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Article published In:
Information Design Journal
Vol. 27:3 (2022) ► pp.278–294

A quantitative framework for analyzing distinctive features of typography

ORCID logo | University of Southern Denmark
ORCID logo | University of Southern Denmark
ORCID logo | University of Southern Denmark

The ability to quantify and compare typography has potential in many disciplines such as marketing, branding, education, and literacy studies. However, formal features of typography have been difficult to operationalize for quantitative analysis. The article proposes a quantitative, distinctive feature-based framework for describing and comparing fonts. The analyses made using the framework yield a clear and quantifiable separation of well-established typographical categories. It is also sensitive enough to pick up even small variations between fonts. The framework can aid in developing a more generally accepted typographical meta-language that allows for comparison and cross-fertilization of typographical knowledge across disciplines.

Keywords: Typography, fonts, distinctive features, multimodality, principal component analysis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background
  • 3.Procedure
    • 3.1Data collection
    • 3.2Measurements
    • 3.3Deriving values for distinctive features
      • 3.3.1Weight
      • 3.3.2Tension
      • 3.3.3Contrast
      • 3.3.4Orientation
      • 3.3.5Expansion
      • 3.3.6Slope
      • 3.3.7Connectivity
      • 3.3.8Curvature
    • 3.4Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Conclusion
  • 6.Afterword
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 9 December 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.21005.joh
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