A microteaching session exploring letters and typefaces
As an introduction to typography, typefaces and letterforms, we are going to look back through history and explore how formal writing styles and the tools that were used have come to influence the design of lettering and typefaces.
This micoteaching session builds upon the teaching of Edward Johnston, an influential craftsperson and calligrapher and designer of the typeface for the London Underground. Johnston also taught lettering and calligraphy at what was then the Central School of Arts and Crafts, from 1899, as well as publishing a handbook, Writing & Illuminating, & Lettering in 1906; and Catherine Dixon, who has taught typography and graphic design at Central Saint Martins since 2003.
The session starts by introducing the exercise and the importance of the tool we will be using. Formal writing styles, how manuscripts were produced up until the advent of printing in Europe 1455, were created using a broad-edge pen. This tool plus the constant angle that the pen is held at, gives the letters their key visual characteristics: the thick and thin strokes, angle of contrast and the modulation between thick and thin strokes.
These characteristics, evolved over time as writing styles changed and were then formalised in the early printing typefaces of Europe, from Gutenberg’s blackletter to Nicholas Jenson’s roman types in Venice in the 1470s.
Image courtesy www.theabbeystudioblog.com
Broad-edge pens are created using balsa wood, both as an economical alternative to using calligraphy pens but also as the size provides a useful scaling up of the letterforms, which works really well for those learning the letter shapes for the first time and for seeing the work of other participants.
The particular letters we are going to replicate, are partially based on the Carolingian minuscule, a European writing style from around 800AD. The key characteristics of this style is the angled pen (usually 30 degrees), naturally producing oblique thick and thin strokes, with the angle of contrast tilted. This style also referred to as minuscule, is close to the foundational hand that Johnston would often use in his teaching exercises.
We start by drawing a baseline in pencil on the paper, this is the invisible line that typefaces sit on, a typographic term used in letterpress and digital typesetting. We can also draw a horizontal line to indicate the x-height, this is the height of the lowercase ‘x’ and the height of the body of lowercase letters. Proportion is important in calligraphy and type design, and with our nib size, our x-height should be approx equal to 3 x nib widths.
We begin by creating the ‘o’, using two curved strokes, with the angle of the pen held at 30 degrees. Once this has been practiced, we look at letters ’n, a, h, p, e’, showing where strokes are replicated and introducing ascenders and descenders. As students are following the letter drawing exercises, typographic terms are mentioned and marked on the tutor’s examples: baseline, x-height, strokes, angle of contrast, modulation, ascender, descender.
Students learn by doing, explore the connection between the tool and the letterforms and understand how the angle of the pen and the movement of their hands, creates the strokes. There is also space for play and experimentation once the examples have been followed, what happens if the angle of the pen is changed or when participants start to create their own letter designs.
The key ideas here are fundamental to understanding the origins of latin script typefaces, and are key aspects of contemporary type design so provide an important foundation for working with type.