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Arts & Communication Contemporary Greek typeface design

To achieve this, interviews were conducted with 12 Greek families are notably extensive, offering several weights
typeface designers between December 2020 and May and widths. Further, type systems comprise collections
2021, delving into their perspectives, methodologies, and of interconnected type families that transcend traditional
challenges in designing Greek typefaces. These interviews type classifications.
covered a range of topics, including design preferences, the A font is a collection of letters, numbers, punctuation
influence of technology, entrepreneurship, and emerging marks, and other symbols used for composing text or
trends in typography. The goal is to contribute to a nuanced related content. Although font and typeface are frequently
understanding of Greek typeface design and its relevance used interchangeably, font pertains to the tangible
in modern design discussions. representation, be it a set of metal pieces or a digital file,
This research is guided by several key questions: How whereas typeface refers to the design, encompassing its
do contemporary Greek typeface designers perceive and visual appearance.
navigate the intersection of tradition and innovation in Readability describes how comfortable it is for a person
Greek typeface design? What are their methodologies, to engage with text created with a legible type. Three factors
challenges, and influences? What are the implications determine readability: the person’s unique attributes (visual
of these for the evolving landscape of typography? In acuity, disabilities, and other health factors), what the text
addition, what insights can be gleaned from in-depth itself says, and the typography – both the choice of typeface
interviews with 12 prominent Greek typeface designers and how it is used. Readability should not be mistaken for
regarding their perspectives on typeface design, Greek legibility, although the latter does affect readability.
script, entrepreneurship, new technologies, and modern
trends? A type foundry, an organization that publishes typefaces
and releases fonts, is almost always formed by a type
This study begins by introducing key concepts and designer – and it is common for a type foundry to be the
reviewing studies on Greek typeface design. It then work of a single type designer.
details the research methodology, including participant
selection and their contributions. The discussion and A type designer or typeface designer is an individual who
conclusion sections not only provide valuable insights creates typefaces. It is important to distinguish this role
but also acknowledge limitations, such as the reliance on from that of a typographer, who uses typefaces in design.
self-reported data and the potentially limited sample size, Type refers to the mechanized and consistent
which could affect the generalizability of the findings. reproduction of letterforms for written language.
Finally, the paper concludes with suggestions for future
research, aiming to further enrich the understanding and A typeface, an artistic representation or design of a
appreciation of Greek typeface design. collection of alphanumeric symbols that encompass a
typeface, typically comprises letters, numbers, punctuation
2. Key concepts marks, and various symbols, catering to multiple languages.
Although initially referring to a single style of type design,
The fundamental key concepts necessary for a thorough the term “typeface” has evolved to also denote a type
understanding of the subsequent chapters (in alphabetical family, typically including regular, italic, bold, and bold
order) are shown through the Monotype dictionary and italic styles.
1
Google Glossary, found in the Knowledge section of
2
Google Fonts. Typography is the practice of making informed
decisions regarding typesetting.
An alphabet is a writing system in which the elemental
speech sounds of a language (phonemes) are represented Finally, variable fonts or OpenType Font Variations
by a set of graphical units, an individual member of which is a font format introduced in 2016. Variable fonts offer
is called a letter. multiple stylistic variations within a single file, challenging
the rigid boundaries of traditional (static) fonts. Designers
A character refers to any letter, numeral, punctuation can manipulate weight, width, style, optical size, and more,
mark, or other symbol within a font. Notably, certain either manually or based on contextual rules. Variable fonts
characters may have multiple representations known as are flexible to use for creators and designers, presenting
glyphs. font data in a streamlined format.

A family refers to a collection of associated typefaces
sharing similar design characteristics and a common 3. Literature review
name. Each type style represents a specific variant of this Designing a Greek typeface presents unique challenges that
unified design and corresponds to a font or typeface. Super set it apart from crafting a Latin typeface. With its distinctive

Volume 3 Issue 1 (2025) 2 doi: 10.36922/ac.3133