如何學習字體及相關知識？

01-28

讀什麼、做什麼能夠入門？

如果不愛讀書，首先要讓自己變得愛讀書。不然的話還是會把字體當成畫畫。大忌。

然後最簡單的辦法就是在日常生活中有意識地觀察自己讀的文字，包括書裡的、網上的、路邊的、地鐵中的、電視裡的：有無襯線？字距如何？行距如何？對標點的處理如何？長期專注地看，慢慢就有感覺了。這個慢慢可能會很慢。

要看專書的話，推薦：

《The Elements of Typographic Style》

《CJKV Information Processing》

《一字一生》

最近剛出新版的 Thinking with type [1] 可以作為初學者讀物。

[1] http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/

關於英文字體設計，或許可以看一下 Gary Hustwit 拍攝紀錄片《Helvetica》。

有閑情雅緻的話，我覺得嘗試一下動手「畫」和「寫」也不錯（描、拓都挺有意思的），方便而且可以靜心，可以消磨時間，記得不少人都曾喜歡過畫空心字。

初學者可以不局限於字體。最近看到這本，感覺不錯：

The Non-Designers Design Book, by Robin Williams

請回答下列問題

1. What type designer drew Helvetica?

2. What type designer drew Times New Roman?

3. What was Times New Roman originally designed?

4. How many points are there in a pica?

5. How could you describe the attributes of a "humanist" typeface?

6. When would you use an em-dash?

7. When would you use an en-dash?

8. If 10 point type is "set solid" what leading is it on?

9. What is a widow?

10. What is an orphan?

11. What is kerning?

12. What do the terms "upper case" and "lower case"mean? Where do the terms come from?

13. What nationality was Bodoni?

14. What are non-lining numerals? When do you use them?

15. How many "word" spaces should you use after a period?

16. What is "leading"? Where does the term come from?

17. Which was designed first: Helvetica, Akzidenz, or Futura?

18. What is a ligature?

19. What is the difference between a typeface and a font?

20. What is tracking?

21. What is the name for small numbers raised above the baseline?

（cr：Michael Worthington）

還有一些人做的type anatomy 和基礎知識小測試什麼的

Typography

AIGA type quiz

Answers to Ultimate Typography Quiz

小林章《西文字體》亞洲人學習西文字體的範本

剩下就要自己各種零零碎碎的找不同的type foundry 來補充自己

（只是學習西文字體的部分方法）

一本有些老，但很好的參考書：Design with type, by Carl Dair 。 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0802065198