Starting Point of Type Design

The Alphabet

Started around 2000 BC in Ancient Egypt as a representation and continued  in Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Egyptian prototype  ->  The Proto-Canaanite alphabet  ->  Phoenician  -> The Aramaic alphabet  -> nearly all alphabets can be traced 

                              

Phoenician (Phoenician empire, ancient kingdom that was located on the territory of modern-day Syria, Lebanon and Israel)

-> The Aramaic alphabet ->the 7th century BC as the official script of the Persian Empire -> ancestor of nearly all the modern alphabets of Asia.

->  Greek and Berber alphabets

-> Romans -> 9th century BC -> used the Greek alphabet as the basis for the uppercase 

alphabet that we know today.

“Dark Age”  (from 1100 BC to the 8th century) no primary texts survive, only archaeological evidence

From about 800 BC written records begin to appear.

Roman Script

They scribed a rigid, formal script for important manuscripts and official documents and a quicker, more informal style for letters and routine types of writing.

                                                 Square capitals were used
                                         to write inscriptions.

The Romans further important contributions to type design: 

You may find David Lance Goines’ A Constructed Roman Alphabet. 

The book won, among other awards, the 1982 AIGA Book Show Award and the 1983 American Book Award (for typography)

Q A Constructed Roman AlphabetThe instructions to draw the letter Q,

Serif

Originated with the carving of words into stone in ancient Italy.

Baseline

The line upon which most letters "sit" and under which descenders extend.

Book industry (By A.D. 100)

-> lower case letters (developed in the Middle Ages)

-> Codex: A codex (Latin for block of wood, book; plural codices) is a handwritten book

 

Type Design

An example of Roman Capitals written with a square-cut brush with strokes showing. The basis of the typeface Stevens Titling.

I find this brush writing demontration very interesting.