[P4]:3

[P4]:2

So far I am really enjoying project 4. I enjoyed making these initial 30 sketch ideas for my monogram.

[P4]:1

Project four is all about creating a monogram out of 3 letters. I have been assigned the Orlando International Airport and its code: MCO. (Fun fact, its code is MCO because the airport was formerly the McCoy Airforce Base) This is my initial mind map and typeface brainstorming that I created after researching about Orlando and MCO.

[P3]:2

More Type Design Knowledge Dumping

Small Capitals: Small capitals are capital letters designed to only be as tall as the x-height of the lowercase characters in a typeface. They are not simply scaled down normal capitals, as they have the same stroke weight as their larger cousins. This allows them to be easily read within blocks of text alongside many lowercase letters.

• My typeface, Meta, contains small capitals.

Ligatures: These are combinations of two or more characters into a single character, in order to increase legibility. When two characters overlap one another, it can create an awkward and difficult to read blemish in text. When using metal type, certain letters sometimes did not fit beside one another without creating awkward spacing. Ligatures are / were specially designed to fix these problems.

• Meta does contain ligatures
• Common ligatures: ff, ffl, ffi

Distinguishing Foot and Inch Marks from Apostrophes and Quotations

Both foot and inch indicating marks are simply straight, vertical hatch marks. The foot mark has one vertical line and the inch mark has two. Apostrophes and Quotation marks are distinguished by their curved or tailed nature. They are not simply straight lines. Similarly to the foot and inch marks, the apostrophe has one marking and quotations have two. It is important to note that unlike inch marks, quotation marks have separate opening and closing marks.

Hyphens, En Dashes, and Em Dashes

• Hyphens: The shortest of the dashes, hyphens are used primarily to break apart words. They can also be used however, to separate sections in a date or to distinguish when two consonants or vowels are not pronounced at a dipthong, such as with bowl-like or anti-intellectual
• En Dash: Slightly longer than a hyphen, en dashes are used to separate parenthetical thought or to indicate a sudden change in thought direction. These dashes are also used to represent ranges of values, as well as the minus sign.
• Em Dash: The em dash is used to set aside parenthetical thought. It is important to note that em dashes are not to be used with spaces on either side.

Sources:

Everything I have presented in this post I either learned from my grade school education, or gathered further details on from the book Letter Fountain by Joep Pohlen.

[P3]:1

Meta Typeface Quick Info

• Sans-serif classification
• Designed by Eric Spiekermann
• Other typefaces designed by Spiekermann
• ITC Officina
• FF Info
• FF Unit
• LoType
• Berliner Grotesk
• Many other exclusive corporate typefaces
• Released in 1991
• More specifically is a humanistic sans-serif
• The larger Meta family includes hairline, thin, light, normal, book, medium, bold, extra bold, and black weights, all of which are available in condensed, italic, and italic condensed variations
• Uses small caps

Type Design Knowledge Dump

Classifications of Typefaces:

• Humanist / Old Style: meant to mimic handwriting, these typefaces are defined by features such as a slanting axis, subtle modulation of thick and thin strokes, inclined crossbars on the lowercase 'e', and roof shaped serifs.
• Examples: Garamond, Bembo, Galliard
• Transitional: typefaces that combine the characteristics of both humanist and modern typefaces
• Examples: Baskerville, Times New Roman, Perpetua
• Modern: these typfaces do not seek to mimic human handwriting, resulting in a vertical or only slightly angled axis, strong contrast in stroke weights, symmetry, and sharp thin serifs
• Examples: Bodoni, Didot, Walbaum
• Slab-Serif: often appearing bold and thick with very little modulation, these typefaces are defined predominantly by their thick block-like serifs as thick as the letters themselves
• Examples: Rockwell, Clarendon, Memphis
• Sans-Serif: typically featuring no stroke width modulation at all, these typefaces take their name from their lack of any serifs whatsoever (This category is often sub-divided further due to the overwhelming number of new sans-serif typefaces in recent years.)
• Examples: Gill Sans, Helvetica, Meta

Definitions

• Stroke Weight: the thickness of the lines of a character, making it appear darker, independent of size
• Axis / Stress: the angle of the thick and thin contrast within characters; humanist typefaces have significant axis angles while modern and later typefaces most typically have a completely vertical axis
• Small Caps: capital letters designed smaller than a typeface's standard capitals; small capitals serve to make capital letters within a body of text more easily legible without losing stroke weight from scaling down normal capitals
• Lining Figures: numerals designed to all sit upon the baseline and reach to the capital height allowing for better use in tabular numeric charts
• Non-Aligning Figures: numerals designed with ascenders and descenders which reach beneath the baseline, these figures read more seamlessly within text
• Ligatures: specially designed combinations of characters which allow for better reading

Type Measurement Summary:

Several type measurement systems have come and gone throughout history, however today the most common system is that of points and picas. The exact measurement of a point has changed somewhat over time. The current specification is one point is equal to 1/72 of an inch. A pica is equal to 12 points. Text sizes and spacing are most commonly identified using points. Measurements such as column widths are often times measured in picas.

Sources:

The wonderfully informative, well organized, and accessible Fontology section of Fonts.com, located at: http://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology

The incredibly detailed and well composed book, Letter Fountain, by Joep Pohlen.

[P2]:6

I took some practice photos scouting out locations for my final typeface specimen using my second draft before I finished the real thing. This practice run made me learn how to go about getting the shots I wanted. It also allowed me to correct the little details that would later pull the final photos together, such as the color of my model's finger nails for example.

These are some photographs that didn't make the cut for my final 5 images but I felt like they deserved to be seen somewhere so here they are.

[P2]:5

This is my first draft for my typeface specimen mailer. These photos show the progression through the folds of the mailer.