英文字體設計基礎

Fluent shapes. Designing type is like driving a car. If you drive a car, you always take the curve in a natural way. If you draw a curve (of a character) on paper, this is exactly the same. The curve starts smoothly, never out of a sudden. While driving a car, you don't start turning the wheel when you are already in the beginning of the curve. A while before you arrive in the curve you anticipate by leading your car gently in the right direction. Think about driving a car when you are sketching type on a paper. 

流線型。設計字體就象開車。你在開車的時候，總是會以自然的曲線過彎。當你在紙面上繪制一條曲線（或是字符）的時候，也是同樣的道理。曲線平滑的開始，而不是陡然出現。開車時，你不會在已經到達了彎道口之后才開始打方向盤，而是在你預計即將進入彎道的時候，就開始慢慢的將你的車引入正確的方向。當你在紙上畫草圖的時候，多想想你是怎樣開車的。
（下面有圖片。）

圖片上的文字：
標題：動態的曲線
左：怎樣才能最快的駛過這條彎道？
右1：幾何曲線
右2：自然曲線
右下：平滑的開始轉向，更自然，更快速！

(4)書法原型

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Calligraphic origin. The characters on the top line have a different construction than the characters on the bottom line. They have a different calligraphic origin. It doesn't matter if a typeface has serifs (like Times New Roman) or not (like Arial). It's about the original way they where constructed.

圖中上下兩行字母有著不同的結構，它們來源于不同的書法原型。不管這種字體是襯線字體（如Times New Roman）還是無襯線字體（如Arial），它們的架構都源于它們的書法原型。

The characters in the top line are constructed with a pointed pen (calligraphic tool). The contrast is caused by changing the pressure on the pen, not because of the form of the pen. Bodoni is one example of this, but also sans serif faces like Helvetica have this origin. The thickest part will be (mostly) totally vertical. From this perspective there is no difference between Bodoni and Helvetica. They both have the same construction. Only the contrast varies.

上面一行的字體的書法原型是一種尖頭的書法鋼筆。其筆畫的粗細對比是通過改變筆壓來實現的，而與筆尖本身的形狀無關。Bodoni字體就是一個例子，但是象Helvetica這樣的無襯線體也是來源于此。筆畫最粗的部分幾乎都是垂直的。從這個角度來看， Bodoni和Helvetica是同出一轍的。它們的架構是一致的，只是筆畫的粗細對比有區別。

The characters in the bottom line have a origin which is derived from the broad nip. The calligraphic pen itself has a thick and a thin part. The contrast in the type is made because of the form of the pen, not because of the pressure. You slant the pen with an angle of 30 degrees on the paper. In that way your thickest part of a character will not be on a vertical direction, but will be on an angle. Also the thinnest part will not be on the most horizontal parts. Typefaces like Garamond and Minion have this kind of construction. But also sans serif faces like Gill Sans have a construction which is originally derived from the broad nip.

下面一行字體來源于一種筆尖扁平的鋼筆。這種書法鋼筆正面寬而側面窄。字體的筆畫粗細是由于鋼筆本身形狀的差異造成的，而不是筆壓。你書寫的時候筆身是傾斜的，和紙張形成30度的傾角。因此筆畫最粗的部分就不是垂直方向的，而是有一定角度的傾斜。同樣的，筆畫最細的部分也不是位于水平方向上。Garamond 和 Minion 字體就是這種結構。但象Gill Sans 這樣的無襯線字體也同樣是起源于這種筆尖扁平的鋼筆。