Typography Talk: Punctuation

 Today is Day 1 of my typography talk series, and before I get into today's topic, I want to make sure I answer one question:

What is typography?

It's just the official graphic design way of saying "fonts" or "type" or "words."  But I think "typography" sounds a little better, hence the series title. "Font Talk" doesn't quite have the same ring to it, in my opinion.

Now that I've got that straightened out, I want to focus today on a lesser-known part of typography: the punctuation.  As I've been pondering this post, I've begun to develop a new affinity and respect for this under-appreciated side of type.

Punctuation really is a fascinating thing all by itself.  Take ampersands for instance.  There are tons of varieties of this little "&" sign.

Fonts, left to right, top to bottom: Creampuff, Fontleroy Brown, Geosans Light, Operating Instructions, Pacmania, Freebooter Script, Bertham, Another Typewriter, and Alpha Echo

I want you to notice something, okay?  See just how much variety there is here?  The styles represented are quite varied: modern, cursive, handwritten, old school, bold, etc. A bunch of different feelings are seen in these little ampersands.  Some look fancy and formal, some look basic and everyday, and others look minimalistic, and others look grungy.  Isn't it so cool how each of these little "&" symbols actually say a lot?  And they don't even have any letters or words to go with them.

You may think I'm done talking about ampersands, but there is still more to say, or rather...show you.  Ampersands have been making their appearance lately in graphic design and product design.  Just look at these ampersand pillows from Etsy.  And keep in mind, these are just pillows!  There must be so many more other kinds of products with ampersands.

1. Applique Ampersand Cover by Anitanirma | 2. Ampersand Block Font Pillow by Alexandra Ferguson | 3. Ampersand Applique Burlap Pillow by Hedy Regal Designs | 4. Organic Cotton Ampersand Pillow Cover by My Bearded Pigeon | 5. Polka Dot Ampersand Pillow by Pure and Noble | 6. Hand Stitched Ampersand Cushion by Mr. and Mrs. White | 7. Rose Ampersand Pillow by Pure and Noble | Just so you know, I don't necessarily endorse every item in the shops of the sellers who sell these ampersand pillows.  By linking to the pillows, my goal is to recommend just that product, so I can't vouch for anything else in the stores!

Aren't those fun?  I love the contrast between type styles and fabric types.  I'm also really enjoying the concept of using the "&" symbol by itself as a graphic piece.

I've tried it out myself by making these graphics... each one includes the ampersand as the main element with words above and below.  Here's a preview:

These graphics are designed to be posters, but you can also use them as small notes or tags.  In the ZIP file that you can download here, you'll get a JPG file (8x10 inches) for printing each poster full size, as well as a PDF file with smaller sized graphics that could be used in other ways.  So far as printing, I'd recommend printing the 8x10 posters as photos (using a site like Shutterfly.com for instance), and just printing the smaller ones at home, perhaps on cardstock so that they're more durable.  I hope you like this little gift to start off Typography Talk.  I won't have a freebie every day, but I'll work them in as I can.

Okay, moving on to another type of punctuation.  I've spent a lot of time on ampersands, so I will breeze through other types of punctuation pretty quickly.  First, I'd like to give a few moments to end punctuation, as in question marks, exclamation points, and periods.  I'm sure you know what all of these look like, but here's an example just for fun.

These may just be keys on a computer keyboard, but each of these symbols says a lot.  A question mark, more than just defining a sentence as a question, gives an inquisitive feeling to any statement.  Also, have you noticed that the curve of the question mark feels more unsure and...well, questioning than a straight line would?  As for the exclamation point, it's very firm and steadfast.  Exclamation points mark something very important.  And a period - it's short and to the point.  It is a simple placeholder to signify the end of a sentence.

Then there are still other types of punctuation, such as commas, semicolons, colons, apostrophes, quotation marks, dashes, hyphens, and even parenthesis, brackets, and braces.  I probably forgot some other forms of punctuation in that list, too, but for my final section in today's post, I want to focus on a punctuation mark that I really like: quotation marks.

First off, have you noticed that there are two kinds of quotation marks?  In less sophisticated text editors, like Blogger's post editor for instance, you get straight quotes.  But the "real" quotation marks that I like a lot more are "smart quotes" (as Word calls them).  Adobe programs also have these "smart quotes."  They have so much more character and spice to them.  Here's an example:

Can you tell that the smart quotes just look so much more professional, as well as looking nice all around?

One design technique I like to play with is oversized quotation marks.  To me, it gives a sentence or statement more interest, and it's just kind of fun.  It looks like this:

I hope you've enjoyed my little ramblings on punctuation!  And I also hope that at least some of you are walking away from this post with fresh respect for the under-recognized heroes of typography: the punctuation marks.

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Oh, and for those of you who were wondering, the main theme font for this series is Adobe Garamond Pro - it's one of my favorites!