SHELTONOGRAPHY

TYPOGRAPHY

10 Remarkable Shadow Type and Lettering Designs
The creative and strategic application of shadows and three-dimensional features to type and lettering has been in practice for centuries. In the past, letters with relief and shadow have been used on signage, posters, packaging, movie titles and publications, allowing lettering to jump off a flat surface for an eye-catching look. Shadowed type still appears in print and signage today, but it can also be found across the web—sometimes applied gracefully, other times much less so.

15 Signs You're a Bad Designer
Please don't be offended if you recognize one or two of these signs in your own work! JUST™ Creative highlights some of the most common mistakes graphic designers make. This is a light-hearted article pointing to some of the obvious issues in graphic design and more specifically targeting typography within design.

20th Century Type Designers
Though only a partial list of some notable type designers, this article by Izmir University of Economic, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design offers small biographies on some of the more well-known type designers, as well as listing some perhaps not so well-known. It's a nice resource if you are interested in 20th century type designers.

A Crash Course in Typography: Principles for Combining Typefaces
When combining typefaces, there are a couple of important principles you’ll need to keep in mind, namely contrast and mood. Effectively combining typefaces is a skill best learned through practice, and trial-and-error. Once you’ve mastered the principles covered here, you’ll have the tools you need to try out combinations while making educated guesses about what will and won’t work together.

Adobe Type Primer
A 20-page condensed primer for those who are beginning with typography or need a refresher in basic principles and terminology. Nice little resource from Adobe. 

Ampersands to Interrobangs
Written by Frank Romano, this is a one-page quick read on the history of a few common punctuation marks common to us all.

The Bauhaus Context: 
Typography and Graphic Design in France
This essay on the reception of Bauhaus typography and its environment in France was originally published in French under the title “Typographie & Graphisme: Dissemblances, Dissonances ... Disconvenance? La France en Marge de la Révolution Typographique” in Le Bauhaus et la France, 1919–1940, edited by Isabelle Ewig, Thomas W. Gaehtgens, and Matthias Noell (Berlin: Akademie Verlag/Centre allemand d’histoire de l’art, 2002), 163–188. This is the English translation by John Cullars.

Character Parts
I use this one-page illustration to show the many parts of letterforms. Did you know that letters have arms, ears, eyes, and feet? Check it out.

Conceptual Type
In November 2010 Peter Biľak was invited to give a talk at a one-day conference ‘Conceptual Type—Type led by Ideas’ in Copenhagen about the underlying ideas behind typefaces. This lecture questions the possibility of conceptual type and compares type to other disciplines.

Eric Gill Got it Wrong: A re-evaluation of Gill Sans
This article is intended for an audience of contemporary designers and students who are at least one step removed from mid-century British typographic culture; it is a critique of the Gill Sans typeface and the idiosyncrasies of its creation from a contemporary perspective. The central argument is that an earlier typeface by Eric Gill’s mentor, Edward Johnston, is a superior piece of type design.

Ethical Type Design
Originally written by Chris MacGregor of Type Right, this article speaks about the ethics behind type design and protection issues relating to typography. I use this as supplemental reading for teaching.

Fascinating Fonts;
Is the Power of Typography a Marketing Myth?
This article examines the literature about typography and the connotative power of fonts, concluding that the existing scholarly research is so brief and sketchy as to provide little support for many of the popular myths and widespread arguments about the importance of fonts to corporate branding. There are passionate proponents of font branding, and there are even legal arguments in support of font connotation. Yet, while many if not most of these arguments may ultimately prove supportable, this article concludes that to date, the empirical research is scant. Much more investigation is needed to ensure that organisations investing in typography are doing so for valid reasons.

Linotype Bulletin- Capitol B
This looks at some of the history of the Linotype and the autobiography of capital B. It packs a lot of information in seven pages, with a few old photographs as well.

OpenType Features
Given their potential for greatly-expanded character sets, OpenType fonts often contain a multitude of typographic options, many of which are overlooked or misunderstood. Here is an explanation of some of the most frequently-seen options. Written by Ilene Strizver.

The Prints and the Pauper: Johannes Gutenberg and the Invention of Movable Type
In 1450, Johannes Gutenberg entered into an agreement with one Johann Fust, a Mainzer goldsmith and guildsman, to borrow a staggering 800 Rheingulden at 6 percent interest. Gutenberg’s sales pitch must have been convincing, for Fust would later testify that he himself had borrowed money in order to fund the loan. Gutenberg sank the money into his workshop and promptly defaulted upon the interest payments. Fust must have been incandescent in his rage, and yet, two years later, as recorded in the inevitable court judgment, he would go on to lend Gutenberg another 800 Rheingulden on the condition that Gutenberg take on Fust’s adopted son, Peter Schöffer, as his foreman. Gutenberg assented, Schöffer was hired, and Fust paid out the second loan.

Proofreading
This two-page article identifies those curious little marks which are common for proofreading and helps you to make sense of those red squiggles. I created this for an introduction to typography which also comes with a worksheet.

Recreating ’60s Poster Type
Adobe provides a four-page tutorial on how to achieve that psychedelic wavy drug-induced look without leaving your office. Though a little bit older, the technique still works with current Illustrator programme.

The Semiotics of Typography in Literary Texts
Written by Nina Norgaard, from the University of Southern Denmark this article explores from a multi-modal perspective the extent to which the visual aspect of printed verbal language is meaning-making in its own right, and how it interacts with other modes of meaning in a complex process of semiosis (not light reading but very interesting).

Stanley Morison’s Aldine Hypothesis Revisited
Admiration for graphic vigor of the past brought historic fonts back into use in the modern period and renewed scholars’ discussions of stylistic influence in type design. In this context, the British type historian, Stanley Morison, proposed in the 1920s a hypothesis that was to alter the writing of typographic history in the twentieth century.

Tibetan Xylography and the Question of Movable Type
Since its invention, printing has attracted the attention of innumerable specialist representing disparate disciplines and, seemingly, every imaginable point of view. Here is Richard Palmieri’s view!

The Type Museum Reading List
Self-explanatory, The Type Museum in London provides a suggested reading list for books on typography, periodicals, websites, online articles and other information. Nice resource to have. It's too bad The Type Museum closed down. What a pity.

Typesetting Guide
Created by the Academy of Art University, this short five-page article covers the basics of how to properly set type and provides clear rules and suggestions on how to create effective typography.

The Typographic Circle Guide
This guide is free to download, print and keep. It's aimed at students and young designers looking to learn the basics of good typography. You won’t find every single point, pica and pixel of detail here—more ‘rules of thumb’ and practical advice. Typography is an extensive subject, so this guide is designed to give you a solid base from which to build on. 

Viktoriya Grabowska's Pioneering Digital Typeface For Visually Impaired People
Many of us know braille—the tactile writing system for blind and visually impaired people—but are unfamiliar with an earlier story of which has sparked the innovative project of Polish type designer Viktoriya Grabowska. Very inspiring read!