Typography Task 1 - Exercise 1 & 2

26/9/2023- 24/10/2023 (Week 1 - Week 5)

Ho Winnie / 0364866

Typography / Bachelor's of Design Honors In Creative Media

Exercises : Task 1 - Exercise 1 & 2

1. LECTURE LISTING

Lecture 1 : Type_0_Introduction

Lecture 2 : Type_1_Development

Lecture 3 : Type_2_Text_P1

Lecture 4 : Type_3_Text_P2

Lecture 5 : Type_4_Text_Basic

Lecture 1 : Type_0_Introduction

In Lecture 1 Mr Vinod introduced to us what Typography is. I understood as typography is deemed the act of creating letters, it is the creation of typefaces or type families. It has evolved over tine since 500 years ago from calligraphing to digitalization. Creating good typographies comes from a highly interative process.

Typography is found and used everywhere and can be seen in our daily life wherever we go. For example :

1) Typography is also animation - movie titles, gif animation

2) Typography is visible in website design , it can influence the design of website .

3) Typography is seen in app designs, bad design makes it look very clunky and does not communicate its message across

4) Typography is seen in signage design, it helps navigate you to spaces. Effectiveness and non effectiveness lies in typography skills as well.

5) Typography is found on bottle labels, books, posters

6) Typography is used in logo types

We were also introduced to two terminologies namely fonts and typefaces. Mr Vinod explained the difference between them clearly.

Font refers to individual font or weight within typefaces like Poppins Bold, Poppins Italic , Poppins Extrabold

Fig 1.1 Fonts

Typefaces refers to entire family of fonts/weights that share similar characteristics like Times New Roman, Arial , Georgia etc

Fig 1.2 Typefaces

Lecture 2 : Type_1_Development / Timeline

In Lecture 2, we were taught on the timeline and development of early typefaces. Mr Vinod taught us the importance of understanding history and the type of letterforms that has been developed.

1. Early Letterform development : Phoenician to Roman

- People in the past write by using sharpened sticks on wet clay or carving with a chisel. But as time goes by ( for about 2000 years) , uppercase letterforms evolved to a combination of straight lines and circles.

Fig 1.3 Phoenicians votive stele Carthage

Meanwhile the figure below shows the timeline of how Phoenician evolved to form Modern Latin and Early Arabic

Fig 1.4 Phoenician Evolution Timeline

Writing Style :

The Phoenicians wrote from the right to the left but on the other hand the Greeks wrote from the right to the left and the left to the right alternately. This unique style of writing is called "boustrophedon". Both the Greeks and Phoenicians did not have the habit of using punctuation in their writing. I did a little bit more research on boustrophedon as I find it very interesting how people in the past read and write like that. Below is an example of how boustrophedon works. They have to be fluent in reading words in reverse and I personally found it a challenge for me.

Fig 1.5 Boustrophedon

Fig 1.6 Boustrophedon

Direction of letterforms :

Etruscan and Roman both share the similarity of carving in marble plated forms before inscribing them which will lead to a change in the quality of strokes and letterform weight.

Fig 1.7 Phoenician evolution into Greek than Roman

Fig 1.8 Early Rome Inscription

2. Hand-scripts from 3rd century BCE to 10th century BCE C.E.

Square capitals were being found in Roman monuments in which serifs were added to the finish of the main strokes. It was achieved by holding the pen 60 degrees off the perpendicular.

Fig 1.9 4th/5th Century Square Capitals

Rustic Capitals were the compressed version of square capitals and it can be found in the Ronan monuments as well. They are harder to read ( due to its compressed nature ) but easier to write.

Fig 1.10 3rd/4th century Rustic Capitals

Lowercase Letterforms were used more frequently in everyday transactions as it is simple and fast to write instead of Rustic & Roman capitals as they were reserved for more official documentary purposes. Lowercase letterforms were in cursive handwriting.

Fig 1.11 4th century lowercase letterforms

Uncials were found in Roman Cursive handwriting especially in the forms of A,D,E,H,M,U,Q. Compared to normal cursive handwriting, it is more broad and readable than rustic capitals. It does not have uppercase and lowercase but it is normally understood as small letters.

Fig 1.12 4th/5th century Uncials

Half uncials were further refined from cursive handwriting and it marked the beginning of lowercase letterforms by using ascenders and descenders.

Fig 1.13 Half uncials

Standardized Calligraphy

The Alcuin of York and Abbot of St Martin of Tours were entrusted by Charlemagne, the first unifier of Europe since the romans to standardize all ecclesiastical texts. They used masjuscules (uppercase) , miniscule , capitalization and punctuation to set the standard of calligraphy.

Fig 1.14 Caroline miniscule

3. Blackletter to Gutenberg's Type

After Charlemagne's empire is dissolved, there came regional variations upon Alcuin's script.

Blackletter ( textura ) gained popularity in the Northern Europe , it is known to be more condensed and vertical.

Fig 1.15 Textura Blackletter in 1400s

In the Southern Europe, a rounded more open hand gained popularity called the rotunda

Fig 1.16 Rotunda Blackletter

Gutenberg marshalled them to build pages that will mimic the scribe's hands which is the Blackletter of Northern Europe. He invented the movable type printing press which led to information revolution. His many inventions include oil based ink for book printing, adjustable molds and wooden printing press.

Fig 1.17 Johannes Gutenberg

4. Text Type Classification

I did a summary of the different text type classifications introduced by Mr Vinod in the figure below.

Fig 1.18 Summary of text type classification

Lecture 3 : Typo_3_Text P1

1. Tracking : Kerning & Letterspacing

Kerning : Adjustment of space between letters, commonly misunderstood as letter spacing. However, letter spacing is the additional of spacing between letters. Kerning and letterspacing is normally used in headlines and uppercase letters.

Fig 1.19 With & Without Kerning, Week 2 (10/4/2023)

Tracking : Additional and removal of space in a word or sentence. Tracking is normally used in large text. Normal tracking is used in large paragraph of texts as the readability is high but lose tracking and tight tracking will reduce the readability of the words as readers recognize the counterform of space in between the strokes hence it is not suitable for large paragraphs of text.

Fig 1.20 Normal,Tight & Loose Tracking , Week 2 (10/4/2023)

Lowercase letters are not suitable for letter spacing and loose tracking as it is difficult for it to stand on its own, they still depend on the counterform created between letters to maintain the line of reading but uppercase letters can stand on their own.

Fig 1.21 Normal VS Loose Tracking , Week 2 (10/4/2023)

Fig 1.22 Tight Tracking , Week 2 (10/4/2023)

2. Alignment/ Formatting Of Text

Flush left : Closely mirrors our handwriting and its the format that closely resembles the asymmetrical experience of handwriting. Constant spacing is used throughout the text, allowing to create an even grey value. Grey value refers to text on white page. However, flush left will result in a ragged right, it is important to make the ragged right look smoother.

Fig 1.33 Flush Left, Week 2 (10/4/2023)

Centered : Imposes symmetry upon the text and resulting in equal value & weight between the left and right ends. This format will transform text into shape hence it is important to amend the breaks to not result in it looking too jagged. Centered format is normally found in small paragraphs , not long paragraphs as it is hard to read.

Fig 1.34 Centered , Week 2 (10/4/2023)

Flush Right : Places emphasis on the ends of line, commonly found in captions where the relationship between text and pictorial might be ambiguous without strong orientation from left to right.

Fig 1.35 Flush Right , Week 2 (10/4/2023)

Justified : Letterspacing and kerning needs to be used more in justified. It Imposes a symmetrical shape on text just like the centered format, it can be done by expanding or reducing the spaces between words. It produces white space in between and careful attention to line space/hypen is needed to fix this issue.

Fig 1.36 Justified , Week 2 (10/4/2023)

It is important for designers to keep in mind when settling the field of text , that readability and clear presentation is the top consideration. We need to find a balance between creativity and readability.

3. Texture

It is imperative to consider the different textures related to the typefaces. Type that has high x-height and heavy stroke width produces a darker mass on the page compared to the small x-heights or lighter stroke. Putting consideration into these differences are the basis of creating good layouts.

Fig 1.37 Anatomy of Typeface , Week 2 (10/4/2023)

Differences between grey value can be easily spotted in the variation of typefaces.

Fig 1.38 Different typefaces show different grey values , Week 2 (10/4/2023)

4. Leading & Line Length

The main goal for setting text type is readability and easy prolonged reading.

Type size - Should be big enough to read easily from arm's length

Leading- The spaces between the adjacent lines of the typeface

Fig 1.39 Tight VS Loose Leading , Week 2 (10/4/2023)

Fig 1.40 Variation of Leading in Adobe Janson Pro , Week 2 (10/4/2023)

Line Length - Number of characters in a line, ideally we should keep it at 55-65 characters.

Fig 1.41 Line Length Board , Week 2 (10/4/2023)

5. Type Specimen Book

It shows samples of typefaces in variation size. It is used for designers to accurately judge and make a choice on which typefaces is suitable. Factors to take into considerations are the type size, line length , leading etc.

Fig 1.42 Sample type specimen book , Week 2 (10/4/2023)

Compositional Requirement : Text should create a field to occupy the page, the best text should have middle grey value.

It is a good practice to enlarge it up to 400% on screen to get a clear view on the descenders on one line and the ascenders on the line below.

Lecture 4 : Typo_Text_P2

1. Indicating Paragraphs

Mr Vinod introduced some methods to clearly indicate paragraphs.

Pilcrow: This is a holdover from medieval manuscripts seldom use today. It is considered as a hidden character or blue indicator that will aid in formatting large amount of text.

Fig 1.43 The Pilcrow , Week 3 (10/11/2023)

Line Spacing (leading) : Paragraph space should be the same as the line space, this will ensure cross alignment across columns of text. The difference between line space and leading is that, line space is the space from the baseline of a sentence to the descender of the next sentence. Leading is the space between two sentences.

It is remember to note that design students use the term leading in typography.

Fig 1.44 Leading vs Line Space , Week 3 (10/11/2023)

Indentation : Normal indentation is the indent of the first line in the paragraph. The ident is the same size of line spacing or the same point as the line of the text.

Fig 1.45 Standard Indentation , Week 3 (10/11/2023)

2. Widows & Orphans

The two unpardonable gifts in designing and formatting text is widow and orphan. Widow is a short line of text left alone at the end of the column text and orphan is the short line of text left alone at the start of the column text.

Designers that deal with huge amount of texts, typically magazine designers must take extra care of this.

Fig 1.46 Widows & Orphans , Week 3 (10/11/2023)

3. Highlighting Text

Some of the methods to highlight text includes :

-Use the same typeface with varying font ( Italic , Bold , Semi Bold etc ) or different color

Fig 1.47 Italic , Bold , Color , Week 3 (10/11/2023)

-Use Bold Sans Serif : As serif fonts are larger than non serifs in the same point size. In this picture, the sans serif font Univers has been reduced 0.5 times to match the x height of the serif font.

Fig 1.48 Bold Sans Serif , Week 3 (10/11/2023)

-Place a field of color can highlight the text and make it stand out, keep in mind to maintain the left reading axis to ensure the readability of text.

Fig 1.49 Highlighting Text with Box , Week 3 (10/11/2023)

-Place typographic elements such as bullet points and quotation marks

Fig 1.50 Typographic elements , Week 3 (10/11/2023)

4. Headline Within Text

There are certain subdivisions within a text of the chapter, I have divided them into 3 parts , A , B & C based on the level of importance. Visual hierarchy is important for designers to express the different importance of text

A head being the most important will indicate a clear break between topics with sections .

Fig 1.51 A headline text, Week 3 (10/11/2023)

B are subordinates to A heads which indicates a new supporting document or argument for the topic at hand.

Fig 1.52 B headline text , Week 3 (10/11/2023)

C highlights specific facets of materials within the B headline text, C heads in the configuration are followed by at least an em space for visual separation.

Fig 1.53 C headline text , Week 3 (10/11/2023)

5. Cross Alignments
Cross aligning headlines or text will aid in reinforcing the architectural sense of the page while articulating the complimentary visual rhythms. This example shows one headline type cross aligns with two lines of text.

Fig 1.54 Cross Alignments of Text , Week 3 (10/11/2023)

Lecture 5 : Type_4_Text_Basic

1. Describing Letterforms

It is important for us to know how to identify letterform's component parts for us to tell the specific typefaces. Below are some crucial components we need to know,

- Baseline : The imaginary line the visual base of the letterforms

- Median : The imaginary line defining the x-height of the letterforms

- X height : The height in any typeface of the lowercase 'x'

- Stroke : Any line that defines the basic letterform

- Apex/Vertex : Point created by joining two diagonal stems ( apex on the top and vertex at the bottom )

- Arm : Short strokes off the stem of the letterform , either horizontal (E,L,F) or inclined upwards (X,Y)

- Ascender : The portion of the stem of a lowercase letterform that projects above the median

- Barb : The half serif finished on some curved stroke

- Beak : The half serif finished on the same horizontal arms

- Bowl : The rounded form that describes a counter

- Bracket : The transition between the serif and the stem

- Cross bar : The horizontal stroke of the letterform that joins two stems together

- Cross stroke : The horizontal stroke of the letterform that joins two stems together

- Crotch : The interior space where two strokes meet

- Ear : The stroke extending out from the main stem or body of the letterform

- Descender : The portion of stem of a lowercase that projects below baseline

- Em/en : Originally referred to the width of uppercase 'M' , em is now the distance equal to the size of the typeface , and en is half the size of em

- Finial : Rounded non serif terminal to the stroke

- Leg : Short stroke off the stem of letterform ( at bottom L, inclinced downwards K,R)

- Ligature : Character formed by combination of 2 or more letterforms

- Link : The stroke that connects the bowl and loop of lowercase 'G'

- Loop : Bowl created in the descender of lowercase 'G'

- Serif : The right angled or oblique foot at the end of the stroke

- Shoulder : The curved stroke that is not part of the bowl

- Spine : Curved stem of 'S'

- Spur : The extension that articulated the junction of the curved and rectilinear stroke

- Stem : The significant vertical or oblique stroke

- Stress : Orientation of the letterform, indicated by thin strokes in round forms

- Swash : The flourish that extends the stroke of the letterform

- Tail : Curved diagonal stroke at the finished of certain letterforms

- Terminal : The self contained finish of a store without a serif , it can be flat , flared , acute , grave , concave or rounded as a ball or teardrop

Fig 1.55 Describing Letterforms , Week 4 (10/19/2023)

2. The Font

The full font of a typeface has more than 26 letters, we are needed to know how to work with a full font and how to use it.

-Uppercase : Capital letters, containing certain accented vowels

-Lowercase : Includes same character as uppercase

- Small capitals : Uppercase letterforms drawn to x height of typeface

Fig 1.56 Uppercase & Lowercase , Week 4 (10/19/2023)

-Uppercase Numerals : Also known as lining figures, they have same height as uppercase letters and set to the same kerning width

-Lowercase Numerals : Also known as old stye figures or text figures, they are set to the same x height of ascenders & descenders

Fig 1.57 Upper and Lowercase Numerals , Week 4 (10/19/2023)

-Italic : The form in italic referred back to 15th century italian cursive handwriting, oblique is based on the roman form of this typeface

-Punctuation, miscellaneous characters : Can vary from typeface to typeface , it is vital to be familarised with the characters in a typeface before choosing a right type for the right job

-Ornaments : Used as flourishes in invitations or certificates , usually provided as a font in a larger typeface

Fig 1.58 Punctuation, miscellaneous characters & ornaments , Week 4 (10/19/2023)

3. Describing Typefaces

Mr Vinod introduced some typefaces & their stroke and widths

-Roman : Their uppercase fonts derived from inscriptions of Roman monuments. A slightly higher stroke in Roman is known as 'book' .

-Italic : Named after 15th century italian handwriting

-Boldface : Characterized by a thicker stroke than a roman form , depending on their relative strokes, the name can vary from bold to semibold to medium, black and extrabold.

-Light : A lighter stroke than Roman , even lighter strokes are called 'thin'

-Condense : A version from roman form, extreme condensed styles are called 'compressed'

-Extended : An extended variation of roman font

Fig 1.59 Different Typefaces , Week 4 (10/19/2023)

4. Comparing Typefaces

The 10 typefaces given to us by Mr Vinod represents 500 years of type design and the goal is to achieve high readability and an appropriate expression of contemporary aesthetics. Different typefaces are to be used in different tasks as each of them evokes a different sense and expression, we are to understand the typefaces well and pick a suitable typeface for every task.

Fig 1.60 The 10 typefaces , Week 4 (10/19/2023)

2. INSTRUCTIONS

Task 1 : Exercise 1 & 2

Exercise 1 : Type Expression

Exercise 2 : Type Formatting

Feedback

Reflection
Further Reading

3. Task 1 : Exercise 1 - Type Expression

For exercise 1, Mr Vinod allowed us to give our suggestions on what words we would like to try to do for Type Expression. After poll voting, we had to choose 4 words out of these 8 words which are :

Coph-Chop; Windy; Dive; Stab; Roar; Illusion; Huge; Shock.

Our first task was to come up with at least 3 to 4 sketches on what we would imagine the type expression to look like. The class was encouraged not to spent too much time on 1 sketch as the main point was to be fast and allow more ideas to flow in.

1. Research

I went to search on what exactly is typography expression - It is a creative strategy to blend and merges the use of visual communication. It is a type that not only say words but also communicate concepts across too. To kick off, I went to behance and searched for typography expression examples

Fig 3.1.1 : Melancholy

This evokes a feeling of sorrow and loneliness and feeling too much melancholy will cause you to lose yourself and fall into pieces as described in this typography expression.

Fig 3.1.2 : Bounce

This evokes a sense of excitedness and happiness as the alphabets are designed to be on different levels. I noticed that some shadows were also added to mimic the shadows of bouncing. The letter is perfectly described in this typography expression.

Fig 3.1.3 : Trapped

The use of negative space here is being reduced and it evokes the feeling of being trapped in a very small environment , and tightness.

After looking at a few examples of typography expressions, i summarised a few takeaways on how to create a effective typography expression :

- Scale : The size of the alphabets can express different meanings. For example a big scale alphabet can express different concepts compared to a small scaled letter.

- Shape : We can link the idea of a shape that comes to our mind when we want to express something. For example when I think of box, the first shape that comes to mind is a square.

- Lines: Wavy or straight lines express differently, wavy lines comes in bents , curves etc while straight lines has no movement

2 . Sketches

I picked the words Windy,Dive,Shock & Illusion for the type expression task as I found these words very interesting and there were many variations to play with.

Fig 3.2.1 Dive First Sketch , Week 1 (27/9/2023)

A) Dive Sketch #1 : I designed the "ive" to be -45 degrees facing down to mimic an object diving downwards.

B) Dive Sketch #2 : The "i" is designed to be falling inwards into the word to mimic a person diving down.

C) Dive Sketch #3: The "i" is designed to be overlapping the empty space of the letter "D" . With the dot on the "i" entering and followed by the alphabets "v" and "e" to illustrate the alphabets diving inwards.

D) Dive Sketch #4: The alphabets "ive" is designed to be overlapping each other in a bundle. Spacing was put between the alphabet "D" and the rest to mimic the alphabets diving down one after another.

Fig 3.2.2 Illusion First Sketch , Week 1 (27/9/2023)

A) Illusion Sketch #1 : The "s" is designed to be invisible but it can be told from the design of the rest of the letters.

B) Illusion Sketch #2 : The "u" and "o" is designed to be invisible here just like an illusion.

C) Illusion Sketch #3 : I envisioned the word to have a cracking effect to convey a message "Everything you knew was an illusion" and the word cracks like a mirror.

D) Illusion Sketch #4: The word is designed to be in a circle spinning infinitely, conveying a message that one is never going to wake up from the illusion as you go in circles.

Fig 3.2.3 Shock First Sketch , Week 1 (27/9/2023)

A) Shock Sketch #1 : This is designed reference to the question mark logo "?" . The alphabets "S', "H' , "O" , "C" makes up the curve of the question mark while the "K' acts as the dot. This is to perceive the idea of shock.

B)Shock Sketch #2 : This is designed to convey the idea of someone gradually realizing something and feeling shock. The size of the alphabets increases gradually.

C) Shock Sketch #3 : I envisioned the alphabet "O" to look like a human mouth, portraying the idea of shock.

D) Shock Sketch #4: The "O" is made to be 3D instead of 2D to emphasize on it looking like a eye .

Fig 3.2.4 Windy First Sketch , Week 1 (27/9/2023)

A) Windy Sketch #1 : This is designed reference to the wind blowing the alphabets away from each other. The alphabets are arranged in a random manner mimicking the motion of wind.

B) Windy Sketch #2 : The last letter "y" is designed to be blown away with it appearing 3 times.

C) Windy Sketch #3 : The letters are arranged in the shape of the wind spiral and the wind is blowing away one alphabet from each layer. The letters are fading one after another.

D) Windy Sketch #4: The dot on the alphabet "i" is designed to be blown away by the wind

3. Digitalization

In the process of digitalizing , I tried out several of my sketches and also some new designs after feedbacks from Ms Hsin. I attempted many times by playing around with the fonts, arrangements of alphabets and the typefaces. After filtering the best word from each of the rough digitalization, I put in more details and effort to attain the final looks. I recorded the main processes of the digitalization of each word below.

Fig 3.3.1 Rough Digitalization , Week 2 (10/3/2023)

A ) Illusion

Fig 3.3.2 Illusion Design Process, Week 2 (10/3/2023)

I picked the font ITC Garamond Std Ultra Condensed Italic because it gives me a wavy texture and creates a good spiral outlook just like how i envisioned it to be. Initially I started off with only one loop of illusion but during the process and after discussion with Mr Vinod, I made it 3 loops of illusion to portray the never ending spiral of getting caught in an illusion.

B ) Dive

Fig 3.3.3 Dive Design Process , Week 2 (10/3/2023)

I picked the font Adobe Calson Pro Regular for the final design but started out with Gill Sans MT Bold . The reason why I changed font was because most of the designs I tried out was sans serif style so i wanted to give serif fonts a try and it turned out quite well. I mainly adjusted the position of letter "i" to give an impression of it diving inwards to the letter.

C ) Windy

Fig 3.3.4 Windy Design Process , Week 2 (10/3/2023)

I picked the font Univers LT Std 85 Extra Black for the final design but started out with Gill Sans MT Italic. I changed font over the design process because I find that it does not have enough volume and does not give off the "tornado spiral wind" feel. Making it wider and broader will add volume to the whole design.

D ) Shock

Fig 3.3.5 Shock Design Process , Week 2 (10/3/2023)

I picked the font Janson Text LT Std 55 Roman for this design. I mainly play with the size contrast of the alphabet "O" and its positioning. The first design has clear contrast in size but the white space left is too much so i rearranged the alphabets to fill up more space to properly give off the feeling of shock.

Final Task 1 : Type Expression

Figure 3.3.6 Final Type Expression , JPEG , Week 2 (10/3/2023)

Figure 3.3.7 Final Type Expression , PDF , Week 2 (10/3/2023)

After that, we were instructed to choose one out of four words to animate into a GIF . Initially I did Windy but Ms Hsin felt that illusion would be more interesting.

Fig 3.3.8 Windy Frames , Week 3 (10/10/2023)

Fig 3.3.9 Windy GIF , Week 3 (10/10/2023)

For illusion, in order to bring out the effect of the words spinning , I added more layers to it. For each layer, I rotated the word clockwise and anticlockwise by a difference of 30 degrees each. After that I imported the frames into photoshop and made each screen 0.1s.

Fig 3.3.10 Illusion Frames , Week 3 (10/10/2023)

Final Animated Task Expression :

Fig 3.3.11 Illusion Final GIF, Week 3 (10/10/2023)

4. Task 1 : Exercise 2 - Text Formatting

For Exercise 2, we were required to work with kerning , tracking , typefaces , line length etc and create layouts using text formatting.

1. Kerning and Tracking exercise

Mr Vinod instructed us to work with kerning and tracking of our own name using the 10 typefaces he provides us with. We were also given flexibility to choose the fonts and sizes in the typefaces.

Fig 4.1 Name with Kerning , Week 4 (10/17/2023)

Fig 4.2 Name without Kerning , Week 4 (10/17/2023)

Fig 4.3 Difference with & without kerning , Week 4 (10/17/2023)

2. Text Layout Exercise ( I am Helvetica )

For this exercise, Mr Vinod gave us an abstract of " I am Helvetica" by John Doe. We needed to create a layout with the text given and insert our own chosen picture (related to the text given) and give it a caption. We will be familarised on how to make a good layout and deeper understanding on text formatting.

I created 5 digital layouts with different typefaces and different columns but all of them are left aligned.

Fig 4.4 Different Digital Layouts , Week 4 (10/18/2023)

Among all these layouts, I personally prefer layout #2 as it is more straightforward and easy to read. I further worked on refining layout #2.

Fig 4.5 Rough Layout #2 , Week 4 (10/18/2023)

Here are the design process I recorded for Layout #2 :

1) I changed the leading to 10pt and body text type at 8pt to achieve ideal line length at 50

Fig 4.6 Adjusted body text type & leading , Week 4 (10/18/2023)

2) I adjusted the body text typeface to Univers LT as it has a higher readability in a paragraph and used Roman 55

Fig 4.7 Body text typeface changed to Univers LT , Week 4 (10/18/2023)

3) Hypenation was being turned off in the body text

Fig 4.8 Hypenation is turned off , Week 4 (10/18/2023)

4) Kerning work done on body text

Fig 4.9 Before and after kerning of body text , Week 4 (10/18/2023)

5) I noticed there is some widows and orphans so I adjusted it

Fig 5.0 Fixed text without widows and orphans , Week 4 (10/18/2023)

Version 2 of Layout #2 :

Fig 5.1 Layout #2 Version 2 JPG , Week 4 (10/18/2023)

HEAD

Fonts : Janson Text LT STD 75 Bold (Headline) , Bembo Std Italic (Byline)

Type Sizes : 29pt (Headline) , 15pt (Byline)

Leading : 31pt (Headline) , 17pt (Byline)

Paragraph Spacing : -

BODY

Fonts : Univers LT STD Roman 55 (Body Text) , Bembo Italic (Caption)

Type Sizes : 8pt (Body Text) , 15pt (Caption)

Leading : 10pt (Body Text) , 17pt (Caption)

Paragraph Spacing : 10pt

Characters per lined : 51 characters

Alignment : Left aligned

Margins : 12.7mm (top,left,right) , 80mm (bottom)

Columns : 3

Gutter : 14mm

After some feedback from Ms Hsin, I edited the layout #2 by making the byline horizontal and the caption longer to identify both of them as different individuals.

( Final ) JPG Version 3 of Layout #2 : Without Grid

Fig 5.1 Final Layout JPG Without Grid , Week 5 (10/24/2023)

( Final ) PDF Version 3 of Layout #2 : Without Grid

( Final ) JPG Version 3 of Layout #2 : With Grid

Fig 5.1 Final Layout JPG With Grid , Week 5 (10/24/2023)

( Final ) PDF Version 3 of Layout #2 : With Grid

HEAD

Fonts : Janson Text LT STD 75 Bold (Headline) , Janson Text LT STD 55 Italic (Byline)

Type Sizes : 28pt (Headline) , 10pt (Byline)

Leading : 30 pt (Headline) , 12pt (Byline)

Paragraph Spacing : -

BODY

Fonts : Univers LT STD Roman 55 (Body Text) , Gill Sans MT Italic (Caption)

Type Sizes : 8pt (Body Text) , 8pt (Caption)

Leading : 10pt (Body Text) , 10pt (Caption)

Paragraph Spacing : 10pt

Characters per lined : 51 characters

Alignment : Left aligned

Margins : 12.7mm (top,left,right) , 80mm (bottom)

Columns : 3

Gutter : 14mm

Back to the top ^

Feedback

Week 2

General Feedback : After taking a first look at our blogs, Mr Vinod reminded us to put in the dates in the description of our figures. For the sketchings, we were told not to rely too much on pictorials and illustration to bring out the effect of the text.

Specific Feedback : Blog is well done, for the sketches especially "shock" try to explore more options, other than that, other words are good to go for digitalization. For the illustration digitalization, consider adding more layers to it as it gives off a stronger feel.

Week 3

General Feedback : Reflection and feedbacks need to be constantly updated, it will be a good practice to always label our images.

Specific Feedback : Blog is on track, for the animated gif task , Ms Hsin suggest to try illusion instead of Windy. Try to adjust the degree of the text to give it a spinning effect and shorten the time of each frame . Mr Vinod suggested that i can add more layers of illusion text to the gif. Overall, final gif looks well done.

Week 4

General Feedback : GIF needs to look smooth and avoid adding too much unnesscary frames, remember to constantly update design process.

Specific Feedback : Blog is on track, can move on to the next exercise which is task formatting.

Week 5

General Feedback : Try not to put images that are too big that will overshadow the importance of the text and choose a font that has good readability for body text.

Specific Feedback : The layout for my exercise 2 "I am Helvetica" is interesting as I am using irregularity to layout the texts. Ms Hsin commented that my byline can consider a different arrangement and the caption should be longer to so it is easy to recognize.

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Reflection

Experience : It was very interesting to learn how typography evolves overtime and i found that the type expression exercise is a little challenging as we only can use the fonts provided and we had to express the meaning of the words out without illustrations. I completed the tasks week by week and throughout the weeks, the work has been pretty intense but enjoyable as well. I looked at my classmates work and also gain feedbacks from Mr Vinod & Ms Hsin to improve my own work.

Observations : I observed the importance of being on track each week as we moved on from our previous task weeks after weeks and the tasks are all linked up together. We need to constantly be proactive in getting feedback and do not be afraid of asking questions. I realized that the details shared in the lectures can be used in our tasks and that we should observe small details in all our work.

Findings : Typography is seen everywhere we go but before I learnt about it in depth, i did not look into it much when i walk past banners, designs that has varying typography. I found that each typeface has its own uniqueness and expressions and it requires a lot of detailed work and research in order to create an impactful type design. After learning typography, I tend to pay more attention to the different typefaces I observed in my daily lives and will ponder at the back of my mind "why" and "how" the designer chose this typeface for this particular objective.

I also find that I should spend lesser time trying to perfect my work in the beginning of a task as design needs to be constantly improved overtime and not achieve perfection in one go. I will learn how to better manage my time for other modules and tasks moving ahead.

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Further Reading

Fontology is the website recommended by Mr Vinod in his lectures , the contents here described the foundational elements of fonts. It is split into 3 modules - Type History, Type Anatomy & Type Families.

Type History - Ancient Roman Capitals were mainly used to bring across the concepts of respect, elegance and of upmost importance , but rarely used in the daily normal lives. Overtime it evolved to be able to serve less epic purposes. Easier writing styles emerged as scribes wrote the words by hand instead of using stones to carve out the words. The 3 distinct handwriting styles back then were square capitals , Roman cursive and rustic capitals.

Square Capitals

Roman Cursive

Rustic Capitals

Type Anatomy - This module taught me the basics of typefaces and the need to appreciate the fundamental tools before we can use typography well. Some of the type anatomies includes :

- Small Caps : They are called the small uppercaps that share the same height as a lowercase and shorter than a normal uppercase. Because of it's size, it enables them to harmonize well with both small caps and big caps.

Small Caps Example

- X height : It is described as the height of a lowercase letter at any given typeface and size. People normally confused the X height with the point size. Point size is described as a measure of its overall height.

X Height Example

Letters with a higher X-height tends to be more visible than low X-heights. X heights can vary from different typefaces.

Typefaces with varying X-Heights

- Weight , Proportion & Texture : These are the 3 main characteristics that can distinguish one typeface from the other.

Weight refers to bold, light , medium , extrabold etc of a typeface design .

Proportion refers to the width of a character in relation to the height , some examples includes condensed, extended , extra condensed .

Texture refers to the different surface textures of each typeface.

Difference between the 3 anatomies

Type Families - This module taught me how typeface families were introduced by pairing roman and italic designs that matched each other in style. Typeface of the same family will share the basic characteristics with the parent design but each with their own unique point.

Typical Typeface Family

The font families has different variations including planned by numbers , extended type and size specific type.

Planning by numbers- Each typeface will have 2 suffix digits. With the first digit meaning alphabet weight. 3 is indicated as the lightest and 9 as the boldest. Second digit will mean the typeface proportion with higher numbers as condensed design and lowest as expanded designs. In addition, if the second digit is odd, it is a roman design , if it is even it is classified as italic design

Extended Type Families : Some families will be made up of a mixed of Serif, Sans Serif and etc (two or more sub families ) . ITC Stone is an example of extended typeface family as it is made of up of 4 types. ( Serif , Sans , Humanistic and Informal ).

ITC Stone Example

Size Specific Families : It is made up of different designs and sizes used at different occasions. Below is an example , namely ITC Bodoni which comprises of 3 different size variants named 6,12,72.