Red Skies At Night

The awesome typeface blog Fonts In Use posted a great piece on a unique design technique that is rooted in the distant past of all graphic artists (well, us old ones, anyways...)- the Type Specimen Page.  You have probably have seen this layout where rows or different point size fonts are layed-out to visual explain a font's characteristics-- the fonts in use, weights and widths, and how the characters look in harmony with each other.

Sam Berlow's Fonts in Use article notes that the 'big red book,' the original font specimen book created by the American Type Foundry, is most likely where this layout originated.  It might also be rooted in old time Western posters or printer-designed playbills, as one of the commentators on the article posted.The funny thing is how this font marketing technique has indeed become a page layout design used in graphic design everyday. This technique is created by stacking different lines of different sized rows of the same font-- you will see if if you look at book jackets, signage, magazine layouts and, of course, posters.

I think it is a great technique in a designer's too box. First, it forces you to use a single font face, second it's a great space filler, and thirdly if relies on tight, exact and well balanced kerning- a staple of any good designer.

Read the full article here- Fonts In Use.