mind flower

Monday, September 19, 2011

Behance Link

Done with the typography weather project!

See it at ...... http://www.behance.net/egrigone

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Adrian Frutiger was born in 1928 in Unterseen, Switzerland. At a young age, Frutiger showed interest in letterforms. He emulated writer and teacher, Ernst Eberhart’s freer method of handwriting. Frutiger quickly developed his own style, as he would cut his pens down to a broad nib to make letterforms open and round. He was trained in type and graphics at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts from 1949 to 1951. After moving to Paris in 1952, he worked as typeface designer and artistic manager at Deberny & Peignot. Here, he created some of the earliest typefaces for photocomposition. In 1957, he established his international position after designing the Univers typeface. Overtime, he has reworked and expanded it to include 63 fonts. His other typefaces include Serifa (1967), Frutiger (1975), and Avenir (1988). Soon after, Frutiger found his own studio in Paris with Bruno Pfafi and Andrea Gurtler, where Linotype became his namesake typeface and remains the best regarded.

Frutiger is also a respected painter, sculptor, symbologist, and mathematician and has written many books about type and design. He has taught at the Ecole Estienne and the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs.

Univers is a unique typeface cause it is the first family to use numbers as a naming system for its various weights. This family is extensively varied and has a very systematic structure. Univers is suited for long bodies of text. It uses optically even strokes and a large x-height that increases legibility when used large or small. It is slightly elegant and rich in form.

The Univers grid utilizes a numbering system to define various widths, weights, and styles. The first digit, which runs from top to bottom, denotes weight, with 3X the thinnest and 8X the thickest. The second digit running from left to right denotes width, with X3 the most expanded and X9 the most condensed. Odd and even numbers are used to differentiate between roman and italic styles.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Type Spelled

Heather and I spelled out the word 'type' with found objects as we walked around campus

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Type Defined (continued)

Weight - density or lightness of the individual letterforms

Width - the linear extent or measurement of something from side to side

Style - level of boldness or kind of letter within a typeface; could be narrow, condensed, italic, extended, small capitals, etc.

Font - collective name for a typeface but refers to a single style; used only to refer to a specific style within a typeface

Typeface - used to describe a complete alphabet including letters, numerals, punctuation marks, accents, etc.; the whole typeface should be used when designing to ensure consistency

X-height - the height of the lowercase letter 'x'; an important feature because it largely determines the apparent size of a typeface

Cap height - height in millimeters of a capital letter in a particular typeface; not directly related to the body size

Leading - derives from metal type; the extra white that was added between the lines of metal type in the form of strips of lead or lead alloy

Letterspacing (tracking) - the amount of white spacing between letters

How is type measured in inches, mm, points or picas?
The inch is defined as 25.4 millimetre. Twelve pitch letter is used, which means that 12 letters fit into an inch width-wise. The pica is a duodecimal system that is divided into 12 points. A pica measures 0.351461 mm. An inch is divided into 72 pica points.

Define point.
Point is the unit used for the measurement of letterforms. It is equivalent to 1/72 of an inch (1 inch = 72 points).

Define pica.

Pica is a type of point. It is the type of measurement most frequently applied to printing. A pica measures 0.351461 mm.

How many points in an inch?
72

If a letter is set in 36 pts about how many inches tall is it?
1.5 in

How many picas in an inch?
6

How many points in a pica?
12

Thursday, August 25, 2011

COOL TYPE

Type Defined

GRID - a structured map of horizontal and vertical lines, on which the designer places components such as headings, texts, images, captions, etc.

- Designers use a grid to express the info in a sequential and logical manner, so that readers can easily navigate their way through the page. The formats range from posters, websites, magazines, or books.

MODULAR GRID - a grid that has 4 columns and 4 rows; an image or text block can occupy one or more modulars

MARGINS - the space surrounding a publications type area; there are 4 margins: inside, top, outer, and bottom

COLUMNS - a space in a page layout in which the text and/or audio images are placed; a page can contain multiple columns which form part of the page layout or grid

FLOWLINES - the connecting line or arrow between symbols on a flow chart or block diagram

GUTTER - the white space formed by the inner margins of two facing pages

HIERARCHY - order of importance within a social group or in a body of text

TYPOGRAPHIC COLOR - overall tone of letterforms or a block of text on a page

- To achieve a clear hierarchy, designers use a specific choice of typeface, paragraph space, type style, and alignment.

WHITE SPACE - white in and around the letter and in and around the texts

CONTRAST - the arrangement of opposite elements in a piece to create visual interest and excitement

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

MTV - 1981 to 2011

One example of how logo design and motion graphics have influenced me. MTV is a classic example of a simple, recognizable logo that has connected people of the past few generations. It has slowly changed, becoming modern and technical, while still remaining cool, fresh, and eye pleasing. I hope to learn more about motion graphics and typography the same way MTV has portrayed these.

logo in 1981