Job:03171 Title:Typography Referenced (Rockport)
Page: 42
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Typography, Referenced
Text
Job:03171 Title:Typography Referenced (Rockport)
Page: 42
T
he rendering environment (the test design appli-
cation’s display of type) plays an important role in
the connection between the appearance of para-
graphs and specifi c design choices. Type design
applications may allow the designer to zoom in until a detail
fi lls the whole screen, but this precludes the display of a
whole paragraph. Zoom out to allow multiple lines of text
on the screen, and the low resolution renders the details
too fuzzy to judge. But printouts are also unreliable: Post-
script version, toner level, paper quality and orientation, and
many other factors infl uence the quality of laser output.
Instead, get printouts from diff erent printers. Some type
designers sneak lines of type on the margins of print jobs (or
even place small advertisements in their own typeface) to get an
idea of how the typeface performs in off set conditions. Here’s
a tip: Process black is generally lighter than laser toner, and a
typeface may look washed out on off set.
For many years, a limit of 256 characters per font hampered
digital typefaces, as did a need to ship in linked styles of four:
regular, italic, bold, and bold italic. Most foundries have now
expanded their character sets to include coverage for Latin
script and are extending into other scripts, driven mostly by
branding demand. But the most interesting developments are in
regard to thinking about typeface families.
The establishment of OpenType and the support of wide fam-
ilies by page-layout applications allowed designers to rethink
what constitutes a family. Traditional, individually bought
typefaces were often developed to meet specifi c user needs. For
example, a family like Monotype’s Grotesque had several widths
and weights for the upright styles, but only two inclined ones.
The diff erent styles have strong diff erences, and some weights
seem reworked from standalone typefaces, but the family
hangs together well because the individual styles work for their
intended purpose. Although the completeness of a Univers-like
() system is appealing, it irons out a designer’s interpretation
of a style for small sizes, display weights, and even alternate
styles within the text styles.
At the same time, a family based on small weight increments
can help publications such as magazines that need to combine
diff erent typefaces for headings, straplines, main text, captions,
pull quotes, etc. The ability to select something a little heavier
or lighter can make the diff erence between using a typeface or
not. The profusion of typeface families with many weights near
the middle of the range (regular, book, medium, semi-bold, etc.)
is a welcome development in the past decade.
TYPE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
Rendering Environment
Three letters from -point Minion Pro, printed on a dpi laser printer, photographed under a
microscope. In comparison with the original outlines (left) the laser printer introduced inconsisten-
cies of width in the vertical strokes, as well as in serifs and terminals. Although the resolution of laser
printers is generally higher, this level of detail is comparable to many print-on-demand services.
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