My Design Studio's MyDesignPrimer.com

"Putting All the Pieces Together"

One element of this page that I found interesting was the things that came up after pressing the link to "Font" that was embedded in the text.
I was interested in learning about the difference between PostScript and TrueType.
I also found interesting the fact that each "font" has 256 separate characters involved, 4 sets of 64 keys. I accessed the printable version of the chart of the 256 characters to print out because knowing where to type certain symbols, such as Ø, ∏, √, ∑ without navigating through annoying menus is invaluable for a math teacher. I'm excited!

As I went through the descriptions of the categories o typefaces, I was surprised to find that I believe some of the pictures were incorrect. For example, I think that the two fonts pictures for Modern (http://www.mydesignprimer.com/fonts/modern_typefaces_fonts_bodoni.shtml ) were not, in fact, Modern. I am sure of this, especially for the 2nd one pictures, as it has no serifs! I also feel as though the first one pictured as a Slab Serif (http://www.mydesignprimer.com/fonts/slab_serif_fonts_typefaces.shtml ), is not a Slab Serif, as it appears to have some thick-thin transitions.

I had never thought through the "repercussions" of using font styling before reading that portion of the page, but it makes sense to me. In the future I will use the special types of fonts (i.e., Arial Black) when they are available, but will stick to using Bold and Italic links, when they're not. I can understand the concern though.

I also found it interesting to learn the relationship between Points, Pica's and Inches. While I thought out loud about the conversions, my wife kept questioning, "Pikachu?" and I of course explained the difference between the two. We came to the conclusion that Pikachu is far more interesting that Picas, but picas may very well be more important.

I finally also know why some fonts are bigger than other fonts when at the same size. They are not actually larger, they just appear larger because of the way they "fit" into the point size. For the examples shown on the page, the 28 pt. script font has such a low "x-line" that it appears to be much smaller than the 28 pt. Stone Serif which has a very high "x-line" and is also ver wide. Regardless, the maximum height of the two sets of letters are the same!

One Space?!? One space between sentences? I am trying to switch right now while writing this, and it is hard! What if I can't transition and I do both in the same paragraph? One, two, two, one, one, two, oops, one, two, oops, one. I keep doing it subconsciously! I might have to give up and stick with two spaces. Maybe I'll ask my Mom for input, she always knows what to do here. If not her, my priest, maybe. I will surely explain to them that the rationale does make sense.

–-–-–- ---- --- _– At first, while making these symbols, I didn't realize that some were different from others. I was frustrated that my computer wasn't making "en dashes" different from hyphens, but once I zoomed way in, I could see the difference. I never knew that it was supposed to be different. Is that what happens when you use two of them -- and then hit space and they become one bigger one? It didn't appear to happen there, but it sure does in Microsoft Word.—See, now I've switched to an Em Dash!

*Notice, by the way, I have fallen right back into double-spacing between sentences. It's hopeless!

Finally, I always found quotation marks terribly frustrating in high school. periods in or out? commas in, or out? do I put a period here? here and here? here, or here? This always frustrated me. I'm glad that computer programs like Word are smart enough to pick the correct quotation mark (direction it faces) and to tell me when I've puncuated improperly. How nice!

I found this site interesting, though very in depth. I never knew there was so much to typography, and was surprised by some of the things that I learned!