Gradwell Typography

We all (most) read. It is by far, the best way we communicate and has evolved over millennium and

the printed word established for more than six centuries.

In that case why are some things easier to read than others? We read type. Type has to be ‘typeset’, made into words, into phrases, sentences, paragraphs, stories and maybe even books. The personal computer has brought non-experts into contact with the typesetter's arcane terminology – some of it is explained here. (This is only an introduction... there is far more!)

When we mention a typo, that's usually a polite euphemism for an error of spelling or perhaps punctuation – although just because someone happens to key in 'teh' that doesn't necessarily mean that they don't know how to spell 'the'. But to a professional typesetter there is much more to typesetting than spelling and punctuation alone, and there are far more opportunities for making a typographical error (which is what 'typo' is short for).

Until the advent of the computer and word processing, typesetting was a highly skilled job for specialists. But computer programmes have largely made the old skills, and the people who spent many years acquiring them, redundant. Now the word processing program for the personal computer has brought non-experts into contact with the typesetter's arcane terminology. That does not negate the skill and experience of professional typographers, they are making a come-back... some of us have never been away!

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Many of the terms still in use in the computer age are relics of an era when ‘the Web’ was not World Wide but meant a roll of paper, and typesetters would have to work with molten lead (or 'hot metal') and other strange processes.

We have found 75% of personal computers are left with their default settings. This invariably means ‘American English’ (whatever that is!) and as a consequence automatic ‘spell checkers’ are set as ‘American’, colour or color et cetera.

The dangers of automation!

Did you know?

Serif or Non Serif A serif is the fiddly bit at the end of the stems and strokes of letters. Sans serif, is quite simply ‘without serifs’. Serifs also come as slab, wedge or hair, bracketed and unbracketed.

You may also come acrosss typefaces with a variety of names and descriptions. There are many categories of typefaces.

‘x’ height – The ‘x’ height in one letter in the alphabet has a flat top and bottom and is therefore one of the easiest to measure. When you choose a size of type, the ‘x’ height can vary between typefaces, even when you have chosen the same size, 12pt the ‘x’ height may not be the same. So 12pt Helvetica may be bigger than 12pt Times!

Pica and line length – Typesetters used to work in ‘pica’ as a measurement and 27 picas was considered the maximum line length in a book because with that is considered the maximum number of characters to a line for the eye to traverse to then be able to find the next line. (27 picas is four and a half inches in old money about 110mm – but of course it is never as simple as that, as the ‘x’ height and leading of the type also affects ‘readability’).

Upper and lower case – Originally type was set in hot metal and kept in their own wooden cases. All the big letters, the Capitals were kept in the upper case. All the lower case letters, were kept in the lower case.

Ampersand – the & means 'and'. 'Ampersand' is a corruption of the phrase 'and per se and', meaning the symbol '&' in itself means 'and'. The symbol derives from a stylised form of Et, the Latin word for 'and' – in some fonts you can see more clearly how it was derived from an E and a t. It was invented by Marcus Tullius Tiro in the 1st Century AD. He was Cicero's editor and scribe, and devised the Tironian shorthand system. The Latin et cetera (meaning 'and other things') can be shortened to &c.

At – the @ sign used to be known as the Commercial At. It is used to indicate a unit price, as in '2 reams @ 20p per sheet'. It is just a quick way of writing the word 'at' without lifting pen from paper. More recently, of course, it is used in an email address to indicate that what follows is a domain name... geoff@gradwellcorporatedesign.co.uk

Question mark – the ? was originally written as a small 'q' over a small 'o'. Gradually the 'q' changed into the curly bit, and the 'o' became a dot under it. The 'q' and 'o' are the first and last letters of the Latin quaestio, question.

Exclamation mark – the ! was originally written as a capital 'I' over a small 'o', making the Latin word Io, an exclamation

of joy or wonderment.

Paragraph symbol – the ¶ is a stylised form of the letter P, reversed.

Section symbol – the § is a double letter 'S'.

Asterisk – the * comes from the Greek asteriskos, small star. It was originally used to draw attention to something

unusual or striking. These days it is used to indicate the presence of a footnote, or to show that something is missing.

Dagger – the † is also known as an obelisk or obelus (also from Greek). It was originally used to mark something that was spurious, doubtful, or obsolete. These days it is used to indicate either the presence of a footnote (if the * has already been used) or, particularly after a person's name, that the person is deceased.

Double dagger – the ‡ is used for a third footnote.

What’s the point? Quite simply if you are spending your hard-earned money on communication you want and need people, your target audience to be able to read, comprehend and understand what you are saying. It portrays you in a better light and helps secure customer–client realtionship and your brand.