Font Designers

Living
1) Hans Eduard Meier (b. 1922)
Hans Meier designed the sans-serif typeface called Syntax in 1955. This font relates to the Renaissance humanist and it was used as a cast metal typesetting in the market until 1968.
2. Adrian Frutiger (b. 1928)
Adrian is a french typeface designer who designed numerous typefaces including the most well know, Univers. His other typefaces include, Serifa designed in 1967, Frutiger designed in 1975 and Avenir designed in 1988.
3. Howard Kettler (b. 1918)
Howard is most famous for designing the famous font, Courier in 1955. This font became icon when it was chosen as the font to be printed on a standardized typewritter.
4. Ed Denguiat (b. 1927)
A united states designer who worked at companies like esquire and photo-lettering inc.. In his work he is responsible for producing 600+ typefaces. For example, Souvenir, Tiffany, and Bauhaus.
5. Erik Spiekermann (b. 1947)
First designed the typeface, Meta, and later went on to become the directer of a type company, Fontshop, which he created.

Dead
1) Paul Renner (1878-1956)
Paul was inspired by geometry, which lead him to create the typeface Futura that was created using geometric figures.
2. Claude Garamond (1510-1561)
Claude Garamond is know for cutting Greek type, which Robert Slimback later went on to be use to create the 1989 Adobe Garamond.
3. Bruce Rogers (1870-1957)
In 1914 he created the typeface Centaur, first by hand in ink and then later drawing in italics. He was also known for creating bibliophile books.
4. Stanley Morison (189-1967)
Original creator of the Times New Roman and co-founder of the Fleuron Societ, where he published and edited The Fleuron, a journal of typography.
5. William Caslon (1692-1766)
William Caslon, inspired by the old classic typefaces in the Netherlands, went on to create and name a typeface after himself, Caslon.

(used a Graphic Designed Referenced book)

30 Minute Type Excersise

This was a 30 minute exercise we had to do for my Visc 202 class. We were given 30 minutes to find text in our surroundings. We used the school news paper and we folded the edges to create the letters.

Visc 202 Questions

Adrian Frutiger:

Adrian is a famous typeface designer from the 20th century, who is responsible for creating the typeface Univers and Frutiger. Univers is a unique type in that it is a tight type family that had different weights of type and were classified by numbers describing this weight. This type has even strokes, large x-height which helps with legibility in both big and small sizes.

Universe Grid:

The Univers grid was introduced along with the typeface in 1957. It represents the different labels for the typeface instead of writing out bold, heavy, light, ect. The numbers refer to the character weight, number 2 represents the thinnest weight the weight increases as the number increases. Number 3 is the widest with 9 being the most condensed. Even numbers mean the typeface is italic and odd numbers mean it is roma.

Example:

Letter Exercise 2

Typography Definitions

Weight
Define: density or the lightness of the individual letterforms.
Example: Light vs. Bold text

Width
Define: How wide a letterform becomes from extending or compressing.
Example: Narrow, wide, condensed, extended and normal.

Style
Define: Level of boldness or kind of letter within a typeface.
Example: Light, bold, condensed, italic, small capitals or a series of symbols adapted to suit the particular typeface.

Font
Define: It is a collective name for a typeface but actually referring only to a single style.
Example: Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Courier, and Georgia.

Typeface
Define: A complete alphabet including letters, numbers punctuation marks, accents, special reference marks etc.
Example: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890


X-Height
Define: The height of a lowercase letter 'x'. It is an important feature because it (and letters of a similar height) largely determine the apparent size of a typeface.
Example: x x  x x x


Cap Height
Define: Height in millimiters of capital letter in a particular typeface.
Example: P...(height)...ace

Leading
Define: Used more in the days of metal type, the extra white that was added between the lines of the metal type in the form of strips of lead or lead alloy.
Example: (+1) or (+2) depending on the amount of extra points should be added between the lines.

Letter spacing (tracking)
Define: The amount of white spacing between letters.
Example: goat  g o a t   g   o   a   t

Type is traditionally measured in points.

Measurements
1 inch = 72 points
1 mm = 2.8346567 points
1 picas = 1/2 points

Point
Define: The unit used to measure letterforms.

Pica
Define: The printers unit of measurement that is equal to 12 points.

How many points in an inch?
72 points in 1 inch

If a letter set is 36 points about how many inches tall is it?
1/2 inch tall

How many picas in 1 inch?
6 postscript picas

How many points in a pica?
12 points in 1 pica

VISC 204: Project 1A

Seahorse

Visual Description
Rough
Boney
Tough
Spiky
Colorful
Neutral
Long Nose
Curly Tail
Pouch
Horns
Small Eyes
Long
Tall
Fins
Snout
Dots
Brown
Yellow
Red
White
Straight
Curly
Straight
Curly
Stripes
Multicolored
Small
Horse
Fish
Scaly
Ribbed
Trunk
Skinny
Rounded Belly
Transparent
Fragile
Dainty
Camouflage
Rigid
Bumpy
Brittle
Monster
Hybrid
Flexible
Dirty
Delicate
Jagged
Sharp
Spiny
Rocky
Uneven

Emotional Description
Tame
Quiet
Reserved
Social
Protective
Shy
Timid
Remote
Private
Gentle
Happy
Calm
Mellow
Partnership
Weak
Willing
Adaptable
Excitable
Determined
Coupled
Silent
Inhibited
Reluctant
Peaceful
Tranquil
Private
Relaxed
Tranquil
Undisturbed
Soothing
Restful
Content
Twosome
Lovable
Friendly
Interested
Natural
Warm
Kindly
Pleasant
Casual
Security
Companion
Protect
Weak
Meek
Feeble

Sound
Whoosh
Quiet
Click
Ambient Noise
Bubble
Silent
Faint
Voiceless
Whispering
Quick
Brief
Swift
Sparse
Hushed
Mute
Soft
Brisk
Rapid
Infrequent
Few
Short
Sudden
Hurried

Other
Cute
Small
Delicate
Sweet
Pokey
Rough
Wet
Scaly
Colorful
Bubbly
Interesting
Unique
Calm
Peaceful
Horse
Curly
Long Nose
Long
Spiky
Ribbed
Flexible
Round
Belly
Sharp
Dainty
Delicate

Top 10 things they never taught me in design school by Michael McDonough

I would like to learn more about what employers look for in portfolios and how to make your portfolio stand out from everyone else's.

Hand drawn ABC's