Typography Theory
Typography essays require technical precision alongside theoretical depth: type anatomy (baseline, x-height, ascender, descender, counter, serif vs sans-serif, slab serif, script); type classification (Vox-ATypI system: Humanist, Garalde, Transitional, Didone, Slab Serif, Sans Serif, Display); legibility vs readability (legibility = individual character recognition; readability = extended text comprehension — measures: fixation duration, reading speed, comprehension); grid systems (Müller-Brockmann's typographic grid; baseline grid; column grids; modular grids); microtypography (kerning, tracking, leading, line length — optimal 45-75 characters per line for body text); Robert Bringhurst's The Elements of Typographic Style as canonical reference. Students often rely on aesthetic preference rather than principled typographic reasoning.