What was a Ludlow used for?

ChrisL

What is the most common number of pages in a signature?

ChrisL

What are the advantages or disadvantages of using multiple columns in a publication?

ChrisL

What is creep and how should a designer allow for it in publication design?

ChrisL

What is the name of a commonly used organizing structure in publication design and what are its merits?

ChrisL

When defining vertical space between paragraphs and subheads, what factor is key in your decision (particularly on multi-column layouts)?

ChrisL

When laying out a publication, what would you consider to be the smallest visual unit, a page or a two-page spread? Why?

ChrisL

In hyphenation and justification, what are the goals of the typographer?

ChrisL

What was a Ludlow used for?

>>
Its was a hot metal typesetting system(machine), used in letterpress printing for headline size type 14 point or above.

What advantages over previous specifications has OpenType brought to type design and usage?

ChrisL

I’ll shut up now and give someone else a chance :-)
BTW, this is a good idea for a way to study! I admire that you don’t want the answers. This shows your initiative willingness to look for answers.

Yes! Do you know how it worked?

ChrisL

No..i dunno the histoty of Ludlow. plz tell me more abt this...till then am finding answers for other questions......

Chris, thanks a lot for your time and the questions...I’ll try my best to answer them as soon as possible..

Ok chris..plz don’t answer for now that how this worked..let me findout myself..I’ll ask u if i didnt get the answer.

>>What is the most common number of pages in a signature?

signature are generally printed in 8, 16 or 32 page groupings.

>>What are the advantages or disadvantages of using multiple columns in a publication?

Advantages: its easier and faster to read.(specially left justified)
disadvantages: can’t use in the web based publications.
**am searching for disadvantages >>

>>What is creep and how should a designer allow for it in publication design?

In a saddle stitched booklet the bulk of the paper causes the inner pages to extend or creep further out than the outer pages when folded. When trimmed the inner pages are narrower than the outer pages, counteracting the creep.

Total pages in book, divided by 4 (for each 4 pager), times paper thickness. Take that number, and divide it by the number of flat sheets in your book. This number will be quite small, but will represent the amount that you should adjust each page’s outside margin, as you get closer to the center of the booklet. This works in most cases but using a folded, drilled, dummy of the actual job stock is best.

What is the defining character for a Venetian Serif?
What is the difference between an em and a pica em?

Tim

Are these the kind of questions you need?

yeah Timd they wouldnt ask me regarding typefaces identity but its Ok...I’ll have a cause to search.
yes! Ask they are fine...

I’ll sit whole night and will give answer to each and every question posted here.

thanks

What is the defining character for a Venetian Serif?
>>

Characteristic for Venetian typefaces are:
> Inclined axis of the letter to the left (see o and b)
> Upper wedge-shaped serifs of the minuscules (see b)
> Rounded transitions between main strokes and (bracketed) serifs
.

.
.

What is the difference between an em and a pica em?
>>

em: a unit of measure equal to the width of the capital letter M in a particular font
Pica em: a linear unit (1/6 inch)

I don’t know nearly as much as Chris or Tim, but I’ll give it a shot:

What is the origin of the term “leading”?
What are the differences between a grotesque, geometric, and humanist sans serif?
What are the factors that can determine a typeface’s color on a page?

>What is the defining character for a Venetian Serif?
sloping bar on the lowercase e
The other characteristics are generally correct especially the stress but any sloping bar on a seriffed e is a Venetian.

>Pica em: a linear unit (1/6 inch)
or 12 points

>em: a unit of measure equal to the width of the capital letter M in a particular font
an em is equal to the height of the typeface, so, for 6pt type the em is a square 6pts by 6pts, it is only approximately the width of M.

So the difference is that ems are a sliding scale wheras pica ems are a set unit of measure.

Don’t be discouraged, my advice is to try to take in a little each day rather than stay up all night, but each to his own:)

In what kind of type alignment might one expect to find rivers?

What might you call a block of type that has a vertical margin on the right and not on the left?

If you were asked to set type 12pt solid how much leading would you need?

Tim

12 page signatures are fairly common too - at least in art book publishing. Further to this question, it’s good to know that you can have (with 16 page sigs) an odd 4 or an odd 8, but with 12 page sigs you usually have an odd 6.

Define folio, running foot.

What are the most common elements in the frontmatter and backmatter of a book and in what order do they appear?

In typesetting what is a ladder? How can you avoid it?

Prefab questions only work in citizenship exams and stuff.

hhp

Just a note on creep:
While knowing how to account for creep may be essential for hand-made books, these days imposition software adjsuts for creep automatically. I’m not suggesting that folks shouldn’t know about this issue, just that it’s likely important to be clear that someone designing a book with ten 32-page signatures does not have to adjust each and every page margin (either manually or with Master pages) to account for creep, as it is generally handled by the printer.

> I’m not suggesting that folks shouldn’t know about this issue, just that it’s likely important to be clear that someone designing a book with ten 32-page signatures does not have to adjust each and every page margin (either manually or with stylesheets) to account for creep, as it is generally handled by the printer.

Yes, but it is important to design knowing that the software will be adjusting for the creep, so any elements in the gutter will be affected.

Satya:

I fear we are giving you a lot of work. But I’ll jump on this bandwagon...

What is the definition of “Justification” as it applies to typography, and can a column of type be called “Left Justified”?

A few diacriticals for you...
What is a macron?
What is a breve?
What is a cedilla?
What is a caron?
What is a circumflex?
What is an diaeresis/umlaut?
What is a grave accent? (it’s not a wreath ;-)
What is an acute accent? (it’s not from Brooklyn ;-)

—Michael.

———————————————————————————
// love what you do or do something else. //
Michael Ebert — graphic designer, jazz saxophonist, horror movie devotee
———————————————————————————

Name:
3 important British typographers and some of their faces
3 important Italian typographers and some of their faces
3 important French typographers and some of their faces
3 important Swiss typographers and some of their faces
3 important American typographers and some of their faces

—Michael.

———————————————————————————
// love what you do or do something else. //
Michael Ebert — graphic designer, jazz saxophonist, horror movie devotee
———————————————————————————

wow!!Lots of new things here...
Im having fun finding these answers..
I’ve already learnt a lots of new things...
keem em coming....

What is the Golden Ratio ?

What is the Typographer’s Case ?

What is a Bleed ?

What is a Mark Up ?

What is ASCII ?

What is a Masthead ?

What is a Font ?

’Cause I’m evil: discuss historic calligraphic and cultural influences upon modern Indian typography.

Wow. Great thread. Satya, you really know how to pick ’em. Come and be a student with us in NZ : )

But first:

Draw a diagram to explain the following type terminology:
Serif
Stroke
Counter
Kern
Baseline
x-height
Capital Height
Descender
Ascender
Arm
Crossbar
Apex
Bowl
Terminal

What does the acronym u&lc mean?

Which case would you expect find in a Titling Font?

What basic rule is observed in the division of words for end-of-line hyphenation in English language typesetting?

For copy counting purposes, what is the average length of a word in English language typesetting?

How might this change with academic and scientific texts?

What is meant by ’casting off’? (...not a question about fishing)

Why do typesetters charge higher rates for tabular matter?

Name the style of numerals best suited to tabular setting.

As a rule of thumb, how is optimal line length calculated?

Describe what you understand by the term ’page yield’?

How does this relate to the ’extent’ of a publication?

Diagram and define six common proofreaders’ marks.

When is it appropriate to use an ampersand? (um, we seem to have had that one out already)

What would you expect to find in a colophon?

Give the order of textual marks you would use to show four descending levels of footnote.

Define the terms widow and orphan as they relate to typesetting. Why are they said to be undesirable? How could you avoid them?

Best of luck with your studies.

“which are the best books on typography which every typography student MUST/MUST/MUST have?

And why?

< jury member >

Ye must answer me these questions three, ere the other side ye see!

</ jury member >

Good luck!

Satya,
Let us know how the exam went! We are all rooting for you!

ChrisL

still 6 more days to go..its on next monday 30th october.. :)
I havent studied that much in my whole semester..that am studying now..lol..its fun.

It should be fun studying a subject you love!
Then again, I hated studying statistics and economics when I was your age (needlesss to say, these subjects I did not love) :-)

ChrisL

What advantages over previous specifications has OpenType brought to type design and usage?

>>
OpenType offers several compelling advantages:
• A single, cross-platform font file that can be used on both Macintosh and Windows platforms
• An expanded character set based on the international Unicode encoding standard for rich linguistic support
• Advanced typographic capabilities related to glyph positioning and glyph substitution that allow for the inclusion of numerous alternate glyphs — such as old-style figures, small capitals and swashes — in one font file
• A compact font outline data structure for smaller font file sizes
• OpenType is natively supported in Windows 2000

What is the origin of the term “leading”?

>>
Leading (pronounced ledding) is the measurement of space between lines of type. The origin of the word “leading” dates to early days of typography when lead type was used. Blank pieces of lead were used between rows as spacers.

In what kind of type alignment might one expect to find rivers?
In full/forceful justified text..

>>
In full/forceful justified text..

If you were asked to set type 12pt solid how much leading would you need?

>>
Generally it should be +2, means it should be 12+2 pt = 14pt lead..but it also depends on what typeface and where are you using.

In typesetting what is a ladder? How can you avoid it?

>>
ladder like structure in a paragraph..like this
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

..proper returns can avoid this.

What is the definition of “Justification” as it applies to typography, and can a column of type be called “Left Justified”?

>>
In typesetting, alignment is the horizontal positioning and alignment of text or images within a line, typically relative to a column.
No a column can have more than one kind of justification in itself.
(not sure of this answer)

What is a Bleed ?

>>
Bleed is a printing term that refers to printing that goes to the edge of the sheet after trimming. Bleeds generally are 1/8 of an inch from where the cut is to be made.

What is ASCII ?

>>
ASCII is an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It is a widely used standard for encoding text documents on computers. Usually when the term “ASCII” is used, it is describing a text document. If a file is described as ASCII text, this means you can view the contents of the file, change it with an editor, or print it with a printer. It does not contain any special embedded control characters.

What is a Masthead ?

>>
On the Internet, a masthead is a graphic image or text title at the top of a Web page that identifies the Web site and, sometimes, the particular section of the site. In addition to the name of the Web site, a masthead could include other elements such as images, text, or navigational links. The Web site masthead was named after a similar feature of newspapers and magazines, which in turn got its name from the top of a mast on a ship.

What is a Font ?

>>
A collection of all the characters of a typeface in one size and one style is called a font. This includes caps and lowercase, numerals, punctuation marks, and any special characters contained in the typeface, such as symbols or ligatures.

What does the acronym u&lc mean?

>>
U&LC stands for Upper and Lower Case (International Journal of Typographics)

Which case would you expect find in a Titling Font?

>>
Titling fonts are type designs that have been specifically created for use in larger point sizes or display settings. They are usually all–caps.

What is meant by ‘casting off’?

>>
A calculation to determine how much space typeset copy will take up.

Name the style of numerals best suited to tabular setting.

>>
Arabic numeral

As a rule of thumb, how is optimal line length calculated?

>>
Ideally it should be 35—70 characters including spaces

Define the terms widow and orphan as they relate to typesetting. Why are they said to be undesirable? How could you avoid them?

>>
A “widow” is the last line of a paragraph that appears alone at the top of the next page, and an “orphan” is the first line of a paragraph that appears alone at the bottom of a page. Widow and orphan settings are usually set for a minimum of two lines.

...............
Still there are lots of questions left...will post their answers..soon

My father wanted to
make me a doctor..LOL.
guess what if i was a doctor?;)

Draw a diagram to explain the following type terminology:
Serif
Stroke
Counter
Kern
Baseline
x-height
Capital Height
Descender
Ascender
Arm
Crossbar
Apex
Bowl
Terminal

>>

plz correct if there is anything wrong in the answers..

“Name the style of numerals best suited to tabular setting.”

Jajaja... ;) not seen a tabular setting with roman numerals for a while.

The answer would be tabular figures, which are all designed and spaced to occupy the same space.

See:

123 456 7890
118 719 0110

Héctor

Diagram and define six common proofreaders’ marks.

>>

Go Satya go!! My students have a test tomorrow so they are feeling the pressure with you... they too, probably have not studied quite this hard all semester. Wonder why??! ; )

I think it’s a good question and answer on the OpenType, also the proofreaders’ marks, BUT...

Hector is right about the tabular (not arabic) figures btw.

I notice that you say ...set type 12pt solid how much leading would you need?

>> Generally it should be +2, means it should be 12+2 pt = 14pt lead..but it also depends on what typeface and where are you using.

This is not correct; you need to find an accurate definition of ’set solid’.

As for In typesetting what is a ladder? Patty, can you tell us if this is a term interchangeable with ’river(s)’? I only ask because that’s how it read to me; is Satya’s answer correct or should he revise it?

On the ’naming of parts’ diagram I see no definition for ’apex’ and think you should look at the relationship between T and h for a way of illustrating ’kern’.

I hope other people will have feedback for you – as Chris says, we’re rooting for you.

A ladder is not the same as a river and I assume you are referring to the right side of the setting which, in this case, is not correct, although the solution you offer is partly correct.

Best wishes here as well.
Tim

Edit: Apologies for jumping in here Patty, I thought timezones might make feedback slow

A little bit out of prepress history?

Do you know the printing height of letterpress?
There are two different heights, the english-american one and a german one. (some more, but I guess these two are the most important ones).

Georg

Great way to study. Certainly more fun than quizzing yourself. Just a suggestion to enhance retention: write answers in your own words rather than copying and pasting snippets you find on the web. This way you force yourself to actually process the information.

Great way to study. Certainly more fun than quizzing yourself. Just a suggestion to enhance retention: write answers in your own words rather than copying and pasting snippets you find on the web. This way you force yourself to actually process the information.

Erik, thanks for the suggestion. I’ll do that now. And that way ill involve myself more into the answer.

Georg, nice flag.

hhp

A ladder is not the same as a river and I assume you are referring to the right side of the setting which, in this case, is not correct, although the solution you offer is partly correct.

Now I get it. Good clue - thanks Tim.

The Ken Bessie question is probably the best one in the thread, but perhaps it’s an essay question rather than something for a (quick) verbal answer. Maybe a keeper for Satya’s further studies?

Sorry Im guessing the word “ladder”..but is it something related to centre alignment?
structure like this.........

A ladder is when the same word (or in some cases the same pair of letters*) appear at the beginning or end of consecutive lines (especially justified text in the case of the end of a line) forming a repeating shape, often occurs with shorter words like the, to etc. the solution is to use a soft return to turn over a word to break up the pattern.

Tim
*the pair of letters is more of a concern with display text

thanks tim.

Yes, hrant, its the flag of Preussen.
I believe in it.

Georg

What’s a ladder?
Download Flowers and ladders right from here:
http://www.crauswords.com/flowers/FL-smple.pdf
All the Best

What is the Typographer’s Case ?
.
.
> Typographer’s Case
= Typographer’s Job Case
= California Job Type Case
= A wooden case containing all the main characters (lead made) for text setting. It was first introduced in San Francisco.
.
.

A few diacriticals for you…
What is a macron?
What is a breve?
What is a cedilla?
What is a caron?
What is a circumflex?
What is an diaeresis/umlaut?
What is a grave accent? (it’s not a wreath ;-)
What is an acute accent? (it’s not from Brooklyn ;-)

—Michael.

>
>macron.............{ ā, ē, ī, ō, ū
>breve..............{ ă, ĕ, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ
>cedilla............{ ç
>caron=háček........{ á
>circumflex.........{ â, ê, î, ô, û
>diaeresis/umlaut...{ ä, ö, ü,
>grave accent.......{ À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù
>acute accent.......{ á, é, í, ó, ú, ý

Michael, right now I’ve only answered how they looks like..I’ll add their definitions too.

This is a german case:

And I am still waiting for the anglo-american and the german printing height for letterpress. tz,tz,tzz.. ;-)

Georg

Ha Georg, that’s funny. There is also still unanswered a question about the Golden Ratio, I think.

Meanwhile

What is the standard size of a business card (in mm or inches)?

What does the acronym OCR stand for, and where are you most likely to find an OCR typeface?

Is the ’randomfont’ typeface Beowolf Serif R21 suitable for four colour process separations?

What is the minimum size at which you could (successfully) reverse out Bodoni type from four colour process printing? How could you increase the chances of success with this?

Suggest a way of specifying the mandatory size for type denoting alcholic content by volume on a beer or wine label?

“which are the best books on typography which every typography student MUST/MUST/MUST have?

David Jury’s About Face: Reviving the Rules of Typography would be a good title to spend the weekend with, Satya. Probably contains many answers to what is going on here.

Are the US designers familiar with the metric system in the meanwhile? :-)

Georg

No they’re not, but then I’m not a US designer. But in deference I went back and edited that post.

Satya if the question about type denoting alcholic content is problematic for reasons other than typography, please disregard it. I’d never advise anyone to drink alcohol before an examination...

“Are the US designers familiar with the metric system in the meanwhile?”

Americans and american designers are “somewhat” familiar with it. There have been a number of attempts to teach it here and to switch over to it. The switching over part has failed quite miserably as you might expect. Even though the metric system is far more logical in every way, change is difficult at best. I think a great impediment is in the inability of people not used to the metric system to visualize a measure. Those brought up in the Enlish system have a feel for what an inch or a foot or a mile might be but can’t get a visual grasp on centemeters and kilometers. They have to make the conversion calculation before they can “see” it. We all know how much we love having to do a calculation thrills us so the resistance continues.
ChrisL

What is the Golden Ratio ?
.
.
> Golden Ratio
.
= Divine Proportion
= Golden Mean
= Golden Section
= a number often encountered when taking the ratios of distances in
simple geometric figures such as the pentagon, pentagram, decagon and dodecahedron. It is denoted phi(φ), or sometimes “tau”. The value of golden ratio is 1.6180339887498948482...
.
.
>Golden Proportions:
.
The ratio of 3:5 (or 5:3) is known as Golden Proportion. Photographers and artists have long noted that viewers seem to prefer pictures which are proportioned using this ratio.

Another special ratio is 2:3.5 for smaller shapes. This is the ratio of most business cards. This size, and multiples of it, seem very comfortable and familiar.

Golden rectangle is most pleasing to the eyes. And its the most widely used proportion in design whether its be print or the architecture.
.
.
>Construction Method: Golden Rectangle
.
• Construct a unit square.
.
• Draw a line from the midpoint of one side to an opposite corner.
.
• Use that line as the radius to draw an arc that defines the long dimension of the rectangle.
.

@ dezcom
In know and I understand exactly what you mean.
Because I have the same problem:
I know by heart the distances in Didot point and Cicero.
But have lots of problems to imagine it in millimeter.
I’m coming out of letterpress.

My question was more a joke. Because no one from here in Germany is possible to understand inches of course. We are happy to understand your dimes and quarters.

Georg

> We are happy to understand your dimes and quarters.

:->

hhp

The term ladders to me has always meant three or more consecutive hyphens in setting.

“We are happy to understand your dimes and quarters.”

ROFL!!! Even though Hrant beat me to the post, I had to chime in:-)
The saying in America is “Money talks” ;-)

ChrisL

So how did it go?
Tim

I was prepared, but they didn’t asked me much abt the typography/publication....they asked me more about my other courses like interactive media, advanced graphic design, Elements of video and photography.
But overall jury went fine and smooth. Now am in the next semester:)

I hope I’ll finish my all the incomplete typefaces by the end of this semester before going for the internship. Before coming to typophile I was planning to go for the internship in Broadcast/motion graphics but now I’ll do it in type design.

Thank you so much typophile &
thank you all for your true help.

satya
:)

Good, congratulations.
Broadcast and motion graphics need type design as well, I’d guess more in fact.
So where are the rest of the answers:)

Tim

thanks Tim!
Whatever I do but finally I’ll jump into Broadcast/Motion Design only..as it always fascinated me. As you said typography is a major element in motion/broadcast graphics and thats y I think its a Plus for me. Am very close to both.

\

For lots of questions am still searching the answers..Will post then soon:)

hello! maybe u can help me 2 then! Please could you tell me any other typefaces you are aware of that were made in 1950 other than Herman Zapfs Palatino????

please could you tell me of any typefaces you are aware of that were created in 1950 or thereabouts other than Herman Zapfs Palatino?

Satya,
I am glad the jury went well! Don’t worry that they did not ask many type questions. The point of studying is for the knowledge you keep with you, not just the test. Keep your passion for type whatever field you end up working in.

Bravo Satya!

ChrisL

Sistina and Saphir

Emma, you really should create your own thread and google.

Tim

Emma,
as Tim said, If you have any quiry/question..create a new thread..
so that more people can see your thread and help you in their own way.

welcome to typophile, btw.

this board is so full of knowledge, i’m overwhelmed.

Nicole, better you call it a university:)
welcome to the typophile, btw.

On the Internet, a masthead is a graphic image or text title at the top of a Web page that identifies the Web site and, sometimes, the particular section of the site. In addition to the name of the Web site, a masthead could include other elements such as images, text, or navigational links. The Web site masthead was named after a similar feature of newspapers and magazines, which in turn got its name from the top of a mast on a ship.

Not quite correct (although its a common misconception). You are describing a “flag.” What’s a real masthead?

Hey Satya

Well done for getting through it (and out the other side). I guess many of those questions amounted to overkill!! Although some of them may still come in handy for broadcast & motion graphics it’s true.

Emma you could read the story of Bradbury Thompson’s Alphabet 26, which also dates from 1950.