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A Type Specimen
Published 2008
High Priest of Visual Thinking, Rudolf Arnheim. And while there are obviously far
hipper and much more contemporary developments with in cognitive science and
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“idea” for a font springs primarily from optical phenomena, such as mark making,
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letterforms Regular
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letterforms Condensed
letterforms Italic
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The simple process of making
marks on paper is less of an intellec-
tual process than a biological pro-
cess. One must cultivate a feel for
proportion, solidity, balance, etc.
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Excuse the digression, but when I
talk about developing a feel, I know
that some of you are rolling your
eyes. Some of you may think that
the term “feel” might be likened to
the term “taste,” with all of its class
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overtones and attendant critiques.
Well, back the f@*k up.
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fj fj
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I’m suggesting that one develops a feel not magically, or through
then forgetting them. And what would those skills be to which one must
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call “fundamental graphic exercises” — line
rhythms, gradation, and figure/ground
studies.
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Music is the appropriate metaphor. In music, rigorous study of
repertoire,
theory,
and
physical
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application
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is what allows the musician the improvisational freedom to move the listener.
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If at this point you feel the need to accuse me
of antiintellectualism, you’d be barking up the
wrong tree. I’m an advocate of practice in-
formed by theory and life. Its really a question
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of priorities and balance. And I’d like to be clear
here. I am not suggesting that the type design
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process necessarily adheres to a strict taxonom-
ic progression. And I’m certainly not an advo-
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cate of a rigid categorical approach to design of
any form. Quite the contrary y
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Its my contention that the edge condition, the tension
that exists in the gap, is where the action is. But for the
designer interested in beginning to come to grips with
letterform design, locating ones work within the three
categories described above is often helpful.
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The question I am most often asked by students is some variation
of the following:
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First, one should never use the
term “concept” in same sen-
My answer is twofold.
tence as the word “typeface.”
Typefaces are not concep-
tual, they are formal (1).
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But as they say, “God (or the
Devil, or possibly both) is in the
details.” Quite possibly the big-
gest challenge facing type de-
signers who are just starting out
is that most cannot see, nor can
they draw (I should amend that
slightly; most haven’t looked,
nor can they draw.)
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Students who begin drawing typefaces must first learn to look at type-
form, one often notices a complete lack of rigor, coupled with a hyper-
kinetic line quality, which almost always leaves me with the impression
(Which I have found is usually not the case.) One need look no further
amine line.
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Myriad Pro
Erica Stivison
Printed at St. Edward’s University
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