Greek Alphabet

In the beginning, the greeks originally started their alphabet system with two characters: the aleph and the beth. It may seem obvious, but over time these two words were combined together to form the word "alphabet." About 800 BC the Greeks had a fully developed letter system with later became the basis to other languages such as Hebrew and Arabic. Unlike Hebrew and Arabic (which are read from right to left) and unlike English (read left to right, haha like you didn't know!) greek words were originally read in alternating directions. It may seem interesting that this is the OLDEST language, and it is still used in many modern day situations (math and science problems, sororities and fraternities, names of stars...)

Question: What other languages did the greek language influence?

http://http//www.physlink.com/reference/GreekAlphabet.cfm

http://http//www.umassd.edu/studentactivities/greek/pics/greek_alphabet.gif

http://http//www.keyway.ca/gif/hebrew.gif

http://http://www.craftcuts.com/imagesb/stencils/sets/greek-letter-stencils-lg.gif

Vocabulary

Absolute Measurement: fixed value, finite terms which cannot be altered
Relative Measurement: measurements which depend on the letter spacing, CAN be altered
Point: unit of measurement for a font. refers to the height of the type block
Pica: 1 pica=12 points. 6 pics=72 points= 1 inch
Em: unit used to measure spacing (letters a smaller so is the spacing)
X height: height of a lowecase "x" key refrence point
Tracking: amount of spacing between the letters
Letterspacing: space between letters increased
Kerning: space between letters is reduced
Leading: space between lines of text in a text block
Dashes: short horizontal rules
Alignment: position of type within a text block (left, centered, right, justified)
Wordspacing: controling the space between words
Widow: lone word at the end of a paragraph
Orphan: final or two lines separated from a paragraph by new column
Indent: some lines or one line is moved in or out away from the rest ( first line, running, hanging, on a point)

BASKERVILLE & FRUTIGER

John Baskerville was an extremely unique man. Most people today know him as the creator of the Baskerville font, but his interesting occupation and hobbies before his clame to fame is very interesting. Starting out John Baskerville was a stonecutter and an english writer. His stone cutting skills led him to a job in engraving headstones which later became letter design (which he is more well known for). As a letter (font) designer Baskerville's font is well known for it's differing line weights and modern style.
http://http//www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0806405.html
http://http//www.myfonts.com/person/baskerville/john/
Adrian Frutiger is one of the most well known printers and font designers. Starting at a young age Frutiger was exposed to the design world by working as an apprentice for a printer in his home city. After an education beggining in Zurich and concluding in Paris, Adrian Frutiger wrote many books about typesetting and letter design as well as created his own fonts (most of which are very well known today. The font Univers is one of Frutiger's most well known fonts. This font is unique and important because of it's versitility and differing weights and styles.
http://http//typophile.com/node/12118
http://http//www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/univers/

http://http//www.typotheque.com/imgs/static/old_web/07-Univers-21-versions.gif

http://http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/images1/jan29_baskerville.gif

Baskerville Font:

Grids

As a viewer a grid is not something that first comes to mind when looking at the layout of a page, but as a designer it becomes very apparent when a grid is used to organize and create an order for the information on a page. A grid is an invisible guide to help designers create visual interest without allowing focus to drop and maintain organization.

Who is Paul Rand?

I have to admit, when I was first asked "who is Paul Rand?" I honestly had no idea. After a quick google search my eyes were opened to Mr. Rand's amazing creative world. He was a man of many talents. The art director at Esquire magazine and Apparel Arts, a Magazine cover designer, the creator of some of the most famous corporate logos, and finally a teacher at colleges and universities. His work is simple and the colors and lines are crisp. Paul Rand is the creator of the famous UPS, IBM, and CBS logos, as well as the co author of childrens books with his wife Ann. He believed that working for free helped to produce more honest art that came from the heart instead of working solely for monetary pay. His style uses a combination of cubism and constructivism influences as he created a unique American graphic language. As I watched a short video which displayed some of Paul Rand's work an interesting quote which he said struck me. "Don't try to be original try to be good." To me this seems slightly strange because Paul Rand's work has such a unique and original style to it, as he was the only one of his time to design such works.