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Graphic Design Theory > Typography > Flashcards

Typography Flashcards

1
Q

What is each letter of a word called?

A

Character

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2
Q

What is KERNING in typography?

A

The spacing between characters

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3
Q

What is LEADING in typography?

A

The spacing between lines of type

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4
Q

What is LIGATURE in typography?

A

The connection between 2 characters

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5
Q

What is the purpose of LIGATURE?

A

Make the characters more readable when small

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6
Q

What is a SERIF typeface?

A

It is a font with brackets at the end of the characters

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7
Q

What is a baseline?

A

The line drawn at the bottom of each letter not including the little tails

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8
Q

What are the descenders?

A

The little tails under the baseline

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9
Q

What are the ascenders?

A

The tails of the characters over the baseline on the top of the letters

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10
Q

Why is what’s in between the top and bottom of the baselines the very core of the word or characters?

A

It helps to find the balance in the type

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11
Q

How is it called the part of the characters between the 2 baselines?

A

X-HEIGHT

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12
Q

What is the line drawn at the tip top of the ascender called?

A

Ascent Line

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13
Q

How is the line at the bottom of the descender called?

A

Descent line

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14
Q

What’s the tail of a character?

A

It’s the very tip of the character in the bottom area or descender area

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15
Q

What’s the stem of a character?

A

The stem is the vertical stroke of the character

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16
Q

What’s the ear of a character?

A

It’s everything that extends outside of the character, like in the g

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17
Q

What’s the shoulder of a character?

A

It’s the curved stroke at the top side of the character, like in the a/h

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18
Q

What’s the loops of a character?

A

It’s the enclosed or partially enclosed curved parts of certain letters. b, a, g

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19
Q

What’s the closed counter of a character?

A

It’s everything which is completely closed inside the character. o, p

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20
Q

What’s the leg of a character?

A

It’s the oblique stroke of a character like in the K

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21
Q

What’s the crossbar of a character?

A

It’s the line that joins 2 stems together

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22
Q

How can the amount of LEADING between sentences in large paragraphs change the feel and look of a book lo ci of type?

A

Large spaces between the sentences can look very clean. Tight spaces can feel very cramped.

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23
Q

When working on headlines or type it’s good to tighten spaces between the characters or words.
True or false?

A

True

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24
Q

What’s good to do while working on type or headlines in order to use the right Leading and achieve balance?

A

It’s good to use the white spaces. Playing with different typefaces can help.

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25
Q

What program is better to use to adjust the Leading between words/headlines?

A

Illustrator

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26
Q

What words is good to make smaller when working on an headline or phrase?

A

It’s good to decrease the size of the less important words of the entire sentence. Using an italic or serif would help too.

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27
Q

What do you achieve by decreasing the amount of space between words and reducing the white spaces on a headline/sentence?

A

A more cohesive design

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28
Q

What’s custom lettering?

A

Custom lettering refers to the ability to combine 2 different fonts and make a unique word

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29
Q

When it’s good to use custom lettering?

A

In logo design and branding

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30
Q

What are the 2 main style of type?

A

SERIF and SANS-SERIF

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31
Q

What’s SERIF type and when is better to use it?

A

SERIF has a little tail at the end of the character that help to accentuate the letter. It’s helpful when there is a large amount of text that’s smaller. The serifs act like an accent on the characters and it helps to read and distinguish the letters much easier

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32
Q

What’s SANS-SERIF style?

A

SANS-SERIF lack the accent and details that Serif has. It can make solid, clean headlines helping them to stand out

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33
Q

What’s a third category of Serif fonts?

A

SCRIPT style.

34
Q

What SCRIPT fonts bring to the design?

A

A natural look with their smooth lines and lack of angles

35
Q

Why do you have to be careful with Script fonts?

A

Because they can easily overwhelm a design piece if you use too many

36
Q

What fonts style are good pairing?

A

Serif and Sans-serif;
Sans-serif and Script

37
Q

What fonts style are no good pairing?

A

Two similar fonts, like 2 serifs.

38
Q

What are the 4 categories of Serif fonts (listed according to 1st use in history)?

A

Old Style
Transitional
Didone-Modern
Slab Serif

39
Q

Why Old Style Typefaces are easy to read in printed form?

A

Because there’s no large difference in contrast and thickness of the lines or strokes

40
Q

What are great examples of OLD STYLE fonts?

A

Garamond
Berkeley
Minion
Palatino

41
Q

What is the second category of Serif fonts established in the mid-18th century?

A

Transitional, which is between the Old Style and the Modern style

42
Q

What’s the difference between Old Style and Transitional fonts?

A

The contrast between the thickness of the strokes and the characters is more dramatic. The thin lines are thinner than the thin lines in the Old Style. Also, they end with a ball terminal, the rounded ends of the stems, so they are not rough like the ends of the Old Style.

43
Q

What are great examples of TRANSITIONAL fonts?

A

Times New Roman

44
Q

What’s the difference between Old Style, Transitional and Didone/Modern fonts?

A

Modern fonts are characterised by more dramatic contrast between the thickness and thinner of the lines and the typeface. They are highly stylized.

45
Q

What are great examples of MODERN fonts?

A

Didot
Bodoni

46
Q

Where are Modern Fonts commonly found?

A

In high-end fashion brands, the contrast between the lines is dramatic and creates a dramatic effect.

47
Q

When is it good to use Modern Fonts in a project?

A

It is more elegant than the Old style when working on high-end clients. It is also good when working on dramatic poster headlines with a simple dramatic solid background.

48
Q

What is the last category of Serif Fonts?

A

SLAB SERIF

49
Q

What SLAB SERIF was designed for?

A

To demand one’s attention on Poster Design. They have thick, bold lines with almost zero contrast. Chunky, thick and bold. This font was used in the Wanted Poster in the Old West to grab attention.

50
Q

When is it good to use Slab Serif?

A

For political statements.

51
Q

When is it better to use Serif?

A

Serif is better in high-end projects to convey elegance and charm. It is also better to use in large blocks of text for print projects as the tails make it more readable.

52
Q

In what kind of Design is it better to go for Sans Serif?

A

High-impact Modern Design

53
Q

When is it better to use Sans-serif?

A

Sans-serif is better for the screen, as it is more clean and readable. It’s also good to convey a sense of minimalism and modernism. They’re fantastic big, bold headlines.

54
Q

What’s the most popular sans-serif font?

A

HELVETICA

55
Q

Why Helvetica, and Sans-serif in general, are great?

A

They work well with tight spaces between the characters, especially in lowercase

56
Q

What is FUTURA font?

A

A geometric style of sans-serif.
Calvin Klein uses it.

57
Q

What’s particular about Geometric Sans-Serifs?

A

They are mathematically precise with their perfect curves and circles.
Google uses a font very similar to Futura, with a little flair.
Dolce & Gabbana uses Futura Demi Bold.
Adidas uses Avant guard font which is all in lowercase with tight spaces between the characters.

58
Q

How do we determine the text alignment and layout to use?

A

When designing layouts, it’s better to follow the subject matter direction (for example: the main subject in a picture). This goes with the flow of the design and makes for a compelling design.
(If the subject is central, we use a central text alignment to balance the design)

59
Q

How can text and photos be combined to create a unified layout and design?

A

Text and Photos do not have to fight each other, but can blend to become one unified layout and design.

60
Q

How can proper fonts and typography design make a design relevant and impactful?

A

With proper fonts and typography design, using colour and italics to highlight words helps the type to become the design itself instead of having to rely on graphics and photos 100% of the time.

61
Q

Why WHITE SPACE is so important?

A

For the impact on the viewers’s mood when seeing a design piece. It’s good to make breathing room and white space between elements.

62
Q

What is the significance of typography in contemporary design?

A

Typography is a big part of design, one of the most important elements of design today

63
Q

Why is font pairing important in design?

A

To find the right balance between font choices

64
Q

What are the best Font Pairings?

A
  • SANS-SERIF and SERIF pair very well together.
  • All CAPITAL words with all LOWERCASE
    words.
  • SCRIPT font with an All BOLD SANS-SERIF.
  • SCRIPT font with SLAB SERIF font.
65
Q

What is a great rule to follow in pairing fonts?

A

Make sure that the fonts we are pairing have enough contrast between them. This helps to achieve consistency in the design.

66
Q

When can we be more flexible and playful with font options in pairing fonts?

A

With Headlines, especially if short.

67
Q

When and why do we have to be careful with pairing options?

A

With body copy and longer blocks of copy, not to overwhelm the viewer with too many pairings.

68
Q

How many font pairings are best to keep in a design piece?

A

2-3 fonts per design

69
Q

What’s a good formula for font pairing in a design piece?

A
  • A good Headline font
  • A simple body copy font
  • A 3rd complimentary font for variety
70
Q

What’s the best way to work with long headlines?

A

It is helpful to divide the sentence so that we can play around with different typefaces, weight, colours, fill up the white space and enhance the must important words.

71
Q

What’s the best way to manage large block of text?

A
  • Remove HYPHENATION, unless necessary. (Check the Hyphenate Box in InDesign)
  • Use columns, it helps achieve readability.
  • Use the right alignment is everything!
    (For a polish design, use ‘Justify all lines’ often)
  • If there is more than 1 column, make sure they align at the bottom.
  • Use Headlines to break things up. (It makes it more visually interesting and add a variety of elements)
  • Add sublines or guidelines. (It’s important to add a division to the text blocks)
    -Adjust the leading between Headline, subline and body. Do not leave too much leading in the headline, as it appears less cohesive and polished.
  • Find other way to break things up visually. For instance, finding relevant sentences in a block of text and make them in Italic or bold.
  • Make sure Paragraphs are never too long. Break them down inserting a pull-quote or pic between them.
72
Q

What does a designer need to achieve when working on large text?

A

It has to make the text Readable, Pleasurable and Well Crafted

73
Q

Why is so important to use white space and divide a large text block?

A

It helps the brain break down the text into much more manageable blocks of information without overwhelm it.

74
Q

What are the Sans-serif type styles?

A
  • Grotesque (Helvetica)
  • Square sans (Eurostile)
  • Geometric (Futura)
75
Q

What’s a DROP CAP?

A

A drop cap in typography is a decorative element commonly used at the beginning of a paragraph or section. It involves enlarging and often embellishing the first letter of a word, phrase, or sentence to add visual interest and draw attention to that particular part of the text. The drop cap typically extends downwards into the lines below it, creating an aesthetically pleasing design element in printed materials such as books, magazines, or newspapers.

76
Q

What’s type hierarchy?

A
  • HEADLINE, large size, sometimes Bold or another colour bigger than the Body for contrast
  • SUBHEADING, Smaller than the headline, bigger than the Body. Sometimes at half the size of the main Headline
  • BODY COPY, smaller than the Subheading, bigger than the Fine print.
  • FINE PRINT, smallest font size, no smaller than 5pt in size
77
Q

What’s the SPINE in the anatomy of typo?

A

It’s the middle of an S, the spine

78
Q

What’s the Cross Stroke in the anatomy of typo?

A

It’s the horizontal stroke on top of the t

79
Q

What’s the Aperture in the anatomy of typo?

A

It’s the open space underneath the h

80
Q

What are the Script type styles?

A
  • Formal, Bickman script
  • Calligraphic, Lucky turns
  • Blackletter, FF Brokenscript
  • Casual scripts, Brother free

Graphic Design Theory (5 decks)

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