Task 1

Type is one of the designers main considerations. Every designer is expected to choose the proper type from an enormous range of typefaces. The visual appearance of typefaces depends on a large extent on the relative measurements of their proportions.
The typeface that I am interested in are:

1Bembo
«Some typeface have stood the test of time and appear as contemporary today as they did 500 years ago. Their modern digitized version have a slight edge when it comes to clean outlines.» from the book Stop Stealing sheep» Erik Speikermann & E.M.Ginger.

Type designed by Francesco Griffo for Aldus Manutius'press. Bembo from the Monotype Corporation, 1929, is a modern equivalent.

1Helvetica
To compare typefaces characteristics, we should look closely at:
the stroke variation (contrast), serifs (if any), x-heights and the stress.
And we can clearly see that this typeface is based on geometrical shapes, and we can see also the wide empty space inside the body stroke (counter) which makes the font more legible, clear, straight forward and neutral.

1Avant Garde Gothic

ITC Avant Garde Gothic was designed by Herb Lubalin and Tom Carnase and based on Lubalin’s logo for Avant Garde magazine. Ed Benguiat designed the condensed fonts for the International Typeface Corporation. ITC Avant Garde Gothic is a geometric sans serif type, that is, the basic shapes were made with a compass and T-square. The design is reminiscent of the work from the 1920s German Bauhaus movement. Its letterforms are built of circles and clean lines what make it more legible readable and clear.

Critical Debates in Design.

A little bit of research -
Family Classifications of Type.

Since the time of Gutenberg, the typographic form has evolved with technology, philosophy, and culture. In order to effectively analyze this typographic evolution, the design of type characters over the last five and a half centuries is most often broken down into classifications of common visual characteristics, called families of type:

1 Oldstyle Characteristics
* minimal variation of thick and thin strokes
* small, coarse serifs, often with slightly concave bases
* small x-heights.
* In the round strokes, the stress is diagonal, or oblique, as their designs mimic the hand-held angle of the pen nibs of the scribes.
* The tops of lowercase ascenders often exceed the height of the capital characters.
* The numerals, called old style figures, vary in size and have ascenders and descenders. Many contemporary versions of Old Style typefaces do not retain the old style figures but, in catering to contemporary taste, use lining, or capital height figures.
Old Style examples:


2 Transitional Characteristics
* A greater contrast between thick and thin stokes.
* Wider, gracefully bracketed serifs withflat bases.
* larger x-height
* Vertical stress in rounded strokes
* the height of capitals matches that of ascenders.
* Numerals are cap-height and consistent in size.
Transitional examples:
3 Modern Characteristics
* Extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes
* Hairline serifs without bracketing
* Small x-height
* Vertical stress in rounded strokes Modern example:


4 Slab Serif Characeristics
* minimal variation of thick and thin strokes
* heavy serifs with squared-off ends
* large x-heights.
* vertical stress in rounded strkes Slab Serif example:


5 Sans Serif Characteristics
* little or no variation between thick and thin strokes
* lack of serifs
* larger x-height
* no stress in rounded strokes Sans Serif example:

6 Decorative/Display
For most of type's history, the use of decorative characters was applied to the page design of books, and usually limited to ornamenting title pages, chapter headings, and initials. In the 19th century, the proliferation of Slab Serif typefaces did not ultimately satisfy the insatiable public appetite for distinct and ornate types.

7 Script/Cursive.
Script and cursive typefaces are those designed to literally represent handwriting or hand lettering styles. As a general distinction, scripts have linked or joining lowercase letters, similar to handwriting, while cursive appear as un-joined hand lettering.
Script/Cursive example: