U&lc Issue: 27.2.1

Anatomy of a Character How do you tell one typeface from another? If you’re trying to distinguish Helvetica from Times Roman, the difference is obvious. In other cases, the differences can be subtle and difficult for the less–experienced eye to see.

Spacing and Kerning, Part 1 What makes a typeface look the way it does? The design of the letter shapes is a primary factor, but it’s by no means the only one.

Spacing & Kerning, Part 2 This second of two articles on spacing and kerning takes you behind the scenes of your page layout and illustration applications. Learn how to achieve custom control over the letters you set.

Scripts: From Formal to Casual Scripts offer a wide variety of moods and characteristics, ranging from formal to casual. When used appropriately, a script face can add the perfect touch to a project.

Italics and Boldface When it’s time to emphasize a word or phrase, do you automatically reach for the font style menu? Boldface and italics are two of the most common techniques for lending emphasis to text, but these basic typographic tools are often used incorrectly. Here’s how the pros handle text that needs to stand out from the crowd.

Letter Series: B Many people consider shelter to be the second most important ingredient for human survival. Coincidentally, the second letter in our alphabet evolved from the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph signifying shelter. Although the designs are somewhat different, there is a recognizable correlation between this Egyptian hieroglyph and the second letter of the Phoenician alphabet.

Letter Series: C For much of their history, the ‘C’ and ‘G’ evolved as the same letter. The Phoenicians named this letter gimel, meaning “camel,” and used it to indicate the sound roughly equivalent to our present-day ‘g.’

Phil Grimshaw - A True Typographic Character “If you enjoy what you do, and you’re lucky enough to be good at it, just do it for that reason.” This quietly spoken – and exceptionally wise – philosophy remained Phill Grimshaw’s guide throughout his career, which was cut short in 1998 when Grimshaw died following a long illness, at the age of 48.

Book Review: Revival of The Fittest This well-intentioned effort to define just what is a classic typeface ends up a disappointment. Although it makes a few good contributions, it fails to answer its thesis question as well as it might, and, regrettably, passes on information that is just plain wrong.

Magazine Typography: Designing for Browsers and Readers Magazine typography is all about communicating, but magazines communicate in many different ways. One of those ways is through the text, the traditional meat of any publication.

Book Review: On Book Design Written in a friendly, conversational style, and with contributions from eight other book designers, Richard Hendel’s On Book Design deserves a place among the best works on the subject and is a valuable addition to any designer’s library.

Japan Honors Carlos Segura What’s the secret to success as a designer? According to Carlos Segura, founder of five businesses to date, including the now-legendary type shop T-26, it’s being “big-headed.” Not in the sense of being vain.

The nature of the type world keeps changing. And any online publication is, by definition, about change. U&lc Online began life as an online companion to U&lc, ITC’s award-winning magazine; from here on in, it will begin a new life, in a new format, as ITC’s online voice. Expect the unexpected. U&lc Online is ITC’s international journal of graphic design and digital media. U&lc Online needs no subscription; it’s part of the ITC web site, itcfonts.com. To read U&lc Online, just bookmark this page and check it out every month.