Course Description
Typography is ubiquitous in contemporary visual and digital culture. This course is an introduction to typography in visual communication across various media, including developing an understanding of the basic concepts of legibility and readability of text-based messages and the fundamentals of effective typesetting skills in relevant design technology.
Athena Title
Introduction to Typography
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in ARGD 2030E
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
—to gain awareness of how typography functions and affects our everyday visual and digital lives. —to begin to build the basic awareness and skill base necessary to use type effectively in visual communication. — to understand how messages are conveyed effectively with typographic elements, including concepts related to legibility of letterforms and readability and texts in both print and digital media. — to become critical of the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of ubiquitous typographic and textual messages.
 — to gain a basic knowledge of typography, including fundamental elements of typographic anatomy, nomenclature, terminology, and historical evolution. — to begin to develop an awareness of the needs of viewers/readers through an understanding of the extreme subtleties of spacing inherent in typography. — to understand information hierarchy, including how to construct and improve clarity through typographic means. — to explore basic typesetting concepts through the typographic tools of relevant design and word processing software.
Topical Outline
— overview of typographic history focusing on pivotal moments, such as the invention of moveable type and the evolution of printing technologies that affected letterform and font design from medieval roots to contemporary type, with particular focus on the development of roman types. — basics of typographic terminology, anatomy, hierarchy, and font nomenclature. 
 
— completion of responsive assignments that will develop observation and critical skills through reflection on both provided and collected vernacular typographic samples. - completion of a series of visual problems and exercises that will both familiarize students with the inherent subtleties and attention required in creating effective typographic messages and encourage development of facility with the basic typographic tools of relevant design and word processing software.