Typography is a visual form of communication. It is much more than a grouping of letters that form a word. Typography has form and shape, personality and character, texture, and the power to express mood, meaning, and idea.
However, the topic of typography is too broad to cover in just one column. My goal over the next few weeks is to break down typography into smaller parts and discuss those parts in detail.
Participate in the discussion by sharing your experience and asking questions. Some of the topics may seem elementary. By sharing your experience, at whatever level you are struggling, will help all visual journalists think about type in a meaningful and deliberate way.
Serif Letter Forms and Personality
The words serif and sans serif are thrown around to describe only two basic characteristics of type families. But why do we choose one over another? Usually it's because of a style guide or rule someone put in place that says this is when we use a serif typeface, and this is when we use sans serif. It's important to have those style guidelines in place, but it's more important to understand why we use them.
Though there are many types of serif typefaces, they are generally associated with a feeling of elegance, readability, tradition, seriousness, and history. The serif itself can be rounded, pointed, square, or slab, each contributing to the personality of a publication. For instance, the serif typefaces used in The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times are part of the personality of those publications. They give a sense of history and longevity, strength and seriousness, and they are instantly recognizable.
Contrast that with serif used in Zaman, a paper out of Turkey. The serifs used in Zaman are clean with strokes that have equal weight. This could still be considered a serious personality, but much more modernistic.
Other characteristics of serif typefaces, such as counters and eyes, help determine the personality of a publication. The counter is the negative space within a letter form, like the letter "o." The counter of the letter "e" is called the eye. Take a look below at the characteristics of the letter "e" in four different serif typefaces. Notice that each has a distinct personality.
Note: The eye of the letter "e" is often one of the first areas to clog up on the press. So that is an important consideration when choosing a typeface for text. Keep this in mind when using type on the web as well. To make type more readable on the Web, an anti-aliased letter has shades of gray around the outside so it appears smooth instead of jagged. While it's meant to aid readability, it can also make letters fuzzy the same way ink spread occurs on newsprint.
Web Resources:
• Counterspace
http://counterspace.motivo.com/
• U&lc magazine online
http://www.itcfonts.com/ulc/
Books:
Here are a few of my favorites.
• Designing with Type: A Basic Course in Typography by James Craig
• Typographic Design: Form and Communication by Rob Carter, Ben Day, Philip Meggs
• A Typographic Workbook by Kate Clair
• The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
Related Poynter Seminar:
Design with Type: Print and Online
Jan. 25-28, 2004
Experts from a variety of media, including newspapers, magazines, book publishing, and Web design will present case studies and discuss their most successful approaches to typography in this three-day conference. You'll learn to think intelligently and creatively about using typography to reflect content. Special attention will be paid to legibility on the Web and future applications of typography.
Robb is right -- the price is 35 cents in...
