Chapter 4: Legibility
Chapter 4 focuses on legibility. Legibility is a very important aspect of typography. The chapter opens up with, “As signs
representing sounds in spoken language, letters are basic to legible
typography. The primary purpose of
a letterform is to convey a recognizable meaning to the mind.”
Contrast, simplicity, and proportion are three key qualities
upon which legibility is dependent.
Typefaces with these three qualities are beautiful and functional
letterforms. This chapter speaks
on the legibility in the strictest sense, which means legible typography is a
means of communicating information objectively. Before I even read the next sentence in the chapter I knew
that there was much more to typography than communicating information
objectively. As an advertising
major and graphic design minor, I believe in abstract letterforms and expressionism. Some artists bend the rules to get the
point across that they wish to express. What is important to note is that no
matter how abstract or expressive an artist may get, they must still rely on
certain qualities to be legible.
Otherwise their abstract letterforms will become random curves and lines
to the viewer.
As an advertising major, legibility and color was very
interesting to me because I will be designing print ads and posters with
various background colors. It is
important to develop the appropriate contrast between type and its
background. There have been times
when a student was giving a powerpoint presentation in class, and black text
onto a blue background. Because of
the low contrast, it was very difficult to read the slides making its
legibility almost nonexistent.
This chapter gave me a lot of interesting information that I will
undoubtedly use in my career in the future.
Chapter 5:
The typographic grid is rooted in the earliest written
forms. It was used as early as
3000 B.C. to Hieroglyphic writing on papyrus. The grid cannot be attributed to
one single person or era, but the mechanization of printing in Europe during the
fifteenth century led to structural conventions and typographic principles that
have survived for centuries.
The grid is specifically used for spacing in design. Spacing is an important factor in all
elements of design and typography. According to the book, divided space is perceived as a system
of proportional relationships. The
grid is also a system of proportions.
The golden section/ratio is very important with typography and has been
used since medieval times.
When reading books, articles online, or articles in a
newspaper, the grid is being used.
Column variation provides visual interest to what I am reading but there
is definitely structure required.
This chapter addressed the grid and structures that allow for organized
type.
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