Sunday, November 30, 2014

Typography, and how it affects your reading.

There's no doubt that you can be an avid reader and ignore the art of typography. You can even be a writer and neglect to consider what the size and shape of type does to your text.  Even daily users of computers can be ignorant concerning the multi-fonted resources at their fingertips.

Yet, typographics are all the rage today, with several manuals of existing type fonts, and over 20,000 to choose from. Although his choices in this regard were slightly fewer, Wyndham Lewis must have thought long and hard about typographic, considering the looks of his magazine Blast (1914-1915).

This post is designed to initiate the uninitiated. Here's some basics:




Blogs, while often known as perpetuators of low-grade information may also go upscale, and hopefully this entry will contribute to opening minds to the wonders of typography. Not being an expert on the subject, I can recommend this book for lay-people: Simon Garfield, Just My Type (2010). It is easy to follow and gives multiple examples, as you roll along on the frolicking history of the printed  book.