher. It
consists of a steel tube, bent to form a circle,
which supports a flexible backrest comprising a
round wooden disk on rubber bearings and two
wooden spheres as armrests.

The
ornamental
style belongs to
the world of electronics,
just as functionalism is
part of the world
of machines and
machine aesthetics.
-George P. Sowden

The tube is welded to the

front legs of the simple stool, which forms the seat
frame, almost completely engulfing the sitter.
Although the construction is extremely stable, the
reduced elements radiate a strong impression of
lightness. The restrained use of decorative
elements gives First an almost classic air among
the Memphis objects, making it suitable for
furnishing conventional interiors.

B
R

RO