Typography

Dr. Sing-Hang Cheung

HKU Psychology
singhang@hku.hk
 A logotype uses typography or lettering to
depict the name or initials of an organization in
a memorable way.
— Ellen Lupton, Thinking with Type

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Logotype

https://www.samsung.com/hk_en/about-us/brand-identity/logo/
https://ikeamuseum.com/en/digital/the-story-of-ikea/history-of-the-logotype/
https://design.google/library/evolving-google-identity/
https://global.canon/en/corporate/logo/
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 typography, the design, or selection, of letter
forms to be organized into words and
sentences to be disposed in blocks of type
as printing upon a page.
— Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/technology/typography

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Where does typography belong?

Does typography belong to design, arts, business,

engineering, science or social sciences?

Why?

https://www.shillingtoneducation.com/blog/what-is-typography/
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An interdisciplinary beginning
of typography

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Inventions that changed history

What were the ten most important inventions in

human history?

The printing press always make it to such top ten

list.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/explore-top-ten-innovations
https://www.history.com/news/11-innovations-that-changed-history
https://www.livescience.com/33749-top-10-inventions-changed-world.html
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 The movable type printing press was the great
innovation in early modern information
technology. … Historians suggest the printing
press was one of the most revolutionary
inventions in human history.
— Jeremiah Dittmar
Information technology and economic change: The impact of the printing press
The Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 2011, Vol. 126, No. 3, pp. 1133–1172

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Printing in the ancient world

Woodblock printing (aka block printing)

Materials to be reproduced—printed—are cut into wood
blocks.

Limitations?

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/2162626/when-chinese-invented-printing-westerners-were-using
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A proof of concept

Movable-type printing
Individual characters are engraved carefully and put
together according to the text to be printed.

Wooden movable-type printing of China

has been inscribed on the UNESCO List
of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of
Urgent Safeguarding since 2010.

https://ich.unesco.org/en/USL/wooden-movable-type-printing-of-china-00322
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Who was Johannes Gutenberg?

A German goldsmith,
craftsman and inventor

The use of movable-type printing

press in Europe can be traced back
to Gutenberg’s method.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johannes-Gutenberg
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Elements in Gutenberg’s method

Metal type vs. wooden type

Oil-based ink vs. water-based ink

Wine press vs. rubbing

Thought for journaling:
What was the role of interdisciplinarity
in Gutenberg’s invention? https://www.bl.uk/treasures/gutenberg/homepage.html
https://www.history.com/news/printing-press-renaissance
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The most influential fonts

http://www.squidspot.com/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces.html
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Which font is better?
An interdisciplinary approach

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The “best” font?

Times-Roman Courier-Bold

Which font is “easier” to read?

Mansfield, Legge & Bane (1996)
Psychophysics of reading XV: Font effects in normal and low vision
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, July 1996, Vol. 37, No. 8, pp. 1492–1501
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Smallest readable print
Low vision
vs. Normal vision

Reading acuity

Courier could be read at a smaller print size.

Mansfield, Legge & Bane (1996)
Psychophysics of reading XV: Font effects in normal and low vision
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, July 1996, Vol. 37, No. 8, pp. 1492–1501
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Fastest reading speed
Times
faster
Low vision
vs. Normal vision
Max. reading speed
Courier
faster

People with LV read faster with Courier.

Mansfield, Legge & Bane (1996)
Psychophysics of reading XV: Font effects in normal and low vision
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, July 1996, Vol. 37, No. 8, pp. 1492–1501
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Typography in the digital age
Legibility at a glance

Some fonts could be read faster than others.

Sawyer, Dobres, Chahine & Reimer (2020)
The great typography bake-off: comparing legibility at-a-glance
Ergonomics, March 2020, Vol. 64, No. 4, pp. 391–398
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Typographer x psychologist

https://detour.hk/2021/en/exhibition/type-11/?audio_lang=english
https://www.metropop.com.hk/deTour-2021-Type11 -
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Font preference

How do people think about different fonts?

You can select a few of your favorite fonts

and ask people to rate them on: Times New Roman
• Formality Arial
• Warmth Garamond
• Preference Calibri
• etc Century
Transport

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Project for fun — YOUR own font

Design a font of your own?

Tools are now available for creating your own font:

• FontStruct (https://fontstruct.com)
• FontForge (https://fontforge.org)
• Birdfont (https://birdfont.org)

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If you are interested …

https://www.designingwithtype.com http://thinkingwithtype.com
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 Type is with you everywhere you go—the street,
the mall, the web, your apartment.
— Ellen Lupton, Thinking with Type

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