DES 102 · 3 credits
Letters and Typography
Study of typographic anatomy, classification, and historical conventions with practice in micro-typography and hierarchical systems. Theoretical exercises in spatial and textural qualities of type and an introduction to letterform nomenclature. Studio assignments produce editorial layouts and professional typographic deliverables prepared to specification.
Prerequisites
Lecture
1
Lab
6
Course Content
- Letterform anatomy and construction
- Type classification and families
- Using industry-standard software for typographic layouts
- Metrics and spacing (kerning, tracking, leading)
- Hierarchy and scale in typographic systems
- Readability and legibility in text and display settings
- Paragraph composition (rags, hyphenation, alignment)
- Typographic grids, styles, and templates
- Typographic contrast and pairing strategies
- Typographic standards for accessibility
- Historical and contemporary typographic references
- Terminology for typographic analysis
- Critique
Learning Outcomes
- Identify typographic anatomy. (1)
- Identify typographic classifications. (2)
- Identify historical typography conventions. (11)
- Identify lettering typologies. (1,2)
- Identify lettering versus typography. (1,2)
- Compose micro-typography (kerning, tracking, leading, spacing). (4)
- Design using hierarchical type systems. (5,6,7,9)
- Develop deliverables through iterative refinement. (8)
- Implement typographic layouts in industry standard software. (3)
- Evaluate typographic accessibility against stated standards. (10)
- Produce editorial spreads that demonstrate best typographic practices. (5,8)
- Prepare files according to established output specifications. (3,8)
- Use discipline-specific terminology to evaluate work. (12,13)