![]() (Something I’ll be writing about in future posts here on Sitepoint). Are the fonts used serif, sans-serif, decorative? The more familiar you become with type, you’ll find that you begin to experiment and you’ll also start to figure out which fonts work well together. Look at the ads when you’re standing at the bus stop. Next time you’re reading a magazine or book, or looking at a website, take time to figure out what kind of font is being used. ![]() One way to become more conscious of typefaces is to make an effort to look more closely at type. When you start to look closely though, as well as their similarities, you’ll start to notice the little differences that make each one unique. You might think that these fonts look almost identical on first glance. Note all of the text below is set at size 80pt and leading of 80pt. Other well known examples of Old Style fonts include Garamond, Gaudy Old Style, Perpetua and Minion Pro. If you find that’s the case, you could consider using the fonts below for headings and sub-headings. There is an argument that for print-based work serif fonts are the best, while for the web/screen sans-serif fonts are easiest to read. Old Styles don’t jump off the page with any sort of quirkiness and that’s what makes them easy on the eye. They can also work well on the web and two Old Style fonts are considered to be web-safe: Times New Roman and Palatino Linotype. That’s why you’ll find them used heavily in newspapers, magazines and books. Old Style typefaces are considered to be the best type for large amounts of body text on paper. The very first italic letters were produced with Old Style fonts in the early 1500s. Garamonds first typeface was used in the book written by Desiderius Erasmus, a dutch humanist, catholic priest, social critic, teacher and Theologian. The serifs on Old Styles are always angled and if you draw a line though the thinnest parts of the letters, you’ll see that the stress is diagonal. Unlike Modern typefaces, the thick/thin transition is moderate and not so obvious. Their relation to calligraphy can be seen in the curved strokes and letters with thick to thin transitions, looking somewhat like letters drawn with a pen and ink. Old Style (occasionally referred to as Humanist) typefaces are based on hand lettering of scribes and they first appeared in the late 15th century, before Modern typefaces. ![]() I think for all of us, our design work can only improve when we become more aware of the different categories of fonts, their characteristics and similarities, and for what purpose they are most suited, whether we work in web or print design. Jennifer Amar also states that “consumers’ choices of products can be explained by the legibility of the print font”.Last week, we had a look at the Modern typeface and to continue this series of posts on font categories, today we’ll take a look at the beautiful Old Style typeface. ![]() The legibility of the typeface also directly correlates to the purchasing behavior of consumers. It makes sense that this is a common font used in publishing because “Research has shown that fast readers read more words when the text is presented with a serif typeface and a high x-height as compared to a text presented in a sans-serif typeface” stated Jennifer Amar, professor at IÉSEG School of Management. This typeface, or font, was used in the printing of many Roman and Latin books and is used today in many books. Claude Garamond designed many different typefaces in his life time and it is believed that the origin of the Garamond font is “not one typeface in particular” but the style in which he designed his punch cuts, stated Yesul Son in his thesis for Rochester Institute of Technology. It was designed by Claude Garamond and has many modern variations in application today but was first introduced in the 16th century. Its contrast between thin and thick strokes is less than a Transitional type- face like Baskerville, but more than most sans serif faces. It is a Humanist serif face, which means that it was designed with rounded, organic characteris- tics that echoes handwritten letters. Garamond, a serif font, is one of the top ten corporate fonts in use today and his been around for quite some time. Claude Garamond, a Frenchman, designed the Garamond typeface in the 1500s.
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