type3kcad

This blog was established for the Typography 3 students of Kendall College of Art + Design.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

did you know?

i didn't:




And of course, then, consequently:


Tuesday, September 26, 2006

type on the web

Originally established in 1886, Linotype (www.linotypelibrary.com), one of the foremost manufacturers and distributors of type today has over 4,000 typefaces in Macintosh and PC formats ranging from traditional classics, non-Latin type and humanist calligraphic fonts to cutting-edge techno fonts of their Face2Face collection.

A complete online catalog is available with a searchable database and type can be purchased and downloaded online as well.

MonotypeCelebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the United Kingdom-based traditional foundry Monotype (www.monotype.com) offers purchase and download capability to its renowned Monotype Classic Fonts Library of text and display faces, many of which are unavailable from other sources.

PostScript innovators Adobe Systems’s type Web site (www.adobe.com/type) is one of the more extensive type resources on the Web. Included is a complete catalog of Adobe type products and the Adobe Type library, the highest-quality PostScript versions of licensed typefaces from traditional foundries such as Berthold, Linotype, Monotype as well as their own line of Adobe Originals typefaces. The site also has features on new releases, sections on using type and type design itself.

AdobeAdobe has also provided an online version of their Adobe Type Browser®, previously included on their Type On Call® cd-rom. Type Browser not only allows users to preview type styles before buying, but also includes a type classification section with helpful information on using type, a database of type designers and type histories, plus listings of typefaces by family, package number, classification or designer. Unfortunately, the Browser only allows one to preview type sample pages onscreen. If you try to print a sample page you will get a jagged bitmap version. However, Type Browser itself is an extremely useful online tool that complements Adobe’s printed type materials such as their quarterly catalog/publication Font & Function. Copies can be ordered online free of charge.

I found this online and I was wondering what you think about type on the web. How they use, sell, or give away type.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

smilejason

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Love, Travis and Tammy

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Global Type

In a recent Computer Arts magazine there was an article titled “Global Type”, about the rise of non-Latin typefaces and the challenges that go into creating them. I found it extremely interesting, as I had never realized the complications that go into making fonts that don’t use our 26-letter alphabet. I thought I’d highlight some points about three of the languages, in hopes you don’t take for granted how easily we can create a font, in addition to the mass amounts we have to choose from. I know its long… so feel free to read one, two, or all.

ARABIC
Arabic can be difficult to read, tough to write, and problematic to design. The alphabet is made of 28 letters, 17 that are basic forms, and the rest are variations made by adding diacritic marks, or dots, above or below the characters. It is read from right to left, there is no uppercase or lowercase, and no difference between written and printed letters. All of this makes Arabic difficult to design for print. Currently the trend is to Latinize Arabic typefaces, by cutting up pieces of Latin typefaces and putting them together to make up Arabic characters.

CYRILLIC
There are six Slavic languages that use Cyrillic: Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian. The alphabet consists of 33 letters (11 vowels, 20 consonants, and two silent letters) and is closely based on Greek. Cyrillic has similarities with Latin letters, but there is little distinction between upper and lowercase. Lowercase letters are essentially small capitals, and in the absence of Roman and italic letterforms, the type fonts are classified as ‘upright’ and ‘cursive.’ Cursive letters are entirely different in shape to their upright equivalents. Modern fonts are closely related to Latin typefaces of the same family, and that will only continue to grow with influence from the western countries.

DEVANAGARI
Devanagari is the script used for Hindi, which is the primary language of Central Government in India. It is read from left to right, and each letter always represents the same sound. There are, however, two major difficulties: most consonants can be joined to form combinations, and vowels are written differently depending on their position in a word and whether they are followed by a vowel or a consonant. Typefaces produced for metal composition were unable to kern, accommodate subscripts and superscripts, and had limited character sets. The result was poor quality illegible typography. The design of a new Devanagari typeface, for filmsetting, was the first step towards legible type. Devanagari was an early entrant to PostScript complete with contextual forms and a huge array of subscripts and superscripts.

Monday, September 11, 2006

you dont know what you've got until it's gone..

In this world we are bombarded with a huge amount imagry and typography everyday. From television, to packaging, from my t shirt to my bag of m&ms, everything is branded, labeled then advertised with an image and supporting typography or vice versa.

Now imagine an environment where you can only choose one. Image or Typography. Which do you choose? It's a hard choice, but if you had to pick one to live with, without the other, what do you pick? Consider that when i say one or the other, i'm not only talking about design, i'm talking about in one world photography and all forms of imagry do not exist, and in the other world writers do not exist because there is no form of written communication.

Food for thought..
What would packaging look like with only typography or only imagry?

How could books be read using only photos?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but is it enough alone to get the point across?

Can typography stand alone in a world without photography? Are phrases enough to persuade us to buy a product? or vice versa?

Could typography be the image itself?

Could an image convey a message strong enough to support clear communication?

What would text books be like? How about the newspaper?

How would the internet function only using symbols and imagry?

In the world of image, how would you choose to communicate without the use of a telephone?

Do you appreciate one more than the other? why?

Do they have no choice other than to co-exist? why?



Post your reaction.

Monday, September 04, 2006

What the hell is type, and why am I taking this course?

These are the current thoughts that swim in my head.

Along with:

What kind of font to use? How big? How should those letters and words be spaced, shaped, aligned..manipulated....?
Well I guess I'm still figuring out what type is,
and how to use it better in my design.
(which I'm sure is part of your aim as well)
But I don't believe I'll ever find the answer,
it's sort of an ongoing...thing.....

So.
I ask this question,
expecting a profound answer.

Why are you taking this class?

With your answer in mind, I suggest you keep that in the front of your mind whilst designing these projects for class.
For I believe this will help us answer our own questions and get the most out of class, not just help us pass the class, because that's bullshit.

We should all post under this subject, WHY we are taking this class, and what we want to get out of it. With that done, we should all try to push eachother as much as possible. FIN.