Type Terms

Carl Shank • March 14, 2023

Type and Printing Terminology. When I was employed in a very busy print shop outside of Washington, D.C. customers would come into the shop asking for printing help and advice. Usually, the conversation would go something like this — "I need some invitations to a party I am hosting. What do you recommend?" I would respond by asking what kind of party and who is invited, trying to get some idea as to the type of invitation that would be appropriate. Sometimes I would pull out a sample book of invitations for the customer to peruse.


When I would ask what kind of type they would want, the conversation would continue — "Oh, I don't know. Something that will grab their attention, maybe big type with an illustration or picture." Or, if it was a pamphlet they wanted printed, they would say, "Just make it easy to read." They knew little to nothing about typefaces and fonts or display type and leading and those things typesetters and printers almost take for granted. They did not know the language or enough about printing and typography to guide the conversation or answer a few leading questions. Or, they would produce a piece they received somewhere and ask if we could imitate that in our set up and printing. As I would seek to explain what was involved, there would be a deer-in-the-headlights kind of interaction that would take place. Big, small, medium size, looks nice, easy to read at a distance, similar to what I saw downtown — these would be their guiding hints.


Certainly, everyone needs a bit of education as to typography and printing language. And this not only for those of us in the business, but for inquiring customers and consumers of printed pieces as well. There are good type and printing glossary guides available.* Here's a sampling of what might be helpful the next time you go to the printshop for some help.


*https://www.canva.com/learn/typography-terms/. https://www.monotype.com/resources/z-typographic-terms. Glossary of Typesetting Terms (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing), University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Successful Layout & Design

Faust Lettering

By Carl Shank • July 11, 2025
Charles Ayers Faust (b. 1860) was an American calligrapher and typographic designer known primarily for his 1912 compendium Faust’s 75 New Alphabets , a richly illustrated manual of lettering techniques. Published in Chicago by the C. W. Braithewait Company, this 72‑page volume is now in the public domain. CARE Typography, in its mission to digitally restore older typography, has restored some of Faust's designs for the modern type world. 75 unique alphabets for artistic lettering, including brush, air-brush, air-pencil, relief, stencil, marking, shading, and both ornate (Payzant, Soennecken) and practical “common pen” styles. They are Highly visual, serving as both an instructional guide and inspirational specimen book for sign-writers, designers, artists, and printers of the early 20th century.  Samples are below, available from CARE Typography .

Typography and Religion in the De Stijl Movement

By Carl Shank • July 8, 2025
The De Stijl (Dutch for “The Style”) typographical and art movement emerged around 1917 and significantly influenced modern art, design and thought itself. In the wake of the chaos of World War I, the movement sought to express a new vision of harmony and order. De Stijl was not just an art style, but a comprehensive aesthetic philosophy. It sought universal beauty, as abstracted from individual beauty, and a visual language and typography based on simplicity, geometry and primary colors, namely red, blue and yellow. Its core characteristics were the use of straight horizonal and vertical lines, the use of rectangles and squares, an emphasis on asymmetry, and the favoring of pure abstraction. De Stijl was deeply influenced by the philosophy of Neo-Plasticism, a theory developed by Piet Mondrian, which sought to depict reality in a pure, universal form. Behind this philosophy was the religious thrust of Theosophy, particularly the spiritual writings of Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891) and Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925).
Show More