GUIDELINES AND LETTERING

• Lettering


  The written language of industry
• Lettering styles

  • Topographical draftsmen use gothic letters and roman letters
  • Furniture, machine, structural draftsmen use the single-stroke gothic alphabet and numbers
• Origin and development of letters

  • Ancient Egyptian (picture writing, hieroglyphics)
  • Phoenician (wedge-shaped, cuneiform writing)
  • Ancient Greek (bousterophedon writing)
  • Roman (modified into a more readable type, became the basis for present day letters of the Roman alphabet except for J and U)
• Old Roman and Modern Roman letters

  • Alike except in the thickness of the stems of the letters and shape of their serifs
  • Sometimes called Carolinian letters because the small letters were invented during the reign of Charlemagne
• Styles of letters

  • Modern Roman (easy to read, used in printing newspapers, magazines, and books)
  • Gothic (common in posters, billboard signs, and car card)
  • Old English (cumbersome, used today in diplomas and certificates, bible, land titles, and some wedding invitations)
  • Script (common in wedding invitations, diplomas, christmas cards)
  • Italic letters (slanting, used in the headings of newspaper columns and in advertisements)
• Parts of the Modern Roman Letter

  • Serif - horizontal thin stroke added to the end of the thin or thick stems
  • Fillet - curved line which connects the stem to the serif
• Modified Roman letters


  • Serifs are made of thick strokes
• Old Roman letters

  • Thick stem is twice the thickness of the thin stem and the serifs are curved and not straight
• Single-Stroke Gothic Letters


  • Each stem of the letter is made with one stroke of the pen
  • Special lettering pens can be lettered or printed in this
  • In mastering it, one must know the order and direction of the strokes of each letter and number
• GUIDELINES IN LETTERING

  • two horizontal guidelines in capital letters (top and base lines); three in small or lower case letters (top, waist, and base lines)
• General Proportions of Letters

  Normal Letters - if the space where the letters are to be printed or letter is ample

  Condensed Letters - if the space is narrow

  Extended Letters - if the space is wide 
• Normal Letters - if the space where the letters are to be printed or letter is ample
• Condensed Letters - if the space is narrow
• Extended Letters - if the space is wide 
• Styles of Letter

  all various letter styles are patterned after the old roman letters
• Modern Roman - easy to read and is generally used in printing newspapers, magazines, and books 
• Gothic - common in posters, billboard signs, and car card
• Old English - cumbersome and mostly used today in diplomas and certificates, bible, land titles, and some wedding invitations
• Script common in wedding invitations, diplomas, christmas cards
• Italic letters - are slanting used in the headings of newspaper columns and in advertisements. only roman and gothic letters can be italicized