special T

special T

I've always been a fan of beautiful type so when sparkapolooza put up the theme 'special tea' I did my usual trick played on the words and went straight to my favourite type book (a visual history of typefaces and graphic styles) and a specimen sheet by Johann Heinrich Meyer for a very special 'T'.

Header #4

This typeset managed to get a special treatment for its time as header mostly because it provided the full suite of letters, but also because the letter forms ranged from clean to ornate. Which is because they are a collection of letters from 12th century manuscripts all illuminated by Henry Shaw.

My favourite from this set is the first of the 'k' characters, the lines flowing from the ascender are beautifully weighted.

Header #3

Whatever happened to the decorative drop-cap. Yeah I know it doesn't really have much of a place in the modern san-serif world, but why should we always like everyone else. Not that I'm overly precious about decorative drop-caps but it's hopefully going to make do as a metaphor.

I think that where appropriate we should all try to add that little extra detail to our work. Like a drop-cap highlights a passage of text you should incorporate into your work a point of difference, which tells a little about your character.

Indulge your inner self. I don't mean you have to carve your notes on a stone tablet with the tooth of crocodile, or write in latin right to left bottom to top (unless that's your thing), but use your own voice and style to create and interact with your environment. What works for someone else doesn't have to be your way ... experiment and have fun doing whatever it is you find yourself doing. Work doesn't have to be boring!

--

Big thanks to Kate's memo over at the MondayProject for the little reminder.

--

Image update: These decorative letters are from a bible illuminated for Charles the Bald in the 10th century.

Header #2

I have once again let a week go bye forgetting to bring home the book I scanned these images from so keep an eye out for the credits on these when I finally remember.

Update: Spanish letterforms from 17th & 18th centuries which combine strapwork and strange beasts and fish.

header image

My latest header image has been up for a couple of days so I thought I should share the rest of the page it came from. Fantastically detailed lettering and frame. I will summarise some details for it as soon as I remember to bring the book back from the office.

Page 2 coming soon.

Update: The letterforms are from St Cuthbert's Gospels and were written by Aedrith, Bishop of Lindisfarm. They decorated the opening pages and marked the beginnings of new paragraphs. The arch is also taken from the same manuscript and is ornamented with Anglo-Saxon decoration.

type

I had always taken typefaces for granted until I went to uni and spent my time ploughing through assignments attempting to create a visual hierarchy. Since then I have attempted to sit down and create all of the characters of the alphabet a few times. The challenge always coming when one or two stood from the rest, and I just couldn't work out how to give the rest that edge to make them work together. Thanks to my inability to create one great set –(or is it that I am not one of those blessed with the patience to create it) I now take the time to admire the work that goes into the characters. Though I usually have favourite characters.

Now i hope to share a collection of fonts that I picked up at Berkelouw books last weekend. A fantastic selection of decorative typefaces. My aim is to use each page as a header for my blog so that you too can enjoy them, so keep an eye on that space.

I hope someone has taken the time to digitize these families so that they can appear in some fine print publications. Keep an eye out for some of the very ornate lettering as it pops up.