type compendium

Karissa Costa

Design and Type

Type Compendium

Fall 2014

“In a badly designed book, the letters mill and

stand like starving horses in a field. In a book

designed by rote, they sit like stale bread and

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

where designer, compositor and printer have

all done their jobs, no matter how many thou-

sands of lines and pages, the letters are alive.

They dance in their seats. Sometimes they rise

and dance in the margins and aisles.”

- Robert Bringhurst

Table of Contents:

Unit 1.1 Anatomy of Type

Understanding Anatomy

Anatomy Cropping

Typographic Kinetics

The Structure of Letters

Form and Counterform

Typographic Page

Typographic Hang Tag

It is common to mix a serif family with a

sans serif family, because it helps to create a

deliberate contrast. You can mix the old with

the new, or the ornate with the simple.

Strokes on letters and the baseline on words

are the 2 attributes that all families share. All

typography is designed to sit on a baseline,

and all families are comprised of horizontal,

vertical, diagonal and curved strokes.

Generally, the top half of letters are more

legible than the bottom half of letters when

covered.

A fragment of a letter can be legible

depending on how you cover it. People can

“complete” certain letter forms because of

their “unique” characteristics.

Understanding Anatomy

Individual letter forms have unique parts

which have changed in visual form over the

centuries. A nomenclature helps identify

major elements of their construction. The

evolution of lettering styles over time is a

result of optical adjustments to these basic

components by type designers over the ages.

Manipulation or drafting letter forms requires

an application of these basic elements

successfully.

Anatomy of Type

Unit 1.1 Anatomy of Type

Ape

x

Hai

rline

Cro

ssba

r

Str

oke

Ste

m

Bow

l

Asc

ende

r

Leg

Eye

Term

inal

Ser

if

Ear

Link

Des

cend

er

Loop

Fille

t

Capline

Meanline

Baseline

x-height

AwakeningAwakening

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Anatomy Cropping Continued...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.

The marking properties of brush, reed pen,

and stone engraver’s chisel influenced the

early form of the alphabet. The reed pen was

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

pattern of thick-and-thin strokes.

Since the time of ancient Romans, capital

letter-forms have consisted of simple

geometric forms based on the square, cirlce,

and triangle. This structure indicates the basic

shape of each capital letter.

Both must be juggled to finalize the solution

structured with value. You can’t use the same

el-ement over and over just because it worked

in one place. Every ex-ample should change

somewhat. Because range is a persistent goal

of design, you want to invent in each example.

Expect some noble failures at first. Revisions

are a necessary part of any assignment.

Every letter has a personality you can identify.

Fragmentation is not the goal in and of itself.

Everything is adjustable and it’s a case-by-

case decision of how far to go. The form you

seek is one that keeps

the letter identifiable enough to be able

to read the word. So this determines the

degree of fracture. It’s the “part”(letterform)

to”whole” (word).

The Structure of LettersTypographic Kinetics

EFHILT fijlt

KMNY k

VWX vwxy

AZ z

UBDGJPR abdghmnpqru

COQS ceos

Basic strokes :

Form and counterform are reciprocal values

and completely interdependent and integral

to a letter’s completeness as a design. The

counterform is not just what’s left over in

the background. The counter form is a new

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.

Fundamental to all typographic design is the

interplay between letterform and background.

An awareness of this inter-relationship of form

and counterform is essential in typographic

design. Every letterform defines a particular

counterform.

Form and Counterform Form and Counterform continued...

BED

G A H

BED

G A H

Using the initials of your designer, impose

the letterforms in a typographic study that

“interprets” a relationship to the form of the

chair they designed.

Designer: Michele De Lucchi

Chair: First

Year: 1983

Material: varnished tubular steel, varnished

wood, rubber

Typographic Page

Slant Size Weight

Size Weight

L

Typographic Page Continued...

Weight Case Size

Weight Slant

L


Size Case

Weight Width


Size Slant Weight

Size Weight Face


Size Weight Case

Size Weight Case

ichele ucchi

e


Size Weight Case Slant

Size Weight Case


Width Case Height

Size Width Slant

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 si�er. 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.

“The ornamental

style belongs tothe world of electronics,

just as functionalism ispart of the world

of machines andmachine aesthetics.”

-George P. Sowden

Typographic Hang Tag Continued...

“The ornamental style belongs tothe world of electronics,just as functionalism is part of theworld of machinesand 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 si�er. 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 Mem-phis objects, making it suitable for furnishing conventional interiors.

Typographic Hang Tag Continued...


“The ornamental

style belongs tothe world of electronics,

just as functionalism ispart of the world

of machines andmachine 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 si�er. 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.

EBD

RN

RO

O

Awakening

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