Script Flashcards
script
a repertoire of defined symbols whose meaning is based on agreements forged over the centuries. recognizing/identifying signs is essential if the reading process is to function.
reading
conscious perception and recognition of meaning and also subconscious perception of the script that conveys the meaning. when reading, our eyes either stand still for a moment, fixed on a particular point and its surroundings, or they make short, jumping movements (saccades), lasting 20-35 milliseconds (about 7-9 letters)
legibility
depends largely on how it designed formally and aesthetically, and how the script is handled in terms of design/typography
body/continuous text
long, coherent text. the content / general context can be grasped rapidly and without difficulty.
level of response to typeface
(influenced by dimensions, organization, accentuation) determined by typographer’s intention, but mostly text’s purpose and function.
text typeface
(text type, basic type, body type)
characteristic style (ductus)
determines the image of a typeface, its character. reflected in its lines (originally determined by way the writer handled pen)
headline typeface
(display face, title face) usually large, specific function is to demonstrate presence. legibility decreases, pictorial quality increases.
cuneiform
(3,000 BC) first script. originally developed to write the Sumerian language of southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). contains laws, contracts, social communications.
Phoenician alphabet
(1200 BC) first recorded alphabet, development triggered by the Egyptian system of hieroglyphs. the 22 phonetic consonants were adopted by the Greeks, who added vowels.
Capitalis Monumentalis (Capitalis Quadrata)
the basis for modern capital letters in our Latin alphabet
Caroline Miniscule
(800 AD) origin of lower case letters in our Latin alphabet. became a reliable script for correspondence that could be read quickly under Charlemagne.
Gothic Miniscule
developed from Caroline Miniscule, narrow script that could be written quickly, consisting of letters that were very close together with broken lines and grid-like structure.
Johannes Gutenberg
1440, invented the casting of movable type: the process of putting individual letters together to compose and reproduce printable pages. forged path from written to set script (hot metal setting).
Textura
font Gutenberg used to print his Bible (1456)
Roman typeface
developed as a new font in Venice, basis for out printed Latin alphabet. brought upper/lowercase together for the first time (Roman capitals for upper, Caroline Miniscule for lower).
Arabic numerals
added to our present alphabet during Renaissance, replaced Roman numerals when decimal system introduced.
Garamond
Roman typeface by typecutter Claude Garamond. small degree of contrast between hairline and main stroke, the soft line, and the left leaning axis of the rounded forms.
transitionals
greater contrasts between hairlines and main strokes, the axes of the rounded letters are less diagonal, and the serifs finer. bridge the gap between old and modern typefaces.
modern typefaces
show the influence of copperplate engraving, which made the extremely marked contrast between hairline and main stroke possible. vertical type axis, handwriting line disappears. Didot, Bodoni.
slab-serif faces (Egyptian faces)
brought on by industrialization in early 19th century England. contain no or very small differences between hairlines and main stroke, and emphasized/monumental-looking serifs.
sans-serif
technical appearance, even-looking line weight without serifs. called “grotesque” by contemporaries (Akzidenz Grotesk). initially intended exclusively for setting titles/headlines in posters/ads.
optomechanical typesetting system (photosetting)
1970s. a method of setting type that uses a photographic process to generate columns of type on a scroll of photographic paper. offered numerous advantages over metal type, including the lack of need to keep heavy metal type and matrices in stock, the ability to use a much wider range of fonts and graphics and print them at any desired size, as well as faster page layout setting.
desktop publishing (DTP)
the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal (“desktop”) computer. technological innovation that revolutionized the medium of type.
