28 / 10 / 15
Today I was set the second main brief of the course so far. The task is as follows:
Essentially you are re-purposing individual shapes (letterforms) to work together in endless combinations in a harmonious, consistent sequence.'
Before looking at my adjective in depth, I did some research into Müeller-Brockmann's classic and lead typefaces. I tried to analyse them in terms of their anatomy and overall look:
Garamond is the name given to many old-style serif typefaces created by Claude Garamont.
The typeface has the thinnest overall look with fairly small contrasts between strokes.
Some unique characteristics in his letters are the small bowl of the a and eye of the e.
Long extenders and top serifs have a downward slope.
Caslon is a group of serif typefaces designed by William Caslon I.
It is characterized by short ascenders and descenders, bracketed serifs and moderately high contrast.
The typeface is almost a combination of Baskerville and Bodoni. The contrast between thin and thick strokes is similar to Bodoni's; however, the bracketed serifs make the typeface appear smoother and softer than Bodoni's rigid look.
Some of the serifs are angled. Some of the most prominent letters are 'F' and 'T'.
Baskerville is a serif typeface designed in 1754 by John Baskerville.
It is considered the most legible typeface.
It is most known for its crisp edges, high contrast and generous proportions. It is categorized as a transitional typeface in between classical typefaces and the high contrast modern faces.
It uses brackets which gives the typeface an overall soft, smooth, curved look.
Strokes vary in thickness, particularly diagonal ones. This makes the typeface appear bold with a slight element of elegance too.
Bodoni refers to the typefaces designed by Giambattista Bodoni in the late eighteenth century.
The typefaces are considered as modern. Massimo Vignelli stated that 'Bodoni is one of the most elegant typefaces ever designed'.
There is an extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes in the typeface. The vertical strokes of letters are thick, whereas the horizontal parts of letters are thin in comparison.
As opposed to Baskerville this typeface does not use brackets, which creates a stricter, more rigid aesthetic.
Times was created in 1931 by Stanley Morison and Victor Lardent. It was commissioned by the The Times of London, who had been criticised for being badly printed. The new design used an older typeface, Plantin, as the basis for the design.
The brackets used make the serifs appear more grounded and evident.
Clarendon is a slab-serif typeface that was created by Robert Besley. It was supposedly named after the Clarendon Press in Oxford and was published in 1845.
The typeface has a really heavy feel to it; it's definitely the boldest typeface out of all of Müeller-Brockmann's classic and lead typefaces.
Unlike the other serif fonts there is quite a minimal contrast between the thin and thick strokes.
It subtly uses brackets to create a curved, energetic look.
The Berthold Foundry was one of the largest and most successful type foundries in the world for most of the modern typographic era.
Founded in 1858 in by H. Berthold, the foundry was renowned for crafting high-quality typefaces.
Akzidenz-Grotesk is a grotesque typeface originally released by the Berthold Type Foundry in 1896.
The typeface doesn't have a strong relationship to calligraphy as it is sans-serif. Its shapes and proportions are fairly uniform, with low stroke contrast.
I think that the typeface feels bold and heavy compared to typefaces like Baskerville and Helvetica. It also seems quite plain, with no real character to the typeface.
Helvetica is the most popular and famous typeface in the world. It was developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger.
It is a sans-serif Grotesque typeface, inspired by and based on the Berthold's Akzidenz-Grotesk typeface.
Helvetica has monotone stroke weights and is plain and simple.
The typeface has quite a contemporary, sleek look.
It is as much about the negative space surrounding the letters than about the lines that make up the characters themselves.
Univers is a sans-serif typeface designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1954.
Like Helvetica, it is a sans-serif typeface that was inspired by Berthold's Akzidenz-Grotesk typeface.
Univers was released after a long period in which geometric typefaces had been popular. Frutiger disliked purely geometric designs, finding them too rigid.
The letter G lacks the Helvetica spur.
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My Adjective - Vast.
- great in size, extent, quantity and depth
- Spread out
- Boundless space
- 'versatile'
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