The main purpose of this work is to reasonably answer the main question which is whether the golden ratio is actually present in the typography or not. The work deals with an interesting challenge because, mathematically speaking, the golden ratio is actually the most comfortable ratio of two volumes. It was already known by old civilizations and that is why it was present in various works of art throughout the history. In fact, the man imitated nature based on a golden cut. In nature, there are countless complete mathematical relations in the golden ratio. At the same time, the ratio of the golden ratio is the most pleasant composition for human eyes. Therefore, we were interested in whether the golden cut is present in typefaces we use on computer-based applications. From the golden ratio’s point of view, there are 20 examples with 26 capitals and 26 lower-case of the English alphabet, which is a random sample of the population of typefaces for statistical analysis. All the measurements of all the letters from our sample were done by computer processing. The height and the width of the letters from various letter bands, as well as individual boldings, were measured. All the data for different sections, which may be typical for representation of the golden ratio, were calculated. We found out that the golden ratio is still present in typography. However, it is not typical for newer typefaces. The golden ratio was found in some typefaces because of the fact that these typefaces are based on earlier alphabetical types. In the Garamond typeface, the alphabetic ratio is only 1.7 % different from the golden ratio. This particular typeface is very old. However, it is well known that in past typeface artists were often inspired by the golden ratio. Newer typefaces were also studied and we realized that the golden ratio is not typical there. Especially, it is not typical for specific boldings, which add to the typeface’s beauty and its harmony. Based on statistical analysis, we reject the hypothesis that the golden ratio is present in modern typefaces which are now used in computer-based applications. It was found out that the serif typefaces from our sample are more close to the golden ratio than the linear typefaces. An analysis of four different cross-sections of letters and a comparison of the measurable value ratio in the letters of the English alphabet capitals and lower-case showed that the sample typefaces are more typical for the golden ratio in comparison to height and width ratios. The letters that deviate from the golden ratio by a maximum of 1 % were also found. At the end of our analysis, we found out that the golden ratio is unfortunately not used in modern typography. Therefore, for the purpose of this experiment, we created our own typeface in a golden ratio, which can also be used practically.
|