Type is power.

文字是一種力量

The power to express words and ideas visually.

讓你能用視覺化的方式，表達字句和想法

It's timeless, but always changing.

它是永恆的 ，但永遠在改變

And that's what we're going to explore.

這就是我們今天要深入了解的主題

Most people agree that the creator of typography was a German man named Johannes Gutenberg.

大部分的人都同意，印刷術是德國人古騰堡發明的

and yes he wore a hat like that.

呃..沒錯，他真的戴一頂這樣的帽子

Before Gutenburg came along and revolutionized the world of communication, books needed to be scribed by hand

在古騰堡出現並改革訊息傳播方式前，書本必須手抄

usually by months which was very time consuming and expensive.

常常需耗費好幾個月，昂貴又耗時

So Gutenburg created Blackletter, the first-ever typeface

因此古騰堡發明了第一個字體：黑體字

modeled after the writings of scribes

仿造抄寫員的筆跡

Blackletter has thick vertical lines and thin horizontal connectors

黑體字有粗粗的垂直線，和細細的水平線

which made it great for scribing but it looked very dense and squished together when printed.

對抄寫來說是完美字體，但拿來印刷就顯得過度密集、壅擠

Something needed to change.

需要做出改變

Enter Roman type

進入「羅馬字體」

This particular typeface is Cambria which you're probably used to seeing on your word processor.

這個字體就是「Cambria」，你或許很常在文字處理器上看到

But the first-ever Roman typeface was created in the 15th century by the French man Nicolas Jenson.

但第一個羅馬字體是在15世紀由法國人尼可拉斯 強森發明

This is his typeface right here.

這就是他的字體

Jenson worked mainly in Venice, Italy, and was inspired by the lettering found on ancient Roman buildings.

強森大部分時間都在義大利的威尼斯工作，看到古羅馬建築上的刻文而受到啟發

His letter forms were based on straight lines and regular curves.

他的字體基本上由直線和規律的曲線組成

This made them very clear and legible compared to the dense darkness of Blackletter.

這讓羅馬字體非常清楚、易讀，不像黑體字總是一團黑

This legible new typeface was an instant success

易讀的羅馬字體馬上造成轟動

and quickly spread across Europe, riding on the coattail of the Renaissance.

搭著文藝復興的便車，橫掃全歐洲

The next major innovation in typography after Roman letters was italics, which are like slanted and stylized versions of Roman type.

在羅馬字體後的下一個重大發明是「斜體字」，它們就像是傾斜版本、格式化的羅馬字體

They were created in the late 15th century by Aldus Manutius from Italy as a way of fitting more letters onto the page and saving money.

斜體字是在15世紀晚期由義大利人阿爾杜斯·馬努提烏斯發明，目的是在有限頁數內擠進更多字來省錢

Now we use Italics interspersed in Roman type for emphasis.

現在，我們在羅馬字體中混入斜體字，表示強調

Aldus Manutius also created the modern comma and semi comma.

阿爾杜斯也發明了現在的逗號和分號

but that's another story.

不過那又是另外一個故事了

Type development stayed fairly stagnant until the 18th century

字體的發展停滯了一段時間，直到18世紀

in England when William Caslon created a typeface that set a new standard for legibility.

英國人威廉 卡司隆發明了一種新字體，為字體的易讀性設下新標準

Well it wasn't anything radical. It was just what the world was looking for.

他並沒做出什麼驚天動地的發明，不過正好符合當時人們的需求

The style of Caslon's typeface is now referred to as old style.

我們現在稱卡司隆字體的風格為「舊風格體」

A few decades later, another Brit named John Baskerville created a new variety of typeface which we call Transitional.

幾十年之後，另一個英國人約翰 巴斯克維爾發明了新的字體，叫做：「過渡時期體」

Later still, a French man named Didot and an Italian named Bodoni created typefaces that we've classified as Modern.

之後，法國人迪多和義大利人博多尼創造的字體被分類為「現代體」

Most serif typefaces fit into one of these three categories

大部分的「襯線字體」都能被分到這三大類

but what does each category mean?

但每個類別究竟是什麼意思？

An old style typeface has letters that have fixed serifs, and low contrast between thick and thin stroke.

「舊風格體」的字有固定的襯線，筆畫的粗、細差距不大

A transitional typeface has letters with thinner serifs and a higher contrast between thick and thin strokes.

「過渡時期體」的字有較細的襯線，粗、細的對比也較明顯

And a modern typeface has letters with very thin serifs, and extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes.

最後，「現代體」的字的襯線非常細，筆畫的粗、細對比也非常明顯

Next, William Caslon's great grandson, named William Caslon the fourth, got sick of all of these serifs

接著，威廉 卡司隆的曾孫，威廉 卡司隆四世，受夠了這一推襯線

so he decided to remove them entirely, and made a new kind of typeface, called the Sans Serif.

所以他決定拿掉所有襯線，發明了一種新字體：「無襯線體」

It didn't catch on immediately, but would eventually get really big.

「無襯線體」並沒有馬上流行起來，但最終仍是一大風潮

During the second industrial revolution, advertising created a need for new typefaces.

在第二次工業革命期間，廣告業需要新的字體

Letters were made taller

字體被拉長

and wider, mainly used in large sizes on posters and billboards.

拉寬，大部分用大寫，用於海報、看板

Things got pretty weird, but one happy result of all of these experimentation is Egyptian, or slab serif.

字體變得有點詭異，但這些實驗最終有了不錯的成果：「埃及體」，或叫「方塊襯線體」

It has really thick serifs and it's usually used for titles.

這種字體的襯線很粗，通常用在標題

As a backflash to the complexity found in typefaces of the 19th century

作為對19世紀複雜字體的反撲

the early 20th century brought something simple.

20世紀早期的字體非常單純

Paul Renner from Germany created a typeface called Futura

德國人保羅 雷納發明了一種字體，叫做Futura

that was based on simple geometric shapes.

根基於簡單的幾何圖形

This is called the Geometric Sans.

這叫做「幾何形狀無襯線體」

Around the same time, a British man named Eric Gill created a typeface called Gill Sans.

在同一時間，英國人艾瑞克 蓋爾發明了 「Gill無襯線體」

that was similar to the Geometric Sans, but with gentler, more nature curves.

它和幾何形狀無襯線體很像，但曲線更溫和、自然

And this is called the Humanist Sans.

這叫做「Humanist 無襯線體」

The next major step in the world of sans serifs happened in Switzerland in 1957

無襯線體的下個大發明發生在1957年的瑞士

with the introduction of Helvetica.

「Helvetica 體」出場

It has simple curves, and it's available in many different weights.

它的曲線簡單，適用多種粗細寬度

And some would call it the world's favorite typeface.

有些人會說，這是世界上最受歡迎的字體

The world of typography changed forever with the introduction of the computer.

隨著電腦出現，字體的世界也大大改變

There were a few difficult years of cruel Pixel Type due to the primitive screen technology.

頭幾年，受限於最初的螢幕技術，「像素體」帶來不少折磨

But then, technology evolved, and the computers begin to allow for the creation of thousands of beautiful typefaces.

不過後來，隨著科技進步，電腦讓人能創造出數以千計的美麗字體

And the odd..um..done.

當然也有奇怪的..恩...我就不多說

But now anyone has the freedom to create their own unique typeface.

現在，每個人都能自由創造自己的特殊字體

And that, is the history of typography.

這就是英文字體的演變史