TYPE 01 Vocab

01 - absolute measurement: Units that have a definite size, such as a point.
02 - relative measurement: Units that depend on viewing quality, such as pixels.
03 - point: 1/72 of an inch
04 - pica: 12 points
05 - em (and em dash): A unit of measurement equal to the point size of the current font.
06 - en (and en dash): The width of a piece of type half the width of an em.
07 - legibility: The quality of type that affects the perceptibility of a word, line, or paragraph.
08 - rag: The irregular or uneven vertical margin of a block of type.
09 - word spacing: Word spacing can range from min=75%, max=150% for short columns and min=90%, max=125% for longer columns.
10 - rivers: Visually unattractive gaps appearing to run down a paragraph of text.
11 - indent: To set in from the margin
12 - leading: The spacing between lines of text.
13 - kerning: The spacing between letters.
14 - tracking: A universal spacing between all characters.
15 - weight: How thick or thin the character is. Most typefaces will come in regular and bold.
16 - scale: The size of the x-height of each character in points.
17 - typographic variation: Allows the designer to build quality styles in the typeface itself.
18 - orphan: A very short line (usually one word), or the end of a hyphenated word, at the end of a paragraph or column.
19 - widow: A single word, part of a word or very short line, except it appears at the beginning of a column or page.

Reading 1

I liked the part on page 12 that talked about how wall graphic forms have a dual existence. We often take our most basic symbols for granted. As the author said, even the period can have some symbolic meaning. We generally think of fit as being just a form of punctuation.

I also liked the part from Understanding Comics that discussed the difference between "receiving" and "perceiving." I think we generally tend to separate these two ideas, and overlook the fact that there is some transition or gray area between the two. As graphic designers, our work can be the most effective when we find the balance between our audience's reception and perception.

Josef Muller Brockmann is...

Josef Muller Brockmann was a Swiss graphic designer, born in 1914.  He studied architecture, design , and the history of art at school in Zurich.  Brockmann worked as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer once he was finished with school.  He opened his own studio in 1936, which specialized in graphic design and photography.  Brockmann was a founding editor of The New Design, and eventually became the design consultant for IBM. 

Brockmann also had several books published.  His works included The Graphic Artist and His Design Problems (1961), Grid Systems in Graphic Design (1961), History of the Poster (1971), and A History of Visual Communications (1971).

A modular grid is a graphic design grid system that uses uniformly sized rectangles or squares that let the designer build his composition from the ground up.  Each module can be filled with text, images, or left as white space.  The grid is important because it keeps the designer from producing compositions that are unbalanced or out of line.  It gives the designer an opportunity to play around with the elements of the design, rather than putting down one object and building around it.

Josef Muller Brockmann is important to us because he was ahead of his time in terms of page structure. This allowed him to make effective compositions every time, and therefore make the most effective advertisements or posters.

Jan Tschichold is...

Jan Tschichold was a master typographer.  He was originally trained in calligraphy, as he was the son of a signwriter.  In spite of his old-school training, Tschichold adopted modernist views in the early 1920's.  He remained an advocate for modernism throughout the twenties.  He was a fan of all sans-serif fonts, designs that weren't centered, and was one of the first to use various sizes and weights of type. 

Tschichold's most well-known book was Die neue Typography, or The New Typography.  This book was a sort of bible for modern design.  It included his rules for modern design, and ushered us into an era where consumers needed their information quickly and efficiently. At the time, The New Typography was very influential to designers and typographers in Germany, but did not get much press in the United States. Tshichold also wrote The Form of the Book and The Modern Design Dictionary.

In 1931, Tschichold designed three typefaces: Transit, Zeus, and Saskia.  In 1967, he released the typeface Sabon.  This font was named after Jacques Sabon, who was a famous typographer.  The Sabon typeface was first used by Bradbury Thompson for the Washburn College Bible.  

The Tschichold grid was a system of columns that gave designers a starting place for their compositions.  Since elements of the design could be aligned with the lines of the grid, giving them an easy way to space and place each image or block of text on the page.  The grid made it easy to try lots of different arrangements of text, whether they were symmetrical or asymmetrical.  

Jan Tschichold is important to us because he was one of the first designers to focus on strong aesthetics and type hierarchy.  Though he eventually dabbled back into his classic roots, Tschichold help introduce the design industry to the modern consumer, who didn't have time to read a page worth of text as they walked by a poster on their way to work.

What Is A Grid

1. In design, a grid is a set of rectangles or squares of equal size that break up the work space. Grids give the designer an easy way of visualizes and placing each element, such as pictures or blocks of text, on the page.

2. Designers use a grid because it is an easy way of visualizing a design. Rather than approaching a blank sheet of paper or a blank computer screen, the grid lets the designer space out each element of the composition quickly and in an orderly fashion.  This is beneficial to the designer because he or she will be guaranteed to have some consistency in spacing, rather than having crooked pictures or type.

3. A modular grid is a grid that is broken down into rectangles (modules), rather than just lines like on graph paper.  These modules are helpful to designers because they often deal with rectangle-shaped elements, such as photographs or blocks of text.

4. Parts of the grid....

Margins: the border or white space around the grid. Text and images generally don't bleed into the border.

Columns: The lines running vertically that separate the grid into modules.

Grid Modules:  The rectangle shapes inside the grid. These modules can be fill with pictures and text, or left as white space.

Flowlines: The horizontal lines in the grid.

Gutter: The empty space between modules.

5. A hierarchy is any ranking of importance. In type, designers use varying sizes, spacing, color, and placement of type to achieve a hierarchy.  This way, the most important information in the composition will be the most prominent.

6. A designer can achieve a type hierarchy by using contrast.  The most important thing on the page, such as a title or a headline, will most likely be larger, bolder, or in a more prominent color than the other text.  This way, if someone only walks by and briefly glances at the image, they will see the most important information first.

7. Each font comes in a variety of widths and weights. For example, a font might come in a regular, condensed, bold, and italic version.  These styles will often also be mixed and matched.  The collection of styles a font is available in is called the font family.