Typography / Task 1

23.09.2024 - 28.10.24 (Week 1-5)

Celine Christabelle Patricia / 0374872

Typography / Bachelors of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / The Design School

Task 1 - Exercise

Table Contents

Lectures

Instructions

Lectures

Lecture 1: Typo_0_Introduction

What is Typography

It is the act of creating letters or creation of typefaces which can be found in animation, website, apps, signage, logo, and many more. It should be legible, readable, and appealing.

Calligraphy : writing letters

Lettering : drawing the letters

Font : Individual font or weight within typefaces
Georgia Bold, Georgia Italic

Typefaces : The entire family of fonts/weights
Georgia, Arial, Helvetica

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Lecture 2: Typo_1_Development

Early Development : Phoenician to Roman

Writing was formed by scratching wet clay with sharpened stick or carving stone with chisel.

Uppercases were written with combinations of straight lines and circles. Uppercases evolved from Phoenician to Greek to Roman in about 900 years.

Fig 2.1 - Uppercase letters

The Greek then changed the writing direction which is called as Boustrophedon. Texts are read from left to right then right to left alternately. Letter forms change as the reading direction change.

Fig 2.2 - Boustrophedon

Hand script from 3rd - 10th Century C.E.

Fig 2.3 - Handscripts

Text Type Development

Fig 2.4 - Text Development

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Lecture 3: Typo_3_P1

Introduction to In Design

It is a nice software for text based projects, like leaflets or books.

Spacing

Kerning : automatic adjustment between two letters

Letter spacing : spacing between text line, the overall spacing of letter

Tracking : the spacing between letters even sentences, must be at least 5 points

Formatting

Flush Left : left alignment, ragged right, most readable

Centered : ragged right and left, only for small amount of text, less readable

Flush Right : right alignment, ragged left, only for small amount of text, less readable

Justified : equally right and left, the extra gaps between words makes it less readable

Text/Texture

Fig 3.1 - Text requirements

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Lecture 4: Typo_4_P2

Indicating Paragraphs

Pilcrow (¶) : to indicate a start of a new paragraph within a block of text.

Cross alignment : 2 columns of text next to each other where text is align to one another

Text and Spacing : Text size < Leading size; Leading size = Paragraph Space

Indent : replacement of paragraph space; used in justified

Line space VS Leading

Fig 4.1 - Line space and Leading

Line space : from the descender of one line to another descender

Leading : make sure descender of a line doesn't touch the another ascender (inter-linespace)

Fig 4.2 - Widow and Orphan

Highlighting Text

Fig 4.3 - Highlighting text

Headings

Fig 4.4 - Headings

Cross alignment

Cross aligning headlines and captions with text type reinforces the architectural sense of the page while articulating the complementary vertical rhythms. Columns are aligned to each other.

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Lecture 5: Typo_2_Basic

Describing Letterforms

Fig 5.1- Letterforms PDF

The font

Uppercase/Lowercase

Small capitals : smaller X height, found in serif fonts

Uppercase Numerals : lining figures, same height as uppercase letters

Lowercase Numerals : set to x-height with ascenders and descenders, less common in sans serif

Italic : text slightly lean to the side

Fig 5.2 - The fonts

Describing Typefaces

Roman : uppercase forms are derived, slightly lighter stroke is called "book"

Italic : Italian handwriting

Oblique : based on roman form typeface

Boldface : thicker stroke than roman form

Light : lighter stroke than the roman form "thin"

Condense : a version of Roman form, extreme condensed known as "compressed"

Extended : extended version of roman font

Fig 5.3 - describing typefaces

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Class sessions

Week 1

We were taught how to make an e-portfolio with a blog, introduction to the module, and students were given 6 words to compose and express.

Week 2

We made sketches and were given feedbacks by our lecturer, Mr. Vinod. Students were engaged to put the sketches that are decent into Adobe Illustrator for the next project.

Week 3

We finalize our sketches in Adobe Illustrator and ask final feedback to Mr. Vinod. After that, we were given a video tutorial about how to make a GIF with one of our sketches using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

Week 4

We were given feedbacks by Mr.Vinod about our Gifs and final result of the sketch. Then we proceed to our second exercise about formatting texts. We were explained briefly about formatting elements like headings and subheads, and many more. Most of the explanations in class were explained in the Lecture before.

Week 5

Mr Vinod gave feedbacks on our exercise 2, which was Text Formatting. He engaged students to print the layout to see the formatted text. He also explained about our new task which is Task 2.

Instructions

Module

Projects

Week 1

Excercise 1: Type Expression

Sketch

Students were given an assignment to make sketches from 4 out of 6 words given: Pull, Rush, Chop, Tangled, Explode, Wind.

It is crucial to:

1. Understand the definitions of the words (To illustrate the words as its definition)

2. Observe the 10 typefaces given by the lecturer. (By understanding the weights of each typefaces)

3. Do look for some inspirations, ironically, i got my inspirations by walking around the campus and shopping mall.

Therefore, these are the sketches:

Fig 2.1 - Sketches of the 4 words

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Week 2

Digitalize

After receiving some feedback in the class, students are require to finalize these in Adobe Illustrator with the template given.

It is crucial to:

1. Make sure the words are within the boxes

2. Use the proper typefaces given by the lecturer

3. To insert the typefaces used under the box.

Below are the results:

Fig 2.2 - Sketches made in Illustrator PDF

FINAL DESIGN:

Fig 2.3 - Final Sketch in Illustrator JPEG (7/09/24)

Following from the feedback session, from the previous design, the letter C in chop seems like biting instead of chopping, so I changed it into 2 of the letter forms getting chopped.

The word Tangle must be closer to the baseline, Explode must be expressed strong, don't put extra story in a word. Keep every word designs concise.

Fig 2.4 - Final Sketch in Illustrator PDF (7/09/24)

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Week 3

Animate

We were given a Video Tutorial from Mr. Vinod of how to make a GIF using Illustrator and Photoshop. I decided to choose the word WIND to animate into a gif.

I made the Art boards in Illustrator before putting it into Photoshop. In total I made 11 artboards. It may seem simple, but I love how I made the windmill letter I, blowing other letters. It seems to be a fun gif.

Fig 3.1 - Art board (14/09/24)

Result:

Fig 3.2 - Result (14/09/24)

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Week 4

Exercise 2: Text Formatting

Lecture 1: Kerning and Tracking

Fig 4.1 - Kerning and Tracking

Lecture 2: Leading and Paragraph Spacing

Fig 4.2 - Leading and Paragraph Spacing

Lecture 3: Alignment, Paragraph Spacing, Text Fields & Ragging

Fig 4.3 - Alignment, Paragraph spacing, Text fields, Ragging

Lecture 4: Cross Alignment & Baseline Grid

Fig 4.4 - Cross alignment and baseline grid

Excercise : Text Formatting

We were asked to format the given document, below are the attempts:

Fig 4.5- Text Formatting attempt JPG (21/09/24)

Fig 4.6 - Text Formatting PDF (21/09/24)

After some feedbacks from Mr.Vinod, the headline must be less large since it's in an A4 paper, the top margin is too large as well, and the kerning and leading is not large enough. Moreover, putting text image is not recommended since it will disrupt the headline. I realized that I misunderstood the instructions in Teams, so I made another one according to my notes from the video.

Below are the final results after some adjustments:

Fig 4.7 - Text Formatting Final JPG (22/09/24)

HEAD LINE

Typeface: Bembo Std
Font/s: Bembo Std Extra Bold
Type Size/s: 30 pt
Leading: 36 pt
Paragraph spacing: 0

BODY

Typeface: Bembo Std
Font/s: Bembo Std
Type Size/s: 9 pt
Leading: 12 pt
Paragraph spacing: 12 pt
Characters per-line: 50-60 characters
Alignment: left alignment

PAGE FORMAT

Margins: 36mm top + bottom, 25mm right+left
Columns: 2
Gutter: 5 mm

I decrease the size of the top margin, and find another image that isn't text based. I chose that picture since Helvetica was developed in Switzerland. I adjusted the grid lines as well so it matches the leading and paragraph spacing I am using. Moreover, I fixed the kerning, tracking and leading so that it looks more aesthetically pleasing, not too ragged.

Fig 4.8 - Text Formatting Final PDF (22/09/24)

Feedback

Week 1

General Feedback: Able to understand the steps to make a blog and brief information about typography

Week 2

General Feedback: Understanding font weights is essential for effective design. Avoid adding excessive graphic elements and keep your concept concise.

Specific Feedback: The letter 'i' in the word 'wind' has already been modified with an asterisk. Do not add excessive alterations to other letters. Additionally, ensure that the blog title accurately reflects its content and that the content itself is well-developed and engaging.

Week 3

General Feedback: Don't have too much relationship with own design, design must be objective.

Specific Feedback: From the previous design, the letter C in chop seems like biting instead of chopping, the word Tangle must be closer to the baseline, Explode must be strong, don't put extra story in a word.

Week 4

General Feedback: Add pauses to your animation so the effect is visible and must make sense with its definition.

Specific Feedback: the gif animation of the word wind is already good, but for the final result of the type expressions, Explode needs to be thicker and condensed so it has more impact.

Week 5

General Feedback: Paragraph spacing must not be too wide, never trust the screen, to make sure the layout, print it to see the real size in real life.

Specific Feedback: Consider the size of the document, the bigger the headline, more noise, somewhat less readability, since it is in an A4 paper, make it smaller. Adjust kerning and line space. Don’t use text as an image.

Reflections

Experience

At first, I thought typography was simply different ways of how to style a word or letter. As I learn, I understand that typography turned out has evolved from time to time. It was quite challenging to receive feedbacks from Mr. Vinod, though I do realize that those feedback were needed to improve my skills and mentality.

Observations

As I learn typography in Mr Vinod's class, I just know that simplicity is needed in typography, which means it should be readable, concise, and lack of graphical elements. It is interesting to make use of different typefaces and fonts to make a word to express themselves. With typography, people can understand the meaning in a word even if they don't know the definition of it.

Findings

One of the most interesting findings I had was the importance of context in typography. I learned that different typefaces can convey different moods or messages. For example, a playful font might be appropriate for a children's book, while a more formal font might be better suited for a corporate brochure. Additionally, the amount of negative space around typography can also impact its overall impact and readability. Too much or too little space can make the text difficult to read or appear cluttered.