MCCCD Program Description

Typography in the Digital Age

Course: ART103

First Term: 2004 Fall

Lec + Lab 3 Credit(s) 4 Period(s) 3.7 Load
Subject Type: Academic
Load Formula: S

Description: Survey of the history of typography from its origins to the present including movements and individual designers. Emphasis on the function of typography and design and the role of typography as an integral part of effective visual communication. Study of type anatomy and the characteristics of specific families of type, principles of effective copy fitting, type color and contrast and the relation of copy and image in graphic design Familiarity with the computer and with page geometry and/or illustration software recommended

MCCCD Official Course Competencies
1. Describe the history of typography from the pictograph to the personal computer. (I-XI) 2. Identify salient developments in the letterform and later type design. (III, IV, V, XIII) 3. Describe the impact of technology, from the printing press to the personal computer, on typography and type development. (III-VI) 4. Describe effective copy fitting, and the relation of headline, text and image in graphic design. (V) 5. Identify type anatomy and the parts of a character, and differentiate at least a dozen typefaces. (V, VII, VIII) 6. Explain the voice of type and how typographic choices affect design composition. (V, VIII, IX, X, XI, XIII) 7. Describe type measurement, leading, kerning and ligatures. (VII) 8. Identify the five families of type and describe how to distinguish between typefaces, fonts and families. (VIII) 9. Explain unique type considerations for computer-generated typography. (XII) 10. Explain typographic optical adjustments, color and contrast, form and counterform and type hierarchy. (XIII) 11. Employ the letterform as a design element in logo and identity development. (XIII) 12. Apply sound typographic principles to produce effective design projects for student portfolio. (I-XIII)
MCCCD Official Course Competencies must be coordinated with the content outline so that each major point in the outline serves one or more competencies. MCCCD faculty retains authority in determining the pedagogical approach, methodology, content sequencing, and assessment metrics for student work. Please see individual course syllabi for additional information, including specific course requirements.

MCCCD Official Course Outline
I. Origins A. Pictographs as the primal form of written communication, design and art B. Early writing systems C. The alphabet II. The Middle Ages A. Illuminated manuscripts B. The dominant lettering styles 1. Celtic 2. Carolingian 3. Gothic Blackletter 4. Romanesque III. The Renaissance and Printing A. The beginnings of typographic and publication design B. The major figures 1. Griffo 2. Garamond 3. Janson 4. Manutius IV. Rococo Typographic Design to Industrialized Typography A. The major figures 1. Caslon 2. Baskerville 3. Didot 4. Fournier 5. Bodoni B. Technology 1. Fourdrinier`s pulp paper machine 2. Steam press V. Character/Type Anatomy A. Description of type details. 1. Roman and italic/uppercase and lowercase/ascenders and descenders 2. Strokes and stems 3. Serifs, bracketing and sans serif terminals 4. Body height, x-height, waist- and mean lines 5. Stress/bias 6. The anatomical features: arms/legs, eyes/ears, spines/shoulders, beaks and barbs 7. The mechanical features: apexes/vertexes, loops/links/tails, crossbars and strokes, form/counterform, swashes and flags B. Looking for the aesthetics 1. Type color/tone 2. The nuances of stem and stroke VI. Printing Technology in the Industrial Age A. Hot type 1. Merganthaler`s linotype machine 2. Letterpress 3. Offset lithography B. Cold type 1. Phototypesetting 2. Digital phototypesetting 3. Dot-matrix, inkjet and laser printers 4. Imagesetters VII. Measuring Type A. Leading/kerning/ligatures B. Picas and points: The Didot System VIII. The Five Historic Families and Their Characteristics A. Old Style: Bembo, Garamond, Palatino B. Transitional: Baskerville, Galliard C. Modern: Bodoni D. Egyptian (slab/square serif): Clarendon, Lubalin Graph E. Sans Serif (grotesk/gothic): Franklin Gothic, Helvetica, Futura, Gill Sans, Avant Garde IX. Typography in the Twentieth Century A. Arts and crafts movement to modernism B. Significant movements and designers: 1. Arts and Crafts Movement/Art Nouveau/Jugendstil A. Rudolf Koch B. Frederic Goudy C. Edward Johnston, Eric Gill 2. Vienna Secession/Dada/Art Deco A. A.M. Cassandra B. Kolomon Moser and Joeef Hoffman 3. Constructivism/De Stijl A. El Lissitsky B. Jan Tschichold 4. The Bauhaus A. Peter Behrens B. Vassily Kandinsky C. Herbert Bayer X. Display Fonts: The Sixth Family A. Scripts: Zapf Cancery, Berthold Script B. Serif/sans serif: Serif Gothic, Optima C. Historic faces: Caslon/Goudy Oldstyles, Blackletter, Willow D. Highly condensed/highly extended faces: Optima/Eurostile Extended Two E. Western/circus faces: Thunderbird, P.T. Barnum XI. Typography in the Twentieth Century A. Postwar to postmodernism B. The significant movements and designers 1. Postwar design/publication revolution/the New York school A. Paul Rand b. Adrian Frutiger C. Saul Bass 2. The Swiss grid/international design style A. Max Meidinger and Eduoard Hoffman B. Hermann Zapf C. Aldo Novarese 3. The 1960`s/cold type/International Typeface Corporation A. Edward Benquiat B. Seymour Chwast/Milton Glaser/Pushpin Studio C. Herb Lubalin 4. The 1970`s/radical design/minimalism/conceptual design A. Tom Carnase B. Albert Hollenstein 5. Postmodernism/Memphis School/digital revolution A. Zuzana Licko B. Neville Brody C. Daniel Pelavin XII. The Anatomy of Digital Type/Typeface/Font/Family A. Typestyle vs. typeface B. Superscripts/subscripts/old style and lining figures XIII. Designing With Type A. Special considerations 1. Optical adjustments 2. Type hierarchy 3. Matching type to meaning B. Integrating typography and image 1. Effective publication design 2. Effective multimedia design

MCCCD Governing Board Approval Date: 6/22/2004

All information published is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information presented, but based on the dynamic nature of the curricular process, course and program information is subject to change in order to reflect the most current information available.