Garamond: Type Specimen Project

Overview

Using different techniques explored in previous projects in CDF, I am tasked with creating a type specimen poster that will effectively communicate the type’s unique qualities and its historical background. Assigned with the typeface Garamond, I could only use type and color to represent it on a poster. Included in this poster was the name of the typeface, name of the typeface designer, the year it was designed, a paragraph about the typeface, a full character set, and a quote/tagline about the typeface.

Context

To begin with, I looked to understand the design of the typeface and how it came to be. This is especially important in finding what types of layouts I can fit Garamond in and how to express its individual traits clearly.

Garamond is an old-style serif styled typeface that was the first to deviate from a handwritten-style to make letters more readable for printing. Because of Garamond’s popularity and influence, it was a “widespread custom for many years to attribute almost any good sixteenth-century French font” to Garamond. The type contains low lined stroke contrasts and thinner/more delicate letterforms. Because of its organic structure, it resembles handwriting but with slightly more structure and uprightness. It is used to display elegance from its unique serifs in each character…