INTRODUCTION TO TYPOGRAPHY

Introduction
Typography plays a big role in graphic design and can be one of the hardest things to get right. My aim here is to introduce some of the basics and the most common areas of typography that will be important in your graphics design work.

Typography plays a big role in graphic design and many designers are very passionate or opinionated about it. For this reason it is a very hot topic in design circles.

Developing your own skills in typography will take time and it can be one of the hardest things to get right. It is best to get a solid understanding of the basics as soon as possible in your education and career. However, it is a complex subject with a massive amount of detail which cannot be explained in just one article. So my aim here is to introduce some of the basics and the most common areas of typography that will be important in your design work.

So what is Typography?
Typography is an art form that has been around for hundreds of years. Words and text are all around us every day in almost everything we do. In every piece of type you see, somebody has considered how the letters, sentences and paragraphs will look in order for it to be read by us, or make us feel a certain way when we look at it. Sometimes it is done well, others not. Often it is us graphic designers who are the ones deciding how it will look, in our brochures, our logos, our websites and so on. The better we are at this, the more effective our designs will be.

Good typography comes from paying attention to tiny details as this can make the difference between graphic design work that is just acceptable or really good. There is more to it than just choosing fonts and making copy look good though – it is also about making things legible and readable (some of most basic functions of good typography) as well as making layouts look good in an aesthetic way.

Typographic basics
The following is an explanation of some common areas of typography. Learn More About Typography in Our Graphics Designing Course

Typeface or font?
Let’s get this one cleared up straight away! Designers are often unsure of the difference between these two, as they are both well used terms for the same thing. Actually, a typeface is a family of fonts (such as Helvetica Regular, Helvetica Italic, Helvetica Bold, Helvetica Black, etc.) but a font is one weight or style within a typeface family (such as Helvetica Regular).

Typeface classifications
There are many different classifications and sub-classification of typefaces, but the most common two types you will hear of are: Serif – these typefaces are the more traditional ones. They are distinguished by a short line or finishing stroke on the end of character strokes and stems (shown in the anatomy diagram below) and; Sans-serif – as the name suggests, these are distinguished by their lack of any Serifs. They only became popular in the nineteenth century and are considered modern as a result.

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Global Viewers!

Media  (TV, video, games, Internet, music, mobile phones) has brought about a substantial change in the experience of youth in our society. These changes leave many parents unprepared for the challenge on how to regulate their child’s behaviour and language with such technologies. These changes at times can have such drastic impacts that the complete behaviour pattern is changed.

The use of abusive language amongst the youth is a byproduct of films and television. The youth is being exposed to so much violence and abusive language in the form of names of films, songs or publicity of dialogues that leave an impact in the mind of the youth. The youth uses abusive language not only as trend but also because it is understood easily and thus leads to group acceptability.

The influence of western culture can be traced from the attitudes and behaviour of young adults. This varies from food habits, fashion statements, acceptance of violent behavior to sexual orientation. The emergence of music channels in the line of MTV has created significant changes in youth‘s language and their music preferences. Soap operas, movies and now days- the reality shows -made the youth increasingly aware of fashion and trends.  At present at least two among the five soap operas in Hindi as well as regional channels deal with the issue of premarital and extra-marital sex. Heavy viewing of foreign television programmes leads to the acceptance of western sexual norms like dating, live-in relationships. The present generation of young people, unlike their predecessors, lives in an increasingly globalizing world that is being transformed by a wide range of technological innovations. Language isn't just about communication; there is a strong cultural, social, political and emotional charge to it. The language of youth has changed, and now, television content must adapt to keep up with the younger generations' new interests and ways of communicating.

Arati Kamath 

www.dgmcms.org.in

Arati Kamath is a core faculty member of DGMC.

Online Communities

Involvement of citizens for better governance is a very innovative idea. BJP has started this drive to form online community to get inputs from the citizens. These inputs will be forwarded to the government for action.

These inputs will be very significant to the government for deciding guidelines, prioritizing issues to take action, but the major concern is how many people will get involved? Especially in Indian scenario, where 60% citizens are in rural areas and don’t have connectivity to internet. The youth will contribute and that too of urban areas.

Will the government get clear picture of the important issues through these online inputs? or is This innovative initiative is too early for Indian scenario?

Shubhangi Dharma

www.dgmcms.org.in 

Subhangi Dharma is a permanent faculty member at DGMC. She is a senior faculty and heads the Mass Communication Department at DGMC.