Overview: During the Typography activity, we worked hands-on with traditional letterpress blocks to learn how type is physically arranged and printed. My group and I experimented with organizing metal letter blocks, aligning them in reverse, and stamping them to create clean impressions. This process helped me understand how typography works on a technical level, especially how spacing, orientation, and design all affect the final printed result. Seeing how type was manually created before digital tools existed gave me a much deeper appreciation for fonts, layout, and visual communication.
Technical Concepts:
- What typography is
- How manual type blocks work
- How spacing, alignment, and type choices affect visual communication
Brief Reflection: Working hands-on with the type blocks helped me finally understand typography in a concrete way. I realized how often I engage with design choices every day without naming them. Seeing how reversed letters stamp correctly made the process “click,” and the activity strengthened my attention to detail as a visual learner.