Do you know the etymological origin of the word typography? If not, and before entering fully into what is the analysis of the meaning of the term, it is important that you know that it is in the Greek. Specifically, this word comes from the union of three components: the word types which means "mold", the concept graphos which can be translated as "write or record" and the suffix -ia which is equivalent to "quality or action".
It is known as typography to the skill, the trade and the industry of choice and use of types (the letters designed with unity of style) to develop a print job. It is an activity that takes care of everything related to symbols, numbers and the letters of content that is printed on physical or digital media.
The design, appearance and dimensions of the types depend on the typography. It is possible to distinguish various branches or divisions in this art, such as creative typography (which explores graphic forms beyond the linguistic purpose of the symbols), the editing typography (linked to the normative properties of type families), the detail typography or microtype (centered on the spacing, the interleaning and the visual mark) and the macrography (specialized in the type, style and body of symbols).
Typography imitated, at first, calligraphy. Over time, the most readable and easy to understand types were chosen, a decision also linked to technical advances.
The original mobile types were developed by Johannes Gutenberg (1398 -1468 ), although these experiments were already carried out by the Chinese in the eleventh century. Gutenberg he devoted himself to embossing the characters in reverse in a matrix made of steel and, in 1445 , managed to create the first printed book of the West (the Bible ).
A book cited, which is also known as the 42-line Bible, alluding to the number of lines that shaped each page.
When talking about types, which are each of the kinds of existing letters or pieces of the printing press that are used to enhance a particular letter or sign, we have to underline the fact that those have a series of components that form what your anatomy is. Thus, for example, they have a height, antlers, an arm, tail, a certain inclination, finials and even an ear.
In this way, based on this set of elements and many others, the establishment of two classifications of types is carried out: historical or by form.
In the case of the first modality mentioned we can speak that it is composed of ancient, Egyptian or modern types, among others. Meanwhile, in the second, this set of letters is differentiated based on whether or not they have auctions that facilitate or hinder what their reading is.
At XIX century , the typography opted for two great techniques: monotype (where each symbol is cast in relief in isolation) and the linotype (The complete lines are fused separately and, at the end of printing, everything is melted again).
