Typography/ Task 3: Type Design and Communication
10/10/2022 - 13/11/2022 / Week 8- Week 11
Goh Jia Yih / 0342839 / Bachelor of Mass Communication(Advertising and Brand Management)
Typography/ Task (Type Design & Communication/ Task 3)
LECTURES
Link To Lectures (Week1 to Week6)
INSTRUCTIONS
Task 3
Type Design & Communication
For this task, we were given a limited number of western alphabets to design based on one of the ten typefaces provided during the task. We should carefully study the font by analysing its anatomical parts. To begin, we created a rough sketch of our ideas, which we then digitised and used to create the font. We were instructed to create a typeface with the hallmarks of a good typeface, including subtlety, character, presence, legibility, and readability. For this task, the letters to be used as characters are: a e t k g r i y m p n ! # , .
Type Design
Figure 1.0 : Glossary of Type Terms (18/10/2022)
Type Inspiration
Figure 1.1 : Type Inspiration/1 (18/10/2022)
I was strongly inspired by this decorative typeface. It has a fun and groovy personality based on the bold, distinctive letters. Also, it was oddly satisfying to look at mainly because one could follow the curved strokes which guide us throughout the type design.
Figure 1.2 : Type Inspiration/2 (18/10/2022)
Figure 1.3 : Type Inspiration/3 (18/10/2022)
Sketches
Figure 1.4 : Font Design Sketches (18/10/2022)
After conducting research on type design, I created a few sketches on Procreate. My favourites are Serif #2 and #6 because I like the ones that have decorative strokes extending from the edges, or the feet of the letters. These fonts exude a traditional and elegant vibe, and I think they're much more interesting and fun to design.
Deconstruction
Figure 1.5 : Deconstructed "d" - Bembo Std Bold Reference (19/10/2022)
Figure 1.6 : Deconstructed "p" - Bembo Std Bold Reference (19/10/2022)
Figure 1.7 : Deconstructed "i" - Bembo Std Bold Reference (19/10/2022)
By deconstructing the letters, I observed that the axis of curved strokes normally inclines to the left in these designs, so that weight stress falls at approximately eight o’clock and two o’clock. The contrast in character stroke weight is not dramatic, and hairlines tend to be on the heavy side.
Design Process
Figure 1.8: Sketches (28/10/2022)
After receiving feedback from Mr. Vinod, I continued to finish the design of the selected sketches. During the feedback session, Mr. Vinod kept reminding us to keep the consistency of our creation, especially the thickness of the strokes, so I tried to keep the consistency of the sketch letters as well.
Figure 1.9: Type design digitisation/ 01 (01/11/2022)
Before I started the construction of the characters, Starting out by finding out the baseline, x-height, ascender and descender of Futura (font closest to my design). I used the pen tool and curvature tool to create the basic form of the letter. To preserve the consistency of letterforms, I used the same angle for the remaining letters as well.
Figure 2.0: Type design digitisation/ 02 (01/11/2022)
Figure 2.1: Digitised Type Design (01/11/2022)
Following comments from Mr. Vinod during Week 10, I made a few adjustments to the coma and fullstops, which should be the same size as the exclamation point.
Figure 2.2: Design Process (04/11/2022)
Figure 2.3: Digitised Type Design- Outline (04/11/2022)
Figure 2.3: Final Digitised Type Design (04/11/2022)
Measurement (From Baseline)
Ascender Line: 550pt
Cap Line: 645pt
Median Line: 500pt
Descender Line: -194pt
After the digitisation of characters, We were instructed to 'unite' all paths into one path and import the letters into Font Lab. To begin, we went to 'Font Info' to create a new file; metrics, and dimensions, and entered the dimensions for the ascender, median, baseline, and the descender. We were instructed to calculate the measurements with the baseline.
Figure 2.4: Placing the various information needed in the Font Info tab on FontLab (05/11/2022)
Figure 2.5: Pasting the 'a' glyph drawn on Illustrator, to Font Lab. (05/11/2022)
Figure 2.6: View of all the characters placed in Font Lab (05/11/2022)
Figure 2.7: Metrics tab on Font Lab to adjust individual kerning spaces (05/11/2022)
Figure 2.8: Adjusting the kerning between individual letters (05/11/2022)
Figure 2.9: Screenshot of process on Font Lab (05/11/2022)
After generating the font, we were instructed to create a poster with the phrase 'make type great again!' as the final part of this task. Below are some of the A4 Poster drafts and I decided to choose the second draft as my final A4 Poster Type Design.
Figure 3.0: A4 Poster Design Draft (05/11/2022)
Final Outcome
Font download:
Figure 3.2: Final Type Design- 'Minus' in PDF (11/11/2022)
Figure 3.3: Final Type Design- 'Minus' Poster in JPEG (11/11/2022)
Figure 3.4: Final Type Design- 'Minus' Poster in PDF (11/11/2022)
FEEDBACKS
Week 9
General Feedback: Mr. Vinod commented that sketches 2, 4 and 6 were all interesting, except for the letter K in sketch 6 which was slightly inconsistent.
Specific Feedback: Mr. Vinod agreed that I should continue with my favorite idea, sketch 2, and just be careful to be consistent in all my creations, especially with the thick and thin strokes.
General Feedback: Overall excellent work. We should have been conscious of the consistency of type design at all times.
Specific feedback: Mr. Vinod stated that I did a good job with the exclamation mark, but that the coma and fullstops should be the same size as the exclamation mark. All else is fine.
Week 11
General Feedback: Mr. Vinod commented that the style of the type is fairly consistent and is a decent piece. Excellent work.
Specific feedback: The comma can be longer, as a smaller comma may be mistaken as a full stop.
REFLECTIONS
Experiences
I discovered that typeface creation is challenging and taxing. I spent multiple times redrawing, redoing and re-digitising my fonts. But once I got my font design down, designing the poster was easier and came to be much quicker than the font design process. During the digitization process, I struggled with Adobe Illustrator as it was tough to alter the stroke widths to approximate handwriting stress. Font Lab was also a completely new experience for me, and I now have a basic understanding of how to build a typeface. During these few weeks, I learnt the fundamentals of typeface design, as well as what makes a good typeface, and I honed my observational skills.
Observations
I discovered that much of my time was spent redoing, which was exhausting and demotivating. I've realised that every single detail in the design of letters matters. Each alteration will affect the letter, therefore it's important to know which design direction we're going with that will make it unique.
Findings
During these few weeks, I learned that creating a typeface requires a considerable amount of study, patience, and observational skills. It is not an easy task, and there are a lot of technicalities to consider. As a result, it is critical to be inventive in exploring and experimenting with various methods to achieve the desired results.
FURTHER READING
Typography Referenced
Figure 3.: Typography Referenced
Type Design and Development
The process of typeface design is essentially a reductive refining of details. First ideas are simply sketches that provide starting points, followed by a clear methodology of structured revisions, reviews, testing—and repetition of the whole process. The designer's attention shifts in ever-decreasing focus scales:
• First, paragraph-level values on the overall density of a design
• Next, fundamental interplay of space and main strokes
• Third, elements within a typeface that ensure consistency and homogeneity
• Finally, elements that impart individuality and character
Space Matters
The most important element in a typeface is the space between letters. Within the space of a few words, a designer can establish the typeface’s basic rhythm; with small variations of basic dimensions and spacing a typeface can appear normal or impart the impression of a wider or narrower variant.
Familiar Shapes, New Interpretations
A typeface is a product of the applied arts: It embodies functionality and usability and has intrinsic value through its utilization. On the most basic level, it allows encoding of textual meaning, but on a higher level it allows expression of values such as association, style, identity, differentiation, and beauty. This is the least tangible aspect of a typeface, but the one that most motivates designers.
Excellence in typeface design can be difficult to identify without the perspective of long-term review. Typefaces can become prominent because they embody a strong brand well or capture the moment in terms of their visual style.
Typeface designers have proven extremely resourceful in their search for new typographic forms. Four areas seem to encompass these efforts.
1. Designers enter a dialog with typographic history. There are still many under explored sources of inspiration in old type specimens and in the challenge of updating older styles to contemporary needs.
2. New technology is informing typographic design and opens up possibilities. The profusion of typefaces exploring glyph substitution is the most visible example.
3. Questioning of genres and the design process waters down the distinctions of historical classifications and introduces hybrid forms into the mainstream.
4. The challenge of developing new typefaces for non-Latin scripts can serve a widening set of typographic conditions.
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