Reflection on Practice Essay by Claus Eggers Sørensen. Submitted in partial fulfilment for the requirements for the Master of Arts in Typeface Design. Department of Typography and Graphic Communication The University of Reading, United Kingdom, July 2009

Reflections on Practice

Table of contents 3 The Markant typeface family for news in print and on screen 4 A short history of news typography 9 the process of developing the latin regular 14 On the design features of the latin regular 15 On the design features of the upper case and small caps 16 On the design features of the italic 17 On the design features of the greek 18 On the design features of the Cyrillic 19 On the combination of Latin, Cyrillic and Greek On the weights and styles 20 Conclusion 21 script & Language support 22 glyph repertoire 24 style & weight repertoire 25 typeface features

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Reflections on Practice

The Markant typeface family for news in print and on screen The Markant family of typefaces engage the contemporary challenges of news typography. Newspapers struggle to stay an attractive proposition to the public. Competition from online sources is strong, and there is no doubt that distribution via the Internet is the future. This has led to a loss of control over the typographical design, as requirements to be compatible with a host of devices, dictate setting the bar for the lowest common denominator. Especially typography – the key element of conveying content – has suffered tremendously. Web browsers have until now not been able to use typefaces outside of their operating system. This is changing as you read this. The newest generation of browsers now allow designers to specify custom typefaces and use them in browsers, ensuring an elevation of typographical quality closer to that of printed matters. The Markant typeface family is designed to perform in legibility, economy of setting and distinct tone of voice, both in print and on any type of screen. In this essay I will go into some detail on the process of developing the typeface that I eventually named Markant. The development process was marked by number of creative challenges. My quest for an original design meant I had to stop, go back and rethink stylistic elements on several occasions. I found that this was the greatest challenge I faced during my work. Markant means distinct or marked. A quality somewhat counter to the goals of typographic design1. This field between the duly expected and the excitement of novelty has to be navigated with care, especially in the field of text faces. Newspaper body copy typefaces is a narrow field mostly driven by quantitative measures like economy of setting and legibility. Some newspapers do however try to communicate an identity even in the design or choice of their body copy text typeface. With screens as the new medium, I have tried to design a text face that both establishes a tone of voice, as well as meeting some of the requirements for typefaces for screens.

1 Warde, Beatrice. The Crystal Goblet, Sixteen Essays on Typography. World Pub. Co., Cleveland, 1956.

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Reflections on Practice

A short history of news typography The design of what eventually turned out to become the typeface family Markant was inspired by my fascination of typefaces for newspaper printing. Especially the typefaces designed for body copy use – the long running text, in narrow columns, with little or no leading – I found to be a worthy subject for exploration. In the history of newspaper printing, the design of newspapers have moved from it’s earliest book typography roots, across changing formats and printing technologies, which have all dictated new typefaces to be designed especially for these specific generational instances. Since the beginning of the 19th century, newspaper typography can be said to have come into it’s own, with set of conventions that are still with us today. Several technical challenges in the last century have produced works of type design that have become hugely influential within the field, an someClarendon with a roman type, from the Fann times (perhaps by accident) even outside of it. Street Foundry, c. 1852. Not to scale. In 1922 Chauncey H. Griffith was promoted to Vice President of Typographic Development at Mergenthaler Linotype. He immediately started the development of new typefaces to replace the prevailing modern1 style faces. The issue troubling the moderns was their high contrast design. Especially the hairline parts of the cast lines could Century Roman. From Consuegra, David. break of while printing, and counters could clog American type design & designers. Allworth with ink and pulp. Faster printing meant transferCommunications, Inc., 2004, p. 62. ring the cast lines with the stereotype process to a letterpress cylinder for high-speed rotary printing on endless rolls of paper stock. C. H. Griffith’s new approach was to engineer new typefaces to the printing method2. That meant drawing inspiration from the Egyptienne3 style as seen in the Clarendon4 typeface, with it’s very sturdy lower contrast design, and Theodore Low De Vinne and Linn Boyd Benton’s Century Roman, which possessed elegance and legibility. The first product of these efforts was Ionic No. 5. It was an instant success, within eighteen months it was used by more than 3000 newspapers all over the world5. C. H. Griffith and Mergenthaler Linotype continued to refine the design in subsequent iteraIonic No. 5, Excelsior and Paragon from the tions: Excelsior (1931), Paragon (1935), Opticon (1935), Linotype Legibility Group. Not to scale. Corona (1941). These became known as the Legibility group. Times New Roman commissioned by The Times of London and released by Monotype in 1933 after one year of exclusivity to The Times, was a design overseen by Stanley Morison6. This typeface drew heavTimes New Roman from it’s first use in The Times ily upon the Plantin face, and was allowed to have delicate lines and be semi-condensed, because it of London 3rd, October 1932.

1 Modern to mean, of the Didone style. 2 Consuegra, David. American type design & designers. Allworth Communications, Inc., 2004, p. 149. 3 Also know as Egyptian. 4 Designed by Robert Besley and released by The Fann Street Foundry in 1845. 5 Consuegra, David. American type design & designers. Allworth Communications, Inc., 2004, p. 149. 6 Unger, Gerard. Experimental No. 223, a newspaper typeface, designed by W.A. Dwiggins. Quaerendo, Volume 11, Number 4, 1981 , pp. 302-324(23)

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Jan Stefan Roell und Jörg Hofmann sind Lange Zeit weit auseinander: die Verhandlungsführer Jörg Hofmann (links) und Jan Stefan Roell die Pokerspieler, die – trotz gegenseitiger Spät am Abend kommen die Gremien ins Sympathie füreinander – unterschiedlicher kaum auftreten können. Abgeklärt tritt der Spiel, in denen sich die Verhandlungsführer Südwestmetall-Chef Roell zu Beginn vor die stets vor ihren Entscheidungen absichern. on Practice Die Gewerkschaft hält ihre HintergrundkomMikrofone und fordert Reflections unmissverständlich: „Wir müssen deutlich unter dem Abschluss mission mit 60 Funktionären auf dem Laufenvon 2007 bleiben.“ Die Finanzkrise macht es den und konsultiert den Vorstand mit Bertmöglich: während der Arbeitgeber erkennt, hold Huber an der Spitze, der in Schwieberdass sich der Wind – strategisch gesehen – dingen Quartier bezogen hat. Die Führung zu seinen Gunsten gedreht hat, bläst dem des Dachverbandes der Arbeitgeber berät Gewerkschafter ein Sturm ins Gesicht. So sich wenige hundert Meter vom Verhandsteht der IG-Metall-Bezirksleiter Hofmann zu lungsort entfernt im Hotel Marriott. Auch der was printed in sheet feed letter press as opposed to high-speed rotation presses. This Beginn etwas ratlos da und weiß nicht recht, Gesamtmetall-Präsident Martin Kannegiesser only done because had aauf relatively limited daily muss The dortTimes Rücksicht die vielfältigen Be- run. As proceeding wohin mit den Händen. could Rein in die be Hosentaim eigenen Lager nehmen. schen, raus aus den Taschen. IG Metall ist findlichkeiten time Die allowed improvement in paper stock and printing technologies other newspapers Tarifnacht ist da, und gegen in den letzten Wochen unruhig geworden. adopted Times New RomanDie evenlange in high-speed rotation letterpress. This design proved drei Uhr in der Früh ist noch längst kein Ende so popular that is to this day remains in use in some newspapers, in Sicht. Seit neun Stunden haben angeblichbut mostly see use in Verwirrspiel und Hängepartie periodicals and books. keine substanziellen Verhandlungen mehr Kon- and offset printing In einem sind sie sich einig: „Sagenhaft stattgefunden, With theallenfalls move to sporadische photo lithography weit“ seien die Positionen auseinander, sagt takte, wie die Sprecher mitteilen. Das ist aber in the print quality took turn for the worse. Photo Teil1960s, des Verwirrspiels, wie sichaspäter Roell. Die Diskrepanz sei „extrem groß“, nur ein lithography many stages denninvolved in kleinster Runde gehtofestransferring a layout pflichtet Hofmann ihm bei. Gegen halb vier herausstellt, voran. Auchmediums Verhandlungsteilkommen die Kontrahenten erstmals zusam- konstruktiv from intermediate to the final paper substrate. men: sechs auf jeder Seite. Beide Verhand- nehmer werden daraus nicht schlau. „IrrsinPrinting speed increased leading to ink smearing or ghost lungsführer haben ihre Tarifexperten sowie nig“ nennt der Heidelberger Bevollmächtigte impressions on opposite Solch pageseigenarif the ink was not applied Geiger die Hängepartie. Mitstreiter von Bosch oder ZF Friedrichsha- Mirko Verhandlungen habe er in den letzten fen mitgebracht. Auch die Daimler-Vorleute, tige thinly enough, in turn leading to greyish impression on 15 Jahren nichtstock. erlebt.Further, Die Arbeitgeber Personalvorstand Günther Fleig und Betriebs- zehn, already greyish the paper stock had coarse ratschef Erich Klemm, gehören wieder dem ließen keine ernsthafte Bewegung erkennen, and a porus er als Zeichen dafür structure, wertet, dassleading sie sichto a high ink spread. engsten Kreis an. Da kann die Absatzkrise bei was fibres This wasuneinig to inspire völlig seien. Dutch typedesigner Gerard Unger to Mercedes noch so groß und die Streiklust der intern Die Folterinstrumente der in IG 1985. MetallItlieDaimler-Kampftruppen noch so gering sein – design Swift for release was sturdy with large die Erfahrung dieser Männer ist unverzicht- gen bereit – der Arbeitskampf ist bestens wedge serifs, large x-height and open apertures, but perbar. Gegen 18 Uhr werden die Verhandlun- vorbereitet: Zunächst soll, so ist es geplant, haps most importantly was of a contemporary aesthetTarifkommission amitMittwochvorgen unterbrochen. Die Gespräche befänden die Große Scheitern am for Nachsich in einer „schwierigen Ecke“, sagt einer mittag Die Acht gestern. icaldas language. It beschließen, too some time the design towar catch on Mittel by Christian Zinck mittag soll der Vorstand folgen. Noch industry, am der Sprecher imroman geschraubten Tarifdeutsch, in a very conservative newspaper but then it did www.linotype.com (1724).ist, From Johnson, The ‘ Goût wie es üblich wenn der A. F. Leerlauf mit gleichen Abend könnte die Urabstimmung keine Fernwirkung zu erwarten ist, unbefrishave to replace the two majordie typefaces – Times Hollandois. The Library, 4thsoll. series, v. 20,beginnen tetuse lahm legen.New Fernwirkung bedeutet Bandund am Montagmorgen Arbeit in wichtigen Worten verdeckt werden 1939,sich p. 195. Roman Excelsior –that of newspaper stillstand in den Betrieben, die nicht direkt Die and Streikstrategie zielt had auf been eine the ra- staple Fortan tut wenig im engen Verhand- ruhen. bestreikt werden, wegen der unterbrochenen Eskalation mit großen Arbeitsausfällen. lungsraum „K III“ hinter dem Stadthallenres- schebody copy since the early 1930s. taurant. Weitere vier Stunden später treten Anders als 2002 will die Gewerkschaft die Lieferkette aber in Mitleidenschaft gezogen Swift masterly integrated le goût hollandois7 with technidie Pressesprecher erneut vor. Nun ist man Belegschaften nicht tageweise in den Aus- werden. Dort würde die Aussperrung drohen, calholen, solutions and contemporary design sensibilities. Later vermeiden will. 24 was die Gewerkschaft stand sondern Unternehmen, in denen garptin einer „sehr schwierigen Ecke“. Aha.



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Gerard Unger would take on the issue of economy of setting in his 1993 design Gulliver. By that time page composition had moved to electronic layout systems, and advances in printing technology and paper quality had opened up for more delicate designs. Matthew Carter – another prolific typedesigner within newspaper typeface design – had also seen this opportumerkmalen der diversen Bevölkerungsgruppierungen mal mit Bart und nity for more refinement, and designed Miller8 for ausstaffiert: release für die ultraorthodoxen Juden, mal in 1997. This was a Scotch Roman revival9,Fellmütze stylistically closmit blau-weiß gehäkelter Kippa auf dem er to Linotype’s Legibility group, and in aKopf, much conwiemore sie nationalreligiöse Siedler tragen. Dazwischen wurde servative design language than Gerard Unger’s designs. Yet Barkat, ganz nach dem Geschmack der politischen Mitte, als moderit offered more typographical variety with intermediate ner Geschäftsmann präsentiert, oder er trug weights, small caps, grades10, body text and display versions. die für Linke typische Nickelbrille. Nir Barkat These were all typographical garnishes that had been large– „der Bürgermeister für jedermann“, so beschreibt er selbst seine neue Rolle. ly abandoned from newspapers since hotmetal linecasters Den Einzug ins Chefzimmer der Jerusawere introduced. With computer layout applications, these lem City Hall hat er letztlich aber seinem sophistications could now be re-intro­duced. Pakt mit zwei Interessengruppen zu verdan-

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WIZARD MADE THE AND GRUMPY WIZARD MADE 36 pt REWS FOR AN EVIL 125 TOXIC BREWS FOR THESE JACK. LAZY MOVER EVIL QUEENS & JACKS. LAZY Gerard Ungers Gulliver. From RD PACKING OF OLD MOVE Jerusalem hat einen neuen QUIT HARD Stuttgarter Zeitung Nr.Bürgermeis265,PACKING 2008. Er heißt Nir Barkat, ist GeschäftsÂCHÉ JEWELRYter.BOX. OF PAPIER-MÂCHÉ JEWELRY. noch weiß man nicht so y quaint garden:mann, jaunty und Back at my quaint garden:ist. jaun genau, wie er politisch einzuordnen 48 pt e with flaunting phlox. Immerhin: er hat die Religiösen besiegt. ty zinnias vie with 13 flaunting 2 toxic jungle water vi phlox. Hark! 4,872 toxic jungle ly drop on zebras for Günther, Jerusalem Von Inge water vipers quietly drop on ze w farm hand (picking Er ist nicht charismatisch, aber farm wendig, for meal! New hand uinces) proves smart. strongUndbras wenn es darauf ankommt, ist er (picks just six ziemlich Nir quinces) Barkat, einproves gezy. For only about $65, rechtsnational: schäftstüchtiger Jungdynamiker, ist zum Bürstrong but very lazy. For on ly ewives made thegermeister ‘inex Matthew Carter’s gewählt Miller Daily. von Jerusalem worden. 60 pt about $65, jolly housewives meal using quick-frozen ken. Barkat ist es zum einen gelungen, das Er werde für alle Bürger da sein, ob sie für säkulare konservative Bürgertum zu mobiligestimmt hätten nicht, hat meal er ver-out made an oder ‘inexpensive’ Jaded zombiesihnacted sieren. Das sind jene, die nach fünf Jahren sprochen. Ein bisschen klang er da wie der of 82Kollek, quick-frozen ut kept driving their 31 Teddy Erfahrung mit einem ultraorthodoxen Ratlegendäre der wie keinvegetables. anderer hauschef die Nase vollhatten vom Missmawirkte in dieseracted Stadt, so die quaint sich ard. At my grandausgleichend prix, J. Jaded zombies nagement in der Verwaltung. Hauptsache, ewigen Spannungsfeld zwischen Fromequally vilified im for his but kept driving their 31 oxen for der Neue kümmere sich um eine besser men und weltlichen Kräften, Juden 7  Johnson, A. F.und TheAra‘ Goût Hollandois. The Library, 4th series, v. 20, 1939, pp. 180–96; (Selected s. My grandfatherbern, spent funktionierende Müllabfuhr und tue etwas befindet. anders als Kollek ist ward.Aber At my grand J. Blatz essays, pp.prix, 365–77). gegen das Verkehrchaos, sagen sie. Barkat Mann, der polarisiert. Für das uickly carving wax buzeinwas 8 http:/ /www.fontbureau.com/fonts/MillerDaily equally vilified hiserfunky Andere Wähler nahm Barkat mit seinem Friedenslager stellt er nach allem,for was im 9 ein Notrotes a strict revival of any particular typeface, rather a revival of the Scotch Roman style. für nationale Ziele ein. Ir David, tly from junk. So,Wahlkampf when ways. Bekenntnis gesagtMy hat,grandfather Tuch spent dar. his 72 pt 10 Grades a number of fonts for the same typeface, spanning in weight fromdie slightly Stadtlighter Davids genannte jüdische Siedlung der seine erstenare Millionen mit k to Juarez, Mexico,Der doMann, day quicklyto carving waxaround buzza middle weight. An appropriate weight can then beimchosen slightly to fit the arabischen Stadtteil Silwan, ist für ihn Computersoftware verdiente, hat darker im Wahlr picturesque Arizona? particular speed, ink, plate work, paper stock and so on, for a final newspaper that fea-Beweis, was wir mit dem „eindrucksvoller kampf aberards, auch mostly gezeigt, dass erprinting fähig When zur from junk. ze enveloped that city turesseine body copy that is neither too light norhat too nach dark.seinem Grades were not exclusive digital typeResttoJerusalems machen können“. Zum VerSelbstironie hatten Anhänger Nir Barkat (links) Sieg gesagt, weist.goSoback todenJuarez, setting, they hadMexico, also been by alle Mergenthaler Linotype for Excelsior. gleich: Kollek hatte es in seinen späten Barkats Pappebenbild mit Erkennungseroffered wolle für Bürger da sein. Foto AP quakes broke forty-six will we fly over lovely Arizona? dows. Do pack my box Murky haze enveloped a city en dozen liquor jugs. as jarring quakes broke forty or Douglas be expec 5 ake that true false six windows. Pack mine box with five dozen liquor jugs. soon? Mad boxer shot uick, gloved jab84toptthe Will we expect Major Douglas dizzy opponents. Just to take this true/false quiz very

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scheme of attack in general is, a more nearly monotone letter with heavier serifs and a higher body.' ' The fourth memorandum in the document of 7 July 1937 concerns the His writer's wish Reflections to combineon Practice taut curves with sharp angular elements. from for this came partly from his marionettes inspiration again, and partly his 'geometrical the ornaments which he made with the help of spinach'stencils. He concluded: 'These letters are "classical" anatomy processed à la marionette. You will see the method in the drawings. It is more evident in

During C. H. Griffith’s tenure, in 1929, William Addison Dwiggins was hired as a type­designer, and would become Mergenthaler Linotype principal artist-under-contract11 Famously his greatest legacy was the discovery of the optical phenomenon he coined The M-Formula. It was the culmination of a number of ideas he had collected and noted First sketches showing the M-formula 12. The first sketches showing the M-formula applied to type, an illustration also from applied to type (1937). From Unger, in letters to C. H. Griffith, but the revelatory moment came document of 3 July 1937 Gerard. Experimental No. 223, athe newspafrom his work in carving marionette dolls12. He discovered per typeface, designed by W.A. Dwiggins. how angular features amplified shapes as they were seen Quaerendo, Volume 11, Number 4, 1981, from a distance, and he applied this spatial effect to the plap. 317. Not to scale. nar world of typedesign. Although he repeatedly tried to design typefaces using his idea, it was never exhausted in any published design. His findings on the optical perceptual effects of angularity were predated by the work of French ophthalmologist Dr. Louis Émile Javal in his book Physiologie de la lecture et de l’écriture13 published in 1905. He worked on legibility in very small size text – from six down to one point, and commissioned type to be cut per his instructions by Charles Dreyfuss. A speciment of these fonts was published. The angularity in these types was taken to the extreme, with an abundance of 90 degree angles and in some cases counters inked, entirely omitting the surrounding stroke.

Large scale thin paper drawing of the lower case g for the W. A. Dwiggins design Experimental 223, 4th proof (1939). Not to scale.

Louis Émile Javal and Charles Dreyfuss’ unnamed typeface. From Physiologie de la lecture et de l’écriture. Paris, 1978; Retz-C. E. P. L., p. 232. Not to scale.

11 Unger, Gerard. Experimental No. 223, a newspaper typeface, designed by W.A. Dwiggins. Quaerendo, Volume 11, Number 4, 1981 , p. 302 12 Ibid, p. 316 13 Javal, Louis Émile. Physiologie de la lecture et de l’écriture. Paris, 1905; Bibliography in Annales d’oculistique, Paris, 1907, 137: 187.

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Reflections on Practice

Herbert Bayer’s Universal (1925).

Susan Kare’s Chicago. Here in a the 12 pixel size used for menus and titles in the Mac OS.

Matthew Carters’s Georgia. Shown without hinting applied.

Matthew Carters’s Georgia. Shown hinted, and in aliased rendering.

Matthew Carters’s Georgia. Shown in anti-aliased rendering.

Bauhaus faculty member Herbert Bayer created his highly modular Universal in 1925 on a commission from the Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, to design a typeface for the school’s communications. This modular approach proved hugely influential, and come computers, the concept of modularity was inherent to the screens. Even the fonts in a dot matrix printer was build over a rather coarse grid. For the 1985 launch of the Apple MacIntosh personal computer, graphic designer Susan Kare was commissioned to create a bitmapped typeface for the innovative graphical user interface. The harsh aliased look was at that time softened by the CRT14 monitor it was displayed on. As printing devices became generally available and display resolutions increased, the need for scalable typefaces became apparent. In the case of bitmapped fonts, any enlargement would make the pixels equally enlarged, or a much higher resolution laser printer15 would likewise need to enlarge the typefaces for print. Thus the need for resolution independent typefaces, that could be displayed and printed on any device, only limited by it’s native resolution. Several technologies to solve this problem was developed, but the surviving one was Adobe’s PostScript16. With it, a typedesigner could describe glyph outlines with Bézier curves and have them rendered with fidelity on high resolution output devices like the Linotype Linotronic 10117. The problem was how to render these outlines on low resolution devices like the computer displays? Without instructions on how, where and when to turn on or off specific pixels, the bare bézier outlines would render on the grid of the screen in a mathematically logical way, but inconsistent in regards to what a typeface was supposed to look. It could be that stems were not of equal thickness, a major problem since the body copy sizes would optimally require a one pixel stem width, and should it fall to either side of this, it would mean that either the stem would disappear or double in width. Other problems included handling overshoot, making sure hairlines were rendered, that closed shapes did indeed close in the rendering, and that pixel patterns were alike in alike outlines. This necessitated the inclusion of hints in the outline fonts. These hints were build in instruction on how to render a font. Information on stem weights was included and horizontal zones of alignment was described for the whole font. Still, at the smallest sizes – and incidently the most used sizes – this information was not enough, special screen representations had to be included with the outline font. These screen representations had to be hand edited for each relevant pixel size.

14 Cathode ray tube. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode_ray_tube for more information. 15 Laserprinters at that time had a resolution of 300 dpi, opposed to the much lower screen resolution of 72 dpi. 16 Developed in 1982 and appeared in the Apple LaserWriter in 1985. 17 The Linotronic 101 was the first laser photosetter to support PostScript, and it thus enabled designers to output pages ready for platemaking and printing.

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Reflections on Practice

In 1996 Microsoft initiated the Core fonts for the Web project to offer a collection of typefaces optimized for screen use. Matthew Carter had already designed one of the two major components of the package, the sans serif design Verdana, and he was commissioned to design the serif design Georgia for the Microsoft Network18. With Verdana and Georgia he reversed the usual sequence of working, and started by designing the bitmapped design for screens. Only after this step was completed he would create suitable outlines that could be hinted to re-create his initial bitmap design. Georgia can be said to be a screen version of his earlier Scotch Roman design Miller. As computing technology evolved colour displays became standard equipment, and computer memory and processing speeds allowed for the display of grey scale and colour images. This meant fonts could be rendered anti-aliased19, that is a rendering with multiple values of grey to indicate density, rather than just the binary aliased rendering. The TrueType20 font format offered a much more sophisticated approach to hinting, and the anti-aliasing could be controlled to better effect. I should however take a long time for the dominant Microsoft Windows operating systems to implement antialiasing as a default. Only with the later ClearType21 sub-pixel rendering technology, updated system fonts that took advantage of this, LCD22 displays as the norm and with Windows Vista had screen typography moved past the aliased rendering technology. A commonality between the outlined developments in typography is the outside driving factors in technology. The current move towards medium agnostic media means contents must be separated from presentation, and presentation must be generalized and automatized as much as possible. The New York Times developed the Times Reader23, which employs an auto art director24 algorithm to lay out content on the fly, and all this in the newspaper’s recognizable Cheltenham typeface25. The enhanced span from previously only printed newspapers, to now also span screen representations sets forth some questions, namely if is it possible to design a typeface that is both well suited for printing and for screen use. Is it possible to, at the same time, brand a body copy typeface without getting in the way of technical limitations, and without disturbing legibility. Is it possible to create good readability on a screen?

The New York Times’ Times Reader application, here showing it’s auto art director algorithm changing the layout automatically as the size of the application window changes.

18 http://www.will-harris.com/verdana-georgia.htm 19 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-aliasing 20 Released with the launch of Mac OS System 7 in May 1991, later licensed to Microsoft. 21 http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/TheChannel9Team/Bill-Hill-How-does-ClearType-work/ 22 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lcd_display#Color_displays 23 https://timesreader.nytimes.com/ 24 https://xd.adobe.com/#/featured/video/200 25 http://blogs.adobe.com/typblography/2009/05/times_reader_2.html

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Reflections on Practice

the process of developing the latin regular Our the very first workshop with Gerard Unger he set us the task of designing letterforms that could were legible in as small sizes as possible. I ventured into this dark, wide design. No real serifs are present, instead I experimented with some pyramid stubs to terminate the stems. Clearly inspired by Dwiggins’ Experimental No. 223 and the Javal experiments. I would return to these ideas several times during the development of my typeface for news.

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The first characters designed were ‘adhesion’ since they cover all the basic components of the lower case. There is the n as the main character, and other characters are built from the rules of this letter shape. Since the brief was to design both for screen and print, my first sketch had very low contrast, wide characters and large x-height.

This allowed me to evaluate weight and proportions of the letterforms. With these characters columns of text could be set26 to evaluate the general texture of the characters as words and lines. The next step was to expand the character set a bit to be able to set realistic text. To test how the weight would influence the legibility of the type on a screen, I designed an array of weights using Multiple Master27.

26 http://www.adhesiontext.com/ 27 http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/opentype/index_mult_master.html

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Reflections on Practice

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Font: CES1000wt

tring: ,.:;adehinosäëö adhesion

Claus Eggers The weights were testedSørensen on an Illiad28 e-Book, on the Apple Macs, the Apple 7/19/2009 13:12 Page 1/1 iPhone29, the OLPC30, and in print using various laser printers. The printers varClaus Eggers Sørensen 7/19/2009 13:12 Page 1/1 the type was rendered on the print. The printied considerably in how dark Claus Eggers Sørensen er closest to an offset 7/19/2009 printing 13:12 situation happened to be the Hewlett Packard Page 1/1 Eggers Sørensen LaserJet P 2015.Claus Where the screens generally favoured the lighter weights, the 7/19/2009 13:13 Page 1/1 prints favouredClaus heavier weights. Screen rendering in Apple’s OS 10.5 native Eggers Sørensen 7/19/2009 13:13 Page 1/1 and the OLPC was quite good using no hinting renderer, the iPhone, the Illiad, Claus Eggers Sørensen 7/19/2009alignment except defining horizontal zones. Rendering in Windows Vista31 was Page13:13 1/1 Claus Eggers Sørensen really bad, and Adobe Acrobat’s CoolType32 renderer was better than the render7/19/2009 13:13 Page 1/1 Eggersthan Sørensen ing in Vista, butClaus worse the Apple native rendering. I tested and compared 7/19/2009 13:12 Page 1/1 these devices in this regard, and came to the conclusion to aim for the OS 10.5 native rendering in regards to screens, as this the best quality with the Page 1/1 FONTLAB FONT SAMPLE Claus offered Eggers Sørensen 7/19/2009 14:31 least involvement from my side. Especially since hinting was not required it left Font: CES FONTLAB FONT SAMPLEadhesion Claus Eggers Sørensen String: /a/d/e/h/i/k/l/n/o/r/s me free to concentrate on design aspects instead. 7/19/2009 Page14:29 1/1

Font: CES

String: /a/d/e/h/i/k/l/n/o/r/s adhesion

Page 1/1 All these weights were however very low in stroke contrast, so the next step was to explore contrasts. I decided to focus on the appearance of the printed page, so I proceeded to expand the Multiple Master design with a contrast axis. This would allow me to find a suitable contrast between a very low contrast, and a very high contrast endpoint. From the printed samples I chose a contrast to work out of. Next step was to develop the serifs. They are especially troublesome on screens, as in normal reading sizes, only one pixel is used to describe it. Further the white space between characters must preserved, without allowing the character spacing to grow too large. Finally the weight and shape of the serifs can introduce ‘noise’ on both the screen as well as the printed page. Bracketed serifs reduce this noise, but wedge shaped serifs offer more weight, and are preferred for smaller sizes.

FONTLAB FONT SAMPLE FONT FONTLAB SAMPLE FONTLAB FONT SAMPLE FONTLAB FONT SAMPLE FONT SAMPLE

CES Font: CESserif Font: CESserif Font: CESserif Font: CESserif

String: hbksinrf aduhbksinrf String: aduhbksinrf String: aduhbksinrf String: aduhbksinrf Claus Eggers Sørensen

MATD 08-9

CES serifs 20.vfb 9 pt

January 13, 15.23, 2009

I would return to the design of the serifs again a number of times during the design process. Getting them interesting would prove to be a very illusive goal. Different designs would have unwanted connotations. Some styles would even point directly to a particular previous typeface design, like for instance the bracketed serifs of Swift.

8 pt

barack obama this morning named barack obama this morning named At this time I had to face the fact that my design had thegeneric. chief Certainly of the chicago schools as his the chief of the chicago schoolsbecome as his bland and not something to strive for in a typographical where morepromising typefacsecretarylandscape of education, “a new secretary of education, promising “a es every day inhabit increasingly narrow stylistic positions vision for a education system” that aims new vision for a education system” between already existing typefaces. So I begun to draw from students and scratch again, toto tryraise to get expectations to something bothof interesting that aims to raise expectationsand new. I returned to explore and some to of the ideas ofhighly angu- qualified educators recruit of students and educators and larity to and M-formula that I had done in the first workshop teachers. in a press conference at a chiwith Gerard Unger. recruit highly qualified teachers. in a cago school thiswere morning, the presidentI didn’t feel that these experiments strong enough press conference at a chicago school to carry themselves into announced a full design. However I decided to elect his pick of arne duncan, a friend and basketball partner, to head this morning, the president-elect the department of education. the pick announced his pick of arne duncan, indicates obama wants fresh but proven http://www.irextechnologies.com/products/iliad a friend and 28 basketball partner, to 29 http://www.apple.com/iphone/ thinking at the top of the education 30 http://laptop.org/en/laptop/hardware/index.shtml head the department of education. department, which directs billions in 31 http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/default.aspx the pick indicates obama wants fresh federal education dollars to states and 32 http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/cooltype.html but proven thinking at the top of the school districts around the country, and education department, which directs can be enormously influential in setting 10national education policy and standards. billions in federal education dollars obama praised duncan’s pragmatic to states and school districts around openness to diverse education theories the country, and can be enormously

7

b ch ta fo e a a m p b e fr e in sc ca n o to a in in

Font: Mango rgenavisen Reflections on Practice

String: adehilnou

skere tog rakerne var overtage

A3 mock newspaper 1.indd

|

2009, januar 27, 2009 10:34 |

HP Laserjet 5100

Dans la course aux messages de félicitations

try to integrate back some of the ideas I explored here back into the previous design. The oversized ink traps did not work in body copy sizes, to be visible the type would have to be set in display sizes. In body sizes they were superfluous. Since printing quality today is so good that they are irrelevant, they would ever only have been a stylistic element.

Les réactions affluent après la prise de fonction du nouveau président Barack Obama.

nouveau regard sur le Proche-Orient Premier à réagir après l'investien affirmant que le "regard traditionture d'Obama, le Premier ministre nel ne donnera rien". britannique, Gordon Brown. Il salue Le chef du gouvernement espa"un nouveau chapitre dans l’histoire gnol, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero: américaine comme dans l’histoire "Avec son discours, Obama nous du monde". Barack Obama "n’est pas donne espoir, et ses paroles nous seulement le premier président noir placent sur le meilleur chemin pour américain, mais il a dès le départ la une relation fluide et fructueuse avec détermination résoudre les problèI returned to previous design, refiningà character proportions in the hope solutions når er man færdig. Hele missionen le gouvernement espagnol". "L'arrivée mes du monde. present I produced number of mock articles in aune handhar lidt under,would at målene har themselves. været så d'Obama offre opportunité que En France, aNicolas Sarkozy s’estnewspaper dit abstrakte, så man kunne nåThat dem. allowed ful ofikke languages. me to work on thedans important diacritics. The passer". nousofn'allons pas laisser "résolu à travailler main la main" design Men der er ingen tvivl om, vi harhave to be L'Union avec Etats-Unis "releverunambiguously diacritics would of les a certain sizepour to render on européenne, the screen par la voix du gjort noget godt i hvert fald,“ siger président de la Commission euroensemble les immenses défis" du – larger than what would be necessary for print. There would for instance issuesBarroso appelle Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen. péeenne, JosébeManuel monde. with differentiating breve and macron from each other in screen renderings. The acute Hverken forsvaret eller regeringen à resserrer les liens: "Au moment har aktivt oplyst om, atand Danmark har to be le président Obama Dans sonlarge message de félicitations, (kreska) grave had rather to easily be differentiatedoù from each other and entame son trukket sig udthe af koalitionen, mandat historique, j'appelle l'Europe Silvio Berlusconi, le chef du goudot-accent.og det er ikke en tilfældighed, mener Mikkel et les Etats-Unis à approfondir davernement italien, invite Obama à The basic vertical metrics – the proportions between caps, descenders, Vedby Rasmussen. vantage les ascenders, liens transatlantiques et "affronter ensemble les défis actuels: x-height was ascrise the size and style of the diacritics were developed. Opfattelsenand i befolkningen er, adjusted at vi à joindre leurs efforts "..." pour traiter la financière, la situation au trak os ud af Irak for flere år siden, les grands défis de notre époque". Moyen-Orient et en Afghanistan". og det er regeringen godt tilfreds Droit dans ses bottes, le président Le chef de la diplomatie iranienne, med. Irak har altid været kontroverHugo Chavez a lancé, en guise de Manouchehr Mottaki, attend de voir: siel og nu vil man gerne bare lægge premier commentaire après la prise "Nous préférons encore attendre pour den krig bag sig," siger Mikkel Vedby de fonctions d'Obama: La révolution voir quelles seront les actions politiRasmussen. au Venezuela "se poursuivra quel que ques du gouvernement américain" à Den nærmest hemmeligholdte tilba- l’égard de l’Iran. Il a appelé au passoit le président des Etats-Unis et sa getrækning møder markant kritik fra politique étrangère". sage le nouveau président à porter un Enhedslistens Frank Aaen. „Det er et svigt af soldaterne, og mangel på lydhørhed over for det man selv tidligere har sagt. Det viser bare, at regeringen ikke ønsker at få mere lys på det danske medansvar i Técnicamente, los jueces militares En el primer día de la era Obama, el Irak,“ siger han. podrían haberse opuesto a la petición presidente puso fin a Guantánamo. Det har ikke været muligt at få en de Obama de suspender hasta mayo La fecha de caducidad para el centro kommentar fra udenrigsminister los juicios, pero eso hubiera supuesto de detención emplazado en la bahía Per Stig Møller "K", der er i Sydafrika. una polémica contradicción de los cubana es de un a"o. Ése es el plazo Men nu vil han på foranledning af deseos claramente expresados por su que el mandatario de Estados Unidos Frank Aaen skulle redegøre for bagnuevo comandante en jefe. establece en la orden ejecutiva que grunden for, at de seks danske soldaAdemás de haber quedado suspenfirmará en breve. Para Barack Obama, ter blev trukket hjem netop nu og for, dido el juicio contra los supuestos el cierre de la prisión abierta en hvorfor det er sket i al ubemærkethed cinco cerebros de los ataques del de „mejorará la seguridad nacional y los og uden parlamentariske drøftelser. septiembre, se paralizó el proceso intereses de la política exterior de ee contra el único canadiense encerrado uu y la justicia“, según un borrador fakta en Guantánamo, Omar Jadr, quien del decreto facilitado ayer a la prensa. I alt har koalitionslande trukket tenía a"os en el momento de su deNada más acabar los fastos de la sig ud af Irak i og tilbage står USA, tención y que está acusado de matar toma de posesión, Obama pidió al Australien, Storbritannien, El Salvaa un soldado norteamericano en un jefe del Pentágono, Robert Gates, que dor, Estland og Rumænien. tiroteo en Afganistán. Este caso tuvo solicitara a los jueces de GuantáSelv om Danmark ikke længere er repercusión internacional porque sus namo la suspensión durante días de en del af koalitionen, har forsvaret abogados alegaron que su reclusión los juicios militares para revisar los stadig soldater i Irak. De arbejder i violaba las leyes internacionales socasos de los procesados. Entre ellos NATO Training Mission og som livbre los juicios a los ninos soldados. se encuentran los supuestos cinco vagter for den danske ambassade. Sin embargo, cuatro de los cinco coordinadores de los atentados del S, acusados por el pidieron ayer que incluido su cerebro, Jalid Saij Mohacontinuaran sus procesos, a pesar de med. El consentimiento inmediato de que si fueran encontrados culpables los jueces permite a Obama cumplir podrían ser condenados a muerte. una de sus promesas electorales. En Como dijeron en su día, esos acusados Guantánamo hay presos.

te danske soldater koalitionen i er, er irakerne ikke klar til at tage øre vores arbejde færdigt

sætning til USA og andre nde ikke at indgå en ny en irakiske regering. Det mod, hvad udenrigsmiig Møller k tidligere har

på alternativerne til at å kan jeg ikke anbefale ækning af koalitionen. r, at det, der gælder for så må kunne være gyldigt lande i koalitionen. Man e sige: Vi kan godt trække r, bare I andre bliver,“ g Møller til Berlingske ember. n det i Udenrigsministeegn på en positiv udvikkke længere har bedt om ælp. Men ifølge lektor i olitik fra Københavns Peter Viggo Jakobsen, er rund af udviklingen i mark nu trækker sig ud. t var at opbygge et stabilt isk Irak, som man sagde, så er arbejdet ikke gjort n hvis målet var at gøre vonske og britiske allierede rbejdet færdigt. Vi har over den værste hurdle, kke længere point hos ne ved at have seks mand t gør vi ved at bruge fghanistan, og derfor er nderligt, at vi har trukIrak," siger Peter Viggo

t noget godt sk Institut for Militære d Mikkel Vedby Rasmus, at Danmark har større ldaterne andre steder an mener, det er umuligt målet er nået i Irak, for g været klart defineret. eget mening, det giver sborg at tale om at gøre digt, lige så lidt mening asra og Bagdad. For hvor-

Obama pone fin a Guantánamo

Databases Set to Be Linked After Years of Bureaucratic o Ease Communications, Give Spies Access to More Data

solve that by uniting the ail systems into a single a full directory that links

11

The impact for analysts, Mr. McConnell says, “will be staggering.” Not only will analysts have vastly more

gration Program, has experienced officials working on it full-time and is designed to deliver tangible products

Over the summer, the officers began to sketch out the technology and policy problems to be solved, in-

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Hele missionen målene har været så kke kunne nå dem. vivl om, vi har vert fald,“ siger mussen. et eller regeringen m, at Danmark har oalitionen, og det hed, mener Mikkel

olkningen er, at vi or flere år siden, n godt tilfreds været kontrovererne bare lægge ger Mikkel Vedby

mmeligholdte tilbamarkant kritik fra k Aaen. soldaterne, og ed over for det har sagt. Det viser ikke ønsker at få nske medansvar i

et muligt at få en enrigsminister der er i Sydafrika. foranledning af redegøre for bagseks danske soldam netop nu og for,

Reflections on Practice

At this time I had to face the fact that my design was getting uncomfortably close to a former Reading typeface Tisa33. This is something that can happen, especially seen in the light that I was – and Mitja Miklavčič had been – in the same course, with the A3 mock newspaper 1.indd following | 2009,the januar 2009inspirations. 10:34 | HP Laserjet same teachers, probably same27, general Aware of this5100 I had no choice but to start yet again from scratch in search for something that had not been done before.

Dans la course aux messages de félicitations Les réactions affluent après la prise de fonction du nouveau président Barack Obama.

nouveau regard sur le Proche-Orient Miklavčič’s Tisa. design from his enMitja affirmant que leThe "regard traditionMA in 2006. Sample taken from the retail nelReading ne donnera rien". britannique, Gordon Brown. Il salue FONTLAB SAMPLE C SAMPLE from Fontshop. Le chef du gouvernement espa"un nouveauFONT chapitre dansFONTLAB l’histoire FONT version gnol, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero: américaine comme dans l’histoire However, the elements of proportion, weight,son serifs and shapes were stating "Avec discours, Obama nous to come duClaus monde". Barack Obama "n’est pas Eggers Sørensen String: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz String: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz together. It was starting to look like a typeface. A rather bland looking typeface and donne espoir, et ses paroles nous seulement le premier président noir 7/19/2009 20:11 certainly still too close to Tisa. It did render and read very well on screen, but it’s style placent sur le meilleur chemin pour américain, mais il a dès le départ la was still generic. une relation fluide et fructueuse avec détermination à résoudre les problèle gouvernement espagnol". "L'arrivée mes du monde. Page 1/1 FONTLAB FONTNicolas SAMPLE Claus Eggers Søren d'Obama offre une opportunité que En France, Sarkozy s’est dit 7/19/2009 nous n'allons pas laisser passer". "résolu àCampitor-Regular travailler main dans la main" Font: FONTLAB FONT SAMPLE Claus Eggers Søren L'Union européenne, par la voix du avec les Etats-Unis pour "relever String: multinational adhesion 7/19/2009 président de la Commission euroensemble les immenses défis" du Page Font: Campitor-Regular FONTLAB FONT SAMPLE Claus Eggers Søren péeenne, José Manuel Barroso appelle monde. String: multinational adhesion 7/19/2009 à resserrer les liens: "Au moment Page Font: I pursued FONTLAB more different, more angular approaches to serifs FONTLABCampitor-Regular FONT SAMPLE FONT SAMPLE Claus Eggers Søren où le président Obama entame son Dans son message de félicitations, String: multinational adhesion to get away from the very traditional bracketed style. The 7/19/2009 mandat historique, j'appelle l'Europe Silvio Berlusconi, le chef du gouPage Font: Font: Campitor-Regular FONTLAB FONT SAMPLE weight was also reduced at this time. The problem now was FONTLABCampitor-Regular FONT SAMPLE Claus Eggers Søren et les Etats-Unis à approfondir davernement italien, invite Obama à String: multinational adhesion String: multinational adhesion to avoid the references to Gerard Ungers Swift. 7/19/2009 vantage les liens transatlantiques et "affronter ensemble les défis actuels: Font: Page Font: FONTLABCampitor-Regular FONT SAMPLE FONTLABCampitor-Regular FONT SAMPLE Claus Eggers Søren à joindre leurs efforts la crise financière, la situation au String: multinational adhesion"..." pour traiter String: multinational adhesion 7/19/2009 Page les grands défis de notre époque". Moyen-Orient et en Afghanistan". Font: Font: FONTLABCampitor-Regular FONT SAMPLE FONTLABCampitor-Regular FONT SAMPLE Claus Eggers Søren Droit dans sesadhesion bottes, le président Le chef de la diplomatie String: multinational String: multinational adhesion iranienne, 7/19/2009 Page Hugo Chavez a lancé, en guise de Manouchehr Mottaki, attend de voir: Font: Campitor-Regular Font: Campitor-Regular multinational adhesionaprès la prise premier commentaire "Nousmultinational préférons encore String: adhesionattendre pour String: Page de fonctions d'Obama: La révolution voir quelles seront les actions politiau Venezuela "se poursuivra quel que ques du gouvernement américain" à soit le président des Etats-Unis et sa l’égard de l’Iran. Il a appelé au paspolitique étrangère". sage le nouveau président à porter un Premier à réagir après l'investi-

My design in December. Too close to Tisa. ture d'Obama, le Premier ministre

Font: Campitor-Regular Font: Campitor-Regular

Obama pone fin a Guantánamo 33 http://www.fontshop.com/fonts/singles/fontfont/ff_tisa_lf_regular/ Técnicamente, los jueces militares En el primer día de la era Obama, el podrían haberse opuesto a la petición presidente puso fin a Guantánamo. de Obama de suspender hasta mayo La fecha de caducidad para el centro los juicios, pero eso hubiera supuesto de detención emplazado en la bahía una12polémica contradicción de los cubana es de un a"o. Ése es el plazo deseos claramente expresados por su que el mandatario de Estados Unidos nuevo comandante en jefe. establece en la orden ejecutiva que Además de haber quedado suspenfirmará en breve. Para Barack Obama, dido el juicio contra los supuestos el cierre de la prisión abierta en

Reflections on Practice

FONTLAB FONT SAMPLE

Font: Campitor-Regular I begun to introduce inflexion points within inside curves. A distinct nod to Dwiggins’ M-formula. The extra optical space created in the counters by this effect allowed me to condense many of the letter forms, which would allow better economy in setting – on of the goals of printed newspapers, and indeed one of the goals I had set for my design. I also re-introduced the ‘ink-traps’, but now to much smaller dimensions. I had the hope that they would also help enlarge the negative space in some key areas where strokes joined. This would prove not worthwhile, as the very small detailed shapes of the ‘ink-traps’ introduced ‘noise’ in the print and screen renderings and was disturbing to the eye.

String: multinational adhesion

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Encouraged by the effect of the inflexion points, I continued working to implement

and refine this element in the design. The ink-traps proved to disturbing, so I removed : Nymphs blitz quick vex dwarf jog SAMPLE Claus Eggers them. The contrast was increased, and a short return to bracket serifs was trailed. Once again I had to reject the bracketed serifs because they were too generic. Instead I tried som terminal forms inspired by Dwiggins’ Experimental 223 design.

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They quickly morphed into Gerard Unger’s Swift style wedge serifs. And I had to revert to the rounded wedge serifs. Rounding also the base serifs proved not to be a good idea. Without a clearly defined shearing of the ends of the base serifs, they appeared weak and too short. To generate some fresh ideas, I created a new design again taking inspiration from the early sketches of Dwiggins’ Experimental No. 223. This fared better. I was able to use the very open aperture design of the e in this experiment. The a again explored a inflexion points within the counters, and this was too integrated in the design.

Finally lightly rounded wedge shaped base serifs were chosen. They were made slightly heavier to on the right side of the stems to counter the curvature of the serif that was leading the gaze downwards. This design was to be the final version for submission.

Markant in the version that was submitted.

13

7

Reflections on Practice

On the design features of the latin regular The slightly rounded serifs soften the screen rendering artefacts and mirror the curves in the arches of the letter forms. The serifs are slightly asymmetrical to pull the gaze up towards the x-height to aid the reading process. The squarish letter forms increases the counter and aperture size, and adapts better to the rendering grid of screens.

nau

The arch of the stem on the a mirrors the downwards stroke on the c and e. Avoiding a thickening of the end of the arch, opens the aperture for better legibility. The spur of the a, d and u mirrors the in-stroke of the n.

The counter’s inflexion point top right corner pushes outwards, to create more whitespace for the counter, resulting in a clearer screen rendering in situations where the text must be rendered in a small number of pixels. The sharp corner in between the upper and lower bowls of the bi-cameral g allows the white space to be more prominently rendered both in print and especially on screen. It allows the two bowls to be large while allowing a clearly rendered white space between the bowls at low resolutions. I found that the more squeezed for room I was, the more radically sharp the curve could be designed. Taken to it’s extreme was the 90 degree angle found in the g.

grfj ecaodp

The arm of the f is relatively short, yet strong. It is certainly a move away from the Linotype style fs of the line caster era. These very compressed fs became the norm for newspapers set with Linotype line casters, as they could not kern. Here the flag is squarish like the arm of the r, the ear of the g, and the descender of the j. The arm of the f meets the stem with an inflexion point like in the r, applying the general principle from the n.

The extremely open shape of the e and c is balanced by the strong downwards stroke. The stroke stress is slightly rotated to achieve this effect. The design is reminiscent of Otl Aicher’s Rotis design. Whatever one must think of his design, it stands that very open apertures are desirable from a legibility standpoint, that the large negative space must be balanced by the weight of the stroke, and finally that the stroke modulation of a calligraphic axis imparts a stronger essence of the letter in question. These elements have to be individually balanced, taking into account the general design.

14

Reflections on Practice

On the design features of the upper case and small caps As I chose to design all three EU scripts – Latin, Cyrillic and Greek – I had to design them in such a way that they could be set in the same line with each other. In Cyrillic text from the Latin script can both be written in the original Latin based script or transliterated into Cyrillic. In languages based on the Latin script, Cyrillic and Greek would mostly be transliterated. In Greek, Cyrillic would most likely be transliterated, and languages based on the Latin script could either be written in the Latin script or transliterated. To achieve consistency, the vertical metrics had to be the same.

Hhнňη

What seems a traditional choice in Greek typeface design is to use Latin style capitals and small capitals combined with a uniquely Greek lower case design. To choose this approach is certainly easy, as it requires little adaptation, but I feel there is an opportunity to return to the Greek uppercase and small caps, and try to design a more uniquely Greek design, more in line with the lowercase design. Finding the proper proportions and weight for the small capitals proved much more of a challenge than to design the uppercase characters. The large areas of negative space within the small caps had to be matched by quite heavy stroke weights to blend in with the lowercase. Especially the horizontal strokes had to be quite a bit darker than the horizontals in the uppercase characters. Where the uppercase characters had slightly larger serifs, the small caps used the same size as in the lower case.

ÅŚÉίǻўį Accommodating the many diacritics for the chosen languages, meant designing separate versions of the diacritics for the lower- and upper case characters. This was done to enable lines to be set solid or with very little leading. As the descenders deliberately were kept as short a possible, the cedilla, comma accents and ogonecs were a challenge to design so that they would render distinct from each other on the screen.

15

Reflections on Practice

On the design features of the italic The serifs reflect the regular style serifs, and creates coherence across the scripts and styles. The inflection point inside the aperture of the n, is repeated from the regular style. It helps in this case to optically enlarge the inside whitespace, and to aid the eye up and to the right while conserving space by allowing a narrow letter shape. The stems are straight, but with curves towards in- and out-strokes. This helps create a rendering of repeated and consistent vertical patterns. The unconnected diagonal stroke of the k allows more whitespace in this dense letter form. The leg of the diagonal stroke retains a very open form aiding a clearly defined negative space between both it’s apertures and the inter-character space.

nukscfa

The in- and out-strokes of curved strokes is closely related to the diagonal in- and outstrokes. They are open and fast, remaining clearly italic without needing much of a slant, thus aiding legibility. The strokes however still allow a bite in the page with their sharp endings. Large pseudo ink-traps, carved in between the stem and the bowl creates enough whitespace to render both a large counter and a long stroke joining the stem, enhancing the flowing nature of italic writing.

16

Reflections on Practice

On the design features of the greek The Greek script is in essence a serif-less script. To connect it with the Latin design the in-stroke of the η is inspired from the in-stroke of the regular a, and the Latin base serifs. The approach to apertures in the Greek script is identical to the Latin script. An inflection point optically enlarges the whitespace and allows more legible screen rendering.

ηκλςβ

The stress axis of the Greek script is different from the Latin and Cyrillic scripts. To accentuate this feature while keeping the stress axis proper closer to the Latin design, the stems have slight swellings and a curved endings. The κ has an unconnected diagonal stroke that mirrors the Latin design, and also here increases the whitespace and aides legibility. The in-stroke of the ς mirrors the italic style of the Latin design. Where as the italic is slanted and fast, this Greek is upright and therefore less pronounced because it is slower written. It thusly remains closer to the size of the Greek stem stroke endings.

Ώυτίθε

Compared to Latin, the Greek script has many more characters based on round strokes. This does give a lighter feel to the line of text, as there are no serifs to clearly mark the baseline as in Latin and Cyrillic. In Greek other elements have to set the direction. The clear out-strokes in characters such as α, τ, π, ι, κ, and λ, are instead leading the eye along the line. Ligatures of the common λλ and γγ were designed and are slightly lighter than the separate glyphs kerned together.

ΠΠφλλ 17

Reflections on Practice

On the design features of the Cyrillic The Cyrillic script is admittedly an amalgamation of elements from the Latin- and Greek script – amongst others. Many features from the two scripts are repeated verbatim, with a leaning towards latinized forms. What mostly separates the letter forms from the Latin and Greek script are the proportions and historically- and culturally based peculiarities of certain letter forms.

бждйчј

Base serifs follow the Latin regular design, whereas the upper terminals mirror the Latin italic design. The outstroke of the arm of the б follow the stress axis with the Latin design, while the stroke ending is shared with the Greek design. The dense distribution of vertical stems and the relative lack of ascenders and descenders create the darker lines for Cyrillic. It makes the interlinear space more prominent, and creates thus higher contrast paragraphs. The breve with ball-endings is peculiar to the Cyrillic design.

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A special challenge is to adapt Latin uppercase forms to the x-height, and match them with letter forms identical to the Latin lowercase. There is no easy way to do this, especially in a semi-modular typeface like Markant. It is a question of creating an internal logic and then breaking it as few times as possible.

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Reflections on Practice

On the combination of Latin, Cyrillic and Greek The design of Markant is neither strictly dictated by a pen metaphor, nor is it completly modular. A library of related shapes are used to solve similar problems across all three scripts, weights and styles.

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вторник, 7 июля 2009

Маркант вестник № 287

The semi-modular approach makes the work of harmonising the appearance of all three scripts easier, having a 'library' of shapes to solve identical problems brings coherence to the scripts. The big challenge is to develop a system – a shape library – that can work in all the selected scripts without impairing the nature of the scripts.

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Χωρίς να επεκταθώ στα περί νεολογισμών (δίνω κάποια αρχική βιβλιογραφία από το διαδίκτυο παρακάτω), θα πρέπει εδώ να διακρίνουμε τους νεολογισμούς από την ψυχαγ λεξιπλασία του άλλου νήματος (http://www.lexilogia.gr/forum/showthread.php?t=16). Το προσωπικό μου ενδιαφέρον (αλλά και ο πονοκέφαλος πολλών μεταφραστών) είνα ένας νεολογισμός της γλώσσας-πηγής στο γλωσσικό ζεύγος στο οποίο εργαζόμαστε αποδίδεται καλύτερα στη γλώσσα-στόχο. Μήπως υπάρχει ήδη εύστοχη απόδοση και έχουμε πάρει χαμπάρι; Ο ελληνικός νεολογισμός που έχουμε μπροστά μας προέκυψε από την ανάγκη να αποδοθεί ένας ξένος όρος ή είναι πρωτογενές δημιούργημα της γλώ μας. A collection of useful phrases in Greek. Click on the English phrases to see them in many other languages. Key to abbreviations: inf informal, frm formal, sg said to on son, pl said to more than one person. Please speak more slowly Παρακαλώ μιλάτε πιο αργά (Parakaló miláte pyo argá) inf. Παρακαλώ μίλα πιο αργά (Parakaló míla pyo warg My hovercraft is full of eels Το Χόβερκράφτ μου είναι γεμάτο χέλια (To hóverkráft mu íne gemáto hélia). Greek audio and translations provided by Γιάννης Χαραλάμπους (Y Haralambous) and Mike Sarafidis. Download all the audio files (Zip format, 1.2 MB). Polytonic Greek phrases. If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this please contact me. Information about written and spoken Greek. Anonymous works of this nature include The Tale of Igor's Campaign (Слово о Полку Игореве, Slovo o Polk reve) and the Praying of Daniel the Immured (Моление Даниила Заточника, or Moleniye Daniila Zatochnika). The so-called жития святых (zhitiya svyatikh, lives of the s formed a popular genre of the Old Russian literature. The Life of Alexander Nevsky (Житие Александра Невского, or Zhitiye Aleksandra Nevskovo) offers a well-known exa Барак Обама был изображён в 12 серии 12 сезона мультсериала South Park, которая вышла на экраны телеканала Comedy Central 5 ноября 2008 года и в 3 серии 13 с Мендел, Дэвид. Барак Обама = Obama: From Promise to Power. СПБ.: Амфора, 2008. 512 с. (Действующие лица). 5000 экз. iSBN 978-5-367-00872-2. Бара́к Хусе́ й н О II (англ. Barack Hussein Obama II; род. 4 августа 1961), более известный как Бара́к Оба́ма — действующий (с 20 января 2009 года), 44-й президент Соединённых Ш Америки. До избрания президентом был младшим сенатором США от штата Иллинойс. Первый афроамериканец, выдвинутый на пост президента США от из двух крупнейших партий[1]; в отличие от большинства чёрных американцев, Обама — не потомок рабов, а сын африканца из Кении. Выпускник Колумбий университета и Школы права Гарвардского университета, где он был первым за всю его историю редактором-афроамериканцем университеского издания Onобщественным the weightsорганизатором and styles и адвокатом в области гражданских прав. Преподавал конституционное право в Чика vard Law Review». Обама также работал of the weights and styles is optically to appear вtoсенат haveштата the same институте юридических наук с 1992 поThe 2004x-height год и одновременно трижды, в период с 1997 поcorrected 2004 год, избирался Иллинойс. После неудачной поп баллотироваться в 2000 году в Палату представителей США, в январе 2003 has годаaбаллотировался в Сенат and США.the После победы на первичных выборах в марте 2004 size. The means that the italic the lowest x-height, Extra-Bold has the Обама произнёс основную речь на Демократическом национальном съезде в июле 2004 года. Был избран в Сенат в ноябре 2004 года, набрав 70 % го highest.

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Reflections on Practice

Conclusion During the process of designing this typeface family I took many setbacks. There was challenges in overcoming blandness, and trying to design letter forms that had not been done in just such a way before. I thank Gerard Unger and Gerry Leonidas for their continual efforts to steer me towards an original and personal design vocabulary. My intentions was to use the technical limitations of screens as a source of inspiration for the design of my letter forms. This approach had historically yielded interesting results. From the beginning I could sense a connection between Dwiggins’ M-formula, the work of Javal & Dreyfuss, and the coarse grid of today’s screens. I would however take me on quite a few detours materialize this into letter forms. Newspaper text typefaces have, since the newspaper moved away from the book faces it initial was set in, been increasingly an ‘engineering’ project. And I hope that my contribution can find a place in today’s reality of news publishing.

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Reflections on Practice

script & Language support The Markant family supports all European Union languages – and then some. The Adobe Latin 3 character set is fully supported, along with Cyrillic for most languages using Cyrillic, and finally Greek monotonic. Latin Afrikaans Afrikaans, Albanian Gjuha shqipe, Basque Euskara, Bosnian Bosanski jezik, Breton Brezhoneg, Catalan Català, Croatian Hrvatski jezik, Czech Čeština, Danish Dansk, Dutch Nederlands, English English, Estonian Eesti keel, Finnish Suomi, Faroese Føroyskt mál, French Français, Gaelic Gàidhlig, German Deutsch, Greenlandic Kalaallisut, Hungarian Magyar nyelv, Icelandic Íslenska, Indonesian Bahasa Indonesia, Irish Gaeilge, Italian Italiano, Latvian Latviešu valoda, Lithuanian Lietuvių kalba, Malay Bahasa Melayu, Norwegian Norsk, Portuguese Português, Sami Saami, Spanish Español, Swahili Kiswahili, Swedish Svenska, Polish Język polski, Romanian Limba română, Serbian Srpski jezik (see also Cyrillic), Slovak Slovenský jazyk, Slovenian Slovenski jezik, Tagalog, Turkish Türkçe, and Welsh Cymraeg. Cyrillic Russian Русский язык, Adyge Адыгaбзэ, Avar Магlарул мацl, Balkarian, Belorussian Беларуская мова, Bulgarian Български език (Non-localized morphologies), Chechen Нохчийн мотт, Darginish, Ingushian ГІалгІай, Kabardino-Cherkesian Къэбэрдеибзэ, Kumykish Къумукъ тили, Lak Лакку маз, Lezgian Лезги чlал, Macedonian Македонски јазик, Mordovsko-Ersatian, Mordovsko-Mokshanian, Nanai, Nenish, Nivkh Нивхгу, Nogai Ногай тили, Serbian Српски језик, Tabasaran Табасаран чlал, and Ukrainian Українська мова. Greek Greek Ελληνικά (Monotonic)

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Reflections on Practice

glyph repertoire

����������������������������������� ������������������������������������� ���������������������������������� ���������������������������������� �����������������������@����� ����������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ������������������������������� ������������������������������������ �������������������������������������� ����������������������������������� �������������������������������������� ����� АБВГДЕЖЗИЙКЛМНОПРСТУФХЦЧШЩЪЫЬЭЮ ЯЀЁЂЃЄЅІЇЈЉЊЋЌЍЎЏѢѲѴҐ �������������������������������������� �������������� �Ά����Έ���ΙΊΪ������Ό�����ΎΫ����Ώ�� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � γγ � � � � ������������������������������ �������������������������������������������� �������������������� ����������������� ���������������� 0�����������������0�����������������0��� ��������������0����������������� ���������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������� ���������

22

Reflections on Practice

glyph repertoire

������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������ ����������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������ ����������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������ ����������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������� ������������������������������������

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Reflections on Practice

style & weight repertoire

MmKkAa MmKkAa MmKkAa MmKkAa MmKkAa Markant italic

Markant regular

Markant Semi Bold

Markant bold

Markant extra bold

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Reflections on Practice

typeface features Small caps ¶‘ABC’ ‘Abc/d[(ef)]εζηθg’¿?¡!&€$¢£¥«i‹o›k» -> ¶‘ABC’ ‘Abc/d[(ef)]εζηθg’¿?¡!&€$¢£¥«i‹o›k» Case sentive forms ¡¿ab?! {[(d©h-@e–h—g)]}&-h™«i‹o›k»+−±×÷=r≠≈≤≥¬•(j)[o]{h}·d^n~© -> ¡¿AB?! {[(D©H-@E–H—G)]}&-H™«I‹O›K»+−±×÷=R≠≈≤≥¬•(J)[O]{H}·D^N~© άέή·ίΰϊϋόύώ -> ΆΈΉ·ΊΎΪΫΌΎΏ Case spacing ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ -> ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΘΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΥΦΧΨΩ -> ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΘΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΥΦΧΨΩ АБВГДЕЁЖЗИКЛМНОПРСТУФХЦЧШЩЪЫЬЭЮЯҐЂЄЅІЈЉЊЋЏѢѲѴ -> АБВГДЕЁЖЗИКЛМНОПРСТУФХЦЧШЩЪЫЬЭЮЯҐЂЄЅІЈЉЊЋЏѢѲѴ Ligatures fi fì fï fl fb fk fh fj ff ffi ffl ffb ffk ffh ffj -> fi fì fï fl fb fk fh fj ff ffi ffl ffb ffk ffh ffj λλ γγ -> λλ γγ Discretionary Ligatures The -> The Combining marks ̀ ́ ̃ ˆ       Figure styles Proportional oldstyle (default figure style) ({[01–3456–789¤€$¢£¥ƒ)]} Proportional lining ({[01–3456–789¤€$¢£¥ƒ)]} Tabular oldstyle ({[01–3456–789¤€$¢£¥ƒ)]} Tabular lining ({[01–3456–789¤€$¢£¥ƒ)]} Slashed zero Proportional oldstyle ({[01–3456–789)]} Proportional lining ({[01–3456–789)]} Tabular oldstyle ({[01–3456–789)]} Tabular lining ({[01–3456–789)]} Superscript Subscript x(1+1.42 × 6) = y37 πr2 -> x(1+1.42 × 6) = y37 πr2 H2O (10,00 + €500) sm -> H2O (10,00 + €500) sm abcdefghijkmnoprstuvwxyz,.·×∞¤€$¢£ƒ¥(+-=)/abcdefghijkmnoprstuvwxyz,.·×∞¤€$¢£ƒ¥(+-=) 12345678900/12345678900

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Reflections on Practice

Arbitrary fractions 2 1/2  3 1/10  4 125/5100 -> 21/2  31/10  4125/5100 Ordinals 1st 2nd 3rd Mlle no1 -> 1st 2nd 3rd Mlle no1 Contextual alternates -^ -~ ^\ ~/ \~ /^ -> -^ -~ ^\ ~/ \~ /^ Stylistic sets Dutch ij/IJ digraph Ijzerwaren ijsvrij bijzonder -> IJzerwaren ijsvrij bIJzonder German kapital Eszett Straßer STRASSER strasser -> Straßer STRAER straßer Localized forms Polish kreska ćńóśź ćńóśź ĆŃÓŚŹ -> ćńóśź ćńóśź ĆŃÓŚŹ Turkish i/ı kitabım KITABIM kitabım -> kitabım KITABIM kitabım Romanian commaaccents EXCEPŢII aşeza excepţii aşeza -> EXCEPŢII aşeza excepţii aşeza Serbian ‘be’ азбука -> азука

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