The Practical History of Typography serves as an introduction to The Complete Typographer, and provides a historical appreciation of the art and science of typography: display lettering (both hand drawn and mechanically generated), and text typefaces—a “historical bucket” approach. The course examines typefaces associated with key design and technological developments of the 20th century—the Bauhaus, the New Typography, etc.—with an eye towards critical analysis of form, moving right up to 2017, including advances in generative type and variable fonts for web.
Overview
Syllabus
- New Directions in Type
- In this session, New Directions in Typography, we will pick up typographic history where we left off around the 1980’s in our first session, continuing forward with an exploration of typography in the 21st century. We'll also speak with Dan Rhatigan about exciting developments currently unfolding around type.
- Principles and Basics of Typography
- In this session, Principles and Basics, we’ll get down to the nuts and bolts of typographic anatomy: the names of parts of letterforms, typesetting terms, and why typographic hierarchy is so critical in design. We’ll discuss how Positive/Negative space works, the emotive vs. literal qualities of letterforms, and the way type is joined at the hip to technology. And finally, we’ll explore the importance of type in all other design disciplines, and creative director Debra Bishop will pop in to demonstrate some general rules for using type in your work.
- Eclecticism and Expressionism
- In this first session, we'll survey several centuries of eclectic and expressive type and hopefully pique your interest for what's to come in subsequent sessions. These dazzling examples will demonstrate the cultural range of typography, the range of styles and movements, and how type not only reflects our visual culture but shapes and directs it as well. We'll also speak with Gail Anderson about her adventures in type as creative director of Rolling Stone magazine.
- History and Origins
- In this session, we’ll trace the Latin alphabet’s evolution from handwriting to metal type to digital formats by looking at the historical conditions in which the type was created. We’ll walk through the historical typeface classifications and discuss each one with plenty of gorgeous examples. Finally, we’ll speak with designer and calligrapher Ina Saltz about calligraphy’s influence on typeface development and the important of calligraphy and hand lettering today.
Taught by
Steven Heller and Angela Riechers
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Reviews
4.5 rating, based on 2 Class Central reviews
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I liked the course, I have learned a lot from it. It covers many topics as well as understood and doesn't requires a lot of background
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This is an fantastic lesson you can get to know a great deal about typography. As a graphic designer I would recommend it with doubt.
