LECTURE NOTES:A HISTORY OF TYPE//OUGD401

A HISTORY OF TYPE:
aims:

Give a simple introduction the history of typography
• Introduce the six main classifications of type • Introduce some famous type faces and their
related connotations
• Introduce the metalinguistic function of typography

TYPOGRAPHY=Meta- communication, Paralinguistic's, Kinesics.

Type Classifications

Humanist, Old Style, Transitional,  Modern Slab Serif (Egyptian)  Sans Serif 

‘LATE AGE OF PRINT’

The “age of print” began around 1450

Gutenberg’s printing press    

Gutenberg Gothic Script 1450

Gutenberg was the first European to use movable type printing, in around 1439. Among his many contributions to printing are: the invention of a process for mass-producing movable type; the use of oil-based ink; and the use of a wooden printing press similar to the agricultural screw presses of the period. His truly epochal invention was the combination of these elements into a practical system which allowed the mass production of printed books and was economically viable for printers and readers alike. Gutenberg's method for making type is traditionally considered to have included a type metal alloy and a hand mould for casting type. //wikipedia

HUMANIST TYPE FACE:

-first type family, from Venice

-this became the first italic font form

The painter and designer Geofroy Tory believed that the proportions of the alphabet should reflect the ideal human form, he wrote: "the cross stroke covers the mans organ of generation, to signify that modesty and chastity are required, before all else, in those who seek acquaintances with well-shapped letters."

Modern Typeface

known as Didone typefaces which were designed by Giambattista Bodoni

Didone represents elegance, class, fashion designers commonly use Didone

VOGUE USES DIDONE

Slab serif / Egyptian 1800's:

product of industrialisation

breaks the rules of hierarchies

SAN SERIF TYPE FACE-MODERNIST

Example of Herbert Bayer’s sans- serif typeface- Bayer, 1925
• A unicameral type - all text to be lower case, (to ditch capitals)

Gill Sans is a sans-serif typeface designed by Eric Gill.

The original design appeared in 1926 when Douglas Cleverdon opened a bookshop in his home town of Bristol, where Gill painted the fascia over the window in sans-serif capitals that would later be known as Gill Sans. In addition, Gill had sketched a design for Cleverdon, intended as a guide for him to make future notices and announcements.

Gill further developed it into a complete font family after Stanley Morison commissioned the development of Gill Sans to combat the families of Erbar, Futura and Kabel which were being launched in Germany during the latter 1920s. Gill Sans was later released in 1928 by Monotype Corporation.

Conclusion

• Different Type families to explore – Humanist / Old Style / Transitional /Modern / Slab Serif / Sans Serif

• Remember that type communicates visually and is not just a vehicle for