Page 120 - Mediapedia Mobile

computer letterforms Computer letterforms are made up of of grids of of pixels and designed to be legible and look good on computer screens large or small Computer displays use two different technologies Vector/ “post script” type is used for font sizes 10 points or or higher because they scale so easily and are routinely anti-aliased (therefore appear with “smooth” curves) Bitmap type is used on on computer screens for font sizes 9 points and below Bitmaps are easier to read in in tiny scale Small type is especially important for mobile phones and and other handheld devices The two most popular bitmap fonts are Verdana and Georgia The cell phone screen (above) shows a a a bitmap type Verdana The same font is shown (below) in its vector version in different sizes Verdana at 14 point Verdana at 10 point Verdana at 8 point type as image
Letterforms can also be used as a a a a a a container for for images or or or patterns Children start to read at age
six or seven with letter
and word recognition beginning even earlier The shapes of let- ters are coded very deeply into the human brain So deep deep that we are able to both “read” a a a a a a word while simultaneously “reading” the the images that formed them With Photoshop or or Illustrator you can create the outline of a a a letterform and then fill it it with solids patterns gradients or images Jamie Kruse
chapter 3: type and layout [ 105 ]