Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Chapter 2 Summary

Chapter 2: Anatomy of Typography

Chapter two covers the framework of typography and the way type has grown throughout the years. Each element of a typeface and letter is broken down which allows typefaces to be compared to one another. Every little detail about a typeface enables the font to differ from another. Typography began to evolve over the years because typographers aimed to create a typeface that would be better than the existing typefaces. Nowadays, there are a tremendous amount of type styles because the process has gotten easier with the measurement system. The measurement system organizes each aspect of type such as the size of the letter in pica or points.


It was interesting to learn new vocabulary words that were not on our vocab list. I felt like I was able to understand how typography is built a lot better. This chapter got me interested in seeing what makes each typeface differ from one another, and I found it amazing how much detail typographers put into creating a new family. Twenty-six capital letterforms, twenty-six lowercase letterforms, along with ten numerals, punctuation and other graphic elements all play a role in a family, and I can’t believe how much it has developed since the 1940s. I have definitely taken the typography we have today for granted, and never realized how much work goes into actual type. Type is important in what we do everyday, and I believe designers have the ability to control what and how people think. It was incredible to think that typography started out through handwriting, and has evolved into what it is today. Reading this chapter allowed me to examine type in a much clearer way, and now I am able to tell the differences between different elements of a typeface.

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