Text Chapter

Within the text chapter I have begun to understand the aesthetics of the letters together and the meaning of its communication when put into words.  This chapter also supplies vocabulary of typographical terms and how a graphic designer may use them to be able to describe their method with one another.  For example, on page 125, the term(s) dropped capital is introduced and how one may go about doing this in InDesign.  Three other important terms that were introduced in this chapter and that have already begun to be mentioned in class an are leading, kerning, and tracking.  I feel that I will be able to distinguish these terms better once I begin using the programs a little more hands-on and discussing these in class.  

Define:

text-an ongoing sequence of words
body-comprising the principal mass of content in the main block
running text- it can flow from one page, column, or box to another

leading—How did it get its name?- p.108 (also known as "line spacing") the distance from the baseline of one line of type to another, as leading increases lines of type become independent graphic elements; its name came about from the strips of lead that were used to separate lines of metal type

kerning (and know which fields adjust kerning in InDesign)-p.102 an adjustment of the space between two letters, there is metric kerning (space that was set up by the type designer) and optical kerning (excuted automatically by the page layout program which access the shapes of all characters and adjusts the spacing wherever needed), to adjust word kerning use the Paragraph>Justification menu in InDesign and can also be set in part of the character styles

tracking  (and know which fields adjust tracking in InDesign)-p.104 adjusting the overall spacing of a group of letters; by expanding the tracking across a word, line, or entire block of text, the designer can create a more airy or open field, commonly used in headlines and logos

            normal, positive and negative tracking-negative tracking is rarely desirable but may be used at times in order to bring up a short line of text

hierarchy—What is its purpose? Identify cues that can be used to signal changes in hierarchy-p.132 expresses the organization of content, emphasizing some elements and subordinating others, each level of hierarchy should be signaled by one or more cues which are applied consistently across a body of text (using no more than three cues for each level or break in a document), cues can be spatial (indent, line spacing, placement) or graphic (size, style, color)

How can you create emphasis within running text?-by using one of the cue combinations

How can you signal new paragraphs? List all methods you can come up with.-change in direction of lettering, adjust tracking, adjust leading, adjust kerning, line indenting, point size, color, style

Typesetting: be able to define the following, and identify when it is good and evil

justified text-makes a clean shape on the page, is efficient use of space except when the column width that is too narrow can be full of gaps (designers often use negative tracking to fit additional characters on a line, or positive tracking to even out a line of type that looks too loose)

flush left/ragged right text-the left edge hard and right edge soft, there aren't ever big holes, respects the flow of language rather than being confined to a box, the more random on the right the better

flush right/ragged left text-rarely employed for large bodies of text, they form effective marginal notes, sidebars, pull notes, punctuation can weaken the hard right edge

centered text-symmetrically aligned; often appears on invitation, title pages, certificates, and tomb stones, center lines should be broken to emphasize a key phrase or also known as "breaking for sense," it should be broken into phrases with a variety of long and short lines

stacked capitals/lowercase-p.120 capital letters form more stable stacks than lowercase letters

vertical baselines—what is the most common orientation?- no fixed rule determining this, but it is more common to run text from top to bottom

in InDesign:

Which fields/locations adjust the following:

Typeface-Type>Font>choose the desired font

Type structure (within a family)-Type>Character

Typesize-Type>Size

Leading—be able to identify auto leading-Type tool> select text> Type menu> character> select value from leading menu (looks like an two A's on top of one another, horizontal line in between, and a little double arrow beside the A on the bottom)

Tracking-select the Type tool> select the text> use the tracking menu that looks like the AV with the arrows pointing in opposite directions under the letters> change the numbers as desired

Kerning-select the Type tool> select the type> select the kerning menu that has the AV with the arrows pointing inwards and diagonal line running through the A and V> change the number to the desire kerning

Be able to name and identify the selection and direct selection tools in InDesign

What is ‘snapping’ in InDesign?-when a tool being used in InDesign snaps to a grid

What does the command key look like?- it is on each side of the space bar and has a square decorative symbol on it

What InDesign is used for? -Text in documents

Be able to identify:

The edge of the page, the pasteboard, margins, and guides.

Know the keyboard shortcut to turn on/off guides, as well as go into preview mode.
-turn on/off guides- Command with ;
-preview mode- View> screen mode> preview