Carreon CH 4 & 5

Chapter 4:

Chapter 4 talks about the importance of legibility and assigning the responsibility to typographers to communicate to their readers in the most clearly and appropriately way as possible. It was interesting reading through the explanation of how much more legible a word or letter for is from the top half and the right half of the letters. I’m assuming this was more of a guideline rather than full on fact and true statement for all letters. This is my thought because seeing only the upper half of the capital letter B could be confused for the letters P or R. likewise the right side of the letter o, this could be confused for letter b, or the right side of the letter r is so subtle that could easily be confused for the letter t. In any case, whether this is truly accepted as the norm and true fact, or if it is just guidelines or rule of thumb principle, this statement holds true for the majority of the letters in the alphabet. Another interesting thought I picked up while reading was the difference in thought of spacing between words by Edward Johnston and Aaron Burns. For the example they showed in the book, I think the spacing example with r’s between the words by Aaron Burns was more appropriate and easier to read. All in all it comes down to the trained eye of the designer and what they see best fits for each case.

Chapter 5:

Chapter 5 begins by explaining the history of grids and how space in a composition is the common denominator for typographic communication. Although the modern grid could not be pinpointed back to a single individual or individuals who created it, it has been something that has continually been developing. The book says “designers most often rely upon an innate sense of proportion. But it is helpful also to consider models that have been handed down over centuries” (94). I found this interesting because it is in our instinct, I guess, to start fresh on a clean sheet and make and implement our own grids into our compositions. There are plenty of already made grids that in fact look great and offer restrictions enough to be clean and balanced, but also allows freedom to design what you want in the given space.