Typography
Overview
Typography is the one part of graphic design that is present in nearly all of it, and the part that separates work that looks designed from work that looks assembled. Most of it is invisible: the reader notices a badly set page immediately and a well-set page not at all. The craft is in decisions of a fraction of a millimetre, repeated thousands of times, that add up to whether somebody keeps reading.
This note works from the letterform outwards: the parts of a character and why they matter, the families type divides into and what each is good at, spacing at every scale from the gap between two letters to the space between two columns, hierarchy built with as few signals as possible, and type used expressively as image. You will set the same words several ways and watch the meaning change.
Objectives
- Arrange and manipulate type, traditional and non-traditional, to communicate ideas and create visual interest
- Use a range of typographic materials, tools, techniques and elements such as letter forms, fonts and typefaces, digital and non-digital methods
Lesson Note
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Lesson Evaluation
Congratulations on completing the lesson on Typography. Now that youve explored the key concepts and ideas, its time to put your knowledge to the test. This section offers a variety of practice questions designed to reinforce your understanding and help you gauge your grasp of the material.
You will encounter a mix of question types, including multiple-choice questions, short answer questions, and essay questions. Each question is thoughtfully crafted to assess different aspects of your knowledge and critical thinking skills.
Use this evaluation section as an opportunity to reinforce your understanding of the topic and to identify any areas where you may need additional study. Don't be discouraged by any challenges you encounter; instead, view them as opportunities for growth and improvement.
- Two typefaces set at the same point size look like different sizes. The usual explanation is that they differ in: A) Kerning B) x-height C) Leading D) Measure Answer: B
- What is measure? A) The vertical distance between baselines B) The length of a line of type, workably around 45 to 75 characters C) The space between a specific pair of letters D) The height of a capital letter Answer: B
- Rivers appear in a block of text mainly because: A) The typeface has small counters B) Justified setting with a narrow measure and no hyphenation forces uneven word spacing C) The leading is too generous D) The text is ranged left Answer: B
- Which face is a didone, recognisable by extreme contrast between hairline and thick strokes and flat unbracketed serifs? A) Garamond's sixteenth-century types B) Bodoni's late eighteenth-century types C) Gill Sans D) Futura Answer: B
- Why should a designer never horizontally scale a typeface to make it fit? A) It increases the file size B) It destroys the designed relationship between thick and thin strokes C) It prevents the type being printed in spot colour D) It removes the kerning pairs from the font Answer: B
Available on the Green Bridge App
Download the Green Bridge CBT app on your phone or computer to access full lesson notes, practice questions, and more.
Available on the Green Bridge App
Download the Green Bridge CBT app on your phone or computer to access full lesson notes, practice questions, and more.
Recommended Books
Practice Mock Questions
Want to practice mock questions on Typography? Download the Green Bridge CBT app to access mock questions and full practice assessments for this topic.
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