THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

Lettering and Font Design

Font design is a process in which a designer creates an alphabet (including special characters and punctuation and all of the goods) to be used over and over again. Helvetica, Univers, Memphis, these are all fonts that were designed by designers. But lettering is more specific to the assignment, the letters will only ever serve one purpose: to exist in that word in that design. The letters themselves will differ from other letters, purely for an aesthetic choice. These letters can never be used over and over again, for they only have one purpose.

As Jessica Hische put it, "As a letterer, when I’m hired to draw the word 'holiday' I don’t first draw the entire alphabet in the style I wish, then position the letters to spell out the word." 

LETTER FOUNTAIN // SUMMARY

Small Capitals, Ligatures, Diphthongs, and Logotypes

Small caps are specially designed capitals. They are smaller than capitals, but larger than the x-height of the lowercase, yet possess the same weight as them. Because they are close to the same size as the lowercase letters, and share the same weight, they are preferred in bodies of text because they are less demanding. 

Ligatures are the combo characters that eliminate the unsightly overlap of neighboring letters. Logotypes are combo characters that are less noticeable. Best example of a logotype is an ampersand. It represents the Latin word, "et", which means "and". "&" is a combination of "e" and "t". Diphthongs are letter combinations to help the reader with the pronunciation of the word. 

Modular

Modular typefaces were designed to accommodate the printers of those days. These typefaces are incredibly simple and basic in terms of design. Irregular spacing between letters is common due to the nature of the modular method.

The First Capitals

The first capitals can be accredited to Ancient Rome. Using a square base and other geometric shapes to guide them, Romans would then carve the letters into stone. This gives them the classic weight and serif that we all recognize today. But since it was composed of only capitals, relied on a square base system, and several letters weren't introduced to the alphabet yet, it made it nearly impossible to add variation to the typeface. 

L'histoire se répète

With advancement of technology, legibility of the text became increasingly important. Helvetica was introduced in the 50s, a highly popular sans serif font. Although it is a popular font, it is was labeled as "cold". Typographers began to focus on the negative space and the balance of the letter space and the page space. Through such focus, Adrian Frutiger created a typeface with more expression for the Charles de Gaulle airport. This font later became known as Frutiger. Frutiger and several other young designers released fonts that harked back to the first capitals of Rome. 

The Lowercase Letter

There were no lowercase letters in Roman type, therefor there were no real examples to look to or modify. But with the quill, we start to see the development of lowercase letters. Lowercase letters are typically thinner than capitals. While only slightly thinner than their counterparts, this contrast still gives the emphasis to the capital. This contrast between capital and lowercase letters can be seen in serif fonts, as well as sans serif fonts. 

Classification

Each letter can be grouped based on its construction and form. Both capitals and lowercase have their own break down of classification. 

What you Measure

Type is designed using a mixture of guides and geometric shapes. Over the centuries, type design has been broken down into an art. The letter shape in contrast to other letters of the typeface, as well as the distance between each letter, has been mathematically figured out. Spacing is important for each letter to have the space it needs to read, but the spaces only have to appear the same. The letters need to be close enough together to be easily read, but not too close. The white space is also just as important as the letter itself. As Fred Smeijers wrote, "Its a balance between black and white." The form of the letter is important for readers, because it shouldn't be distracting from the content. Antique Olive is a typeface that is either hated or loved. It breaks rules, but maintains incredible legibility. In comparison to its competition, its x-height is significantly larger. This make the ascenders and descenders shorter, and compensation in the lack of room leads to the shifting of the crossbar of the "f".

Digital Aesthetics

In the digital age, it has become increasingly easier to create your own "digital language". Creating ones own publication, or form of communication, or alphabet now has no limits. Two movements had their impact on design and type. The first was a classic movement, where refinements can be seen. The other came in the 90s, when people were free-handing type and teaching themselves to design.

Punk and Graffiti 

In due time, graffiti began to become a form of communication and self expression. Recognized by designers for its free form and use of color, it became an inspiration to redefining type as we know it. Experimentation began, and typefaces were being mixed up and combined. A total disregard for function became a mindset in several designers. Photocopying, cutting and pasting, and many other ways to make type for expressive became popular methods of experimentation. 

The Magazine

More and more artists and designers were able to create magazines. These forms of expression allowed for the experimentation of type, as well as a way to communicate new and radical ideas. As these independent magazines began showing up, designers began to publish and share their new and strange compositions, frankenstein typefaces, and newfound creativity.

5 DEAD DESIGNERS

Massimo Vignelli

Vignelli was born in Milan, Italy in 1931. He grew up and eventually studied architecture and design in an academy in his home town. In his career he traveled between New York and Milan, working for his own design studio as well as Unimark. He designed brands, packaging, wayfinding, and many other forms of designs. He is recognized for his use of Helvetica, simple and clean designs, and his ability to design anything. Vignelli is responsible for the American Airlines logo, New York Subway wayfinding, Knoll logo, and Bloomingdales logo. 

Herb Lubalin

Lubalin is a graphic designer born in American in 1918. Through out his career he proved time and time again that type could have character. His use of type to bring his work to life is seen in his logo for Mother & Child or Families. He worked for many companies such as Eros Magazine, Avant Garde Magazine, the Post Office, the list goes on. He has been a designer and a teacher, leaving in his memory an impressive portfolio.

Max Huber

A Swiss born designer, Huber's design grew up with Avant Garde. He studied in Switzerland and moved to Milan to escape the war. When the war spread, he returned back to Switzerland. In both countries he was able to create immensely colorful, future like design. His portfolio expands over all types of graphic design, and some of his most famous work were his posters. He captured movement through type, photography, color, and graphics.

Josef Muller-Brockmann

Easily recognizable among designers from his era, Brockmann truly did have a unique style. His simplicity and attention to communication paired with the grid helped push his posters further. Josef Muller-Brockmann was born in Switzerland, and studied there as well. He and several other designers were responsible for creating the grid, which revolutionized design. It provided a tool that allowed designers to better create balanced and cohesive designs. 

F. H. K. Henrion

Born in Germany, Henrion became one of the best known U.K. Graphic Designers. He defined professional graphic design, and produced a large portfolio of work during his career. He is known for "founding the corporate identity", and is recognized as one of the most influential designers in the world. During WWII he was responsible for several posters relating to awareness and advertisements. His designs had longevity, which is proof of his  success as a designer.

Sources

Massimo Vignelli

·      http://thinkingform.com/#/2015/01/10/thinking-massimo-vignelli-01-10-1931/

·      http://www.vignelli.com/awards/massimo.html

·      http://www.knoll.com/nkdc/images/inspiration/INSP-Louve-by-Vignelli.jpg

·      http://www.designishistory.com/1960/massimo-vignelli/

·      http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/05/Massimo-Vignelli-works_dezeen_468_5.jpg

·      http://analogue76.com/media/images/blog/24_jun_14_subway.jpg

·       

Josef Muller Brockmann

·      http://www.designishistory.com/1940/joseph-mueller-brockmann/

·      http://www.noupe.com/design/josef-muller-brockmann-principal-of-the-swiss-school.html

·      http://www.designishistory.com/images/brockmann/beethoven.jpg

·      http://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/PosterConnection/29/302129/H2180-L21470043.jpg

·      https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4009/4495123601_6a6166e5e5.jpg

·       

Max Huber

·      http://www.iconofgraphics.com/Max-Huber/

·      http://thinkingform.com/2011/06/05/thinking-max-huber-06-05-1919/

·      http://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/max-huber

·      http://images.veerle.duoh.com/uploads/design-article-images/coppa-la-rinascete.jpg

·      http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/idea3.jpg

·      https://wadejohnston1962.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/huber-1.jpg

·       

Herb Lubalin

·      http://www.designishistory.com/1960/herb-lubalin/

·      http://www.aiga.org/medalist-herblubalin/

·      https://hvw8.com/news/2010/11/herb-lubalin/

·      http://www.aiga.org/uploadedImages/AIGA/Content/Inspiration/aiga_medalist/MD_LubalinH_Logos_640.jpg

·      http://www.thefoxisblack.com/blogimages//herb-lubalin-poster.jpg

·       

F.H.K. Henrion

·      https://uniteditions.com/shop/fhk-henrion

·      http://www.designboom.com/design/fhk-henrion-the-complete-designer-01-02-2014/

·      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Kay_Henrion

·      https://feedtim.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/graphis-54fhk-henrion.jpg

·      http://www.robertlpeters.com/news2013/wp-content/uploads/f-h-k-henrion_poster2.jpg

·      http://thinkingform.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/f-h-k-henrion_poster3.jpg

ADRIAN FRUTIGER

Adrian Frutiger is a Swiss born typeface designer who developed two popular fonts: Univers and Frutiger. During his time as a typeface designer, he worked to digitalize typefaces and to move away from the traditional type settings. As he developed his font, he became involved with the transition from traditional to phototypesetting’s and began to create a type family.

Like Jan Tschichold, Adrian Frutiger started pursuing his career rather young. Even though he had a love for sculpture, he was encouraged into print by his father and his teachers. At the age of 16, he was working as a compositor with a printer. Following this position, he went to school to further his education of type. He returned to school after working again as a compositor, and studied typefaces.

Through out his career in type, Frutiger produced several typefaces still put into practice today. He designed the wayfinding signage for the Paris Metro as well as for the Charles de Gaulle airport, in which he designed a new typeface. As type changed, metal, phototypesetting, and digital typesetting, Frutiger followed. He produced type for the new technology, as well as reimagined his former typefaces to work on a screen.

Univers, arguably Frutigers most successful font, paved the way for type families. Univers has unifying qualities that tie together each fashion of the typeface, whether italic, bold, thick, or thin. The consistency of the type family was revolutionary, and stood out in print among others. The Univers type family is broken down and organized with numbers to show weight and width. The unifying elements, and consistency between forms, made Univers unique.

The Univers grid is a table made by Frutiger to display all of the faces of the type family. It neatly organizes and demonstrates the relation, and difference, of each numbered face. The grid creates a gradient of type, starting with bold and ending with the narrowest and thinnest font.