Different Types of Type

In this part of the stage, we're going to be looking at different classifications or 0:00 types of Typefaces. 0:03 You might be wondering, why is this important? 0:05 Can't I just find something I like and use it? 0:07 I'm glad you asked. 0:10 Knowing your different type genres and what makes them tick will help you 0:12 choose a proper Typeface for the projects at hand and make you a better designer. 0:15 For instance, if you're working with clients who want the mood of 0:20 a site to convey eloquence, you need to know what classes or 0:23 styles of Typefaces lean towards that bent. 0:27 Or, if you're designing a site that's heavily influenced by 0:30 a certain time period, you should utilize a Typeface that would have been 0:33 appropriate to the genres at that time. 0:37 As I mentioned earlier, Typefaces have a mood or a personality. 0:40 The way the letter forms look conveys a message to the reader. 0:44 Knowing these genres will help us see how our type is talking, and 0:48 what makes them distinct. 0:52 So without further ado, let's dive in. 0:53 Type has been classified in different ways over the years. 0:57 But for simplicity sake, and because our focus for 0:59 this course will be on web typography, we'll look at three major genres. 1:02 Serif, Sans Serif, and Scripts, along with their sub-genres. 1:07 Up first, we'll look at Serif Typefaces. 1:12 Like we learned from our terminology, Typefaces can have serifs on their 1:15 letter forms and this would place them within serif genre. 1:18 Simple enough, but within this genre we have a number of 1:22 nuances that will set apart different serifs into sub-genres. 1:25 The sub-genres we'll be covering are Humanist, Old Style, 1:29 Transitional, Didone, and Slab. 1:33 After the invention of the printing press in 1450, 1:35 logically, the creation of Typefaces shortly followed. 1:38 Humanist typefaces arose in the 1460's and 1470's with strong calligraphic influence. 1:42 Printers were creating Typefaces based on the strokes of 1:48 a pen when drawing letter forms. 1:51 They tend to have diagonal stress, lower stroke contrast, and 1:53 relatively small x-height. 1:57 Their serifs are not as refined. 1:59 Humanist Typefaces are not as common today, but 2:01 some examples of these are Janson, Kennerley and Centaur. 2:04 Old Style came about next in the later part of the 15th century. 2:09 The letter forms were getting more refined as type and 2:12 less influenced from calligraphy. 2:15 We see less diagonal stress happening and 2:18 the serifs have also changed to be more wedge-like. 2:20 These lasted two centuries strong. 2:23 Some examples include Goudy Old Style, Palatino, Perpetua and Plantin. 2:25 This brings us to the 18th century where we see transitional Typefaces on the rise. 2:30 The trend of decreasing calligraphic flow continues. 2:36 And here we have vertical stress, thinner and 2:39 flatter serifs along with exaggerated contrast between thicks and thins. 2:41 Some examples include Baskerville, Bookman, and Clearface (ITC). 2:47 Next, we have the Didones arriving in the late 18th century. 2:51 The influence of the pen is really nowhere to be found. 2:56 The serifs have become even thinner without any sign of bracketing. 2:58 Contrast is taken to the extreme with thick verticals and 3:02 ultra thin horizontals. 3:06 You might regard these Typefaces as reminiscent of high fashion culture. 3:08 They work great at large sizes, with ample amount of white space around them. 3:12 But as body copy at small sizes, their serifs and 3:17 horizontals can quickly get lost. 3:20 Some examples include Bodoni and Didot. 3:22 Now, we'll head into the opposite direction with Slab Serifs who have 3:25 extremely thick, slab-like serifs and low contrast. 3:29 These came about in the early 19th Century. 3:33 And were heavily influenced for 3:35 headlines in advertising because of their bold, look at me appearance. 3:37 Most of these are utilized at large sizes, but 3:41 a few have been known to also work well at small sizes. 3:44 Some examples of these include, Rockwell, Clarendon, Egyptienne, and Centinnel. 3:47 Next, let's move into the new genre of San Serifs. 3:53 These Typefaces do not have serifs on their letter forms or 3:57 literally are without serifs. 4:00 We'll look at the Grotesque, Neo-Grotesque, Humanist, and Geometrics. 4:03 In the late 19th century, we see the rise of Grotesque San Serifs. 4:08 Though we see san serifs as completely normal today. 4:13 Don't forget there wasn't much of a reference for them when they came about. 4:17 The design of an earlier one, 4:21 Akzidenz-Grotesk, has actually been theorized to be derived from Didot 4:22 because the Typefaces have similar metrics when the serifs from Didot are removed. 4:28 As we'll see in other genres, sans serifs are typically low contrast. 4:33 Some examples of Grotesque also include Franklin Gothic. 4:37 The Neo-Grotesque then arises, 4:41 refining some of the peculiarities in early grotesques. 4:43 These are some of the more common sans serifs and Helvetica fits right in there. 4:46 Although there's a desire for simplicity here, 4:51 there aren't always great candidates for body copy because the simplicity and 4:53 similarity in letter forms can also effect legibility at small sizes. 4:57 Other examples include Univers. 5:02 Next, we have Humanist Sans, not to be confused with Humanist Serifs. 5:05 And these get back to some calligraphic roots with greater variations in 5:09 line widths. 5:13 These are often the most legible of the sans serif's bunch. 5:14 Hence, their popular use as website body copy. 5:17 Examples include Tahoma, Gill Sans and Frutiger. 5:20 Lastly, in our sans serifs, we have our Geometrics, which are quite popular today. 5:24 As the name implies, 5:29 their letter forms are based on geometric shapes like circles and squares. 5:30 Examples include Futura, Bank Gothic and Gotham. 5:35 Now we'll move into our final genre of scripts, 5:39 which are Typefaces based on handwriting. 5:42 We'll subset this genre into Formal Scripts and Casual Scripts. 5:45 Formal Scripts are based on letter forms from writing masters in the 17th and 5:49 18th century. 5:54 They have some contrast between thick and thin as they are inspired by 5:55 the way a quill or nimbo pen would handle the letter forms. 5:59 They tend to be more elegant and work well for events like weddings today. 6:02 Casual Scripts are a bit more free and well, casual. 6:07 They tend to be more light hearted or 6:12 easy going that their seriously eloquent counterparts. 6:14 The contrast can range from low to high, depending on the typeface. 6:17 They are often inspired by the way a brush or a marker would handle the letter forms. 6:20 All right. 6:26 That was a lot to cover. 6:27 I hope it helps you get to know type a little better, so 6:28 we can make smarter choices down the road. 6:31 Also, think about if there's a certain class that you naturally 6:33 gravitate towards. 6:36 In the next video, we'll look at designing for print versus the web. 6:38