Blackletter

 

Blackletter is based on ornate writing style of middle ages around the 12^th century, it can be seen in old woodblock letters, and  in calligraphy styles. These type faces because of there illustraious and complex nature appear difficult to read in large texts. They are used to add decorative touches such as starting out paragraphs and in intitial caps on words. This lettering was originally written with feather quils, wich added to the labour intense work it demanded in the middle ages, the clean line nature shows an engraved effect in the Blackletter typeface. The font now varies in style but is made to resemble these old styles.

Who is Adrian Frutiger

Adrian Frutiger is one of the most pronounced typeface designers of the twentieth century. He continues influencing the shape and direction of digital typography in the twenty-first century. He is best known for creating the typefaces Univers and Frutiger. He started working in printing in his early childhood in Sweden, although he originally had a passion for sculpture. He has created over thirty fonts between nineteen fifty-four and two thousand and seven. Frutiger has influenced and completed quite a work composition throughout his career in typography and design.

Univers his most famous font was originally conceived and released by Deberny and Peignot in 1957. Univers is one of a group of neo-grotesk sans-serif typefaces, all released in 1957, that includes Folio and Neue Haas Grotesk. These three faces are sometimes confused with each other, because each is based on the 1896 typeface Akedienz-Grotesk. These typefaces figure prominently in the Swiss style of graphic design.

Different weights and variations within the type family are designated by the use of numbers rather than names, a system since adopted by Frutiger for other type designs. Frutiger envisioned a large family with multiple widths and weights that maintained a unified design idiom. However, the actual typeface names within Univers family include both number and letter suffixes. Univers type family consists of 44 faces, with 16 uniquely numbered weight, width, position combinations. 20 fonts have oblique positions. 8 fonts support Central European character set, as well 8 support Cyrillic character set.

*Wikipedia

Who is John Baskerville

John Baskerville was a printer in Birmingham, England. He was a part of the Royal Society of Arts, and a member of the Lunar Society as well. He was mostly remembered as a printer and a typographer. He created many designs for Cambridge University in England, and other works. Benjamin Franklin took many of his designs back to the United States and adapted them for federal government publishing. His work there after was criticized and then fell out of favor. Yet, ever since the 1920’s fonts have been released by many type foundries to revive John Baskerville’s original style.

Baskerville, Johns revived style, is a transitional serif typeface designed in 1757. Baskerville is set as a transitional typeface, positioned between the old style typefaces of William Caslon, and the modern styles of Giambattista Bodoni and Firmin Didot. The Baskerville typeface is the result of Baskerville's intent to improve upon the types of William Caslon. He increased the contrast between thick and thin strokes, making the serifs sharper and more tapered, and shifted the axis of rounded letters to a vertical position. The curved strokes are more circular in shape, and the characters became more regular. The overall transformation creates a greater consistency in size and form. Baskerville's typeface was the culmination of a larger series of experiments to improve legibility which also included papermaking and ink making. The result was a typeface that reflected Baskerville's ideals of perfection; he chose simplicity and quiet refinement. His background as a writing master shows in the swash tail on the uppercase Q and in the cursive serifs in the Baskerville Italic. The refined feeling of the typeface makes it an excellent choice to convey dignity and tradition.

Why we as designers use a grid

As designers grids help form an active element which contrasts and controls order with expression and intuition. It forms minimal and sophisticated typography that is aligned along columns and margins.. Grids are implied and not seen. They help determine and ordered and simple system for placing text.

Grids are a series of intersecting axes that create horizontal and vertical divisions of space on the page. The intervals set forth the placement of visual elements. As a designer you control and arrange the visual elements, to create movement across the grid and compose a symphony through the placement of your creation.  The grid is re-invented with every project. Grids are devoted to cohesion and harmony. They are molded after structure and systems of proportion.

They provide unlimited creative opportunities to a designer. A designer uses this flexibility to produce the most visually compelling work they can. It helps the designer create flow harmony and aesthetics in a project.

"Grid systems in Graphic Design"

Paul Rand: American graphic artist

Paul Rand was an extremely well known American graphic designer. His expertise and fame coming for corporate logo designs, logo creations from the ABC logo to UPS. He was extremely well educated, and was one of the pioneers of the Swiss Style of graphic design.

He was born August 15, 1914 and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. His birth name was Peretz Rosenbaum, he changed it later on to separate him self from prejudice and anti-Semitism. Throughout his childhood he experienced with graphics and art, painting signs for his father’s grocery store and taking night classes during high school. He was for the most part a self –taught designer

He started out creating images for newspapers and other graphics part-time between school and by his early twenties was gathering international acclaim. Most notable were his design covers for Direction Magazine. Rand’s gathering prestige only continued to grow. He bridged gap between his profession and Europe’s modernist masters, while setting apart his own unique and highly innovative style. He convinced businesses and corporations that design was an essential and effective tool. He brought design to corporate marketing, and between the 1950’s and 60’s developed many corporate logos.

Paul Rand is still recognized as one of the greatest American designers, and paved the way for not only designers in his own generation but generations to come. Sadly Paul Rand passed away November 26, 1996.

Paul-Rand.com

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