[Modified from Jostens Yearbook Avenue]
Type is a vital design element.
THERE ARE FOUR BASIC CATEGORIES OF TYPE.
Serif styles have tiny “feet” or serifs, at the end of each letter stroke. Common styles are Times Roman New Century Schoolbook, Palatino and Garamond.
San Serif styles (“sans” is French for “without”) don’t have “feet” or serifs. Common styles are Futura, Helvetica and Avant Garde.
Script styles look like handwriting or cursive writing. Avoid using all-caps for script typefaces.When using script and decorative typefaces, use these for emphasizing only key word(s) in a primary headline.
Decorative styles, sometimes called novelty type almost look like artwork. Avoid using script and decorative typefaces smaller than 24 point.
TYPE IS IDENTIFIED BY FONT NAME. A font refers to a particular design of type such as Times and Helvetica. Designers over the years have created thousands of fonts, each with its own characteristics and some with very creative names.
A FONT FAMILY OFFERS DIFFERENT FACES. Within a single font, there are often a number of faces. Common faces are bold, italic, light, book, condensed and extended. Less common faces are thin, heavy oblique and others with prefixes such as extra and ultra. Some fonts, especially decorative styles offer only one face. Other fonts, such as Helvetica offer dozens of faces.
TYPE IS MEASURED IN POINTS. Type size is measured in points. A font’s size refers to the number of points from the highest point, the ascender, to the lowest point, the descender. There are 72 points to an inch.
Keep in mind that since fonts are measured from the descender to the ascender, some fonts are more readable at a small size than others.
SIZE COMMUNICATES IMPORTANCE. By using different point sizes, contrast is achieved.
Type decisions should be based on the type function and readability.
TYPE DESIGN SHOULD BE READER-FRIENDLY. Type design decisions should always be made to help readers. Also, if type design calls too much attention to itself, the message might be overlooked. A conservative font might communicate content more effectively than a wild decorative font.
ALIGNMENT of text is important for both design and readability. There are four types of alignment.
Media arts 10 