1/10/14
Research On Typefaces
Garamond
- Garamond was designed and created by Claude Garamond in 1532. Garamond, a famous Parisian publisher, was one of the best type designers during the 1500s. His inspiration for the lowercase letters were Angelo Vergecio's handwriting, which later on, Garamond refined his typeface and added his own concepts as he developed his skills as a punch cutter. The typeface is an old-style serif typeface with different interpretations and revivals of the typeface. Overall it is considered to have distinctive representations of French renaissance style and is easily recognisable by its elegance and readability.
Bodoni
- Bodoni was designed by Giamattista Bodni in 1788. He aimed at creating an even stronger contrast between thick and thin elements and a more vertical, slightly condensed, upper case but taking them to a more extreme conclusion. Some characteristics of Bodoni include the square dot over the letter “i”, and a double storey “a”. The capital “Q’s” tail is centered under the figure, and the uppercase “J” has a slight hook. Generally, the main identifying characteristic of the typeface is it’s an easily recognizable Romantic typeface with a vertical stress and slight serif bracketing. Being considered one of the first modern typefaces, it is widely used for displays, posters, headlines and logos; especially in the fashion scene. Bodoni was also part of the modern 18th century fashion that grew for faces with a stronger contrast between the thick and thins, unbracketed serifs, and strong vertical stress, whereas all the older type faces became to be known as old style. Giamattista Bodoni characterized the font by its simplicity and rejected old-style letters by introducing clear and simple type.
Century Expanded
- Century is a family of typefaces, Century Roman was originally designed by Linn Boyd Benton in 1894, but it was Benton's son Morris Fuller Benton who adapted this to meet the standards of the time, creating Century Expanded in 1900. Century series include Century Expanded (1900), Century Italic + Century Bold (1905), Century Bold Condensed (1909) and Century Bold Extended (1910). Century is widely used due to its exceptional legibility, the open forms of the letters allow for quick recognition, so much so that the Supreme Court of the United States of America requires that briefs be typeset in Century family type.
Futura
- German typeface designer Paul Renner designed Futura in the mid-1920′s. Its geometric shapes were inspired by the Bauhaus, the German arts & crafts movement. Its characteristics include simple geometric forms (near-perfect circles, triangles and squares) and is based on strokes of near-even weight, which are low in contrast. This is most visible in the almost perfectly round stroke of the o. In the 1950’s and 1960’s it was commonly used in headlines and subheads in advertising, in addition Futura (and its variants) have become an extremely popular typeface for countless corporate logos, commercial products, films and advertisements for years, including Louis Vuitton, Red Bull and Domino's pizza. In 1969 the Apollo 11 astronauts left a commemorative plaque on the moon and its text was set in Futura.
Times New Roman
- Times New Roman was created in 1931 by Victor Lardent who was commisioned by the newspaper 'The Times.' It is still frequent in book typography, particularly in mass-market paperbacks. It has also been influential in the subsequent development of a number of other serif faces, both before and after the start of the digital-font era. A notable example is Georgia, designed by Matthew Carter.
Helvetica
- Helvetica was designed by Max Miediger in 1957. The font design was based on grotesques of the late 19th century. It is a very popular font as it is easy on the eyes by its use of straight lines for the alphabet and numbers, its scalable, and there are no flairs or embellishments. Helvetica is often used as the typeface for corporate identities such as American Airlines, American Apparel, Comme des Garçons, Evian, Intel, Lufthansa and Nestlé, largely due as it remains legible when in motion, one reason it’s popular for signage and automaker and airline logos.
About Me
When are you happiest?
When I'm having a good time with the people closest to me, for instance going out such as on a night out with friends, chilling in bed with my boyfriend or watching tv and having dinner with my family or on holiday!
What is your greatest fear?
The people close to me dying
What is your happiest memory?
Exploring South East Asia and being surrounded by absolute beauty
What was your most embarrassing moment?
In Year 4 in primary school when me and my friend were caught by the teacher for passing notes, which the teacher then read out in front of the entire class, my first real experience of being truly embarrassed
What makes you unhappy?
When the people surrounding me are unhappy
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
A teacher, I always used to play teachers and create registers
What is your guilty pleasure?
Chocolate, I eat way to much of it
What is your favourite hobby?
Dancing
Where is your favourite place?
Paris, the islands off Thailand and in bed with my boyfriend
Which Typeface suits me?
- Futura
I believe Futura is the typeface that best suits aspects of my personality as I really love contemporary works, and Futura has characteristics of modern, geometric shapes. It was based on the arts and craft movement Baudaus, which was the idea of bridging the gap between art and industry by combining crafts and fine arts, which associates strongly to me as a graphic designer. In addition Futura was designed while art movements such as Constructivism and Neo-Plasticism were emerging, which both move away from traditionalism and focus on geometric shapes and gribs, connected to the typeface as Futura uses simple geometric forms such as near perfect circles, triangles and squares. Therefore I feel that some of the older more traditional typefaces don't suit me as I like this modern, contemporary style. Futura has become an extremely popular typeface for countless corporate logos, commercial products, films and advertisements for years, including Louis Vuitton, Red Bull, Absolut Vodka and Domino's pizza. This is largely due to the typeface in my opinion being so clean, sleek, legible and stylish without any overt style, I think the typeface strikes a great balance of functional without being too specific or unapproachable. It maintains elegance and personality without losing credibility. Also in 1969 the Apollo 11 astronauts left a commemorative plaque on the moon and its text was set in Futura, which is the greatest achievement any typeface can really get!
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