ALL THINGS TYPOGRAPHIC | MAY 2016

>>

Finding and Using Alternate Characters

>>

Choosing and Using Swash Characters

>>
The Lost Art of Punch Cutting

Harness the Power of InDesign GREP

>> A Guide to Fonts in The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings

>> Gourmet Typography @ SVA in NY This Summer

>> Type Rules! The designer's guide to professional typography

Finding and Using Alternate Characters

Variety is the spice of life. This is true for type as well - not only in the choice of a font, but in the characters you select to use in any given setting. More and more OpenType fonts contain alternate characters, which are different versions of a glyph in addition to the one designated as "standard" or default by the typeface designer. Read on...

Choosing and Using Swash Characters

Want to enhance and spiff up an otherwise ordinary or lackluster type treatment? Try using swash characters. A swash is a flourish or stroke extension that is attached to a glyph for purely decorative purposes. They most commonly appear at the beginning or end of a glyph, but they can also be found attached to ascenders and descenders, crossbars, and glyph apexes. Read on...

The Lost Art of Punch Cutting

If you're a typophile, typographic educator or design student, Carl Dair's ﬁlm on the lost art of type punch cutting is something you won't want to miss. Initiated by Rod McDonald and Sheridan College in Canada and narrated by Matthew Carter, this 45-minute ﬁlm is remarkably insightful and probably the only documentary of a master engraver cutting a punch. Read on...

Harness the Power of

InDesign

GREP

GREP in InDesign is a feature that lets you ﬁnd and change patterns of text instead of a speciﬁc text string, as in a regular Find/Change operation. Once a pattern is found, you can use GREP to edit it, such as applying formatting, removing duplicates, replacing some characters, and so on. Read on...

A Guide to Fonts in The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings

What would the Lord of the Rings trilogy be without its iconic logo? The chiseled yellow letters are pretty close to perfection where movie logos are concerned. But that's not the only instance of certain characteristic typefaces used throughout the trilogy and its marketing. Most of them have recurred in the new Hobbit ﬁlms - but what exactly are they and where can they be obtained? Read on...

Gourmet Typography @ SVA this summer

Learn the typographic skills and secrets of experts, including what makes a good typeface, selecting the right type for your job, combining type, techniques for emphasis, typographic hierarchy, fine-tuning, kerning and spacing your type, typographic dos and don'ts, as well as mastering OpenType, type on the web, and web fonts. Make a valuable investment in your professional future! Check it out...

Type Rules! The designer's guide to professional typography, 4th edition

Type Rules! The designer's guide to professional typography, 4th edition is a practical guide to the principles and practices of typography. From the fundamentals to cutting-edge applications, this edition has everything today's serious designer needs to use type effectively.

Type Rules! includes topics such as how to select the appropriate type for the job, setting type like a pro, how to avoid common mistakes, how to design a typeface, as well as how to fully harness the typographic power of InDesign, with new coverage of their latest version. It also includes dozens of exercises to reinforce the understanding and application of the contents. Details and reviews here...

"I've purchased and read just about every book on typography written over the last 25 years. Ilene Strizver's Type Rules! is one of the best. It's a book that will prove its value time and time again."

- Allan Haley, Director of Words and Letters, Monotype Imaging

"Type Rules! is a must-have book for students and professionals alike. I highly recommend it."

- Prof. Ed Benguiat, world-renowned type designer and educator

FREE COPIES FOR EDUCATORS: Evaluation copies are provided free to qualified academics and professionals for review purposes. Details here...

CHECK OUT OUR ARCHIVE OF PAST EDITIONS.

YOU JUST MIGHT FIND THE INFORMATION YOU WANT...OR NEED!

Follow me!

NOTE: In opposition to my constant typographic badgering, you might notice the lack of

smart typographic conventions in this emailing, including smart quotes, en and em dashes. This is due to the limitations of the email marketing service currently being used.