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I. Skills assessment and course orientation
II. History, Contemporary Trends, Language, Aesthetics and Emerging Media as they Relate to Typography
III. Anatomy of Letterforms
A. Terminology including the internal grid structure, measurements and specifying type setting
B. Origins of typographic letterforms and the five classic typefaces classifications, type families, and identification
IV. Fonts and Families
V. Review of Typographic Tools and Features used in Design Software Programs such as Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign
VI. Type Measurements: Points and Picas
VII. Type Layout and Formatting
A. Letter-spacing, word-spacing, kerning, tracking, leading, line length, alignment, paragraph considerations
B. Paragraph space and typographic consistency
C. Intro to Grid Theory
D. Text wrap
VIII. Design Principles
A. Creating typographic appeal and hierarchy
B. Page layout and compositional considerations: using the formal elements and principles of design as they relate to typography in design
C. Expressive typography
D. Optical considerations, punctuation, display initials, modifying color, spot colors, process colors, digital and projected colors
E. Creating visual hierarchy and emphasis, grids
IX. Selecting and Mixing Typefaces
A. Concord and contrast
B. Mixing faces
C. Designing with text and display fonts
X. Readability and Legibility
A. Designing for maximum effectiveness
B. Targeting particular audiences.
XI. Hand Lettering and Typeface Creation
A. Brush pen and calligraphy pen
B. Drawn letterforms
C. Digitizing
D. Converting into typeface
E. Chalk
F. Process
G. Inking
XII. Using Type Effectively
XIII. Typographic Details
A. Headlines and subheads
B. Body copy, hyphenation, and line breaks
C. Pull quotes and captions
D. Web typography
XIV. Typographic Refinements
A. Small caps and old-style numerals
B. Ligatures and open type alternates
C. Punctuation style and refinements
XV. Proofreading and Pre-Press
XVI. Preparing Files for Print
XVII. Creating Professional Quality Designs from Concept to Completion, avoiding Amateur Pitfalls
XVIII. Trends in Type
XIX. Type Options for Web Design
XX. Type across Software Platforms
XXI. Group and Individual Critiques of Typographic Design utilizing relevant Terminology and Concepts
XXII. Free and Commercial Font Sites:
A. Features, pros and cons
B. Common font formats including Truetype and OpenType
C. How to download a font for use in a graphic design project
D. Font copyright concerns
E. Comparison of commercial versus free font sites on the web
F. Different font types and basic techniques for downloading and using them
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1. Weekly reading assignments (1 - 50 pages)
2. Exercises/activities centering around the use of type (6 - 16), such as:
a. A layout based project that focuses primarily on the use of type
b. A layout based project that examines type concerns under a variety of different types of constraints
c. A web based project that uses type effectively, taking into consideration type needs as related to digital environments
d. A print based project that explores, examines and repurposes type found in the student's everyday environment.
e. Advertising based project that explores the use of type while experimenting with different color modes (CMYK and gray scale)
f. Identifying and labeling the anatomy of typefaces
g. Matching typefaces with appropriate font families
h. Practice creating hand lettering
i. In class exercises that expands on weekly topics
3. Design based projects centering around the use of type (1 - 6), such as:
a. Based on an instructor selected topic, create two versions of a poster, one using hand lettering completed by hand and a second design digitally created
b. Create your typeface and use it in a digital design
c. Create a newsletter based on instructor selected topics
d. Locating type in everyday life, photograph it, then use the type to design cards detailing where the letter was found, what's its type category and more. This is a printed assignment
4. Oral or written critiques: Group and individual
5. Exam and/or Quizzes
6. Attendance and participation in in-class critiques
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The World's Best Typography 41 (2020). The Type Directors Club of New York. Schmidt Hermann Verlag. (2021).
Instructor prepared materials