Type style
Gutenberg shaped his letters in so-called Gothic style, to look like the ornate pen-writing of the day.

Writing implement
The Mesopotamians cut reed-tips to a triangular shape for making wedge-shaped symbols. The unshaped ends were used for round symbols.

Top to bottom
Chinese writing runs in columns that are read from top to bottom and right to left across the page.

Illuminated letter
When medieval monks copied books by hand, they decorated the pages with beautiful letters and patterns.