Foundations of Typography

- Typography is a deep and wonderful universe. Looking at letter forms, we can see that they are independently beautiful as works of art. In addition to being beautiful, letter forms also form words, sentences and thoughts. These are the very foundation of our history. Letter forms enable us to communicate with one another and to transmit every aspect of our civilization from one generation to the next. I'm Ina Saltz and I'd like to welcome you to the world of typography.

Typography is everywhere. It has traditions, practices, functions, and a language all its own. Type plays a vital role in every form of media. The whole idea of this course is to give you a solid foundation in the basics of typography, whether you are designing a brand identity, a book, a website, or just a brochure for a local business. If you've never had any formal training in typography there will be plenty of material in this course to help you make better decisions about your typographic usage.

Even if you are not new to the field I think you will find this course to be a great refresher and you may even discover some new concepts and practices that will improve your use of typography. We'll explore universal and timeless principles of typography, and explain good typographic practices. We're going to get up close to the details of type, so you can get a better sense of why it works the way it does. We're going to talk about basic principles of type to help you make the best design choices for your projects.

And we'll go over naming conventions, so you can speak about type with professionalism and confidence. I'm passionate about letter forms. For more than 30 years I've been deeply involved in the world of type, and I'm excited to share with you the foundations of typography.