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Defining Type. Desktop Publishing. What type shall I use?. The gods refuse to answer. They refuse because they do not know. -W.A. Dwiggins. Dynamic Relationships. In Life, when there is more than one of anything, a dynamic relationship is established
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Defining Type Desktop Publishing
What type shall I use? The gods refuse to answer. They refuse because they do not know. -W.A. Dwiggins
Dynamic Relationships • In Life, when there is more than one of anything, a dynamic relationship is established • In Type, there is usually more than one element on a page, thus a relationship is established • What type of relationship will you define
Three Dynamic Relationships • Concordant • Same type family, not much variety, dull • Contrasting • Different type families, variety, exciting • Conflicting • Similar type families, neither the same or different, distracting • First, let’s define the elements in the relationship
Type Divisions • Type Faces • Complete set of characters of a given font • Type Families • Collection of related type faces • Type Races • Broad categories of fonts defined by
Oldstyle Modern Slab Serif (Egyptian/Typewriter) San Serif Script Decorative (Special) Pi - adfr Type Race Categories
Type Race – Oldstyle • Great for body text when you’re looking for: • Nostalgic, Eloquent, Traditional, Sincere, Informal, Simple, Trustworthy • Type faces/families include:
Type Race – Modern • Use in body text when you’re looking for: • Brilliant, Formal, Modern, Elegant, Technical • Type faces/families include:
Type Race – Slab Serif • Use for body text when you’re looking for: • Elegant and refined • Type faces/families include:
Type Race – Sans Serif • Often not good for body text (optima is exception) • Usually used in display text • Type faces/families include:
Type Race – Script • Used only as display text • Use sparingly and never all caps • Type faces/families include:
Type Race – Decorative • Used mainly as display text • Fun, distinctive, expresses whims • Don’t try to find ways to use these – that’s not your job – only use when necessary
Type Race – Pi • No alphabetic characters • Often called ornaments • Type faces/families include: • Wingdings, Zapf Dingbats, Woodtype Ornaments
Font Families • Each family consists of variations • Type Styles – weight and stroke variations • Bold and Italics or Oblique (san serif) • Shadow, outline, and underlines • SMALL CAPS • Type Weight – letter width and stroke thickness • Super-bold or Black • Light • Condensed
What you shouldn’t use Bitmapped fonts San Serif Pi Decorative What you should use Old style Modern Slab serif (transitional) Resident fonts Times, Bookman, Schoolbook, Palatino Choosing Body Text
Choosing Display Text • Strive for contrast instead of conflict • When you combine your display text with your body text, how will you establish this? • Vary your: • Size, Weight, Structure, Direction
Display Contrast – Size • Try varying the size of the fonts • Don’t be afraid to use 100-point to make a point • If the text is important make it big • Don’t be a wimp – don’t contrast 24-point with 30-point
Display Contrast – Weight • Try different weights of a font to add emphasis instead of using ALL CAPS • Use varying type weights to organize your information in a list – with the more important information bolder • Highlight key phrases with bolder type instead of underlining
Display Contrast – Structure • Never put two type faces from the same race on the same page • But you can mix the races
Display Contrast – Structure • Do mix, but make sure there is the needed contrast – the difference must be emphasized
Display Contrast – Structure • You can use two serif fonts together! • Make sure each face uses a different race • Can you identify the two races here?
Display Contrast – Direction • More than just slanting it • Use slanted text sparingly - often overused • Create columns or place your headings sideways
Credits • The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams • Looking Good in Print by Roger C. Parker • Design for DTPs by Tom Lichty