IS 561:Typography in Book Design

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Focus:

Terms and Definitions
Measurement
Classification

Quotations

"The first thing your reader sees is not the title or other details of the page, but the overall pattern and contrast {the texture} of the page. The reader's eye scans the page first as a purely graphic pattern, then begins to track and decode type and page elements. The regular, repeating patterns established through carefully organized pages of text and graphics help the reader to quickly establish the location and organization of your information, and increase the overall legibility of your pages." ~ Yale Web Style Guide

"The most important thing about text type to keep in mind is that everything affects everything else. Whatever typeface you choose, it's the relationship of type size, letter spacing, word spacing, leading, line length, and margins that makes all the difference between something you can read comfortably and something you'll put aside for good." ~ John D. Berry

"Designers are as reliant on type as racing drivers are on their cars." ~ David Collier

"Letter forms change constantly, but differ very little."

"Principles of typography have changed little since the 1450s."

"Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form."

"Without fundamental and deep appreciation of the form of individual letters, no designer can be effective, any more than a bricklayer who does not know the heft of an individual brick can build a wall. Typography starts with the letter and builds from there. It is the basic unit of all printed communication."

"Letters are like people. They come in all shapes and sizes, with different personalities and charms and foibles, but all with the same basic reason and purpose for existence." ~ Dair

"Each letter ... constitutes in itself a self-contained element of book design. Its contours, proportions, the distribution of negative spaces, the shape of the positive areas contribute to the visual tensions which are necessary to give a form an expression. These properties become more evident when a letter is enlarged beyond normal size and thus is exposed as an individual design. A single letter can become a bold and welcome medium of typographic planning." ~ Herbert Bayer

"Type. In your lifetime you've seen billions of letters and millions of words, yet you might never have consciously noticed the type faces you read. Type is important because it is an unconscious persuader. It attracts attention, sets the style and tone of a document, colors how readers interpret the words, and defines the feeling of the page. Usually without the reader recognizing a particular typeface." ~ Daniel Will-Harris

"There are now more than forty thousand fonts on the market and that number is growing daily, which makes the search for the 'perfect' typeface only slightly more daunting than looking for that proverbial needle in a haystack." ~ Ilene Strizver

A Few Web Sites

ABC Typography: A Virtual Museum of Typography includes descriptions and examples of major type faces.

Briar Press is an "educational and practical resource for the letterpress printer."

Brief Introduction to Typography is short but helpful.

Counterspace is a website devoted to typography. Attractive and useful.

The Encyclopedia of Typography and Electronic Communication provides current definitions and examples.

Type Index.org provides a good introduction to the anatomy of letter forms.

Typies is an interesting blog devoted to typography and graphic design.

Redsun's Typeface Classification site provides several clear, helpful examples.

There are several good websites devoted to various aspects of printing and graphic design so well worth a further search.

A Few Books

Here are some standard works dealing with typography with an emphasis on older titles. Not all are held in Hodges Library.

Introduction

The book designer, here acting as a typographer, must select type that honors and elucidates the character of the text.  The type designer needs to possess three essential qualities:

  1. Vision = detect an idea or mood and make it manifest in the design.
  2. Imagination = ability to create and implement an innovative but appropriate design.
  3. Judgment = know what will work and what will not.

Each letter form has its own character. Type are really "microscopic bits of art." All were originally pictures of a real object [pictograms].Typefaces give the reader "a certain feeling,"  impression, or experience. These impressions may be:

Different impressions are appropriate for different books and for different audiences. Symmetrical layouts results in a static, but restful design. Such a design may easily become "pleasantly innocuous." Asymmetrical layouts are much more dynamic. but may be less pleasing for the reader. Contrast may be one of the most useful layout devices. Contrast may be achieved via change in type size, type weight, shape, position, or color. "Harmony is the opposite of contrast and relates to the unity of all parts in the design. A layout may contain harmony of shape, tone, color, and treatment."

The typographer must select type that prints well. This usually means:

"Type is on the page to serve the text. It should make the words easy to read and provide a suitable background. Type should not overpower the text." "There are no good and bad typefaces, there are appropriate and inappropriate typefaces. Think about your reader and the feeling that you want to convey, then choose a type face that fits (Daniel Will-Harris)." "Comfortable legibility is the absolute benchmark for all typography."

Selecting the type and the white space is "like framing a picture." For example, "the even structure of a well-proportioned and well-printed type page in English is something unique. Held together by the ascenders and descenders of the Roman type, not spotted by accents or heavied up by a surfeit of capitals as it would be in other languages, a type page in English deserves special appreciation. It looks like a well-knit, live, harmonious rug."

Considerations

The prime consideration is legibility. Type used in a book should be easy to recognize. A familiar shape may be best. The type should be easy for the eye to follow and not tiring for continuous reading. Letters should reproduce (print) well on the page. Type designs should be appropriate for the work, the subject and the audience.

Legibility begins with the clarity of the type design. Point size makes a difference. Ten to 12 points are best. Serifs make continuous reading easier. Type designs with extreme thick and thin contrasts are less readable.

Some Rules

Daniel Will-Harris suggests these rules. While typography is more of an art than a science, these seem reasonable:

Roman alphabet letters include seven types of letters:
  1. Capitals or upper case letters
  2. Lower case letters
  3. Numbers that sit on the baseline
  4. Punctuation signs
  5. Money symbols
  6. Mathematical signs
  7. Miscellaneous.

Letter form Parts

A Few Terms and Definitions

Alignment
The position of text within the page margins. Alignment may be flush left, flush right, justified, or centered.
Apex
The peak of the triangle in the A.
Arm
The arm is the unattached horizontal strokes as in F or E. The sloping stroke in the letter K is also an arm.
Ascender
The stroke of some lower case letters, such as b or d, which is higher than the x-height.
Axis
The real or imaginary straight line on which the letter rotates and the degree to which it deviates from the strictly vertical.
Bars
Bars are the horizontal strokes (arms) that connect with vertical strokes as in the H or A.
Baseline
The imaginary line on which characters rest in a line of type. Descenders go below this line.
Body
The main section of a book.
Body Size
Size of the type; measured from the end of the ascender to the end of the descender.
Body Text
The normal text in the book, usually between 9 and 12 point type.
Bowl
A bowl is a round or elliptical stroke that encloses a white space such as seen in the letter O, the letter g, or the letter B.
Capitals
Upper case letters like A, B, and C.
Cap Line
Line along the top of all capital letters or the height of these letters.
Color
Color is the visual tone or density of texture (the overall blackness of the page) in a typeset page. Color is a function of type selection, space between letters, space between words, and space between lines.
Composition
Process of assembling characters, words, lines, and paragraphs, including images, into blocks or pages for reproduction by printing.
Contrast
The difference in thickness between vertical and horizontal strokes in the letter.
Copy fitting
Process of adjusting the size and spacing of type to make it properly on the page.
Counter
A counter is the white space enclosed by the bowl [the part of the letter enclosing the white space] of a letter. It may be completely enclosed as in D or O or partially enclosed as in C or M. If counters are too closed or too open, legibility may be reduced. An internal counter is one that is completely enclosed as in the "a" or "e."
Crossbar
An arm that connects two stems. The horizontal strokes connecting vertical strokes.
Descender
The part of a lower case letter, such as g or q that extends beyond the baseline.
Dingbats or printer's flowers
A typographic character with no relation to the alphabet. These are symbols or small images. ☂ is a good example.
Display type
The larger text used in the book to call attention to some aspect of the content, often associated with headlines. While display type is any type larger than the running text, it is often 14 points or larger.
Ductus
The number, direction, and sequence of strokes that comprise a letter. In general, a simpler ductus is better.
Ear
Small finishing stroke or handle that projects from the upper right side of the bowl of many versions of the lower case g.
Em
A popular definition is that the em is a constant width blank space as wide as the letter m in whatever typeface is used . A more authoritative one is that the em is the square of the body in any size of type. The en is half an em. "EM" is based on the practice that no letter should be wider than the capital M.
Font
A set of 26 to 200 plus characters in one specific type face design such as 10 point Times Roman or 10 point Times Roman bold. Originally, the contents of the upper and lower case of metal type. A complete set of characters for one typeface in one size. Normally includes capitals, lowercase letters, small caps, lining figures, old style figures, superior figures, inferior figures, fractions, ligatures, punctuation, and some accented characters. Dingbats and monetary characters may also be included. In metal type, a font is a typeface of a particular size such as 10pt font of Caslon Oldstyle italic.
Font family
A type face design with several variants such as italic, bold, bold italic in addition to the normal type face. Helvetica is a type family.
Galley
A sheet containing a proof print of unpaginated copy, usually equivalent to about 3 normal pages.
Gutter
The vertical white space between type on pages in a two page spread.
Hairline
The thinnest stroke in a typeface with strokes of varying weight.
Italic
A separate class of letter forms constructed on a slanted axis [ 7 to 20 degrees] to imitate 16th Century handwriting. More cursive than Roman but less cursive than script. 
Justification
Justification is setting text lines to the same length so that the line up on the left and the right. Unjustified text lines are often called "ragged text."
Kerning
Kerning is modifying the space given to one or both sides of a letter to make it fit better with nearby letters and increase legibility and attractiveness.
Leading
The vertical distance of the baseline of one line to the baseline of the next from a solid setting. The white space between lines.
Letter space
Each letter occupies a block of space limited by horizontal and vertical boundaries. The height of this space is BODY HEIGHT and is divided into three areas with X-HEIGHT, ASCENT HEIGHT and DESCENT HEIGHT
Letter spacing
Adding thin spaces between letters to enhance appearance and legibility.
Ligatures
Ligatures are two or three characters linked as one so letters are physically connected. Examples might include fl, ffi, ffl, oe.
Lining figures
Numerals that line up on the baseline.
Lowercase
From the early printer practice of placing capital letters in the upper case and non-capital letters in a lower case of type.
Mean Line
The imaginary line that determines the height of lower case letters. Ascenders go above the mean line.
Modern Roman
Typefaces originally designed in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries. Thick and thin strokes contrast notably. Horizontal serifs. Bodoni is a good example.
Monotype
Typeface with uniform stroke thickness (no thicks or thins). Courier is an example.
Oblique
Roman text style with slanted characters to simulate italics.
Old Style Figures
Numerals which do not line up along the baseline.
Oldstyle Roman
Type face originally designed for carving on stone and used on rough surface papers during the first century or two of printing. Book Antiqua and Caslon are good examples.
Orphan
A word left over on the last line at the end of a paragraph or a single word or line of the beginning of a paragraph left at the bottom of a page.
Pica
Used to measure typefaces. A pica equals 12 points or about 1/6 of an inch.
Point
Used to measure type size. In North America and Britain, the point is .351 mm (72 points in an inch) while it is .376mm in Europe. Type faces with the same point size but different x-height will appear to be quite different.
Rule
A line with uniform thickness, often used to separate content.
Sans Serif
Letters without serifs. Relatively modern [19th Century]. Minimal contrast, especially in stroke width.  Helvetica is the best known example. Sometimes called Grotesque or Antique because of lack of serif. Futura and Optima are good recent examples. Arial is an earlier one.
Serifs
Serifs are the beginning or ending strokes added to one of the main strokes of the letter. These are usually short horizontal lines. "Serif designs, with their finishing strokes that extend from the ends of the characters, are more traditional and are generally considered to be more readable, since the serifs guide the eye from one character to the next. (Ilene Strizver).While there are several types of serif, the major varieties are slab, wedge or hair and these are bracketed or unbracketed. A hair serif ends in a line with minimum thickness. A thicker line becomes a slab. These may be thin or heavy. A wedge serif has a triangular shape. Bracketed serifs have a curve that looks like a shelf bracket.
Slab Serif [Egyptian
From Modern Roman, often used for advertising and promotional printed items. An early use was in a publication about Napoleon in Egypt. Equal thickness of all strokes. Rectangular serifs. Geometric or uniform appearance.
Slope
The angle of inclination of the stems and extenders of letters.
Small Capitals
Redrawn versions of the capital letters in a reduced size and NOT reduced versions of the capitals as with much digital type.
Square Serif or Egyptian or Slab Serif
Relatively heavy square or rectangular serifs and uniform strokes with minimal contrast.  Clarendon and American Typewriter are good examples.
Stems
Stems are the main straight strokes in a letter such as the I or H.
Strokes
The diagonal parts of a letter. Horizontal strokes crossing a vertical stroke are cross strokes.
Tail
The usually diagonal finishing stroke at the bottom of a letter such as a Q. The diagonal stroke on the R and the K would also be a tail.
Terminal
A terminal is a curved stroke as in the tail of a letter.
Text Block
The square or rectangle made by the lines of the text on the page.
Transitional Roman
Evolved in the 17th and 18th Centuries. Pointed serifs and less contrast between thick and thin strokes. Appear more mechanical and geometric. Baskerville is a good example.
Type face
A complete set of characters "drawn in the same way with the same weight" and collected under the same name.
Typography
The art of laying out a pleasing page using type.
Upper Case
Capital letters as originally found in the upper case that the typesetter worked from.
Weight
Weight is the amount of vertical thickness in the characters of a font. It is the ratio between the height of the letter and the thickness of the stroke. As the stroke becomes thicker, the letter appears heavier. Weights go from ultra light/thin to light to semi-light to book to normal to medium to semi-bold to bold to heavy to black to ultra-black. The weight determines the relationship between the black of the letterform and the "light" or white space that surrounds it.
Widow
The final line of a paragraph that appears at the top of the next column or page. To be avoided.
Width
The relationship between the vertical strokes and the distance between them. An average ratio for a normal letter is 80 percent so that 60 percent or less is condensed and 100 percent or more is expanded. Variants go from ultra-condensed to extra-condensed to condensed to plain to extended to wide, but most faces include only extended and condensed.
X-height
The distance between the baseline and the midline of an alphabet, usually the height of characters without extenders or descenders such as a, c, m, n, and x. Most of the readable content appears at this height so it needs to be legibile.

Type Measurement

The point is the major unit in measuring type. There are 72 points to an inch. There are 12 points to a pica and 6 picas to an inch. Points are measured from the top of an ascender to the bottom of the descender. An em is the width of the capital M while the en is the width of the capital N (normally one-half on an em). Both ems and ens are used for blank spaces such as indentations when setting type. Leading, the vertical space between lines, is measured in points with 2 points being a standard as in 10/12 (10 point type with 2 point leading).

Typeface classification

There are thousands of typefaces and new ones are being issued each day. In the digital age, it is relatively easy to create a new type face. While book designers and book typographers are usually conservative and use a few standard faces, there are many possibilities.

It is unlikely that anyone who does not work with type on a regular basis will be able to identify more than a few typefaces. There are more than 30 classification schemes and they do not always agree on major families or even the variables to be used in making a classification decision.

Some time faces are named for their creator. Examples include Baskerville, Bodini, Garamond, and Goudy. Some time faces are named for their use. For example, Times Roman was used by the Times of London and Century was designed for the Century magazine.

Variables to consider in classifying type usually include:

Common Classification Families

Roman

Roman type faces are serifed. These are familiar, traditional faces and are found in most books. The family traces its origin to the carved in stone Trajan lettering found on a Roman column. Roman letters have these characteristics:

Humanist

Sometimes called Venetian after the first Roman type designs in Venice in 1470. Originally designed to replicate Italian Renaissance scholarly handwriting. Characteristics include:

Italic

Italic was created in 1501 by the Venetian printer Aldus Manutius. He wanted a condensed typeface based on a cursive Neo-Caroline script. Thus, the letters slant about 78 degrees to the right. Such a compact script seemed ideal for inexpensive scholarly books. The italic type designs have:

Old Style

This family began in 1495 with Aldus Manutius and Grancesco Griffo in Venice. He was influenced by the carved Roman letters for the capitals and Carolingian minuscules script for the lower case letters. Two well-known Old Style designs are Garamond (1530 and quill based) and Caslon (1734 and flat brush based). Several of these designs remain popular today. Old Style type designs have:

Transitional

These reflect the 18th Century as a time when type designers began to rely on mathematical or scientific principles to create new designs. Baskerville is the most visible of these designs. Influenced by lettering of copperplate engraving. Characteristics include:

Modern

Modern faces began with Didot (1784, France). Because of improvements in technology, including paper production, composition, and printing, it was now possible to create a design with strong vertical emphasis and fine hairlines. Bodoni (1787, Italy) perfected this style. Characteristics include:

Sans Serif

The first sans serif design was created in 1816 by William Caslon IV, but this style did not become popular until the 1920s when typography was influenced by the "less is more" Bauhaus philosophy. Even today, sans serif faces suggest "modern" and "headlines." The major characteristic is simplicity and neatness since strokes are uniform and there are no serifs. Helvetica and Univers are the best known examples of this family. Characteristics include:

Egyptian or Slab Serif

The 19th Century industrial revolution created a need for large, bold type designs for advertising, posters, flyers, and the like. Slab serif designs with their strong, square finishing strokes worked well in grabbing attention. They represent a combination of Roman and sans serif elements. The first examples appeared in 1815, but were called Antique. Characteristics include:

Black letter

These designs replicate the look and feel of the type used by Gutenberg and those who followed him. Sometimes, these designs are called Old English or Gothic. Letters are dark and complex so they are not very legible. They have a antiquarian feel.

Script

While Aldus Manutius and others created type designs based on script, the first script design was created in 1643 in Paris. Since then, many script designs have been created. Letters are usually highly rounded, slant to the right, and are connected in some way. Formal Script has small x-height and long ascenders and descenders. Informal Script has letters that are looser and more casual.

Decorative

Once called "novelty faces," these designs are for display use and are inappropriate for text. Typically, letters look like something else. Examples might include acrobats, tree trunks, or fruit. A font is often limited to capital letters with only a few additional characters.

Layout Considerations

Lines

The typographer/designer must select the line length or measure. The range might be between 45 - 75 characters in a one column line. Forty characters are probably a minimum and 66 may be ideal. Longer measures will require more leading. Stanley Morison, the British typographer, argues that line length should be measured in words. "The average line of words which the reader's eye can conveniently seize is between ten and twelve."

Space between lines, "leading," improves legibility. The longer the text line, the more need for space between the lines.

While justification is associated with printed books, it can create problems with white rivers in the text or strings of hyphens on the right margin. Words may also be poorly hyphenated at the end of lines. The assets of justification are that it works well for continuous reading, and pages are similar and more comfortable for the reader. Justified text is more formal, but flush left and a ragged right may be more readable. Hyphenation is eliminated and word spacing is improved. Variety of line widths can be visually interesting.

Paragraphs

Lines are assembled into paragraphs based upon the intellectual content. The beginning of a new paragraph needs to be clearly indicated, usually by indention. By custom, the first paragraph on a page is not indented and the first word in that paragraph may be set in capital letters.

Columns

The white space defines the page. While most books have one column pages, text and professional books often use more than one column.

Discussion

Please review the typography part of the book critique guidelines available separately.

One

Be able to draw a large version of a letter found on the title page of a book and identify the parts of that letter useful for classification.

Last major revision: July 2007.


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