Ligatour
A tour of typography over time.
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Western Writing Origins
4th Century – 1st Century
BC
Early Letterform Development
Writing Direction
Capital Letters
&
Stone Carving
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Written Language Spreads
100
BC
–
AD
500
Alternate Capitals: Rustic Capitals
Roman Cursive
Anatomy of the Letterform, Part I
Other Writing Systems
Numerals
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The Era of Hand Script
500 – 1400
Uncials and Half Uncials
Bicameral Writing System
Magiscules and Minuscules
Grids and Grid Systems
Carolinian Minuscules
Blackletter
Italian Script
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Movable Type & the Printing Press
1440 – 1700
Gutenberg
Lead Type and Presses
Ligatures
Uppercase and Lowercase
Blackletter Lead
Type-casting
Old-style
Lettering, Typeface, and Font
Anatomy of a Letterform, Part 2
Leading and Texture
Kerning, Tracking, and Letter-spacing
Paragraphs, Widows, and Orphans
Proportions and Heirarchy
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Innovations and Refinements
1700 – 1900
Caslon and Baskerville
Transitional
Modern
Display Face
Boldface
Egyptian
Sans-Serif
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Rise of Sans-Serif and the Digital Era
1900 – Today
Modernism
Gill, Renner, and Frutiger
Digital Typography
Variable Typefaces
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Tools and Apps
Examine a Letterform
Phoenician Translation