Origin and Development of Letters

ORIGIN AND
DEVELOPMENT
OF LETTERS
IMPORTANCE OF LETTERS
 They add other information which regular
orthographic or pictorial drawing cannot
show.
 They make up the written language
industry.
 They record ideas.
 They help transmit ideas.
 They facilitate communication.
Writing gave to man a means of accurate
communication over long distances & a
method for storing the accumulated
experiences & knowledge of the race. It’s
importance as a step in the development of
mankind cannot be overestimated.
Lettering as a means of
recording thought can be
traced back to prehistoric
times. Early man used a
very crude form of picture
or symbol writing.
Hieroglyphics
Calligraphy
The Egyptians developed picture
writing known as HIEROGLYPHICS
which composed of three kinds.
pictures to represent objects

 symbols to represent ideas
 symbol to represent sounds
At about 5000 BC, when it was
discovered that certain pictures could
represent particular sounds, hieroglyphics
and symbols were combined to represent
these sounds.
From this step the Phoenicians are

supposed to have developed a fixed
symbol for each sound.
The Greek changed the position & forms
of the symbols to serve their own needs.
Still later, the Romans developed the Greek
symbols into an alphabet of their own.
Our present alphabet is taken almost

direct from that of the Romans. A few of
our letters, U, V, Y W were developed as
late as the 17th century. The other letters
have developed over a period of 1000
years.
STYLES OF LETTERS
1.GOTHIC LETTERS
All letters composed of
uniform width elements. This
type of letter can be made
with speed ball pen style A or
B.
2. ROMAN LETTERS
All letters having strokes

“accented” or made up of
thick and thin elements. They
are made with C and D
speedballs pens. The two
kinds of Roman Letters are
Old Roman and Modern
Roman (map titles).
EFFECTIVE MODERN ROMAN
3. TEXT LETTERS
This includes all styles of
Old English text, Block
text, Church text, German
text, etc. Elements of text
letters are made up of style
C and D
speedball pens.
4. ITALIC LETTERS
All slanting letters
are classified as Italics.
They are known as Roman
Italic or Gothic Italic. These
letters are made with style D
or C speedball pens.
Italic lower case letters
STYLE OF SPEEDBALL PENS
 STYLE A – has square point and used for
Gothic style of letters. Good for gothic style of
letters.
 STYLE B – has round point, good for round

gothic letters
 STYLE C – has a wedge point. Good for Roman

and Italic alphabets with thick and thin
elements.
 STYLE D – has an oval marking tip used for

bold poster, good for Roman letters with thick
and thin elements.
GENERAL DIVISIONS
OF LETTERS
1. SINGLE STROKE LETTERS
 all letters done with one stroke of the
pen or pencil
 this means that each stem of a letter
is made with one stroke and the same
with as the stroke of the pencil or pen.
 made with style A and B speedball pen
 universally used for technical drawing
2. OUTLINE OR BUILT-UP LETTERS
 the outline of the letters is

drawn first before filling it
solidly
 There is no definite
standard for the proportion
of the letters.
 There is a definite
relationship of the width to
the height for specific letters
of the alphabet.
PROPORTION OF LETTERS
1. NORMAL LETTERS
 These letters are used when the

space for lettering is adequate.
 They are too narrow nor too wide and

have the same height.
2. EXTENDED LETTERS
are wider than the
normal letters and are
used when the space
to be used is wider
than normal.
3. COMPRESSED LETTERS
Letters that are narrower

than normal letters with
regard to the
proportions of width to
height. It is used when
space is limited.
Good lettering is characterized by uniformity
in spacing, height, inclination & strength of line.
SPACING AND COMPOSITION OF LETTERS
COMPOSITION in lettering refers to the
proper selection, arrangement and spacing of
appropriate style and sizes of letter.
Space between letters:

 the good space between letters combined
into words should be arranged so that the
areas are made to optically more or less
equal.
 for standard lettering, this area is about
equal to ½ the area of letter M.
2. Space between words should be equal to or
greater but not more than twice the height of a
letter.
3. Space between distances should be

somewhat greater than but not more than
twice the height of a letter.
4. Distance between lines of lettering the

distance between lines of lettering may vary
from1/2 to 1 and ½ times the height of the
capitals.
GUIDELINES IN LETTERING (Horizontal Guidelines)
 cap line - uppermost horizontal guideline drawn
for uppercase letters and stroke of letters that
extends up
 waist line - a horizontal guideline drawn

between the cap and base lines used to
determine the general height of lower case
letters.
 base line - where all the letters rest or stand.
 drop line - drawn for letters with strokes that

extends down known as descender.

Origin and Development of Letters

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Origin and Development of Letters

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ORIGIN AND

pictures to represent objects

From this step the Phoenicians are

Our present alphabet is taken almost

All letters having strokes

 STYLE B – has round point, good for round

 STYLE C – has a wedge point. Good for Roman

 STYLE D – has an oval marking tip used for

 the outline of the letters is

 These letters are used when the

 They are too narrow nor too wide and

Letters that are narrower

Space between letters:

3. Space between distances should be

4. Distance between lines of lettering the

 waist line - a horizontal guideline drawn

 base line - where all the letters rest or stand.

 drop line - drawn for letters with strokes that

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