Holy Typography, Batman.
Posted by amanda | Posted in design, resources | Posted on 02-02-2009
“Typography, the art of manipulating type to enhance communication, goes hand-in-hand with graphic design. It sets the mood. Establishes the pace. Evokes the feeling. Ensures readability. It’s part of that indescribable “something” that makes a document work.” -Designer’s Typography, 2009.
I first began dabbling in web design back in the early 90s, during the prime of Geocities and Angelfire. “Hey, look mom! I made it so the pictures will change when you wave your mouse over them!” Yeah, I really thought I was hot stuff.
Being a self-taught designer, I learned a lot over the years partly by natural curiosity (thanks for the internet, Al Gore!), but mostly by trial-and-error. Since my foundation was in web design, making the transition to print was a little rocky. (I attempted to design my very first print ad in Macromedia Fireworks. /headdesk) If I didn’t understand resolution, you can bet I didn’t know a thing about tracking, kerning or typography back then. Thankfully, I’m a quick learner.
To bring you up to speed, typography is more than just a pretty font. It’s the study of type and typefaces – the evolution of printed letters. Since man did not begin to write with type, but rather the chisel, brush, and pen, it’s the study of handwriting that provides us with the basis of creating type designs. In fact, several of the fonts we see on our computers have evolved from the work of typefounders of the 15th and early 16th centuries. (Claude Garamond, William Caslon… sound familiar?)
“Typography has one plain duty before it and that is to convey information in writing. ” -Emil Ruder (1914-1970), co-founder of the International Center for the Typographic Arts in New York, 1962
Below are a few of my favorite displays of creative typography… what are some of your favorites?
By Craig Ward of Words Are Pictures
By MIAD Communication Design
screenshot of the acsys interactive website.
Duk Nguyen
More great found type photos by Greg Meadows: Take a walk through The Boneyard.
The Journal of Urban Typography: dedicated to the documentation and study of signs, word fragments, and typography created with utilitarian intent in urban environments.
RESOURCES:
- 50 Useful Design Tools for Beautiful Web Typography courtesy of Smashing Magazine.
- PicFor.me Typography Gallery – for inspiration!
FREE FONT SITES:
*I Love Typography scrabble graphic designed by Hamish.
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