AMPERSAND!

The ampersand (&) is a logogram representing the conjunction "and". A logogram is a fundamental unit in written language which represents a word or a morpheme (a meaningful unit of language). The symbol is the ligature of the Latin word et, which means ‘and’. The name ampersand is a contraction of the phrase ‘and per se and’, which means ‘the symbol for and by itself means and’. The symbol can be traced back to the first century AD in ancient Roman script. The ampersand can now be found in many languages that use the Latin alphabet. The evolution of the ampersand from early Roman to today can be seen below. The first example from Pompeii and the early Roman the ET can be seen clearly. As the symbol evolved it became curvier, with the growing popularity of calligraphy. This began to look more like one symbol, instead of two separate letters.

(1. Pompeiian Graffiti, 79 A.D.(2. Early Roman script, around the middle of the 4th century (3. cottish writing, 9th century (4. Carolingian minuscule, 810 A.D.(5. Humanist minuscule, 1453 A.D.(6. William Caslon, London, 1728 (7.Italian Humanist minuscule, .1500 (8.Ludovico degli Arrighi, 1522 (9. Robert Granjon










The main surviving use of the ampersand is in business titles, like lawfirms and architectural firms. Also it is used in titles, and when addressing an envelope to a couple.
There are many variations of the ampersand, some more basic, and others that are more fancy or primitive in appearance. There is also several ways one can write an ampersand. A common example that is often used in everday handwriting is simplified to a backwards E with a vertical line through it, or a + with an E loop.






What is the ampersand a ligature of?

Keep one of your eyes open at all times

Incubus is one of my favorite bands right now, and the lead singer Brandon Boyd just recently opened his first art exhibition in L.A. I really like his style, I think it has illustrative influences and his paintings are unique.

Here is a link to his website, he also writes books

http://www.brandonboydbooks.com/

And an interview:

http://blogs.laweekly.com/play/interviews/ectoplasm-in-the-art-studio-wi/

And art inspired Incubus videos "Dig" being more recent and "Drive" from 1999
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIUA9105GKI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zN9vd9WUiA

Great and Horrible at the same time

Absolute Measurement : Absolute sizes define the size of the font according to the sizes defined in the user-agent. Absolute font sizes include: xx-small, x-small, small, medium (the default), large, x-large, and xx-large.

Relative Measurement: sizes define the size of the font relative to the parent element. Relative fonts are either the same size as the parent, larger, or smaller.

Points/Picas: A unit of measurement used to measure typefaces. It equals 12 points, which is approximately 1/6 of an inch. Point A unit of measurement used to measure typefaces. It equals one twelfth of a pica, which is .3515 mm, or .01383 of an inch. There are 72 points per inch.

x-height:The distance between the baseline of a line of type and tops of the main body of lower case letters (i.e. excluding ascenders or descenders). The x-height is a factor in typeface identification and readability.

The em. The en: A distance equal to the type size - 12 points in a 12 point typeface, 11 points in an 11 point typeface and so on. An em. is half an em.

Dashes (hyphen, en, em): a dash the width of the letter "m" used in text to separate a parenthetical note as an alternate to parenthesis.

Alignments: Justification, Flush Left, Flush Right

Letterspacing: setting either by kerning or tracking.

Kerning: The term kerning refers to adjusting the space between two letters.

Tracking: Adjusting the letterspacing and wordspacing of a range of characters by the same amount. This is in addition to any kerning adjustments made.

Word Spacing: The adjustment of space between words.

Widow: The final line of a paragraph that is left over onto the top of the next column.

Orphan : A single word that is left over on the last line at end of paragraph. Alternatively, a single word or line from the beginning of a paragraph left at the bottom of a column or page, with the remainder on the next column or page.

Leading : The vertical distance, negative or positive, of the baseline of one line to the baseline of the next from a solid setting.

Indent: Text is indented from the left margin.

Fist Line Indent: The text is indented from the left or right margin, it affects several lines of texts, often used for quotes.

Hanging Indent: The first line is not indented, and hangs off to the left

Who is Adrian Frutiger?
Adrian Frutiger is one of the most important typeface designers of the twentieth century. In addition he is a symbolist, sculptor and a painter who is best known for creating the Frutiger and Univers typefaces. He was born in 1928 in Switzerland and worked as an apprentice in his teenage years. He was interested in calligraphy and studied ancient Roman script while in school. After his school career he worked in Paris as an apprentice for Charles Peignot at a foundry that created metal fonts and type for the new Lumitype/Photon phototypesetting systems.. Frutiger was still interested in his Swiss teachings; he liked to work with black and white cut outs, and woodcutting. While in Paris with Peignot, he designed his first commercial typefaces, Président, Phoebus, and Ondine between 1954 and 55. He created a custom type for the Charles de Gaulle airport in France in the1970s. When the Mergenthaler Linotype Company released it for public use in 1976, the formerly titled Roissy, was renamed Frutiger.
He lives today in Bern Switzerland

John Baskerville is an English type designer and printer. He was one of the greatest type designers of the 18th century, in England. In 1757 he began work as a printer and publisher; he became printer to the University of Cambridge in 1758. He was a member of the Royal society of Arts, and a fellow member, Benjamin Franklin admired his work. Franklin took the designs back to the newly created United States, where they were used for most federal government printing. With the appearance of more modern typefaces like Bodoni, Baskerville’s typefaces fell out of use. Around 1920, the modern renewal of Baskerville’s designs began, by Bruce Rogers, which were generally called ‘Baskerville’.
Baskerville is a transitional typeface; it has the qualities of old typeface styles of William Caslon, and more modern styles of Giambattista Bodoni and Firmin Didot. John Baskerville’s intentions were to improve on the typefaces of William Caslon. So what makes Baskerville so unique? Some of the noteable Bakersville improvements are the line weight, the more vertical characters, and the serifs are more pronounced and angled, all these changes makes Bakersville the more admirable typeface. Perhaps the most famous use of the typeface its use in the Canadian government's corporate identity program specifically, in the 'Canada' word mark. In addition Baskerville was used as the inspiration behind the Mrs. Eaves typeface in the 1990’s.