Design Principles - What is a book? - Independent Investigations into type, image, layout, composition and colour.

Typefaces and fonts

To firstly identify the difference between a typeface and a font is crucial, the two are commonly mistaken for each other yet the difference is dramatic. A typeface is a collection of glyphs in the same style while a font is either a digital file or a physical collection of a typeface in one weight and variation.

“The way I relate the difference between typeface and font to my students is by comparing them to songs and MP3s, respectively When you talk about how much you like a tune, you don’t say: “That’s a great MP3”. You say: “That’s a great song”. The MP3 is the delivery mechanism, not the creative work; just as in type a font is the delivery mechanism and a typeface is the creative work.”

The term ‘font’ originated from its reference to a collection of lead letter press characters when using a letter press was the only method of printing type. In a modern context, the term refers to a copy of the digital file in one weight and style however due to the modern use of freely scalable type, the term has lost a sense of distinction.

Within a typeface family, there can be several variations including but not all: Helvetica Light, Helvetica Regular, Helvetica Bold, Helvetica Italic, and Helvetica Oblique. There are also variations containing two of these styles; Helvetica Light Oblique for example originates from Helvetica Regular however is distorted to the right while having a thinner stroke weight.

Italic and Oblique are too commonly mistaken for each other while the difference is noticeable; an Italic variation of a typeface is similar to an Oblique style. An Italic variation of a typeface contains different characters to a regular font within a typeface while an Oblique variation is the same typeface that has been slightly skewed to an angle most commonly between 8-12 degrees. An Italic font most commonly contains an alternate a and k while also containing a alternate serif.

There are several classifications of typefaces, these classifications are used to organize visually similar typefaces which often relates to its production:

Block - Block, black letter, Gothic, Old English, Black or Broken typefaces are based on the ornate writing style prevalent during the Middle Ages. Nowadays, they appear heavy and difficult to read as body copy however it is believed that if a person from the time was to read a modern sans serif typeface, it would be incredibly difficult as it is recognizable legibility that determines readability.

Cloister Black

Script - Designed to imitate handwriting, script typefaces commonly imitate sable and bone methods of production. Before digital and moving type, script typefaces were hard to reproduce exactly.

Zapfino

Gothic - Sans Serif typefaces originally produced for movable type within printing presses, these typefaces are arguable less legible when used as body copy, however very legible when used as header type.

Helvetica

Roman - Serif typefaces originated from the production method of carving into stone with chisel, the use of chisel created the need for a serif as a route for the chisel to start and finish the strokes.

Baskerville

The difference between RGB and CMYK

RGB stands for red, green and blue, the convergence of these three primary colours produces white, this is called additive colour. Everything we see apart is emitted through light as RGB.

CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, these are the four colours that we use to print. RGB cannot be used for print as the overlaying of ink cannot be additive (create white) unlike RGB. The overlaying of these 4 inks is subtractive which means a mergence of the four creates black. Images are created using thousands of minute dots of CMYK and the overlaying of these dots to create tones.

What is the difference between Legibility and Readability?

Legibility is measured on the ease of distinguishing individual glyphs and not the ease of readability. Legibility is predominantly based on the typeface and how recognizable that glyph is on its own, however legibility is subjective to a degree, a visually impaired person may find it more difficult to distinguish the same glyph a person without visual impairment may. Legibility is determined by the anatomy of that typeface, large open counters, ample lowercase x-heights and character shapes that are easily recognized are all features of a good legible glyph. Sans Serif typefaces are most commonly believed to be more legible as their letter shapes are simpler.

Readability is not determined by the legibility of a single glyph but how a series of glyphs is understood and read. It is defined by the ease of reading body copy, the continuity of identifying the next line and a combination of speed and ease. The length of line, the typeface and font used, leading, tracking and kerning governs readability.

The correct typeface is considered the most important aspect of readability, although sans serif typefaces are more legible than serif examples, it is commonly believed serif typefaces are better in relation to readability as serifs create better distinguished characters at the end and start of lines however it is argued that due to our modern cultures longer exposure to serif typefaces, they are more recognizable when used in body copy.

Line Length is the horizontal measure of a line of type, long or short lines of copy can be tiring and can affect the reader’s ability to drop to the next line. Robert Bringhurst’s consideration of line length appears to be the most widely accepted; ‘A sim­ple way to cal­cu­late the mea­sure is to use Robert Bringhurst’s method which mul­ti­ples the type size by 30. So if the type size is 10px, mul­ti­ply­ing it by 30 gives you a mea­sure of 300px or around 65 char­ac­ters per line.’

Leading is the distance between baseline and baseline; correctly spacing lines make it easier for a reader’s eye to follow, while too little or too much creates difficulty as well as the density of the composition creating tone.

Tracking and kerning are commonly mistaken for one another, tracking relates to the equal spacing between characters while kerning refers to spacing between two specific characters. Kerning is to be used when two characters create a clear gap that can disrupt the flow of copy. ‘Av’ is commonly kerned when used in headlines, as is ‘Wa’. Kerning gently can remove widows and orphans however tracking is agreed to be the better to use in such situations. Tracking can be used to create a comfortable flow of characters therefore affecting readability, as well as this, when left or right aligned, the rag or the uneven side of the copy can create distracting gaps and/or awkward shapes.

The effect of point size and font on readability

The choice of font-size is made complicated by the varying x-heights of different typefaces. X-heights mean the height of lower case letters with no upper or lower extensions. Examples of these are the letters a, m, n, u and the proverbial x. Even if two different typefaces are used in the same point-size, say 10, they can clearly appear to be of different size.

The reason for this is that the measure in points determines the height of uppercase letters rather exactly, but does not take into account the height of the lower case letters relative to uppercase letters. Small x-height can make the text appear smaller than the point-size would indicate, and the font-size has to be increased.

Within a typeface family, there can be several variations including but not all: Light, Regular, Bold, Italic, and Oblique. 

There are also variations containing two of these styles; Light Oblique for example originates from Helvetica Regular however is distorted to the right while having a thinner stroke weight.

Italic and Oblique are too commonly mistaken for each other while the difference is noticeable; an Italic variation of a typeface is similar to an Oblique style. 

An Italic variation of a typeface contains different characters to a regular font within a typeface while an Oblique variation is the same typeface that has been slightly skewed to an angle most commonly between 8-12 degrees. 

An Italic font most commonly contains an alternate a and k while also containing a alternate serif.

Regular is considered the most important font within a typeface, the regular font is most commonly used as body copy.

Italic originates from the regular font, the italic has been skewed to the right to imitate hand writing as well as, most commonly, a’s and k’s change from their original glyphs. Using Italics uses less space.

Semi Bold sits Inbetween Regular and Bold fonts the semi bold has an slightly increased line weight.

The use of a Semi Bold Italic font creates more options within a layout in regards to type hierearchy.

Most commonly used for headlines, a Bold font will most probably have the greatest impact on a page.

Again creating more options in regards to type hierarchy, a Bold Italic font will most likely be used as a sub heading or even a heading.

The relationship between point size and readability 

must be taken into account by every designer, too small or too large and the publication is ruined.  A designer must consider the auidences ability, for example, an older person may struggle reading body copy that a young person would find easy.Scale and how close the copy will be to a readers eye must be taken into account too.

The choice of font-size is made complicated by the varying x-heights of different typefaces. X-heights mean the height of lower case letters with no upper or lower extensions. Examples of these are the letters a, m, n, u and the proverbial x. Even if two different typefaces are used in the same point-size, say 10, they can clearly appear to be of different size.

The reason for this is that the measure in points determines the height of uppercase letters rather exactly, but does not take into account the height of the lower case letters relative to uppercase letters. Small x-height can make the text appear smaller than the point-size would indicate, and the font-size has to be increased.

The experiment to the right illustrates this relationship, even though all of the fonts are 10 point, the amount of words that can fit with a set space are different. Baskerville is able to fit the most words in while Century is able to fit the least.

The Anatomy of type

Massimo Vignelli's Basic Typefaces