Typography workbook: a real-world guide to using type in graphic design

241 Pages·2006·109.85 MB·English

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The Typography Workbook
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Job no:80872 Title : RP-Typography Workbook Client : Pro-Vision p1
Scn : #175 Size : 228.6(w)228.6(h)mm Co : M15 C0 O/P: CTP
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Timothy Samara
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Typography Workbook
Typography Fundamentals 10
contents
A TypeMechanics|12
The Visual Tool Kit
Letterform Basics 14
Up Front The Foundation of Typographic Design
Alphabet Variation 22
Typography Is Everywhere|6 The Optics of Spacing 26
Foreword Form and Counterform within Text
The Spatial Mechanics of Paragraphs 32
Talking Type|8 Paragraphs in Sequence 40
A Discussion with Philippe Apeloig T T
B Form andFunction|44 T T
Building the Bigger Picture T T
Space: The Typographic Frontier 46
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Typographic Color 52
The Visual Texture of Language T T
Point, Line, and Plane 56 T T
The Expanded Typographic Repertoire
Appendixes T T
Developing Hierarchy 60
Index of Contributors 238 Clarifying the Content T T
The Typographic Grid 66 T T
Bibliography 240 Creating Architectural Space
About the Author 240 Breaking the Grid 76 T T
Alternative Organizational Approaches T T
Acknowledgments 240 Typographic Systems 80
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C Expressing theUnspoken|82 T T
Image and Emotion in Typography T T
Integrating Type and Image 84 T T
Type as Image 96
Transforming Words into Pictures T T
Color in Typographic Expression 102 T T
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0 Typography in Practice 110
featuring interviews with:
Typeface Design|112 Stein Øvre and Frode Slotnes
Creuna Design | Norway
Book Design|122 Fons Hickmann
Texts and Covers Fons Hickmann m23 | Germany
Collateral Texts|136 Wout de Vringer and Ben Faydherbe
Brochures and Annual Reports Faydherbe/DeVringer | Netherlands
Website Design|148 Denise Korn
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Ephemera|160 David Pidgeon
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Announcements, Promotions, and Advertising Gollings+Pidgeon | Australia
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Posters|170 Leonardo Sonnoli
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CODEsign | Italy
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T T T T T T T T T T TTypTe inT MTotTionT|1T82 T T T TDanTiel BoTya rskTi T T T T T T T T T T T T
Animations and Film Titles Carnegie Mellon University | USA
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Logos and Corporate Identity Systems KearneyRocholl | Germany
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Signage, Exhibitions, and Architectural Branding Atelier Poisson | Switzerland
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Publications|218 Michael Ian Kaye
Newspapers, Magazines, and Newsletters AR Media | USA
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Packaging|228 Taku Satoh
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Job no:80872 Title : RP-Typography Workbook Client : Pro-Vision p5
Scn : #175 Size : 228.6(w)228.6(h)mm Co : M15 C0 O/P: CTP
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of alphabetic experience in posters, on the Web, and on TV. We pass thousands
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Typography stands at the crossroad of the beautiful and Designing with type means understanding the inescapable the human brain does with that information upon seeing
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the useful. Like a painting, it is something to look at and functionality of its nature: a functionality defined not it. Like it or not, for example, a darker form will appear
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T T T T T T T T T Foreword
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A P H Y
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ST T TET T TV T T TE RYW H ER E.
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materials used and the engineering are clearly of greater subject by focusing to a great degree on the relationship — Left to right:
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value. Good typography is different from bad typography optical and conceptual —between the crafting of typo- Animation stills
dTe T T T T inT m uchTthe sTame Tway—aside from being basically more graphic form and the meaning that form carries. Novices Qwer Design | Germany
functional and expressive, it offers a greater level of sensi- can follow a progression from basics to experimentation Web page
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c spacing of its punctuation. Good typography is easy to wise reacquaint themselves with familiar ideas and also Stairway mural
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ve for navigating through the mass of detail that makes up Gary Fogelson, Pratt Institute
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together to create a visual whole that is far more than
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8 9 Typography Workbook
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A Discussion with Philippe Apeloig
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Philippe Apeloig is a graphic designer whose extraordinary
typographic sensibility is internationaly recognized. Fusing T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T
a Modernist approach that necessitates clarity and function
with an abstract, three-dimensional, and often kinetic or T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T
pictorial space, Apeloig’s work in branding and posters marks T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T
him not only as an innovator, but also one who knows his
craft inside and out. Within the luminous, textural, and T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T
painterly typography of his projects, a core understanding
of how type works — and why —is evident. With this solid T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T
knowledge of typographic form and function, its optical and
perceptual capabilities —as wel as its limitations—Apeloig is T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T
able to manipulate type in astounding ways without
sacrificing its informational utility. T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T
Apeloig heads his own studio in Paris, France. Upon graduating
from the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués, he interned with
Total Design in Amsterdam and April Greiman in Los Angeles,
before returning to Paris as a designer, then art director, for
the Musée d’Orsay (1985 –1987). During the 1990s, he taught
typography at ENSAD (the École Nationale Supérieur des Arts
Décoratifs); in 1996 he became a consultant to the Louvre
Museum, and its art director in 2001. From 2000 to 2002, he
was curator of the Herb Lubalin Study Center for Typography
and Design at New York City’s Cooper Union — where he was
also full-time faculty —and is a member of AGI (the Alliance
Graphique Internationale).
Transport Fluvial poster
Philippe Apeloig | France
p8 J
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Talking Type: A Discussion with Philippe Apeloig
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Many designers are fascinated by typography. What exploration with type. After all, it is a way of expressing is evoked by the perspective effect of the title text, which
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inspired your interest? Why is typography such a my ideas by using visual elements. Later, I was introduced becomes smaller and smaller as it approaches the horizon
T T T T T proTfounTd comTpo neTnt of Tyour wTork,Tas oppTosedT to otTher Tto thTe comTpu teTr. ThisT way oTf working with extraordinary line. The subtitle is found on the horizon, inside boxes that
kinds of image and symbol? Typography is a perfect speed and versatility really expanded my horizons. There are evocative of containers waiting to be loaded. I chose
T T T T T baTlance TbetweTen shTapes, iTmageTs, andT signifiTcatioTns. I amT Tis a lTong hTist oryT behinTd typTography. And this history is to use black for the text and soft colors for the background
fascinated by the way letters can work in unlimited enriched everyday by new technological advances. Now, to create a stark tension between the two, which also points
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combinations to create form and meaning. The playfulness everything is possible. However, while this new technology to the powerful impact of modernity on the environment.
and power of designing with letters to give readers an creates a sense of freshness and freedom in design,
T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T Whose typographic design has influenced you the most?
unexpected, conceptual dimension is also very important I have always found that the most remarkable design is
Russian Avant-Garde, Dutch De Stijl, and Modernist design
to me. I first became interested in typography when also the simplest.
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have influenced me for decades. I am also very moved
I learned about calligraphy in art school. Later, in Holland,
Describe your approach to typography in general. by A. M. Cassandre’s [a French designer active in the
T T T T T whTile woTrkingT at TotTal DeTsign, IT discoTvered TDutchT modTern T T T T T T
Typography is my starting point for design. Every concept 1920s and 1930s] creative use of typography in many of his
typography, which echoed my earlier fascination for the
is invented with type: the selection of a font, the shape of posters. I also find influences in architecture. The way
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the letters, and of course, the type’s semantic dimensions. architects deal with three-dimensional space is similar to
I had as a student when I first saw The Black Square by
T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T TI seeT type Tas absTtractTshapeTs carrying a lot of meaning. the way graphic designers deal with the two-dimensional
Malevitch of the Suprematist Movement and Mondrian’s
It must first attract the attention of the viewer and then surface of a printed page.
paintings of the De Stijl period. It was a great moment
T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T TcomTmunicTate . ETach peTrson Tuses and transforms type in
of enlightenment. The simple shapes, organized with a How do you feel about rules in typography? Are there
his own way, and it shows the designer’s personality—
T T T T T maTstery Tof lighTt a ndT geomTetric TdynamTism,Thad aT poweTrful T T T T T T any that should never be broken? The readability of
it is individual and unique.
effect on me, something that I had never felt before. type should always be the foremost concern, even if it is
T T T T T ThTe discoTvery Tof m oTdern tTypogrTaphy TopeneTd up Ta whoTle TA deTsigneTr’s speTcific tTypogTraphic concerns vary among pushed to the very edge of being legible. To me, creating
new world for me. projects. What is important to you (typographically) a poster that is impossible to read or be understood is a
T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T TwheTn youT de sigTn a pToster?T Typography is central to the failure on the part of the designer.
I have little interest in illustration, which lacks a kind of
design of a poster. Both the form and function of the type
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must come together in a poster. The type must be lively,
more straightforward, conceptual, and appealing, with its
readable, expressive, visually arresting, and never neutral
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or merely decorative. It must also relate to context —type
typographic design and fine art, especially since typogra-
in a poster, for example, must also be bold and striking.
phy possesses a complex subtlety. The idea, the method,
Posters exist in public places over which designers have no
and the honesty in expression are central to a designer
control. They are looked at first from afar. The experience
who works with type. While following these principles
of looking at a poster is communal, not personal the way
and realizing the goal of communication, I try to go
books are experienced. Posters live in the streets as pieces
beyond pure functionalism of type in my work to create
of art that can speak and interact with their audience.
something that is fresh and liberating.
Describe your thought process for the poster entitled
Describe the kind of training in typography you had—
Transport Fluvial (River Transport). Transport Fluvial was
what kinds of things did you learn? I learned about
commissioned by the company Voies Navigables de France
calligraphy even before I touched upon typography in an
(Navigable Roads of France). It was designed to promote a
art school in Paris, the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués.
conference about river transportation and its economic
I was trained in the traditional way; there was no computer
development. This mode of transport is still very much
at that time. We designed all the letters by hand. Later,
useful today despite its fierce competition with air, railway,
we learned about the composition of the letters: serifs,
and road transportation. I looked at ports along rivers.
sans serifs, lowercase and uppercase, bold and light weights,
The flat landscape surrounding the river is expansive, and
among other components. We learned to copy the letter
the river is pregnant with possibilities. I wanted my poster
shapes and to observethe design of their countershapes.
to evoke a feeling of being immersed in the landscape
Our teacher taught ushow to see the white spaces inside
without the use of decorative or figurative elements. At
the letters and between the letters. There are so many
the same time, the economic challenge and the implications
issues to focus on in typography: its technical, historical,
of the redevelopment of the river transportation should
stylistic, and semantic dimensions must be taken into
be present throughout the poster. I strove to achieve this
account. The curriculum at the school was very well struc-
goal by using the most minimal elements, with no images,
tured, from the basics to the more complex. Through my
illustrations, or boats. This sense of space and ambiance
experience at school, I learned to be open and daring in the
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