Type Workshop

3 main steps for selecting a font :

> Serif or sans serif

> Upper or lower case

> Weight (light, bold, etc)

Type is speech - What do you want to say?

Select a font that utilises your voice and message.

Associations with cases :

Lower case - childhood, primary.

Upper case - maturity, formality

Associations with weights :

Light - subdued, delicate.

Bold - confident, loud.

Associations with serifs/sans serif :

Serif - traditional, default.

Sans Serif - modern, simple.

Serif fonts are used for novels. Easy to read because the serifs on the letterforms create horizontal lines, helping you when moving your head from side-to-side.

Sans serif fonts tend to be more simplistic with more vertical lines, making you look up and down the page and so is more confusing to read.

Point size : 72 point type is 1 inch from ascender to descender. Book/novel type is 8 point - optimum size for reading.

Designers tend to use between 1 and 3 typefaces.

Margins are used in books to help readability, somewhere to place your thumbs.

Guttenberg printing press invented in 1452.

First example of printed type was the Guttenberg bible. The typeface it was printed in was handwriting as this was what people were used to reading.

Word associations in type:

Name - Futura Condensed, 72pt.

Friendly Dog - Georgia Italic, 48pt.

Guard Dog - Stencil, 120pt

Shy Dog - Tw Cen MT, 24pt.

Lonely dog - Constantia, 30pt.