TYPOGRAPHY, LAYOUT,

AND
GRAPHIC DESIGN

The process of designing, selecting typeface, preparing names

and placing them on a maps is collectively called typography or
map lettering.

In other words, Is the theory and practice of letter and typeface

design.
In the broadest sense, typography is as old as the most ancient
alphabets, ideograms, and hieroglyphic images. Even today,
some of its terminology and a few of its styles go back to
techniques of lapidary inscription that were popular in ancient
Rome and Athens. But strictly speaking, the art itself belongs to
the history of printing, for it was only with the advent of the
print era-and the development of the standardized, reproducible
sets of typeface styles, known as fonts-that a true craft or
practical discipline of typography began to emerge.
Once a concern mainly of book publishers and newspaper and
magazine editors, typography has today become, with the
explosive growth of powerful electronic-publishing and word-
processing tools, a text feature that no aspiring communicator
can take lightly or ignore. Particularly with the enormous range
of font options available in recent years, the opportunity to
facilitate, magnify, impede, decrease, intensify, or subdue the
impact of a message by altering typographic variables has never
been greater.
FONTS
Typography is mainly concerned with the style and size of
typefaces.

Point size: the distance from the top of the highest ascender to
the bottom of the lowest descender is the point size of any
given typeface.

The height of the face of the metal block on which each

individual letter was cast.
In printing, a complete set of type
(consisting of letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and other
special symbols) of the same style and size is called a font.
In computerized word processing, a
Font is a particular style of typeface of any size.
Fonts are usually differentiated in two ways:
(1) serif and non- serif
(2) variable width font and fixed width font.

Serifs are the distinctive finishing stokes (both horizontal and

vertical) that can be applied to letters to produce a chiseled,
lapidary look.
Serif: a stroke drawn at right angle or obliquely across the arm,
stem, or tail of a letter.
It is found on vertical and horizontal strokes of some
characters.
Sans Serif: no extension of strokes on characters

V A R I A B L E WIDTH FONTS
Variable width fonts use proportional(non-uniform) spacing
between letters, bunching them together in certain cases
(note, for example, the compressed "tt" in the word "letter")
while widening them out in others.
Example is given as shown below

In contrast,
Fixed width fonts use the same spacing between letters
regardless of their size or shape.

Examples of fixed width width fonts are shown below:

AEFGHLMNZ.
AEFGHLMNZ.
The following letters are in a serif font: A E F G H L M N Z.
These letters are in a non-serif font: A E F G H L M N Z.
o Times New Roman is a serif font.
Arial is a non-serif font.
Nimrod is a variable width font.
Letter Gothic is a fixed width font. Note to
communicators: Because serifs define individual
letters more sharply and make them easier to
recognize,
o serif fonts are generally easier to read than non-
serif fonts.

o Indeed, research indicates that most readers can read

a message in a serif font more quickly and with
greater comprehension and retention than they can
read the same message in a non-serif format.
 o A similar point can be made for variable width
fonts: because they bind letter groups more snugly
(and thus make the resulting text seem slightly more
cohesive), most readers prefer them to fixed width
fonts. Today, literally hundreds of digitized fonts are
available for general use from very plain, functional,
traditional fonts like Times New Roman to
comparatively flamboyant, exotic, or rococo styles
like Gil Sans ultra bold or Onyx. (For information
on displaying or enabling fonts, including so-called
"dynamic fonts,"

POINTS
The size of a typeface is measured in points:
One point = 1/72 of an inch.
Hence 72- point type is one inch in height as measured from the
top of the ascender (e.g., the rising stroke in "l") to the bottom
of the descender (e.g., the plunging stroke in "p"). Thus, for
instance, the word lip in 36-point size will print out to exactly
1/2 inch from the top of the "l" to the bottom of the "p."
This is 18-point Times New Roman.
This is 14-point Arial.
This is 12-point Gil Sans.
This is 10-point Courier New.
This is 8-point News Gothic.
Generally speaking, readers prefer to read documents in 12-
point type. As a rule, anything larger than 14 points seems loud
and aggressive (like reading page
after page of headlines). On the other hand, anything smaller
than 10 points looks tiny and forbidding-like the small print on
a legal contract or insurance form. (By the way, the fact that
very few people ever really read fine print is precisely the
reason for its existence: its whole purpose is to effectively
conceal information while ostensibly publishing it; indeed it is
print specifically designed not to be read).

STYLE ATTRIBUTES
Another typographic variable that can have a significant effect
on the look, feel, and impact of a word, phrase, or section of
text is the so called style attribute (e.g., bold, italic,
underlining, etc.) Effective communication
is largely a matter of emphasis and attention, i.e., you must
maintain your reader's attention and direct it particularly to the
main points of your message. Style attributes, especially in
conjunction with other typographic features and layout
principles (spacing, for example), can help. Indeed it is
important to remember that any variation in the appearance of
text--especially a variation that highlights a specific portion of
text and distinguishes it from the surrounding context-can serve
to create emphasis and command the reader's attention.
Note: Too many font enhancements and typographic twists on a
single page--or sustained over an entire document--can actually
distract or anesthetize a reader's attention and dilute emphasis.
If there is a single recurrent vice typical of modern publishing -
especially electronic publishing -it is the excessive use of
colorful highlights, gaudy flourishes, over-aggressive bells and
whistles. The result is not effective
communication-but sheer noisiness and sensationalism.
This is italic type. This is bold Roman. This is bold italic. This
is underlined. Brightly colored text can have a particularly
strong impact. Blinking text is an effective way of attracting
attention, but a very poor way of conveying complex messages.

MAP LAYOUT
A map layout is the part of cartographic design that involves
assembling various map elements on a page. This may include
the map image itself, along with titles, legends, scale and other
elements.
The term map composition is also used for the assembling of
features and symbols within the map image itself.
These two process share a few common design principles but
are distinct procedures in practice.
Therefore, layout view is where you add map surrounds,
frames, graticules and other finishing touches to a map

GRAPHIC DESIGN
In the broadest sense, graphic design is concerned with
coordinated visual effects in everything from interior decor and
package labels to corporate logos and TV ads. More
specifically, it

Is the art of crafting and creatively arranging the visual

elements
of a message -from the shapes and sizes of the letters to the
colors used in illustrations and graphs.

TYPOGRAPHIC VARIABLES (ELEMENTS)

These are the individual controls that you have to change
words, sentences & paragraphs and give them more emphasis
or to enhance their specific meaning.
The amount of attention (or lack of) that is paid to their use will
have a direct effect on the efficiency and creativity of your
design.
Use them to eliminate a generic/default look and create
something either more special or sophisticated. Certainly use
them to improve readability & to improve overall typographic
color.
Use the typographic variables of:
TYPEFACE
Is a design of lettering that can include weight ([Link]),
slope (eg. italic) width (eg. condensed) etc

SIZE
o Display (headings and subheadings)
o Text

WEIGHT
o Light
o Book or regular
o Bold
o Ultra bold

CASE
o U & LC
o All Caps
o Small Caps
o All LC

POSTURE
o Regular
o Italics
o Back slant

STYLE
o Historical period
o Personality

POSITION
o Top
o Bottom
o Right
o Left
 DIRECTION
o Left to right
o Top to bottom
o Diagonal
COLOR
o Hue
o Saturation
o Value
SPACING
o Word Spacing, Letter spacing (Tracking or Kerning ) and
Leading
o Overall white space (composition)
ALIGNMENT
o Left
o Right
o Centered
o Justified & Force Justified
o Nested

HORIZONTAL SCALING
o Extended
o Condensed
o Keep in mind these general rules of thumb:
o As line length increases, so should leading
o Sans-serif
o The optimum number of characters (letters, etc.) per line
is generally believed to be no more or less than 40–60
characters. The line length might also be determined as 1
1/2 to 2 times the length of the lower case alphabet of the
font being used or set.
 o Tight tracking (global letter spacing) is usually not helpful
for type sizes less than 14 pts.

o Grouping and Hierarchy

Grouping is based on the idea that things that look similar
in some way will tend to look like
they have the same or equal value of importance. Typical
examples of b typographic groups within a layout
might be: all headings, or all sub-headings, or h all
captions or all pull quotes, etc. Another version of
grouping on a more sophisticated level might be: all
proper names, all authors names, all page numbers, etc.
One of the keys to good typographic design is how the designer
treats each of these groupings. She/he needs to be consistent in
how the members (words or letters or numbers) of each group
are treated. It also must be clear that there are groups in the first
place. Grouping is a form of emphasis and aids in clarifying
reading by allowing the reader to quickly pick out smaller
chunks of text and meaning.

o HIERARCHY
Hierarchy is a further refinement of grouping. It is the
technique of creating the visual perception
that certain groups are more, or less, important than other
groups within the same layout. One of the true arts of good
typography is the balance that the designer creates between the
various groupings of text by carefully considering the relative
importance that the words actually mean. There is no hard and
fast rule of how the various groupings should always be treated.
Therefore, it is up to the designer to carefully read and
understand the text first and then apply the typographic
variables appropriately to visually emphasize words, and
groups of words, in the most effective order and combinations.