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Inspiring fancy alphabets – ‘A beautifully turned letters came into existence long before the invention of printing and the exquisite letters used in old, hand-written books still serve as models for present-day ornamental type. Lavishly ornamented initials are relics from the times when such letters were intricately painted, Later; initials were carved in wood blocks, and, with the advent of more advanced typesetting, cast in lead or zinc.



The use of fancy initials was the main way of enhancing texts and provided typographers with an opportunity to break the monotony of regular body text. Apart from being pleasing to the eye, initials provide a form of emphasis to focus attention to the beginning of the chapter or paragraph and make text easier to read. In addition, before abstract logos became popular, ornamental lettering would often be used as trademarks.

"…there is sometimes a lack of understanding of the fundamental difference between types designed for display and types meant for text. The difference can be expressed as a maxim: text types when enlarged can be used for headings; display types, if reduced, cannot be used for text setting." —Walter Tracy**

‘The Type foundries have cast fonts in lead alloys from the 1450s until the present, although wood served as the material for some large fonts called wood type during the 19th century, particularly in the USA. In the 1890s the mechanization of typesetting allowed automated casting of fonts on the fly as lines of type in the size and length needed. This was known as continuous casting, and remained profitable and widespread until its demise in the 1970s. The first machine of this type was the Linotype, invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler.’

b. A alphabet when roman catholic took place-‘With the decline of the power of Rome and the rise in importance of Christianity with its monasteries and scriptoria (places where writing was done) local tastes had a chance to flourish and so national hands were evolved from the original Roman cursive. The national style that was developed in Spain was called Visigothic; in south Italy it was called Lombardic or Beneventan, and in Francethe script was given the name of Merovingian. Other countries, too, developed subtly national charactersticks and in Ireland and England a style was developed and practiced with such superb mastery and authority that certain examples of it can be included among the world’s great masterpieces of art and Calligraphy. The two greatest are the Book of Kells, and the Lindifarne Gospels(also know as the ‘Durham Book’).



c. ‘Under the sign of the Avant-Grade- Elements that once seemed irreplaceable to whole generations due to craft-related and aesthetic considerations – although printed fonts had longed ceased to be designed merely as written fonts – were omitted from this new font forms. These new and pure, reduced and minimalist, character form reflect a process that was initiated by abstractions in painting, literature, architecture & music since the 19th century.
The san serif fonts that were, over the course of time, produced in different locations and by different companies and that were partially available in typesetting shops were Akzidenz-Grotesk(1898), Reform- Grotesk(1904-07), venus(1907) and New Gothic(1908). All these alphabets were tainted with loveless and clumsy details that contributed to the bad reputation of the whole font group. They corresponded only minimally with the avante-garde ideas of form and necessity. Therefore, many typographic designs were drawn and constructed in Grotesk-characters between 1910 & 1925 due to a lack of appropriate fonts.’