Advanced Typography / Task 1 Exercises
23.8.2021 - 13.9.2021 (Week 1 - Week 4)
Lew Se Win / 0347637 /
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Advanced Typography
Task
1 / Exercises: Typographic System & Type & Play
LECTURES
Week 1
Mr. Vinod started this week's lecture by giving us a
detailed briefing for this module. For this module, we are also required to
watch pre-recorded lectures on YouTube. We are introduced to the typographic
systems.
Week 2
We are required to post our typographic system's progression on the post on the Facebook group and Mr. Vinod gave us feedback on our work.
Week 3
Mr. Vinod gave us feedback on our typographic systems work. After that, Mr. Vinod briefed us on part 1 of the type & play task. Mr. Vinod then give us 30 minutes to search for images.
Week 4
Mr. Vinod gave some of us feedback on our finding type exercise. After that, Mr. Vinod implemented the new feedback system, in which students are required to give each other feedback. After the feedback session, Mr. Vinod briefed us on part 2 of the type & play task.
Pre-recorded lectures:
AdTypo_1_Typographic Systems
The typographic systems are akin to what architects term shape grammars (a set of shape rules that apply in a step-by-step way to generate a set). There are 8 major typographic systems.
-
Axial: All elements are organized to the left or right of a single
axis
-
Radial: All elements are extended from a point of focus (can be more
than 1 point of focus)
- Dilatational: All elements expand from a central point in a circular fashion
- Random: Elements appear to have no specific pattern or relationship
- Grid: A system of vertical and horizontal divisions
- Transitional: An informal system of layered banding
- Modular: A series of non-objective elements that are constructed in as a standardized units
- Bilateral: All text is arranged symmetrically on a single axis
We will think about the dominant principles but abstract nations seem ambiguous when it comes to translating it into typographic layout or composition. Emphasis/Symmetry can be easily translatable but repetition/perspective are not conducive in typographic composition.
The Rule of Third
- Photographic guide to composition
- Frame (space) can be divided into 3 columns & 3 rows
- Intersection of lines = guide to place the point of intersect
Figure 5.0 Example for The Rule of Thirds, 2.9.2021
- 8 systems
- Most pragmatic/used = Grid system (Raster system)
- Post-modernist era in Typographical system (choas, randomness, asymmetry) were explored because a group of younger designers began to question and challenge this notion of order
- Legibility and readability were neglected
Figure 5.0.1 Designs in Post-Modernist Era, 2.9.2021
- Based on the exploration of an existing structure or numerous structures combined
- An extraction of crucial lines (curved & straight) are formed
- Organizes his information around this super-structure
- Include non-objective elements to create a unique & exciting mixture of texture and stimuli
Figure 5.0.2 Example for Environmental Grid, 2.9.2021
- Based on the exploration of an existing grid system
- To explore multitude of option that grid offer
- To dispel the seriousness surrounding the application of grid system
- To see the turning of pages in book as a slowed-down animation in the form that constitutes the placement of image. text and color
- Placement of form (irrespective of what it is) on a page, over pages creates movement
Figure 5.0.3 Example for Form and Movement, 2.9.2021
Figure 5.0.4 Example for Form and Movement, 2.9.2021
Figure 5.0.5 Example for Form and Movement, 2.9.2021
Handwriting
- First mechanically produced letterforms
- Basis/standard for form, spacing and conventions mechanical type would try and mimic
- Evolution of the Latin Alphabet
Figure 6.0.1 Evolution of Latin Alphabet, 7.9.2021
- Earliest system of actual writing
- Left to right
- Egyptian writing system
- Fused with the art of relief carving
- Mixture of both rebus & phonetic characters
- First link to feature alphabetic
- Potential to be used:
- Ideograms - represent the things they actually depict
- Determinatives - to show that the signs preceding are meant as phonograms and to indicate the general idea of the word
- Phonograms - represent sound that "spell out" individual words
- Egyptian logo-consonantal system
- Phenetic alphabet (22 letters)
- In rows but the direction of reading was not fixed
- Can be left to right / right to left
- Greek-boustrophedon / "as the ox plows"
- Drawn free hand (not constructed with compasses & rule)
- No serif
- Letters were becoming more rounded
- Curved form allowed for less stroke
- More slanted and condensed form
- Diverse regional style
- Book production increase
- Language was standardized (pronunciation, spelling, writing conventions)
- Gothic: culminating artistic expression of the middle age
- Tight spacing
- Condensed lettering
- Letter spacing reduced
- Through Italian art, architecture, literature and letter form design
- Diamond sutra: first printed illustration
- Korean establish a foundry to last movable type in bronze (allowed the dismantling and resetting of text)
- Introduction of moveable type: 1000-1100CE
- Phoenician letter marcs a turning point in written language - use of sounds represented in letters - the script itself has been possibly influenced by the Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Hieratic scripts
- From the oracle bone to seal script to clerical script, transitional and simplified script
- The oldest writing found in the 'Indian' subcontinent
- As yet undeciphered
- Logo-syllabic in nature
- Earliest writing system develop in India after Indus script
- Origin still much debated
- at least influenced by on or more Semitic scripts
- connection to much older as-yet undecided Indus Script of Indus Valley Civilization
- Oldest writing systems present in Southeast Asia
- Pallava (basis for writing systems across Southeast Asia)
- writing Sanskrit & Tamil - Pra-nagari
- early form of the Nagari script, used in India for writing Sanskrit
- Based on Nagari but indigenous to Jawa
- Comes from the Sanskrit term Kavya (poet)
- Script used for contact with other kingdoms
- Basis of other script in Indonesia & Philippines
- Arabic-based alphabet
- Introduced along Islam
- "We converted and adopted the Arabic alphabet"
- Encourage teaching for the sake of proselytization
Why design another typeface?
- Type design carries a social responsibility so one must continue to improve its legibility
- Type design is a form of artistic expression
- Renowned twentieth century swiss graphic designer
- Valued contribution includes the typefaces ; Univers and Frutiger
- Sanserif typeface
- For the newly built Charles de Gaulle International Airport in France
- Called "rosy"
- Purpose:
- Create a clean distinctive and legible typeface that is easy to see (close up & far away)
- Extremely functional - Limitation:
- Needed to be recognized even in poor light condition / when reader is moving quickly past the sign
- Tested with unfocused letters to see which letter forms could still be identified - Used by celcom / TM in Malaysia
Figure 6.0.2 Frutiger, 7.9.2021
- Son of Harry Carter
- Royal Designer for Industry
- Responsible for Crossfield's typographic program
- Created to address specific technical challenges
- Purpose:
- Tuned to be extremely legible even at very small sizes on screen - Limitation:
- The verdana fonts exhibit characteristics derived from the pixel rather than the pen, the brush or the chisel. Commonly confused characters i, j , and l
Figure 6.0.3 Verdana, 7.9.2021
- Hugely influential London "Underground" typeface
- "Bold simplicity"
- Combined classical Roman proportion with humanist warmth
- Purpose:
- London Underground railway orders a new typeface for it posters and signage
- Handed over details and examples of letter space that would set the tone for printed text until the present day - Limitation:
- Unite London Underground Group
- Applied the proportion of Roman capital letters to his typeface
- An elegance & a simplicity that absolutely fitted the modern age
- Research
- Understand type history, type anatomy, and type conventions
- Know terminologies, side-bearing, metric, hinting...
- Determine the type purpose
- Examine existing fonts - Sketching
- Traditional tool set: better control but uses more time
- Digital tool set: quicker persistent & consistent but impede the natural movement of hand stroke - Digitization
- Software: FontLab and Glyphs App
- Attention should be given to the counter form
- Readability of the typeface is heavily dependent on it - Testing
- Important component in the design process
- Process of refining and correcting aspects of the typeface
- Display text can be more expressive compared to readability and legibility - Deploy
- Task of revision doesn't end
- Rigors of testing is important
- Roman Capitals
- The grid consists of a square
- Inside it a circle that just touches the lines of the square in 4 places
- Within the square, there is also rectangle (there quarters the size of the square)
- Positioned in the center of the square
- 26 characters of the alphabet can be arranged into group
Figure 6.0.4 Grouping of alphabets, 7.9.2021 - Visual correction is needed
- Extrusion of curved form past the baseline & cap line
- Vertical alignment between curved and straight forms - Fitting
- Letter must be altered to a uniform 'visual' shape with white space
- White space between letters should appear the same
- Intrinsic
- Designer has an inexplicable need driven by interest design a typeface
- Seeks out a form that comes close fulfilling a desire
- Identifies a gap / problem and thus endeavors to solve it through the design - Extinctic
- Designers has been commissioned / student-designer has a task to complete that involved designing a typeface
Perception
- "The way in which something is regarded, understood or interpreted."
- Visual navigation and interpretation of the reader
- Contrast, form & organization of content
- Content: textual, visual, graphical, color
- Carl Dair adds a two more principles into mix; texture and direction
- 7 kinds of contrast
- Size
- Weight
- Contrast of form
- Contrast of structure
- Contrast of texture
- Contrast of color
- Contrast of direction
- Provide a point to which the reader's attention is drawn
- Making a title/heading noticeably bigger than the body text
Figure 7.0.1 Example of Contrast/Size, 15.9.2021
- Bold type can stand out in the middle of higher type of same style
- Distinction between
- A capital letter and its lowercase equivalent
- A roman letter and its italic variant
- Condensed and expanded versions of type form
Figure 7.0.2 Example of Contrast/Form, 15.9.2021
- Different letterforms of different kinds of typefaces
- Monoline san serif & a transitional serif
- Italic and a black letter
Figure 7.0.3 Example of Contrast/Structure, 15.9.2021
- By putting together the contrast of size, weight, for and structure, and applying them to a block of text on a page
- The way the lines of type look as a whole up close and from a distance
Figure 7.0.4 Example of Contrast/Texture, 15.9.2021
- Opposition between vertical and horizontal, and the angles in between
- Suggest that a second color is often less emphasis in values than pain black on white
- Overall look and feel of the elements that make up typographic composition
- Visual impact
- First impression
- Originating from Greek words "typo" (form) and "graphis" (writing)
- Typography means to write in accordance with form
- Functions:
- To represent a concept
- To do so in a visual form - Provides a sense of letterforms' unique characteristics and abstract presentation
- Interplay of meaning
- Brings a balance harmony both in terms of function and expression
- The way a thing has been "placed" or "put together"
- The ability to acquire and maintain the meaning perceptions
- Predict how perceptual grouping occurs together under a variety of circumstances (Wertheimer, 1923/1938)
- The whole of anything is grater than its parts
- Gestalt grouping law (similar to each other)
- Any number of features: color, orientation, size or indeed motion
- Gestalt group law (close together)
- Items close to each other tend to be grouped together
- The mind's tendency to see complete other objects or if part of the information needed to wake a complete picture in our minds is missing
- Human tend to perceive each of two or more objects as different, singular, and uninterrupted object even when they interest
- Law of Praganz
We are assigned to explore the 8 typographic systems using the content provided in MIB. We have to design at least 2 designs for each system. After that, we have to select one as our final design for each system. In class, we were given 1 hour to design with the axial system.
Axial System
After getting feedback from Mr. Vinod, I decided to read the book provided by Mr. Vinod so that I can have a better understanding of every typographic system.
For this second design, I tried to play with color at first. However, I realize that I make things harder and it is time-consuming. Due to limited time, I tried to make the design back to black and white so that I can see the arrangement of text clearly too. After the arrangement, I added colors to the text.
The poster below inspired my idea for Radial #2. While studying the meaning of Russian constructivism, I ran onto this poster.
I like the second outcome but I didn't realize that the spacing of letters is awkward before Mr. Vinod pointed out this. Hence, I tried to modify the idea so that the spacing can be more balanced.
After I got the feedback from Mr. Vinod, I decided to modify the design and at the same time explore more possibilities.
Figure 3.2 Modular #2 Print Screen, 28.8.2021
We are assigned to select an image of man-made objects or structures and nature. Then, we have to analyze, dissect and identify 4 potential letterforms within the dissected image.
The images below are ones I found on Pinterest.
Later on, I decided to choose the letterforms identified from neuron web.
I think that it is hard to standardize the shaky strokes. Hence, I decided to refine it to a smooth outline stroke first.
This time, I refined the swash and stem of the letterforms.
Refining the terminal of every letterform.
Later on, I think of adding back the shaky effect to the letterforms.
After receiving feedback from classmates and Mr. Vinod, I decided to rework on my letterforms. I got stuck in this step. Hence, I decided to sketch out some of my ideas.
In the first refinement progress, I decided to remove the extended cross bar for letter A and H.
Later on, I decided to straighten the strokes of the letterforms.
In the previous step, I added swash to letterform A. However, I realized that the swash is not working. Hence, I decided to remove it and did some refinement of cross bar in this step.
For the fourth refinement step, I attempt to standardize the strokes of the letterforms.
Following that, I refined the part where the stem connects with another stem.
We are assigned to combine a visual with a letter/word/sentence. With that, I decided to scroll through Pinterest to find the image that I wanted to use for this task.
I decided to use the image below, and I chose the phrase "music speaks" to combine with it.
I experimented with different word perspectives.
Later on, I have an idea of changing the words to the sentence "Flowers are the music of the Earth".
To balance out the text, I decide to change the word "earth" to "ground" because it is longer.
I came across this ballet image while scrolling through Pinterest. Then I get the bright idea of including the text "feel it" along with the image. Hence, I came out with the third artwork.
TIME SPENT
FEEDBACK
Specific Feedback:
The headline is too long.
General Feedback:
Start with all information being of
the same point size and then arrange it. Based on the arrangement,
determine what to stand out. Besides, we should give a little bit more
letter spacing to capital letters. We should avoid 45 degree diagonal.
We have to make sure that non-objective elements and the spacing of the
text is equal.
Specific Feedback:
General Feedback:
Mr. Vinod reminded us to make sure that information in the axial system is aligned to the axis. The placement of information is most important, so try to use lesser non-objective elements. If the typeface does not have small caps, we can reduce the point size by 0.5pt. Besides, random systems should not be too structured. Be aware of the letter spacing and kerning. Lastly, we have to have our own analysis so that we can be less dependent on Mr. Vinod's feedback.
Week 3
Specific Feedback:
The radial system and radial system are ok. The dilatational system is well balanced. For the transitional system, Mr. Vinod said that the use of black and red patches is good. For the bilateral system, Mr. Vinod said that it is a bit tricky to typeset upper case letters (need to have a little bit of letter spacing and leading). The random system is almost there but the words "Russian" and "constructivism" are blocking the utilized background. The placement is breaking the rhythm of the overall thing in the background. The random system design (Figure 2.0.1) is attracting people towards it especially the letter "O".
General Feedback:
The final submission for the typographic system exercise is next week. Make sure that all files are documented clearly on our blog.
Week 4
Specific Feedback:
Mr. Vinod said that the section that a stem that connects another stem looks a little bigger from my extracted letterforms but in my process, I lose that core feature of the letterform. Besides, I made a drastic change on the second refinement. I have to be careful about it because the jump makes me lost seeing the core features. I got too influenced by my reference typeface. I have to reintroduce the section to my existing work. Senta said that she likes the end of the typeface when it progressed. The end looks very different from the extracted typeface because the final letterform looks shaper. Ellis said that the end of extracted letterforms are thicker but in my final letterform it tapers. The curve stroke and crossbar is not consistent. I should also put the guidelines to show the baseline. Mr Vinod also commented "Brilliant documentation of process and indepth work ethic! You are an excellent learner. Well done and KEEP IT UP!"
General Feedback:
Make sure that the strokes are consistent in style and weight. Besides, we have to have critical thinking to analyze feedback on other classmate's work.
General Feedback:
The decision-making for the artwork will reflect depending on the working time. Many designs are iterated. The text must be integrated with the image.
REFLECTION
FURTHER READING
I read the chapter of 'The Word' from this book. Typographic hierarchy can be created using position, weight, color, size, contrast, orientation, and special effects. Besides, I found out that the sub-topic of 'Type as Image' is interesting. I agree with the sentence written by the author that says "One of the joys of working with letterforms is their uncanny ability to be shaped into images".
I read chapter 5 of this book. This chapter covered a variety of subtopics, including the use of type, hierarchy, color, and so on. I was impressed by some of the cool examples of type expression provided. Color palette refinement and controlled, restrained typography will create a sense of order.
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