Sunday, February 9, 2014

Reading Homework due February 10

 1.     There are several items introduced as "first typographic principles". Please list them and explain them in 1-2 sentences each.
a.     Typography exists to honor content. – The content that is in any form all express their own meanings based on the font, the subject, and the writer. Given that all of these aspects help form the meanings, it helps to show the form in which type can honor content.
b.     Letters have a life and dignity of their own. – Words mean nothing without the proper expression and font choice. If the font is correct for the purpose of the content, then the words created from the letters mean much more.
c.     There is a style beyond style. – The style chosen within typography is not just the style of the text, but also the style of the writer or designer. They are able to make the style their own and much more personal based on the content of the text.

2.     What are a few technical considerations when choosing type? Make sure to explain them if they are new concepts to you.
a.     Consider the medium for which the typeface was originally designed.
b.     When using digital adaptations of letterpress faces, choose fonts that are faithful to the spirit as well as the letter of the old designs. – Different fonts and text are made given different manipulations from the print work, which lead to them being weighted and finished differently.
c.     Choose faces that will survive, and if possible prosper, under the final printing conditions.
d.     Choose faces that suit the paper you intend to print on, or paper that suits the faces you wish to use.

3.     What are a few practical considerations when choosing type? Make sure to explain them if they are new concepts to you.
a.     Choose faces that suit the task as well as the subject.
b.     Choose faces that can furnish whatever special effects you require. – example: “If your text includes an abundance of numerals, you may want a face whose numerals are especially well designed” (Bringhurst 95).
c.     Use what there is to the best advantage. – If there is only the choice of one font, the designer can use it to its fullest; italics, bold, underlined, small caps.

4.     What are a few historical and cultural considerations when choosing type? Make sure to explain them if they are new concepts to you.
a.     Choose a face whose historical echoes and associations are in harmony with the text. – It doesn’t make sense for a typographer to interchange time periods and history when it comes to the content within the text.
b.     Allow the face to speak in its natural idiom.

            5.     Beginning on page 102 "The Multicultural Page", explain some of the guidelines for choosing             typeface combinations.
a.     Start with a single typographic family. – “If you restrict yourself to faces within the family, you can have variety and homogeneity at the same time: many shapes and sizes but a single typographic culture” (Bringhurst 95). This allows for many possibilities within a document that calls for different forms of text to show differences between titles, body text, subheads, quotations, and more.
b.     Respect the integrity of roman, italic and small caps. – Mixing the different forms are less likely to succeed, whereas treating the different forms as separate but equals, there is a greater chance of success.
c.     Consider bold faces on their own merits.
d.     Choose titling and display faces that reinforce the structure of the text face. – “A geometrically constructed, high-contrast face, has marginal promise as a titling face for text…” (Bringhurst 105). In a sense, the title text and body text contradict each other but in a form that help embrace the other and work together.
e.     Pair serifed and unserifed faces on the basis of their inner structure. – “When the basic text is set in a serifed face, a related sanserif is frequently useful for other elements, such as tables, captions or notes” (Bringhurst 105). This usually isn’t as simple when trying to work with a serifed and sanserifed fonts that aren’t directly related or stand within the same text family. 

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