CDF Project 3 Exercise 2:
These are the first 5 fonts I chose for the word “purity”. In my mind, to demonstrate the word purity, there shouldn’t be any redundant decoration. Thus most font I chose do not have much serif. I also tried to avoid fonts which are bold, because something ‘pure’ is supposed to be elegant. But bold would give us a heavy and tiring feeling. Also, I didn’t like having italic to explain ‘purity’ because that seems to be unnecessary element, as well as making it hard to read.
My favorite font is Letter Gothic Std (the 1st picture). I chose it because the spaces between letters are generally greater than any other font, making each letter look more slender (and they are pretty slender already). I also like the dot upon the ‘i’ is circular, which offers a jumpy and relaxing feeling for the whole word. The others are mostly squares and that seems too rigid and lumpish to me. Although Andale Mono is quite similar to Letter Gothic Std., the reason I like Gothic better was because it is less boldy.
Exercise 3
Research Object:
Your research should include the origins of the typeface. Who designed it and when? What type classification does it fall under? Was is created for a specific purpose or context? Are there any specific uses of it that led to its popularity? Are there any features that set it apart? Post your findings to your blog. Study the letterforms and get to know them.
Research Font:
Times
Name Source:
It gets its name from the Times of London, the British newspaper.
Category:
Serif
Classification:
Mixed, traditional, old-style
When:
1931
Who:
Stanley Morison & Victor Lardent
What:
In 1929, the Times hired typographer Stanley Morison (an artist director at Monotype) to create a new text font. Morison led the project, supervising Victor Lardent, an advertising artist for the Times, who drew the letterforms.
Morison suggested the Times change typeface from dated 19 century Didone Typeface, which matched a common trend in printing of the period.
(Didone)
Morison proposed an older Monotype typeface named Plantin as a basis for the design, to increase legibility (e.g. contrast between strokes was enhanced). The new font was drawn by Victor Lardent (artist from the advertising department of The Times)
(Plantin)
The new design made its debut The Times on 3 October 1932. By then, The Times stayed with Times New Roman for 40 years.
Status Quo:
In 2004, because of the new production techniques and the format change from broadsheet to tabloid, the newspaper switched typeface five times since 1972. Although no longer used by The Times, Times New Roman is still very common in book and general printing. Through distribution with Microsoft products and as a standard computer font, it has become one of the most widely used typefaces in history.
In commercial sale, Times New Roman became extremely successful, becoming Monotype’s best-selling typeface of all in metal type.
Features:
Times New Roman has its influence under French, Dutch and Belgian early modern and Baroque printing. This style is sometimes categorised as part of the old-style of serif fonts. Morison admired this style for its solid structure and clarity.The design is slightly condensed, with short ascenders and descenders and a high x-height (tall lower-case letters), all effects that save space and increase clarity.
Source:
