{"id":618,"date":"2012-04-27T05:42:24","date_gmt":"2012-04-27T05:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oert.org\/?p=618"},"modified":"2023-01-27T23:48:04","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T23:48:04","slug":"typographic-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oert.org\/en\/typographic-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Typographic family"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Created by: Marcela Romero<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>  Art\u00edculo en proceso de traducci\u00f3n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

Our alphabet is a system of signs whose interaction allows for the visual functioning of language. Each sign has its own characteristics, but the aspects it shares with the rest of the letters in the system help us recognize them as belonging to a same group.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The typeface family is a set of alphabetic and non alphabetic signs which share structural and stylistic characteristics, allowing us to recognize them as belonging to a same system. A family, from the point of view of design, is a visual program par excellance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alphabetic signs that compose the typeface family are capitals, accentuated capitals, tied capitals, lower case, accentuated lower case, joint lower case. Non alphabetic signs are numbers, punctuation marks and commercial signs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are families that include a third group of signs: the small caps, smaller capitals signs. We can conclude that all the elements necessary to write any kind of text genre in several languages are designed within a typeface family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the printing press used lead types, these were kept in a particular order in the \u00abcase\u00bb. This case had two shelves, an upper one that contained capital letters and a lower one that kept lower case letters. Thus the names of capitals and lower case for the two alphabetic systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Spanish we often find the term \u00abburro\u00bb or \u00abchivalete\u00bb to refer to the type case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Caja<\/a>

Tipos distribuidos en un caj\u00f3n de un chibalete. En el componedor se pueden ver varias l\u00edneas armadas. Foto: Willi Heidelbach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The names of the components of the type case for the sets of all types, be them alphabetic or not, of a typeface family come from the times of the printing press, where lead characters were ordered by families. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a kind of diversity in the components in each family, some families being more complete than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Set<\/a>
En las fuentes digitales, los componentes de la caja tipogr\u00e1fica suelen llamarse set de caracteres.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Typography, apart from functioning as a graphic form of language, also has a structural and stylistic dimension that allows each family to have unique connotations. In order to be effective, visual communication needs to establish different levels of reading, that correspond to the hierarchy of a text. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typography solves this problem in different ways. In this case we will analyze the tools provided by the typeface family to establish levels of reading. Typographic variables represent alternative alphabets within the same typeface family, thus they maintain the criterion of structural and stylistic relation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This alternative alphabets are variables that allow solving different rhythms or weights, but within the same sign system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, variables affect the letter in three possible aspects:<\/p>\n\n\n\n