Taxonomy of contemporary drop caps

Abstract

Drop caps are a widely used as graphics feature for enhancement of chapter and paragraph apertures in various publications, giving them personality and visual strength. Although the contemporary drop caps do not possess the artistic character of the medieval or Renaissance drop caps, they nevertheless present a great diversity, exploring more than the visual aspect of the letter itself but also features such as scale, contrast, textures, typography and position relative to the text, confirming its importance in the contemporary graphic design. This article analyzes the occurrence of drop caps in the collection of printed journals of the discipline Visual Design III, of Design Course of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in Porto Alegre, Brazil. For the purposes of the research, categories of drop caps organization were established in relation to the text that follows, allowing the establishment of a taxonomy for contemporary drop caps, highlighting their variations and possibilities of use. The article seeks to fill a gap in the analysis of a graphic / visual resource with great potential.