Cait Stone: Ch. 1, 3 & 6

The first chapter discusses the interesting evolution that letters and typography have made since the invention of writing to new century's revolution in digital typography. The book breaks this timeline down into four distinct sections. It starts with the invention of writing in Egypt displaying the different symbols carved into stones and later papyrus to the invention of movable type found in Europe in the  1400s. The second stage described the individual evolution of movable type from Gutenberg's printing press to the creations of different typefaces. The third section describes the different letter forms and ways in which they were used during the industrial revolution and the whole 19th century. The final section discussed modern type and the ways in which they are altered to create logos, art, advertisements that are very artistic but clean in nature.

Chapter three is about syntax and the way in which letters are formed to create words, lines, columns, and margins. The way in which a type is displayed can create symbols unlike any others which works great in logo making and design. It is important to understand the ways in which different letters are spaced from one another to create a visual flow. This is based more on visual cues that the designers take into account rather than mathematics.  The different spacing between sets of letters can not be perfectly equal because of the specific letter forms. There are many different ways in which columns can be used to create a sort of flow for the reader. With each different style of columns the reader is brought on a different journey from the first set of type to the other. Margins are another important aspect to typesetting because they not only frame the page but have supportive elements that impact the way the page will look according to the type.

The sixth chapter dives into the message that type conveys. Typographic messages create a language all its own based on symbols and shapes that convey emotion and can say more than the words themselves. Words can convey meaning not only by what they say but how one sees them, or the two together.