Friday 25 February 2011
Thursday 24 February 2011
The history of the alphabet
(reference to type and typography by Phil Baines and Andrew Haslam) I found a few useful points in this book that will help with my essay:
The Romans acquired and adapted the Greek alphabet creating their 26 character Roman alphabet that notated the phonemes of Latin.
As the Roman Empire grew, different countries adapted the alphabet to record their native languages. Changes had to be made by the different nations to capture the vast range of varying sounds that each language has. New symbols had to be made such as circumflex or accute accents.
Bill Bryson in his book 'Mother Tongue' stresses how important the different accents on letters is to pronunciation.
"David Crystal in 'The English language' notes that, in fact 84% of English spellings conform to a consistent pattern"
"If writing is the physical notation of language, then type is its mechanical notation"
In Europe the invention of type is credited to Johann Gutenberg although there is evidence of a pre existing movable metal type in korea that would have been used as far back as 1241.
Alphabet system's traceable origins went back some 3000 years.
Phil Baines and Andrew Haslam also lay out what they believe to be the two main factors of the story of the western alphabet prior to Gutenberg inventing type, both of which were developed in parallel.
- The first is the establishment of the 26 symbols that including vowel and consonants that represent the phonemes of most European languages.
- The second is the continual refinement of those symbols to end up with the legacy of 26 letters in both Upper and lower case. The idea of a small gap between words and a left to right reading direction were also important developments in the lead up to Gutenberg's type.
The latin alphabet dates from imperial Roman times, although its origins are much earlier:
The Phoenicians, who were a great trading nation from what is now Israel, the Lebanon and Syria used a 22 letter alphabet. Although little Phoenician literature was found by archeologists the earliest recognizable Phoenician inscriptions were found at Byblos and have been dated back to 1100BC
The classical Greek alphabet which is sometime referred to as the Ionic or Eastern alphabet was developed from the Phoenician alphabet.
In 403BC it became the official alphabet in Athens. The Greeks however did make some changes. they used two of the symbols as vowels and created 3 more vowels making 25 letters in all.
Greeks used Phoenician names for letters but they amended the spelling in order to reflect their own pronunciation.
Before the official adoption of the Classical Greek alphabet the Greek colonists had taken a script to Italy. This 'Euboean' alphabet became the Etruscan alphabet and was slightlydifferent from the Classical Greek version.
The Etruscans adapted the alphabet to reflect their phonetics, a process that required the use of 26 letters.
In due course The Romans developed an alphabet based on the Etruscans. They used 21 of the original 26 letters:
- 13 stayed the same - a,b,e,h,i,k,m,n,o,t,x,y,z
- 8 were amended - c,d,g,l,p,r,s,v
- 2 further were reinstated - f and q- had existed in early Greek but had been dropped in Classical Greek.
The alphabet now had 23 letters - with this new alphabet the Romans were able to write a phonetic representation of their language which is now know as latin.
j,u, and w were more recent additives needed to represent other sounds in new languages such as Old English. prior to there introduction i was used to represent i and j, v was used to represent the sounds of both v and u and w wasn't needed until New English came about.
Although the Roman alphabet took many forms, Capitalis Quadrata (which was square capitals) have had the most influence on lettering and the development of typography.
Many of these different versions exist on prescriptions Eg those from the reign of Trajan which can be seen most famously on Trajan's Column in Rome from c114AD.
This is the process of which has led us to our 26 letter alphabet that we use today.
Below are some images which show the development of todays alphabet, you can see the letters get closer and closer to what we use today:
The Romans acquired and adapted the Greek alphabet creating their 26 character Roman alphabet that notated the phonemes of Latin.
As the Roman Empire grew, different countries adapted the alphabet to record their native languages. Changes had to be made by the different nations to capture the vast range of varying sounds that each language has. New symbols had to be made such as circumflex or accute accents.
Bill Bryson in his book 'Mother Tongue' stresses how important the different accents on letters is to pronunciation.
"David Crystal in 'The English language' notes that, in fact 84% of English spellings conform to a consistent pattern"
"If writing is the physical notation of language, then type is its mechanical notation"
In Europe the invention of type is credited to Johann Gutenberg although there is evidence of a pre existing movable metal type in korea that would have been used as far back as 1241.
Alphabet system's traceable origins went back some 3000 years.
Phil Baines and Andrew Haslam also lay out what they believe to be the two main factors of the story of the western alphabet prior to Gutenberg inventing type, both of which were developed in parallel.
- The first is the establishment of the 26 symbols that including vowel and consonants that represent the phonemes of most European languages.
- The second is the continual refinement of those symbols to end up with the legacy of 26 letters in both Upper and lower case. The idea of a small gap between words and a left to right reading direction were also important developments in the lead up to Gutenberg's type.
The latin alphabet dates from imperial Roman times, although its origins are much earlier:
The Phoenicians, who were a great trading nation from what is now Israel, the Lebanon and Syria used a 22 letter alphabet. Although little Phoenician literature was found by archeologists the earliest recognizable Phoenician inscriptions were found at Byblos and have been dated back to 1100BC
The classical Greek alphabet which is sometime referred to as the Ionic or Eastern alphabet was developed from the Phoenician alphabet.
In 403BC it became the official alphabet in Athens. The Greeks however did make some changes. they used two of the symbols as vowels and created 3 more vowels making 25 letters in all.
Greeks used Phoenician names for letters but they amended the spelling in order to reflect their own pronunciation.
Before the official adoption of the Classical Greek alphabet the Greek colonists had taken a script to Italy. This 'Euboean' alphabet became the Etruscan alphabet and was slightlydifferent from the Classical Greek version.
The Etruscans adapted the alphabet to reflect their phonetics, a process that required the use of 26 letters.
In due course The Romans developed an alphabet based on the Etruscans. They used 21 of the original 26 letters:
- 13 stayed the same - a,b,e,h,i,k,m,n,o,t,x,y,z
- 8 were amended - c,d,g,l,p,r,s,v
- 2 further were reinstated - f and q- had existed in early Greek but had been dropped in Classical Greek.
The alphabet now had 23 letters - with this new alphabet the Romans were able to write a phonetic representation of their language which is now know as latin.
j,u, and w were more recent additives needed to represent other sounds in new languages such as Old English. prior to there introduction i was used to represent i and j, v was used to represent the sounds of both v and u and w wasn't needed until New English came about.
Although the Roman alphabet took many forms, Capitalis Quadrata (which was square capitals) have had the most influence on lettering and the development of typography.
Many of these different versions exist on prescriptions Eg those from the reign of Trajan which can be seen most famously on Trajan's Column in Rome from c114AD.
This is the process of which has led us to our 26 letter alphabet that we use today.
Below are some images which show the development of todays alphabet, you can see the letters get closer and closer to what we use today:
 |
| Phoenician alphabet |
 |
| Greek alphabet |
 |
| Roman alphabet |
Thursday 17 February 2011
development of universal type
I found a very interesting article on the website graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials
It had really useful information on my chosen topic to study; the development of typography.
Family Classifications of Type
Since the time of Gutenberg, the typographic form has evolved with technology, philosophy, and culture. In order to effectively analyze this typographic evolution, the design of type characters over the last five and a half centuries is most often broken down into classifications of common visual characteristics, called families of type:
 (15th-17th century)  (mid 18th century)  (late 18th century)  (19th century)  (19th-20th century)  (19th-20th century)  (19th-20th century) |
The families of type represent more than 500 years of development and each family displays distinct visual characteristics. These characteristics are basic to visual communication with type.
The examples shown here are, for the most part, contemporary derivations of period type designs. Most available versions of pre-20th century typefaces have been refined according to the dictates of technology and popular taste. Although these may vary, sometimes substantially, from the original versions, they nonetheless preserve predominate characteristics and, since they are widely available today, are more relevant in helping the contemporary designer identify typographic forms.
When conparing famaily characteristics, look closely at:
- stroke variation (contrast)
- serifs and bracketing
- x-height
- stress
Old Style (15th-17th century)
The concept of adhering to manuscript models was the basis of the first 300 years of type design, and typefaces designed during this period are referred to as Old Style.
Oldstyle CharacterisitcsIt is interesting to note that in the revolutionary practice of cutting and casting the first types, no thought was given to the adaptation of letterforms themselves to this new medium. Since printers apparently regarded their craft as an evolution of manuscript preparation, the first type designs cut into metal were literal copies of the pen-drawn strokes of scribes.
- minimal variation of thick and thin strokes
- small, coarse serifs, often with slightly concave bases
- small x-heights.
- In the round strokes, the stress is diagonal, or oblique, as their designs mimic the hand-held angle of the pen nibs of the scribes.
- The tops of lowercase ascenders oftenexceed the height of the capital characters.
- The numerals, called old style figures, vary in size and have ascenders and descenders. Many contemporary versions of Old Style typefaces do not retain the old style figures but, in catering to contemporary taste, uselining, or capital height figures.
Gothic:The typefaces of Gutenberg’s first prints mimicked the Germanic Gothic or blackletter manuscript style — a heavy, broad-nibbed form, constructed with straight and angular strokes, with almost no curves.
When printing came to Italy a few decades later, type design was derived from their more rounded Roman letter style. The Roman style eventually prevailed, as its readability and appeal to the eye were markedly superior to the weighty, harsh Gothic.
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| Gothic | Roman |
Venetian/Aldine: Because of its location and status as a center of trade, Venice became the focal point of type design and printing in the late 15th century. The most influential Venetian work came from Aldus Manutius, a printer and publisher whose books were reknowned for their authoritative scholarship. As they also were of the highest technical and aesthetic quality of their day, they were in great demand, and the typefaces they employed were widely copied by other printers.
Aldus’ most important type, designed by Francesco Griffo, was created for a 60 page essay by Cardinal Pietro Bembo, in 1495. The typeface, called Bembo after the manuscript’s author, was a Roman design of great typographic significance. Its popularity spread throughout Europe and remained the major influence in type design for the next hundred and fifty years. All of the type designs which we call Old Style can be traced back the design of Bembo.
Aldus is best known as a entrepreneur who devised many creative innovations in the process of realizing his business goals. He was quite adept at marketing his products to the upperclass and university scholars.
Among Aldus’ many innovations was publishing personal versions of the classics in a small format which was easy to carry. Books of that time were very large, usually read while being supported by a lectern. Aldus correctly recognized a market for a smaller, easily transportable book which would fit conveniently in a pocket or saddlebag.
These, the forerunners of today's pocket-size books, utilized another of Aldus' unique innovations. They were printed in a new style of type which he commissioned from Griffo. This type, patterned after the official cursive hand of scholars and professionals, called cancellaresca, was designed at an angle, carried a distinct flavor of handwriting, and featured smaller character widths.
This typestyle, the first italic letterform, allowed for more characters per line than the Roman style, thus fitting more text to the smaller page format of his personal books. These books were enormously popular and had a profound effect on education and the diffusion of knowledge.
A twentieth century revival of the Venetian types, Bembo is a copy of the Aldine Roman typeface cut by Francesco Griffo.
BemboReleased by Monotype in 1929  A twentieth century revival of the Venetian types, Bembo is a copy of the Aldine Roman typeface cut by Francesco Griffo.Bembo is a classic typeface displaying the characteristics which identify Old Style designs:
A good type choice for expressing classic beauty and formal tradition, it reads well in large amounts of text and is an excellent book face. |
Bembo is a classic typeface displaying the characteristics which identify Old Style designs:
- minimal variation in thick and thin stroke weight
- small x-height
- ascender height exceeding cap height
- oblique stress
- short, bracketed serifs with cupped bases
- angled serifs on lower case ascenders
French/Garamond: By the 16th century, France became a leading influence in printing and typography. The most popular type designs of the time were those of Claude Garamond, who was heavily influenced by the Aldine types. As Aldus Manutius was an innovator in publishing, Garamond was certainly innovative in his type designs. While the typographic form was basically a copy of hand lettering, Garamond was perhaps the first to consider the qualities of letterform design as distinct from earlier manuscript styles. Thus his designs, while based on the Venetian types, introduced subtle and delicate refinements: more open lower case characters with generous counters, larger capitals, and a delicate grace to the curved strokes.
While these refinements are subtle, they nonetheless produced type which was at once more graceful and inviting to the eye than the popular Aldine Roman. Garamond's type was a great success and became so widely accepted that it is considered to be the final deathblow to the Gothic letterforms. Many contemporary variations of Garamond continue to be among the most widely used typefaces today.
Garamond's innovations established many of today's typographic conventions. His appreciation of the Aldine italic was such that he felt it to be a suitable complement to all of his Roman types. Thereafter, for each roman typeface he created, he also designed a complimentary italic style. This concept was so universally accepted that the italic became a standard variation to Roman types.
Garamond also established the concept of the commercial type founder. Since the time of Gutenberg, custom dictated that printers design and cast their own types. They also manufactured their own paper, and formulated their own printing inks. When a printer created a particularly popular typeface, other printers were quick to copy the designs for their own typecasting.
Whether Garamond wished to preserve the integrity of his own designs, or merely make additional profit is not known, but he initiated the practice of casting his types for retail sale to other printers. This eventually led to the establishment of independent businesses which were exclusively devoted to the design, cutting, and casting of type for sale to the printing trade.
These establishments, called typefoundries, became sources of type for many printers and were instrumental in the widespread acceptance and distribution of new designs.
GaramondDesigned by Claude Garamond in 1532   he preeminent French Old Style design exhibits subtle refinements to the Venetian designs with its graceful serifs and delicate weight changes.
Garamond remains one of the most popular text faces today. It is highly readable, lends a graceful quality to text, and its long ascenders give it a light, airy quality. |
English/Caslon: The religious reform and government censorship of 16th century France heralded the end of the influence of its printing industry. Dutch foundries, noted for their high quality metal work, were the chief source of type manufacture well into the 18th century.
The establishment of England's influence in type was brought about almost single-handedly by William Caslon. Caslon was a engraver who specialized in ornamenting and personalizing gun locks and barrels and occasionally engraving lettering for bookbinders. Because of his steady hand and superior engraving skills, his work was highly prized and his business very lucrative. He was occasionally commissioned to cut engravings for book covers and his lettering work was so impressive that, in 1720, he was persuaded to establish his own type foundry.
The exquisite letterform refinements in his type designs were not only well received, but quickly became the universal printing standard. Caslon's type brought him fame and his foundry became the largest and most prestigious in England.
The success of Caslon’s types came from his skill as an artist. English typecasting in his time was considered a common trade rather than the prominent craft it was regarded abroad. As a result, the quality of English types was so poor that most printers exclusively employed types from the vastly superior Dutch foundries.
While Caslon certainly based his designs on Dutch types, his artistic sensitivity gave his types a superior quality of delicate modeling and form. While not as elegant as the French types, Caslon’s designs embodied a sturdier grace which better suited the English aesthetic.Every foundry in the world has offered a variation of the Caslon types, and the phrase, “When in doubt, use Caslon,” was a standard printer's epithet for generations.
Caslon Designed by William Caslon in 1725   odeled after late 17th century Dutch designs, Caslon became the most popular type of the 18th century. Its design shows the evolution of the Old Style types and bears some of the traits that would characterize the Transitional designs.
Caslon can be used to express a formal dignity. It is a highly readable typeface which evokes the charm of its period. |
Sunday 13 February 2011
My own movable type!
I saw a stamp set when I was shopping, it reminded me of the movable type process so I decided to buy it and have a go to understand the process for and the time and effort it must have taken to create a full book.
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| My attempt |
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| The alphabet stamp set. |
Friday 11 February 2011
useful typography vocab.
Words I thought I should know when learning about typography. I wanted to learn about the basics so than I can understand fully what is being described when reading more into typography.
Bitmap font: a font consisting of a bitmap for each letter, figure, or character comprising the font. A bitmap font is drawn to one size only and cannot be scaled (i.e. made larger or smaller) without severe degradation. Macintosh bitmap fonts also containing kerning information.
Font medium: the form a font takes – metal, photographic, or digital.
Glyph: the components of a font outline or shape (a stroke, an accent, etc.).
Kerning (noun): the portion of a letter that extends beyond the letter’s width; i.e., the letter shapes that overhang.
Kerning (verb): to adjust the spacing between characters in words to improve their appearance.
Punchcutting: cutting the master image of a typographic letter at its actual size on a blank of steel. The blank is used to make a matrix; molten lead flows into a matrix, producing a single piece of type.
Scalable font: a font that is mathematically defined so that it can be rendered at any requested size. Opposite of a bitmapped font.
Type designer: a person who designs letterforms intended for eventual manufacture as fonts. Includes designing new faces and redrawing existing faces.
Typeface: the features by which a character’s design is recognized. Six forms comprise the graphic shapes for Latin languages: uncial, black letter, serif, sans serif, script and decorative; each form contains a number of designs. For example, the serif form contains four designs – Old Style, Transitional, Modern and Slab Serif.
Type foundry: a manufacturer of metal type.
Typesetter: a person who sets type using either hot lead or digital type.
Typographer (modern sense): a person with knowledge of typefaces, typography and printing methods. Typographers determine what typefaces will be used for books and other printing at publishing houses.
Bitmap font: a font consisting of a bitmap for each letter, figure, or character comprising the font. A bitmap font is drawn to one size only and cannot be scaled (i.e. made larger or smaller) without severe degradation. Macintosh bitmap fonts also containing kerning information.
Font medium: the form a font takes – metal, photographic, or digital.
Glyph: the components of a font outline or shape (a stroke, an accent, etc.).
Kerning (noun): the portion of a letter that extends beyond the letter’s width; i.e., the letter shapes that overhang.
Kerning (verb): to adjust the spacing between characters in words to improve their appearance.
Punchcutting: cutting the master image of a typographic letter at its actual size on a blank of steel. The blank is used to make a matrix; molten lead flows into a matrix, producing a single piece of type.
Scalable font: a font that is mathematically defined so that it can be rendered at any requested size. Opposite of a bitmapped font.
Type designer: a person who designs letterforms intended for eventual manufacture as fonts. Includes designing new faces and redrawing existing faces.
Typeface: the features by which a character’s design is recognized. Six forms comprise the graphic shapes for Latin languages: uncial, black letter, serif, sans serif, script and decorative; each form contains a number of designs. For example, the serif form contains four designs – Old Style, Transitional, Modern and Slab Serif.
Type foundry: a manufacturer of metal type.
Typesetter: a person who sets type using either hot lead or digital type.
Typographer (modern sense): a person with knowledge of typefaces, typography and printing methods. Typographers determine what typefaces will be used for books and other printing at publishing houses.
Summary of this extract
The development of typefaces in printing:
- Began with Calligraphic lettering from hand written books which took years and only churches and nobility could afford.
- Printing - long complicated process but enabed quicker spread of ideas, news, knowledge and religion.
- Moveable type - Johannes Guttenberg - aswell as advancing printing he also developed his own typeface rhat resembled the hand lettered Gothic Script.
- Unical Lettering - (means inch high in Latin) used during the Roman Empire.
- It evolved to Celtic Roundhand which originated in Ireland.
- During the reign of Charlemagne the King ordered a standardized lettering style to be used throughout the Holy Roman Empire which was Carolingian lettering.
- the lettering style Black letter which is also known as Old English or Gothic was developed in Germany .
- Nicolas Jenson - printer and typography responsible for producing Old Style faces which were nfluenced by letterforms carved onto Classical Roman architecture. It was easier to read than Black letter and it adapted well to metal typecasting. Examples of this style = Centaur, Bembo, Benguiat, Goudy old style, Times Roman, Trajon, Jenson, Caslon.
- Aldus Manulius founded the first successful mass market publishing house called the Aldine Press. Nicolas Jenson and Francesco Griffo who is credited with developing Italic types both designed typefaces for him.
- William Caxton developed Gothic type ( a form of black letter) He also brought printing to England, he opened a print shop in Westminster and publised the first book in English.
- 1530 Claude Garamond established the first metal type.
- The times of London introduced the first steam press to replace hand operated presses- 1868- The Rotary Steampress was introduced.
- Type styles underwent major developments in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the development of Sans Serif type faces.
- This introduction was controversial with many people labelling them Grotesque. Members of this Grotesque style include Helvetica, Grotesque, Arial, Franklin Gothic and univers.
- The Grotesque style was later joined by Geometric (Avant Garde, Futura, Century Gothic) and Humanist (Gills Sans, Optima)
The history of typefaces from printlocal.com
I am trying to settle on a topic for my typography blog and am currently finding myself most interested to the history of different typefaces, how, when and why they were made, the purposes they are intended for and the impact they had. Here is some information I found on this topic at the following website which I found very useful:
http://www.printlocal.com/History-of-Printing.htm
Typography from Gutenberg to Computers
One of the best things about being a printer is recognizing the role our profession has played in the educational, political, and religious life of mankind. In the Middle Ages, before printing was invented, scribes made books by hand-copying manuscripts in distinctive calligraphic lettering. A single book could take years to produce using this method, meaning that only the church and nobility could afford them.
Printing made it possible to produce whole books in weeks rather than years. This, in turn, enabled the rapid spread of knowledge, ideas, literature and news, profoundly shaping the development of whole societies.
Many people believe that the invention of printing hinged on the development of the printing press. Derived from presses used to squeeze the oil from olives and juice from grapes, the first printing presses used a heavy screw to force a block of type against the paper below.
But that’s only half the story. It wasn’t until Johannes Gutenberg perfected the technology of movable type in 1458 that the printing press realized its full potential. Movable type – letters of the alphabet, numerals, and punctuation marks constructed of durable metal – could be assembled into a page of text, then disassembled and re-used to create a new page of text.
Early printers needed both a printing press and a type font – the set of movable type – to produce books. Type was cast from molten metal poured into carved molds; the task of carving the molds was the done by typographers. Gutenberg himself fashioned a font containing over 300 characters, including flourishes and ligatures, to simulate the look of hand lettered Gothic script. He also invented a variable-width mold to cast type from metal and perfected a blend of lead, antimony, and tin that resulted in very durable type.
Early printers as typographers
Prior to the development of printing, lettering styles were confined to the calligraphic styles of scribes. Uncial lettering (from Latin uncial meaning inch-high) was used during the Roman Empire; this gradually evolved to Celtic Roundhand (developed in Ireland). Later, during the reign of Charlemagne, the king ordered a standardized lettering style to be used throughout the Holy Roman Empire – Carolingian lettering. Finally, a lettering style called Black Letter (sometimes called Old English or Gothic) developed in Germany. Black Letter was adapted by Gutenberg for the movable type used to print the 42-line Bible (named for the number of lines per page), which is also known as the Gutenberg Bible or the Mainz Bible (for the place where it was produced).
Because type was so critical to early printers, many were also typographers, or employed them. One example is Nicolas Jenson (1420-1480), a printer and publisher originally from France who studied with Gutenberg and eventually settled in Venice, Italy. Jenson developed the first standardized typeface for printers. Jenson’s types – known as Old Style -- are regarded as among the very best of the Renaissance. Many typefaces in use today (such as Times New Roman) are based on Jenson’s designs.
Printers mark of Nicolas Jenson
Old Style typefaces are adaptations of Roman type – a style influenced by the letter forms carved on classical Roman architecture. The clarity and regularity of Roman type was more aesthetically pleasing and easier to read than Black Letter. In addition, it adapted well to metal typecasting, hastening the move away from the Black Letter style used by Gutenberg.
Old Style fonts are conservative in design, very readable and well suited to writing long documents. Old Style typefaces whose names you may recognize include Centaur, Bembo, Benguiat, Goudy Old Style, Palatino, Times Roman, Trajan, Jenson, and Caslon.
Nicolas Jenson and Francesco Griffo (credited with developing Italic type) both designed type for Aldus Manutius (1450-1550), a publisher and printer. Manutius founded the first successful mass market publishing house, called the Aldine Press. If the name Aldus seems familiar, it may be because in 1985, Paul Brainard named the first desktop publishing program Aldus Pagemaker.
Printers mark of Aldus Manutius
Another early typographer was William Caxton (1421-1490), credited with developing Gothic type (a form of Black Letter). An English merchant and diplomat who worked translating French literature into English for the Duchess of Burgundy, Caxton brought printing to England when he opened a print shop in Westminster. In 1477, he published the first book in English, and over a span of 14 years, he printed more than 70 books. Some of the best-known books printed by Caxton include Troilus and Creseide, Morte d'Arthur, The History of Reynart the Foxe, and The Canterbury Tales.
The first type foundry
In 1530, Claude Garamond (1490-1567) established the first metal type manufacturing factory and began to produce fonts for printers. His skill as a punchcutter (type carver) meant that his carvings of type molds produced superior type characteristics. Thus, his fonts became sought after by printers of the time, and the type foundry became a business enterprise. Garamond also cut the classic Old Style typeface bearing his name, which is considered one of the best faces in all typography.
Developing lettering styles
For the next 200 years -- from the late 1600s to the late 1800s – the printing press and the science of typecutting had only minor refinements. Then in 1814 The Times of London introduced the first steam press to replaced hand-operated presses; in 1868 the rotary steam press was introduced.
Type styles, which had continued to evolve through several periods (Transitional, Modern, Slab Serif) underwent a major change in the late 19th and early 20th century with the development of sans serif type faces. (Sans serif means without serifs in French). It is likely that several factors had, until that time, influenced the continuance of serifs at the end of letters. First is tradition – all hand lettering styles used by scribes had serifs, and cast metal type was a continuation of hand lettering. Secondly, serifs help the human eye move from letter to letter, thereby facilitating reading.
Regardless of the simple, clean, and ultimately pleasing design of sans serif type faces, their introduction was so controversial that as a group the fonts were called Grotesque. Notable Grotesques include Helvetica, Grotesque, Arial, Franklin Gothic, and Univers. The Grotesque style later was joined by Geometric (Avant Garde, Futura, Century Gothic) and Humanist (Gill Sans, Optima). Sans serif typefaces became very popular in the 1920s and 30s.
Selecting fonts for an application
Early typographers were very careful to match the lettering style to the printing project, thus continuing the emphasis established by hand lettering of creating something of beauty as well as utility. By understanding the origin of today’s digital type faces, we can exercise the same care when we compose our documents. If you would like more information on the history of type, please give us a call at 877-816-4448
Vocabulary
Bitmap font: a font consisting of a bitmap for each letter, figure, or character comprising the font. A bitmap font is drawn to one size only and cannot be scaled (i.e. made larger or smaller) without severe degradation. Macintosh bitmap fonts also containing kerning information.
Font medium: the form a font takes – metal, photographic, or digital.
Glyph: the components of a font outline or shape (a stroke, an accent, etc.).
Kerning (noun): the portion of a letter that extends beyond the letter’s width; i.e., the letter shapes that overhang.
Kerning (verb): to adjust the spacing between characters in words to improve their appearance.
Punchcutting: cutting the master image of a typographic letter at its actual size on a blank of steel. The blank is used to make a matrix; molten lead flows into a matrix, producing a single piece of type.
Scalable font: a font that is mathematically defined so that it can be rendered at any requested size. Opposite of a bitmapped font.
Type designer: a person who designs letterforms intended for eventual manufacture as fonts. Includes designing new faces and redrawing existing faces.
Typeface: the features by which a character’s design is recognized. Six forms comprise the graphic shapes for Latin languages: uncial, black letter, serif, sans serif, script and decorative; each form contains a number of designs. For example, the serif form contains four designs – Old Style, Transitional, Modern and Slab Serif.
Type foundry: a manufacturer of metal type.
Typesetter: a person who sets type using either hot lead or digital type.
Typographer (modern sense): a person with knowledge of typefaces, typography and printing methods. Typographers determine what typefaces will be used for books and other printing at publishing houses.
http://www.printlocal.com/History-of-Printing.htm
Typography from Gutenberg to Computers
One of the best things about being a printer is recognizing the role our profession has played in the educational, political, and religious life of mankind. In the Middle Ages, before printing was invented, scribes made books by hand-copying manuscripts in distinctive calligraphic lettering. A single book could take years to produce using this method, meaning that only the church and nobility could afford them.
Printing made it possible to produce whole books in weeks rather than years. This, in turn, enabled the rapid spread of knowledge, ideas, literature and news, profoundly shaping the development of whole societies.
Many people believe that the invention of printing hinged on the development of the printing press. Derived from presses used to squeeze the oil from olives and juice from grapes, the first printing presses used a heavy screw to force a block of type against the paper below.
But that’s only half the story. It wasn’t until Johannes Gutenberg perfected the technology of movable type in 1458 that the printing press realized its full potential. Movable type – letters of the alphabet, numerals, and punctuation marks constructed of durable metal – could be assembled into a page of text, then disassembled and re-used to create a new page of text.
Early printers needed both a printing press and a type font – the set of movable type – to produce books. Type was cast from molten metal poured into carved molds; the task of carving the molds was the done by typographers. Gutenberg himself fashioned a font containing over 300 characters, including flourishes and ligatures, to simulate the look of hand lettered Gothic script. He also invented a variable-width mold to cast type from metal and perfected a blend of lead, antimony, and tin that resulted in very durable type.
Early printers as typographers
Prior to the development of printing, lettering styles were confined to the calligraphic styles of scribes. Uncial lettering (from Latin uncial meaning inch-high) was used during the Roman Empire; this gradually evolved to Celtic Roundhand (developed in Ireland). Later, during the reign of Charlemagne, the king ordered a standardized lettering style to be used throughout the Holy Roman Empire – Carolingian lettering. Finally, a lettering style called Black Letter (sometimes called Old English or Gothic) developed in Germany. Black Letter was adapted by Gutenberg for the movable type used to print the 42-line Bible (named for the number of lines per page), which is also known as the Gutenberg Bible or the Mainz Bible (for the place where it was produced).
Because type was so critical to early printers, many were also typographers, or employed them. One example is Nicolas Jenson (1420-1480), a printer and publisher originally from France who studied with Gutenberg and eventually settled in Venice, Italy. Jenson developed the first standardized typeface for printers. Jenson’s types – known as Old Style -- are regarded as among the very best of the Renaissance. Many typefaces in use today (such as Times New Roman) are based on Jenson’s designs.
Printers mark of Nicolas Jenson
Old Style typefaces are adaptations of Roman type – a style influenced by the letter forms carved on classical Roman architecture. The clarity and regularity of Roman type was more aesthetically pleasing and easier to read than Black Letter. In addition, it adapted well to metal typecasting, hastening the move away from the Black Letter style used by Gutenberg.
Old Style fonts are conservative in design, very readable and well suited to writing long documents. Old Style typefaces whose names you may recognize include Centaur, Bembo, Benguiat, Goudy Old Style, Palatino, Times Roman, Trajan, Jenson, and Caslon.
Nicolas Jenson and Francesco Griffo (credited with developing Italic type) both designed type for Aldus Manutius (1450-1550), a publisher and printer. Manutius founded the first successful mass market publishing house, called the Aldine Press. If the name Aldus seems familiar, it may be because in 1985, Paul Brainard named the first desktop publishing program Aldus Pagemaker.
Printers mark of Aldus Manutius
Another early typographer was William Caxton (1421-1490), credited with developing Gothic type (a form of Black Letter). An English merchant and diplomat who worked translating French literature into English for the Duchess of Burgundy, Caxton brought printing to England when he opened a print shop in Westminster. In 1477, he published the first book in English, and over a span of 14 years, he printed more than 70 books. Some of the best-known books printed by Caxton include Troilus and Creseide, Morte d'Arthur, The History of Reynart the Foxe, and The Canterbury Tales.
The first type foundry
In 1530, Claude Garamond (1490-1567) established the first metal type manufacturing factory and began to produce fonts for printers. His skill as a punchcutter (type carver) meant that his carvings of type molds produced superior type characteristics. Thus, his fonts became sought after by printers of the time, and the type foundry became a business enterprise. Garamond also cut the classic Old Style typeface bearing his name, which is considered one of the best faces in all typography.
Developing lettering styles
For the next 200 years -- from the late 1600s to the late 1800s – the printing press and the science of typecutting had only minor refinements. Then in 1814 The Times of London introduced the first steam press to replaced hand-operated presses; in 1868 the rotary steam press was introduced.
Type styles, which had continued to evolve through several periods (Transitional, Modern, Slab Serif) underwent a major change in the late 19th and early 20th century with the development of sans serif type faces. (Sans serif means without serifs in French). It is likely that several factors had, until that time, influenced the continuance of serifs at the end of letters. First is tradition – all hand lettering styles used by scribes had serifs, and cast metal type was a continuation of hand lettering. Secondly, serifs help the human eye move from letter to letter, thereby facilitating reading.
Regardless of the simple, clean, and ultimately pleasing design of sans serif type faces, their introduction was so controversial that as a group the fonts were called Grotesque. Notable Grotesques include Helvetica, Grotesque, Arial, Franklin Gothic, and Univers. The Grotesque style later was joined by Geometric (Avant Garde, Futura, Century Gothic) and Humanist (Gill Sans, Optima). Sans serif typefaces became very popular in the 1920s and 30s.
Selecting fonts for an application
Early typographers were very careful to match the lettering style to the printing project, thus continuing the emphasis established by hand lettering of creating something of beauty as well as utility. By understanding the origin of today’s digital type faces, we can exercise the same care when we compose our documents. If you would like more information on the history of type, please give us a call at 877-816-4448
Vocabulary
Bitmap font: a font consisting of a bitmap for each letter, figure, or character comprising the font. A bitmap font is drawn to one size only and cannot be scaled (i.e. made larger or smaller) without severe degradation. Macintosh bitmap fonts also containing kerning information.
Font medium: the form a font takes – metal, photographic, or digital.
Glyph: the components of a font outline or shape (a stroke, an accent, etc.).
Kerning (noun): the portion of a letter that extends beyond the letter’s width; i.e., the letter shapes that overhang.
Kerning (verb): to adjust the spacing between characters in words to improve their appearance.
Punchcutting: cutting the master image of a typographic letter at its actual size on a blank of steel. The blank is used to make a matrix; molten lead flows into a matrix, producing a single piece of type.
Scalable font: a font that is mathematically defined so that it can be rendered at any requested size. Opposite of a bitmapped font.
Type designer: a person who designs letterforms intended for eventual manufacture as fonts. Includes designing new faces and redrawing existing faces.
Typeface: the features by which a character’s design is recognized. Six forms comprise the graphic shapes for Latin languages: uncial, black letter, serif, sans serif, script and decorative; each form contains a number of designs. For example, the serif form contains four designs – Old Style, Transitional, Modern and Slab Serif.
Type foundry: a manufacturer of metal type.
Typesetter: a person who sets type using either hot lead or digital type.
Typographer (modern sense): a person with knowledge of typefaces, typography and printing methods. Typographers determine what typefaces will be used for books and other printing at publishing houses.
Tuesday 8 February 2011
Movable type
Movable type is a system of printing and typography that involves moving individual letter components to reproduce the elements of a document.
The worlds first known movable type system for printing was created in China around 1040AD by Bi shang during the sang dynasty (990-1051) using clay.The administrative tablet was found in the Uruk region between 3100-2900BC believed to record stock levels.
The first metal movable type system for printing was made in Korea during the Goryeo Dynasty
(around 1230).
Neither were used very widely mainly due to the extreme time and effort to manipulate each letter.
Johannes Guttenberg invented what is known as the first moveable type in Europe. He was the first one to create his letter pieces from an alloy of lead, tin and antimony - the same components that are
still used today.
This development in printing helped people to read with the growing access to books, leading to improvements in education, sciences such as medicine, arts and religion through the transmission of text.
The Gutenberg Bible was a 42 handprinted bible, the first of its kind, published in 1455, the first book to be published in volume. Previously each bible had to be hand written.
"The Gutenberg printing press developed from the technology of the screw-type wine presses of the Rhine Valley. It was there in 1440 that Johannes Gutenberg created his printing press, a hand press, in which ink was rolled over the raised surfaces of moveable hand-set block letters held within a wooden form and the form was then pressed against a sheet of paper."
The worlds first known movable type system for printing was created in China around 1040AD by Bi shang during the sang dynasty (990-1051) using clay.The administrative tablet was found in the Uruk region between 3100-2900BC believed to record stock levels.
(around 1230).
Neither were used very widely mainly due to the extreme time and effort to manipulate each letter.
Johannes Guttenberg invented what is known as the first moveable type in Europe. He was the first one to create his letter pieces from an alloy of lead, tin and antimony - the same components that are
still used today.
The Gutenberg Bible was a 42 handprinted bible, the first of its kind, published in 1455, the first book to be published in volume. Previously each bible had to be hand written.
Wednesday 2 February 2011
Link to 8 ways to combine typefaces!
I found this on Barry Madden's twitter and thought it was useful in learning some typography rules when it comes to combining different typefaces.
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/02/eight-ways-to-combine-typefaces/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/02/eight-ways-to-combine-typefaces/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
typographic website
I found this a very interesting website, it was not only visually interesting and inspirational but it also had concise and useful information about the history and evolution of typography, including a timeline of when popular fonts were created, the anatomy of type and studies such as image legibility.
http://www.rsub.com/typographic/
http://www.rsub.com/typographic/
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