Typography - Back to basics

Before the widespread use of computers, individual metal type was used. The capital letters were kept in the 'uppercase' and the small letters in the lower case.

Serif Typeface

The serif on each letter comes from the time when letters were carved out of stone. Widely used in books and newspapers, easier to read a serif typeface for a prolonged period of time.


Sans Serif Typeface

Designed by Eric Gill the sculptor, this is one of the best known Sans Serif typefaces. Used by the BBC and the Underground.


Script Typeface

Designed to look like handwriting and have a more elaborate uppercase letters, never to be used as uppercase only.

Spacing

Flat sides of the capitals fit together

Rounder sides of the 'o' look odd measured out

Have to space out letters visually to make it look right

Circular letters such as 'O' sit slightly above and below the base line - more visually pleasing.

Descenders such as 'g' and 'y' fall below the baseline whereas the ascender 'f' rises above, meeting the capital letter height.

Using the main theme of my project, I experimented with different fonts.

Brushscript

Academy Engraved

Blackmoor

 Blair

Shell Roundhouse