Typography - Task 2: Typographic Exploration and Communication

on

28.10.24 - 11.11.24 (Week 5-Week 7)

Celine Christabelle Patricia / 0374872 

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

Task 2: Typographic Exploration and Communication

Table Contents

  1. Lectures
  2. Instructions
  3. Feedback
  4. Reflection
  5. Further reading

Lectures

Lecture 6: Typo_5_Understanding

Describing Letterforms 
Fig. 6.1 - Letterforms in symmetry
Fig 6.2 - Letterforms larger than baseline/median

Counterforms
Fig 6.3 - Counterforms

Counterforms are the spaces outside the letter. To know it, we must examine every detail of the letter. We must know enough of that specific letter. Designers are against in adding letter space because it affects the readability.

Contrast
Fig 6.4 - Contrast
Contrast is one of the most important element in design. When dealing with a lot of different informations, contrast is used to make it easier to differentiate them. 

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Class sessions

Week 6

Mr Vinod gave feedbacks to our type formatting and helped us to pick which design is the best from the options we gave. He gave us time during class to fix it after the feedback session. He also told us about the new task to bring a graph paper. 

Mr Vinod also explains why margins are important. In magazine, every 60 pages its called a signature, can be folded, the trimming machine isn’t always accurate, if the text is in the edge of the margin, it would get cut. 

Week 7

Mr Vinod gave more feedbacks for this task to finalize this task 2. He checked every students' work thoroughly and taught some of us how to use some of the indesign tools, and assisted us on making a better layout. Afterwards, he continued explaining of how to make e-portfolio properly. 

He then continued explaining how to make the next task, Task 3. 

Instructions


<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nxXZQcNdtArHGg0BM1CV-CKoQQfYUgA3/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

Tasks

Week 5

Excercise: Type Formatting

Sketch 

Students were given an assignment to a type formatting as instructed in teams. We were given a text with Headline, Sub-headline, and body text. Our task is to format them. First, I chose the text Unite to visualize a better world.  I wanted to highlight the word "UNITE" in the headline. 

Fig 1.1 - about UNITE

Afterwards, I spend my time sketching to explore the possibilities of designs I could make that would look eye pleasing. Below are the results: 

Fig 1.2 - Sketch

Digitalize

After sketching, I used Adobe Illustrator to make the Headline, and use Indesign to make the entire thing from the tutorial Mr. Vinod gave. However, I did not fully follow the sketches I made because some turned out awkward. 


Below are the attempts:

Fig 1.3 - Type Format attempt JPG



Fig 1.4 - Type Format attempt and grid PDF

Week 6

After receiving feedbacks, the first design looks like swallowing instead of the word UNITE, the second one was suggested to make the word UNITE more aligned, the third one is good and is suggested to go with that one. 

At the end, I go with the THIRD DESIGN (first design in JPG above):

Below are the Formats used: 

HEAD LINE
  • Typeface: Futura Std
  • Font/s: Futura Std Light Condensed
  • Type Size/s: 386, 552 pt
  • Leading: 0 pt
  • Paragraph spacing: 0

SUB-HEAD LINE
  • Typeface: ITC New Baskerville Std 
  • Font/s: ITC New Baskerville Italic Std 
  • Type Size/s: 18pt
  • Leading: 27 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: 37- 44 characters
  • Alignment: left alignment
PAGE FORMAT
  • Margins: 12.7mm top, 26 mm bottom, 16mm right+left
  • Columns: 3
  • Gutter: 5 mm
FINAL DESIGN ATTEMPT 1:

Fig 1.5 - Type Format JPG 
Fig 1.6 - Type Format GRID JPG 

Week 7

After receiving feedbacks, I had to fix some of the formatting because some looks off. The line under for the empty space is too thick, the headline words are not in the same point. 

FINAL DESIGN:

Fig 1.7- Type Format FINAL JPG (11/11/24) 

Fig 1.8- Type Format FINAL grid JPG (11/11/24) 

Mr Vinod suggested to make the rest of the words in the headline in the same point size "to visualize, a better, world". Moreover, the line underneath would be better with a 0.5 point size, align with the sub-headline. 
Fig 1.9- Type Format FINAL PDF (11/11/24) 

HEAD LINE
  • Typeface: Futura Std
  • Font/s: Futura Std Light Condensed
  • Type Size/s: 386, 552 pt
  • Leading: 0 pt
  • Paragraph spacing: 0

SUB-HEAD LINE
  • Typeface: ITC New Baskerville Std 
  • Font/s: ITC New Baskerville Italic Std 
  • Type Size/s: 18pt
  • Leading: 27 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: 37- 44 characters
  • Alignment: left alignment
PAGE FORMAT
  • Margins: 12.7mm top, 26 mm bottom, 16mm right+left
  • Columns: 3
  • Gutter: 5 mm

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Feedback

Week 6

General Feedback: maintain the length and characters per line. Rivers may happen in justified text, it breaks reading rhythm, do not distort typefaces, also never have a text in the gutter, especially small text, though headline is still acceptable to be in the middle. 

Specific Feedback: the first design looks like swallowing instead of unite, the second one was suggested to make the word unite more align, the third one is good, Mr. Vinod suggested to use that. After printing, there were more mistakes visible, the headline position and the line under is not aligned with the other column. 

Week 7

General Feedback: the designs were re-checked by Mr. Vinod. Afterwards, we were explained about how to make the next task, Task 3, to write down words on a graph paper.

Specific Feedback: make the rest of the headline words the same point size, the line underneath make it less thick with 0.5 point size, align with the sub-headline. Always document your progress, submit everything, the documentation must be in portfolio.

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Reflection

Experience

I experienced using the printer to print an A3 paper, it was pretty interesting to see my design getting print. I learnt from that layout, mistakes are more visible. Although this task seemed really simple, but it was challenging to create a layout that is simple yet eye-pleasing. I did more research in this task compared to the previous one. The result is i did less trial and errors because I know the basic concept I am going to for this task.

When making this layout, I used Adobe Illustrator for the headline, and Indesign for the overall layout. I learnt that both applications can be linked, so I can make a creative headline without reimporting the picture over and over again. It was an interesting experience to me as I gain more knowledge when doing this task. 

Observations

After some observations, the first two designs I made were quite decent, thought it doesn't represent the word unite very well. Sometimes, we tend to think too much when things can go way more simpler, especially in this task. Some of my friends works that we showed by Mr.Vinod were simple but they looked very classy and professional. Some others were too focused on the headline that they forgot to format the body text properly.

Findings

I feel this task is very crucial for designers to make a nice layout for readers. How will the outcome be, how big the size of the body text, the impact of the headline towards the text, and many more. 

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Further Reading

Typographic Design Form Communication - Rob Carter

What I read (Legibility)

I decided to find another book to read and this catches my eye. I read about legibility of letterforms. It is often neglected by designers, however legibility plays a big role of a readability of a letterform. It needs constant evaluation and also contrast, simple, and proportional. 

To understand legibility, we need to understand the characteristics of each letterforms, the combinations of vertical, curved, and horizontal strokes, as well as their weights. Some words that has quite similar style would be likely misread by readers, designers should be aware of that. 

Typographic Design Form Communication - Page 52

According to this page, these aspect are important for word recognition. Lowercase letters are tend to be more distinct in shapes over uppercase letters. Moreover, letters can be used in a lot of combinations, so they must form in a familiar and distinct way, having it the same meaning as how it is shown. Lastly, spacing also plays an important role in readability because it gives consistency to each of the character elements. 
Typographic Design Form Communication - Page 67
Space is a common denominator in typographic communication. There are division that creates element shifts based on its weight or position. Space gives motion to our design so it will look more aesthetically pleasing. To make it easier how to distribute letterforms and space, it is best to make them as a shape. This will help us to see the motion of the layout.

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