Type classification help

Report · Mar 27, 2010

Hi everybody,

I'm a student doing a uni assignment which asks that we find examples of typefaces from different categories.

The ones I'm stuck on are these:

• humanist axis

• vertical (rational axis)

• implied vertical axis

• no axis

• sloped roman

If someone could please post examples and/or links to definitions of these categories (I've searched in books and on the net to no avail), that would be terribly appreciated 🙂

thanks again!

Steph

Report · Mar 27, 2010

Wow Steph! What a question!

I have never heard of most of your classifications. No wonder you haven't found anything on the internet about these categories. However, I am not a type designer and my graphic design courses were 30 years ago.

First, what is "uni assignment"? Does that mean university? Okay.

Next, "sloped axis" probably means any "italic" font, sometimes called "oblique". No axis would be any "roman" font. Vertical, straight up and down. No slanting, no leaning.

I have a question about the last three: "humanist axis", "vertical (rotational axis)", and "implied vertical axis". Is your instructor referring to the slant of the type, or does he mean the character (feel) of the type when he says "axis".

Report · Mar 27, 2010

Hi JustBob,

Thanks for your reply

Yep, these classifications are for a university assignment.

I think the 'sloped axis' category is different from italic as we were asked to find italic typefaces too, so I'm thinking they are slightly different categories.

I'm not quite sure about whether 'axis' refers to the slant or feel of the typeface but my guess is that axis is a technical term used to describe the slant of typefaces. I've had a quick squiz on google under 'humanist axis typography' and here's an excerpt i grabbed from http://www.graphic-design.com/Type/bergsland/humanist.html

First: Axis

Humanist fonts (serif or sans) have an axis resulting from the angle of the pen nib when producing calligraphy. This axis is between 25° and 45°. They tend to look more like they are done by humans instead of machines. This is one of the main reasons why they seem so "comfortable".

Thanks again, I'll try and research this myself as I have more of an idea of what I'm looking for now!

Steph 🙂