Garry Barker - Analysis of Work.

Saturday 19 March 2011


For our type module we had to choose a serif font and analyze is using the structural format, which incorporates looking at its key factors, modeling, proportions etc. Georgia was designed for the Microsoft Corporation in 1993 by Matthew Carter. Its function was to designed as part of the core fonts for the web. This is due to the fact the characters are serifs, known for making it reading easier. With a large x-Height it means that no matter what size you read it and it stays legible. It has a continuos construction throughout the typeface meaning it can be easily manipulated to fit the appropriate form for its use. In comparison to a similar font such as Times New Roman, where the singular strokes and medium x-height hampers its readability at a small size. Georgia really capitalizes on this leading to it being a strong font to be used on screen. 

Putting the font into context. In the use of technology now, e-books and kindles now use this generic type face to produce their works. This is because it can be zoomed and manipulated into any size and the legibility does not suffer. It makes it perfect for a functioning online book. 
Verdana is another font that was used and designed for specifically for screen. Verdana is a Sans Serif font, the design thought behind it was to create a larger x-height which would mean that the characters would look bigger. However, this would not damage the separation between uppercase and lowercase, making them defined enough so that you can read them easily. By doing this too takes away the chances of the words looking almost crowded, again making it more applicable to screen. One of the strongest characteristics of Verdana that makes it perfect for screen is the fact that it is extended, allowing extra space between lettering meaning the characters don't touch. Regardless of whether they have been turned to bold or are just regular. Another brilliant property of Verdana is that it can be printed and still look exquisite, it doesn't loose its consistency. Everything it does for screen it does on paper too. 

This is why both Georgia and Verdana are perfectly made for screen. Each type face has thoroughly thought out characteristics which compliment the format it has been designed for. 


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