Typography - Task 3: Type Design & Communication

16.5.2023 - 26.6.2023 ( Week 7 - Week 13 )
Gam Jze Shin / 0353154
Typography / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Task 3: Type Design & Communication

Index

LECTURES

Refer to
Task 1: Exercise.

Week 7 - Physical Class
Mr. Vinod brief us the new task in class which is Type Design & Communication. By showing us with the previous student's work, he provided us with greater clarity regarding the new task. Then, he asked us to write diagonal, vertical, circular lines and 'AOTMX' letters with different tools which have different size of nib in class. In this activity, we should concentrate on the angle we used to write the letters as it may affect the feeling of the whole letter.

Week 8 - Independent learning week
In this week, we have no physical class. However, we should continue writing the letters and lines by using 5 different tools. After that, we need to comment our work in FB and choose which tools is our preference. Mr. Vinod suggested us continue practice writing it in that style.

Week 9 - Physical Class
For this week, Mr. Vinod mentioned that we should follow the steps and spend time on writing the letters instead of skipping steps and direct choosing the angle and tools of writing it. Then, he demonstrated about how to digitalize our final chosen letters style in Adobe Illustrator in class. There are two ways which is using brush tool or shape tool. Besides, he assigned us to deconstruct the letters to better understand the structure of the letters.

Week 10 - Physical Class
In this week, we had posted our digitized letterforms in Fb. Mr. Vinod told us it is just the beginning process of designing a typeface. We should refine the word and 
we are not required to adhere strictly to the exact letterforms we initially wrote. He gave us some times to refine our letterforms and giving some comment on it after we done.

Week 11 - Physical Class
Mr. Vinod asked us to choose 4 person (2 local, 2 foreign) in class and check their e-portfolio. When checking it, we need to find the mistakes and tell the person after that. Then, he gave us feedback on our refined version of our letterforms. He also showed us how to transfer it to FontLab. Last but not least, he brief us on the poster of our font. There are some certain rules we should adhere to.

Week 12 - Physical Class
In week 12, Mr. Vinod announced that there is no physical class in week 13. Then, he gave us time to refine our poster after seeing our poster and giving feedbacks on it. During the time, we can ask him questions and he will counsel him one by one. He also remind that our assignment and e-portfolio deadline.

INSTRUCTIONS



Task 3: Type Design & Communication
1. Research
fig. 1.1.1 Rules using text

Before we design our letterforms, we should know about the rules of using text. So that, we can avoid the common mistakes during the design process. For instance, we need to think about the font personality and style first.

fig. 1.1.2 Repetition of word

Start with one letter and work from there. For example, we can take an uppercase R and draw from that our uppercase P, as well as possibly the bottom half of the uppercase K. Repeating shapes and forms in letters brings a typeface together. Adding unique elements after we have the basic form set into place.

fig. 1.1.3 Rule for Sizing Artboards

Know the highest high, lowest low, and widest characters in your typeface. That will need to be the size of your art board. I created a box with the baseline, x-height and cap height rules placed inside as a group. If you don’t have the common size for all the files, some characters will have different widths and it will not look like you imagined.


2. Exploration
Exercises given in week 7 and week 8:
  • Exercise at class: Writing diagonal, vertical, horizontal, vertical, circular line and 'AOTMX' with different tools which have different size of nib.
  • Exercise at home: Using 5 different tools to write diagonal, vertical, horizontal, vertical, circular line and 'AOTMX' with different angle.
  • Exercise at home: Select an angle from one of the 5 different options to write 'AETKGRIYMPN'. (either UPPERCASE or lowercase) 
  • Exercise at home: Keep writing it.
fig. 1.2.1 Exercise at class (Week 7, 16.5.2023)
 

fig. 1.2.2 - 1.2.6 Exercise at home (Week 7, 21.5.2023)

Tools I used are Standard Fine, Super Fine, Soft Board, Round and Brush. 

fig. 1.2.7 Exercise at home (Week 8, 23.5.2023)

The tools I prefer to select is Super Fine with right angle.


fig. 1.2.8, 1.2.9 Exercise at home (Week 9, 30.5.2023)

3. Deconstructing letters
We should choose a typeface from 10 typefaces given and also two typeface from Fontshare. I choose the letters 'A' 'y' and 'd' as it include x-height, ascenders, descenders and cap height. From this steps, I will better understand about the structure of the letters by analyzing the size, shape and proportion.
  • Bembo Std Regular
fig. 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.3 Deconstruction of Bembo Std Regular (Week 10, 5.6.2023)

  • Zodiak ( Fontshare)
fig. 1.3.4, 1.3.5, 1.3.6 Deconstruction of Zodiak (Week 10, 5.6.2023)
  • Supreme ( Fontshare)
fig. 1.3.7, 1.3.8, 1.3.9 Deconstruction of Supreme (Week 10, 5.6.2023)

4. Digitalize
I choose the best writing which show in fig 1.2.8 and use it in Adobe Illustrator. Hence, I can digitalize it with the writing.

fig. 1.4.1 My first digitalize letterforms based on the writing (Week 10, 6.6.2023)

Mr. Vinod said that I should reduce the magnitude of the curve on my letterforms as it is a bit fancy. He suggested me to follow my writing of letter 'G'. So, I decided to create another style of letterforms.


fig. 1.4.2 My second digitalize letterforms based on the letter 'G' (Week 10, 10.6.2023)

I followed the structure of 'G' to create the others letterforms and also punctuation. However, I faced some problems on the letter 'A,K,R,Y' as the diagonal line of the stroke looks weird on it and there looks like not in same style.

fig. 1.4.3 Transformation of letter 'A' (Week 10, 10.6.2023)

fig. 1.4.4 Transformation of letter 'K' (Week 10, 10.6.2023)

fig. 1.4.5 Transformation of letter 'R' (Week 10, 10.6.2023)

fig. 1.4.6 Transformation of letter 'R' (Week 10, 10.6.2023)

There are many ways and options to transform and refine my letters. I had try a lot of it and find out  the best one.

fig. 1.4.7 Progress digitalization (Week 10, 10.6.2023)









fig. 1.4.8 Progress digitalization (Week 10, 10.6.2023)


fig. 1.4.9 Final letterforms (Week 10, 10.6.2023)

5. FontLab
After digitizing my typefaces, I watched the lecture playlist and follow the steps which teach us about  transferring letterforms to FontLab 7.

fig. 1.5.1 Progress of transferring letterforms (Week 11, 12.6.2023)

fig. 1.5.2 Progress of font info (Week 11, 12.6.2023)

fig. 1.5.3 Progress of kerning (Week 11, 12.6.2023)

When I done copy all the letters that I designed from Adobe Illustrator to FontLab 7, I started kerning the letterforms. 

6. Poster
We should create a poster which showing the typeface that designed by ourself. At first, we need to think about a sentence with 4-5 words with the letters of 'AETKGRIYMPN'.

fig. 1.6.1 Chatgpt (Week 12, 19.6.2023)

I asked Chatgpt on giving me some examples of simple sentence with the letter
s of 'AETKGRIYMPN'. In short, I have my final sentence which is 'Party time, make men gaiety!' 

fig. 1.6.2 Poster Progress Attempt 1 (Week 12, 19.6.2023)

I created some different layout of my poster and showed the first and forth to Mr.Vinod in class. He thought my letters should be aligned to make the whole look neat and balanced.

fig. 1.6.3 Poster Progress Attempt 2 (Week 12, 20.6.2023)

After receiving Mr. Vinod suggestion and observing others work, I tried to make my poster with more creative way. At last, I decide to refine the third version as the flow and moment of the sentence is better than others. 

fig. 1.6.4 Poster progress (Week 12, 20.6.2023)

fig. 1.6.5 Poster progress adding texture (Week 12, 23.6.2023)

When I finished my layout of poster, I added paper texture on it as Mr. Vinod said it can improve the visual effects of the poster.

7. Final Type Design & Communication
Font download: 


fig. 1.7.1 Final Typeface - JPEG (Week 12, 25.6.2023)

fig. 1.7.2 Final Typeface - PDF (Week 12, 25.6.2023)

fig. 1.7.3 Screen grab of 'New Metrics Window' with sentence (Week 12, 25.6.2023)

Details:
Font: Fine Regular & Univers Lt Sd
Font size: 140pt & 12pt
Leading: 143pt & 14pt
Alignment: Align left
fig. 1.7.4 Final poster without texture - JPEG (Week 12, 25.6.2023)

fig. 1.7.5 Final poster with texture - JPEG (Week 12, 25.6.2023)

fig. 1.7.6 Final poster with texture - PDF (Week 12, 25.6.2023)


fig. 1.7.7 Final Font preview. (Week 12, 25.6.2023)
*Use Uppercase.


FEEDBACK
Week 8
General Feedback: The lowercases and uppercases should be on a baseline.
Specific Feedback: Suggest me to run with 'Super Fine' and practice writing in thatstyle until it becomes consistent.

Week 9
General Feedback: We should follow the instruction that given by lecturer which is choosing the 5 styles from each tools after finish writing the letters with 5 different angle of 5 tools.
Specific Feedback: The sharper shape of the designed font can be acceptable.

Week 10
General Feedback: After we complete our digitizing based on our writing, we should improve some of it to make it looks better.
Specific Feedback: The letters I doing a bit fancy. I should reduce the magnitude of the curve.

Week 11
General Feedback: Exclamation mark must be slightly smaller, hashtag cannot be too straight. Specific Feedback: The letters need to be a bit lower than the baseline as it is diagonal line at the bottom part of the letters.

Week 12 General Feedback: Be aware of using the space of A4 size paper. Try to use all the letters that we created. Can kern the word. Specific Feedback: Align the letter of the words to make it looks more consistent.

REFLECTION
Experience
During this period, I learned a lot of knowledges and skills on how to create and design our own typeface. It is really a meaningful experience to me even I faced a lot of trouble in this period. At first, I think it is very interesting to create our own style typeface. However, this task is not as simple as it seems, because to design a good-looking and functional font, we need to follow some rules. If we accidentally do one of these steps wrong, it may affect the rendered effect.

Observations
In my opinion, I think designing a typeface may take time. We should do research on it and observe the previous designer work. From that, we can study on it and also explore more. Therefore, when we apply our ideas on digitalizing the typeface, we will avoid some mistakes. Besides, I observed all of the typefaces and even punctuation have their own rules and elements which make them looks like a family.
 
Findings
I noticed that there are a lot of way to design and create typefaces. It looks simple but actually takes time from selecting the style, digitalizing it, refining it, kerning it and so on. There are many process and steps involved. It stimulates our creativity and also trains us to become more and more technically skilled in Adobe Illustrator/FontLab.


FURTHER READING

fig. 1.8.1 Typography Referenced

Reference:
Allan Haley (2012)
Typography Referenced
Rockpot Publisher.

Chapter: Character Expansion

fig. 1.8.2 Examples given

Three examples of typeforms using the Markant typeface demonstrate how comparable proportions and characteristics can be harmoniously incorporated into distinct writing models, specifically italic and upright versions for both Latin and Greek scripts.

Chapter: Familiar Shapes, New Interpretations

fig. 1.8.3 Type Design

A typeface is a creation within the realm of applied arts, encompassing practicality and usefulness while possessing inherent value through its application. At its core, it enables the encoding of textual meaning, but at a deeper level, it facilitates the expression of various values such as association, style, identity, distinctiveness, and aesthetic appeal. Although intangible, this aspect of a typeface serves as the primary driving force behind designers' motivations.

fig. 1.8.4 Type Design

Grace's Givry represents a contemporary interpretation of the bâtarde flamande, a script style originating from the fifteenth century. While this blackletter style may be less recognized compared to other weighty, pen-written styles of that era, it possesses typographic qualities that make it particularly captivating due to the fluidity and graceful flow of its strokes.

fig. 1.8.5 Italic style typeface

This is the italic style from Khajag  Apelian’s Arek typeface, a new Armenian and Latin design and one of the fi rst to introduce a more flowing style to the Armenian italic, hinting at the scope of typographic invention possible in non-Latin scripts.

fig. 1.8.6 Aisha typeface

The Aisha typeface, designed by Titus Nemeth, is a fresh addition to Arabic typography that incorporates influences and traditions from North Africa. While this particular region has received relatively less attention in recent typographic developments, it holds a rich source of material that can inspire and shape new design creations.

fig. 1.8.6 Non-native speakers

A non-native speaker can indeed design a typeface for a language. The process of designing a typeface involves addressing wider design issues based on the client's brief. Certain conventions, such as those applicable to newspapers, can be deduced regardless of the market, and typographic specifications can be determined by the general characteristics of the script and language. Considerations may include factors like hyphenation, word and sentence lengths, editorial practices, article structures, hierarchy levels, and headline composition.


Comments