This sounds like a super interesting project!

I used to be a graphic designer, and I was alway surprised by the lack of comprehensive authoritative resources for this kind of information. If I had the time... I would love to be involved in creating some authoritative resources for describing typography and related graphic design elements!

Here are some websites that define some of the main classification types and offer some history:

https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-1/type-anatomy/type-classifications

http://www.designishistory.com/1450/type-classification/

This is a website some former colleagues of mine created. It doesn't appear to be a very active anymore, but here is some good information:

http://typedia.com/learn/only/typeface-classifications/

But, this may not be very helpful for what they are looking for???

On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 6:46 PM Sherman Clarke <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I'm definitely no expert on typographical metadata but the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of ACRL, an ALA division, has several controlled vocabularies including Type Terms:
http://rbms.info/vocabularies/type/alphabetical_list.htm

Sherman Clarke
Alfred, NY

On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 7:31 PM Hussain, Janice <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Dear ARLIS,

I have a request from a researcher working on archiving material related to Nevada's neon signs. They are looking for Typography metadata standards or classification systems. Would anyone have any advice/leads?

More about the project
Northern Nevada Neon is an archiving and design history project to preserve, document, and showcase the unique neon type collection contained within the neon signs in the northern region of the state of Nevada. These signs collectively represent an American Western modernist type tradition that combines aesthetics and heritage from the mythology of the American West with modernist type traditions from Europe that filtered into the area from New York and Los Angeles in the early twentieth century.

Many thanks and be well,

Janice Hussain, Digital Imaging Specialist

[log in to unmask]

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

2 East 91st Street

New York, NY 10128

cooperhewitt.org | See what’s on view

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