Type Journal Referencing Format

I've came up with a referencing format that I can apply to each Typeface I analyse, giving me a more consistent an organised portfolio, here's an example of what I've came up with:

Name: FF Meta
Released: 1991
Designer: Erik Spiekermann
Style: Gothic
Classification: Humanist
Suggested Origins: Lead

The name, release date & designer are for credited categorisation reasons, and the others narrow down the actual characteristics of the Typeface, giving me certain criteria that will aid me in my analysing and evaluating:



Style refers to whether the typeface is:

Roman: Which applies to any typeface with serifs.
Gothic: Or San Serif.
Script: Which describes a Typeface that was designed with the intention of imitating natural handwriting.
Block or Broken: Derived from their origins, block refers the kind of style that would be used when the first printing presses came around in 15th century Germany.



Classification refers to the groups that fonts can be sorted into, for example San Serifs are generally organised into these four main types:

Humanist: Examples of typical features include a consistent variation of stroke weight, and often a double storey 'a' and 'g'. The intentions of humanist types are to increase legibility and readability.
Geometric: As the names suggests, these types of San Serifs are based on simple geometric shapes, note the perfectly circular 'o' as a good example. A brilliant example of a geometric typeface is Futura.
Grotesque: These refer to San Serifs that have their origins in the early parts of the 20th Century and later parts of the 19th. Typical examples include Akzidenz Grotesk & Franklin Gothic.
Neo-Grotesque: A neo-grotesque san serif can often be described as the alternative to a humanist one, they are typically consistent in terms of line weight and are often designed with neutral intentions. Helvetica is a neo-grotesque san serif typeface.


When I classify the Suggested Origins of a Typeface, I'm talking about my assumption in regard to how this style of Typeface is traditionally created. These classifications include:

Stone: One of the first recognised mediums in visually displaying Type. This is where the origin of the 'serif' stems from. Straight lines chiselled into stone would simply break the rock, so a gradual curve into the rock was used as not to. One thing that I brought up during the session was why we still design Typefaces with serifs. They are logically useless, they provide no additional legibility to the Type. Take Georgia for example, this was designed by Matthew Carter in 1993 using digital methods. There's no denying it's a nice Typeface, but there's still no need for the extra flourishes or serifs. I can only assume it's to do with traditionalism, the upholding of something that's recognised as 'formal'. I suppose it defines the Typeface.

Sable: This is essentially using a brush to define characters and is generally recognised as an old eastern technique. This kind of stroke provides a more varied line weight in the letterform, and has close links to many script styles of Type.

Bone: The way I recognised bone is that it's not too different to a pencil. I would provide a sharper stroke, but still be able to keep that flowing variation of line weight.

Wood: This is where reproduction on mass scale is introduced. Woodblock type is basically characters cut away from a block in reverse to be physically printed onto stock which leads to multiple replications of a design system. Generally woodblock type isn't too precise, and would eventual wear with age.

Lead: Lead is basically an upgrade from wood methods, it's is essentially the same technique but rather the characters are cut from the soft and malleable metal. Greater precision is achieved with this technique and lead type generally lasts longer with ageing. I understand that with the current digital state we are in, printing is a convenience that most have quick and easy access to, but personally I love the slight embossing you get with a lead letterpress, it's a more personal technique.

Silicone: This is digital methods of producing Type on a computer, which can achieve effects none of the others mentioned can, for example a certain quality of line. With this technique comes the ease of printing, and the mass of access to thousands of Typefaces globally, making silicone the most used method of producing and reproducing type today.