what is typography art

What is typography?

If we were to consider the normal, everyday
activities that consume our lives, it would quickly
become apparent that typography is ubiquitous
and inescapable. For the most part, this material
is routine and boring. But it is also, for the most
part, essential.
Typography has been traditionally associated
with design and, in particular, with the printing
industry. However, owing to the universal access
to digital technology,1 the word “typography” is
increasingly used to refer to the arrangement of
any written material and is certainly no longer
restricted to the work of a typographer. Everyone
is a typographer now…
“Written” implies first and foremost
“handwritten,” but there are clearly many ways
of presenting written language using technologies
such as the printing press, text messaging, e-mail,
ink-jet printer, and even the standard typewriter.
The word “typography” subsumes all these
methods of communication.
Typography and writing have, quite naturally,
always been closely entwined: typography being
the discipline and professional practice that
mediates between the contents of the message
and the receiving readership. Therefore, to
understand the grammar of typography, one
must also gain a knowledge and understanding
of language and how it is adapted to function

in various social contexts

An overview of five fonts, representing the five stages in font development:

 Garamond:

An Old Style typeface from France. Originally credited to Claude Garamond, but was actually designed by

Jean Jannon in 1615. Features include little contrast between thicks and thins, heavy serifs, and oblique vertical stresses.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890&$.,’-;:!?

Baskerville:

A Transitional font by John Baskerville in 1757. Letters are wide for their x-height which results in excellent

proportions. Thicks and thins have a greater contrast than Old Style, serifs are lighter, and the stress is more vertical.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890&$.,’-;:!?

Didot:

Designed in the 1800’s by the Didot family of designers, Didot is a Modern typeface similiar to Bodoni.

Its charateristics include strong contrast between thicks and thins, fine serifs, and strong vertical stress.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890&$.,’-;:!?

Century:

L.B. Benton and T.L. DeVinne designed this Egyptian typeface for the Century magazine in 1894.

Contrast between thicks and thins is little, serifs are strong, and vertical stress is not emphasized.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890&$.,’-;:!?

Helvetica:

A contemporary typeface with a Swiss origin, developed in 1957 by the Haas typefoundry. Sans serif

fonts did not become widely used until the 20th century. X-height is large and letters are narrow. Strokes

are even, serifs are nonexistent, and there is no stress due tothe optically equal strokes.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890&$.,ʼ-;:!?

Display type can be categorized into five kinds:


Roman:based on traditional letter forms
Egyptian: also called square serif, generally bold
Sans serif: contemporary, uniform weight
Miscellaneous: designed to attract attention, can be very ornate

Script:cursive, modeled on handwriting

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