® 5 of 13Note strengths and weaknesses The irregular proportions and embellishments that make University Roman an entertaining display face make it very hard to read in text.. Texture U
Trang 1That font you love won’t work just anywhere;
it has a style that needs to be complemented
Here’s how to work to its strengths.
How to use that typeface
Continued
Trang 2Ever spot a typeface that you really like and
can’t wait to use? It’s exciting, but go slow
Before you buy it, you’ll want to know if the
lines, shapes and little doodads that make it
so appealing here will work as well over there
How to tell? Reading a typeface is a little
like reading a real face Tiny differences in
the arch of an eyebrow, the curve of a lip and
the contour of a cheekbone convey real
pres-ence, personality and attitude These need
complementary presence and “attitude” from
the other visual elements, or the result will be
awkward, weak or just funny looking Here’s
how to do that.
How to use that typeface That font you love won’t work just anywhere; it has a style that needs
to be complemented Here’s how to work to its strengths.
University Roman Spotted on Monterey’s famous Cannery Row, funky University Roman on this slab of a gift-shop sign is out of its element Its offbeat letterforms, opulent curlicues and toothpick serifs are like a mardi-gras costume in political science class Not a match This is a typeface that wants to party! Let’s find it one!
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AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJj KkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSs TtUuVvWwXxYyZz
1234567890!$%&?
Make a visual overview
Set the full alphabet and make a visual overview Write down what you see
Why write it down? To make sure you’ve actually seen it Seriously.
Thick-to-thin stroke differences are subtle but present on every character
If the signmaker on the previous page had been writing this stuff down, he wouldn’t have affixed the V to his signboard backward
A and e have extremely small counters,
or enclosed spaces
Characters like N and O that
in ordinary alphabets are
the same width are very
dif-ferent in University Roman
Conversely, characters like M
and T that are normally
dif-ferent are alike here
Other letters have REALLY BIG counters
Flamboyant University
Roman was developed
in 1983 by the Letraset
Type Studio It’s quirky
and popular as a display
typeface, especially on
greeting cards It’s good
for more than that, as
we’ll see
Swashy tails
Opulent swirls and curlicues How to use that typeface
Trang 4Look at the details
University Roman is full of swashy idiosyncracies that give it a hand-made, Christmasy style especially suitable for fanciful and romantic topics.
Wacky x-heights Bulbous, rubbery letters have an Alice-in-Wonder-land quality; some have HUGE tops, some have HUGE bottoms,
no apparent rhyme or reason
Oddball character widths All straight letters are thin Really thin
All round letters are wide Really wide—so wide that round lowercase letters are wider than their uppercase counterparts! (Ee, above right)
N O Ee
QuiltA tail long enough
to tickle three charac-ters over
Radical 50°- angle serifs and terminals! But only in lowercase!
Exaggerated sizes
Serif extensions rise above cap height and drop below baseline
Asymmetrical
serifs
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Note strengths and weaknesses
The irregular proportions and embellishments that make University Roman an entertaining display face make it very hard to read in text Key is to keep it big.
Big, tight, even University Roman looks best big Its enormous, round letters create a lot of internal white space that looks better when it’s squeezed out, so set your words tightly and as evenly spaced as possible (below)
Texture and flasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this fluant chasible Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and flasp
Texture and flasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this fluant chasible Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture
University Roman, a display face
Bembo, a text face
Its irregularities make University Roman unsuitable for text, where a rhythmic, medium typeface works best (above) University Roman can be used for very brief
pass-ages (left), but for anything more than a sentence
or so, use a real text face
Best of the
Season to you!
Chris & Robin aloe Even spacing Put more space between
straight letters, less between round
How to use that typeface
Trang 6Put it to work
The challenge now is to combine type with graphics in a coherent whole To learn how, let’s start at the end—with two cards that illustrate University Roman perfectly tuned to its environment
Two beautiful cards The lines, shapes and colors of type and image are so tightly integrated that the designs appear completely natural and unforced Both type and image are strong but together are greater than the sum of their parts
Card 1
Card 2
NOW THROUGH MARCH 28
MASQUERADE
YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUESTED FOR A FESTIVE EVENING OF INTRIGUE, MYSTERY AND FANTASY.
Trang 7® 7 of 13
Look for common shapes
To find an image that goes with your typeface, start with shapes Round letters go naturally with round images Avoid triangles, squares and ambiguous shapes, which will compete and weaken your design.
Circles (Right) Round shapes are
obvious in the round letters, but look
at the smaller parts, too—the loops
and swirls and negative spaces that
are also round
Teardrops (Below) Teardrops in the
image mirror those in the swashy S
Complementary typeface (Above) Pair a fancy display face with an ordinary typeface for contrast
plus readability at small sizes Look for similarities What’s interesting here is how different Futura is
from University Roman, yet they have roundness in common
NOW THROUGH MARCH 28
O C D b a e
How to use that typeface
Trang 8Blend type and image using color and “edge”
Now bring the image into the type, which in this case means literally Wrap the type around the edge contours, then apply its beautiful gradients to the lettering.
Blend using color
Magenta to yellow (above) and
cyan to green (left) are light,
fresh combinations Sample
color pairs from the image, add
to the color palette as gradient
swatches, then apply to the
type, which will take on a
natu-ral radiance that blends
beauti-fully into the image
NOW THROUGH MARCH 28
Blend using a common edge Wrap the words tightly to the contours of the image (left) As a rule with display type, you’ll
do this by eye, paying attention to the nooks, crannies and other details that the software would miss
NOW THROUGH MARCH 28
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Faint image activates a space
A smaller, lighter duplicate image in the upper left activates the passive white and balances the design
Lay out the card
Place type and image on the small card, which confines and focuses the design A small, duplicate image activates the opposite corner and completes the layout.
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Splashy composition is beauti-ful in open space (left), but its ele-ments must work on a card, which confines them Set as big as pos-sible, bleeding beyond the lower right corner (below)
How to use that typeface
Trang 10Party down!
Intrigue, mystery, fantasy For card 2, our fanciful typeface goes looking for an ideal party image and finds it in a gold mask.
Picking the right image is key To illustrate a masquerade party, a mask is
a natural choice, but which one? A quick search brought up a multitude of lavish creations, all visually interesting
Flowers, flourishes and detailed textures mimic the extravagant forms of Uni-versity Roman Monochromatic gold is direct and intense and will partner well with the typeface Multicolor masks (left, top) are so engaging they require the stage to them-selves Real faces are similarly distracting; instead of a powerful design, the viewer will
be wondering who it is Remember: common lines and shapes.
MASQUERADE
YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUESTED FOR A FESTIVE EVENING OF INTRIGUE, MYSTERY AND FANTASY.