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For the original full text, please go to: "Typography" on Wikipedia.
For the original full text, please go to: "Typography" on Wikipedia.
Typography
Typography (from the Greek words τύπος (typos) = form and γραφή (graphe) = writing) is the art and technique ofarranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning). Type design is a closely related craft, which some consider distinct and others a part of typography; most typographers do not design typefaces, and some type designers do not consider themselves typographers.[2][3] In modern times, typography has been put into motion—in film, television and online broadcasts—to add emotion to mass communication.[4]
Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic designers, art directors, comic book artists, graffiti artists, clerical workers, and anyone else who arranges type for a product. Until the Digital Age, typography was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up typography to new generations of visual designers and lay users, and David Jury states that "typography is now something everybody does.
Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic designers, art directors, comic book artists, graffiti artists, clerical workers, and anyone else who arranges type for a product. Until the Digital Age, typography was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up typography to new generations of visual designers and lay users, and David Jury states that "typography is now something everybody does.
History
Typography traces its origins to the first punches and dies used to make seals and currency in ancient times. The typographical principle, that is the creation of a complete text by reusing identical characters, was first realized in thePhaistos Disc, an enigmatic Minoan print item from Crete, Greece, which dates between 1850 and 1600 BC.[6][7][8] It has been put forward that Roman lead pipe inscriptions were created by movable type printing,[9] but this view has been recently dismissed by the German typographer Herbert Brekle.[10]
The essential criterion of type identity was met by medieval print artifacts such as the Latin Pruefening Abbey inscription of 1119 that was created by the same technique as the Phaistos disc.[11] The silver altarpiece of patriarch Pellegrinus II (1195−1204) in the cathedral of Cividale was printed with individual letter punches.[12][13] The same printing technique can apparently be found in 10th to 12th century Byzantine reliquaries.[14] Individual letter tiles where the words are formed by assembling single letter tiles in the desired order were reasonably widespread in medieval Northern Europe.[15]
Modern movable type, along with the mechanical printing press, was invented in mid-15th century Germany by the goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg.[16] His type pieces from a lead-based alloy suited printing purposes so well that the alloy is still used today.[17] Gutenberg developed specialized techniques for casting and combining cheap copies of letterpunches in the vast quantities required to print multiple copies of texts. This technical breakthrough was instrumental in starting the Printing Revolution.
Typography with movable type was separately invented in 11th-century China. Metal type was first invented in Korea during the Goryeo Dynasty around 1230. Both hand printing systems, however, were only sporadically used and discontinued after the introduction of Western lead type and the printing press.[18]
The essential criterion of type identity was met by medieval print artifacts such as the Latin Pruefening Abbey inscription of 1119 that was created by the same technique as the Phaistos disc.[11] The silver altarpiece of patriarch Pellegrinus II (1195−1204) in the cathedral of Cividale was printed with individual letter punches.[12][13] The same printing technique can apparently be found in 10th to 12th century Byzantine reliquaries.[14] Individual letter tiles where the words are formed by assembling single letter tiles in the desired order were reasonably widespread in medieval Northern Europe.[15]
Modern movable type, along with the mechanical printing press, was invented in mid-15th century Germany by the goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg.[16] His type pieces from a lead-based alloy suited printing purposes so well that the alloy is still used today.[17] Gutenberg developed specialized techniques for casting and combining cheap copies of letterpunches in the vast quantities required to print multiple copies of texts. This technical breakthrough was instrumental in starting the Printing Revolution.
Typography with movable type was separately invented in 11th-century China. Metal type was first invented in Korea during the Goryeo Dynasty around 1230. Both hand printing systems, however, were only sporadically used and discontinued after the introduction of Western lead type and the printing press.[18]
Scope
In contemporary use, the practice and study of typography is very broad, covering all aspects of letter design and application. These include:
Traditional typography follows four principles: repetition, contrast, proximity, and alignment.
- typesetting and type design
- handwriting and calligraphy
- graffiti
- inscriptional and architectural lettering
- poster design and other large scale lettering such as signage and billboards
- business communications and promotional collateral
- advertising
- wordmarks and typographic logos (logotypes)
- apparel (clothing)
- labels on maps
- vehicle instrument panels
- kinetic typography in motion picture films and television
- as a component of industrial design—type on household appliances, pens and wristwatches, for example
- as a component in modern poetry (see, for example, the poetry of E. E. Cummings)
Traditional typography follows four principles: repetition, contrast, proximity, and alignment.
Text Typography
A specimen of roman typefaces byWilliam Caslon
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coherent, and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without the awareness of the reader. Even distribution of typeset material, with a minimum of distractions and anomalies, is aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of typeface(s) is the primary aspect of text typography--prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and commercial writing all have differing characteristics and requirements of appropriate typefaces and fonts. For historic material established text typefaces are frequently chosen according to a scheme of historical genre acquired by a long process of accretion, with considerable overlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art seriffed "text romans" or "book romans" with design values echoing present-day design arts, which are closely based on traditional models such as those ofNicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created the model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond. With their more specialized requirements, newspapers and magazines rely on compact, tightly fitted seriffed text fonts specially designed for the task, which offer maximum flexibility, readability and efficient use of page space. Sans serif text fonts are often used for introductory paragraphs, incidental text and whole short articles. A current fashion is to pair sans-serif type for headings with a high-performance seriffed font of matching style for the text of an article.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word structures, word frequencies, morphology,phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax. Typography is also subject to specific cultural conventions. For example, in French it is customary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not.
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coherent, and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without the awareness of the reader. Even distribution of typeset material, with a minimum of distractions and anomalies, is aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of typeface(s) is the primary aspect of text typography--prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and commercial writing all have differing characteristics and requirements of appropriate typefaces and fonts. For historic material established text typefaces are frequently chosen according to a scheme of historical genre acquired by a long process of accretion, with considerable overlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art seriffed "text romans" or "book romans" with design values echoing present-day design arts, which are closely based on traditional models such as those ofNicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created the model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond. With their more specialized requirements, newspapers and magazines rely on compact, tightly fitted seriffed text fonts specially designed for the task, which offer maximum flexibility, readability and efficient use of page space. Sans serif text fonts are often used for introductory paragraphs, incidental text and whole short articles. A current fashion is to pair sans-serif type for headings with a high-performance seriffed font of matching style for the text of an article.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word structures, word frequencies, morphology,phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax. Typography is also subject to specific cultural conventions. For example, in French it is customary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not.