Typography / Task 1

26/09/2023 - 19/10/2023 (week 1 ~ 5)

Shim Yi Xun || 0363292

Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media

Typography

Task 1 - Exercises

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.  CONTENT  .

1)  Class Summary

2)  Lectures

3)  Instruction

4)  Feedback

5)  Reflection

6)  Further Reading

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.  CLASS SUMMARY  .

Week 1

A briefing about the course module. Learning how to create E-portfolio by using Blogger.

Week 2

Mr.Vinod delivered us a short presentation about understanding feedback. Afterwards, we received feedback from Ms.Hsin on the sketches we had completed during the first week.

Week 3

Learn how to animate our digitization after receiving feedback. Next up, we can attempt our Task 1 /  Exercise 2.

Week 4

We are required to improve the performance of our animation. After finishing it, we can continue with our Task 1 / Exercise 2.

Week 5

Modified Task 1 / Exercise 2. After then we can start Task 2.

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.  LECTURES  .

Week 1

💬 (I) Introduction

"To understand what is good or bad or suitable in typography, it takes time, trial and error."
Design is a highly iterative process, we should keep an open mind when receiving feedback and criticism. We should always aim to better ourselves.

💬 (II)Development

We need more research on our own community, nation, and civilization as a contribution to the other body of knowledge. 

Gain a more holistic perspective to develop our body's knowledge and broaden our horizons.

Week 2

💬 Text (Part 1)

“If you notice the type before you see the words, change the type.”
Designers tend to set type depending upon their personal preference. However, keep in mind the typographer’s first job —— clear, appropriate presentation of the author’s message.

Week 3

💬 Text (Part 2)

Typography is two-dimensional architecture, based on experience and imagination, and guided by rules and readability.

Week 4

💬 Basic

Week 5

💬 Understanding Letterforms

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.  INSTRUCTIONS.

  Task 1 / Exercise 1 - Type Expression  
Showcase a word by using design form through exaggeration and emphasis to convey the meaning of a word in a clear way.

There are 6 words voted by us, as follows:
CHAOS ; SPRING ; DIVE; BOUNCE ; FLOAT ; CRUSH

We need to choose four words from the list and sketch at least three design ideas for each word during the first week.

  (I) Sketches  

CHAOS

disorder | irregular

figure 2.1.1 Chaos sketch

BOUNCE

rebound | elasticity

figure 2.1.2 Bounce sketch

FLOAT

just float

figure 2.1.3 Float sketch

CRUSH

squash | beating heart

figure 2.1.4 Crush sketch

  (II) Digitization  

In week 2, we will be using Adobe Illustration to digitize the sketches.

figure 2.2.1 Type Expression - Digitization

  (III) Animation  

And we animate it into GIF format with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop during week 3. 
I chose 'CRUSH' as the word for animation.

figure 2.3.1 Type Expression - Animation process in Ai

Final result:

figure 2.3.2 Type Expression - Crush GIF

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  Task 1 / Exercise 2 - Type Formatting  
Learning how to use kerning and tracking by using Adobe Indesign.

'Kerning' is to adjust the space between individual letterforms while 'Tracking' (letter-spacing) is to adjust spacing uniformly over a range of characters.

figure 3.1.1 Typefaces and Fonts

The first thing we need to do before formatting text is to get a text provided by Mr.Vinod, which is as below:

figure 3.2.1 Text without modifications

As we can see, there are lots of widows and jagged edges in the text. Thus, we have to adjust them.

figure 3.2.2 Adjusted text

After completing the adjustment, I started designing the layout.

Design (1)

figure 3.2.3 Layout design 1

Design (2)

figure 3.2.4 Layout design 2

Design (3)

figure 3.2.5 Layout design 3

Final Version:

HEAD
Font/s: Futura Std Bold
Type Size/s: 41pt
Leading: 43pt
Paragraph spacing: 0mm

BODY
Font/s: Univers Lt Std 55 Roman
Type Size/s: 9pt
Leading: 11pt
Paragraph spacing: 3.881mm
Characters per line: 55
Alignment: Flush left

Margins: 12.7mm top, 12.7 mm left + 12.7mm right + 12.7mm bottom
Columns: 4
Gutter: 5 mm

figure 3.2.6 Final version (JPEG)

figure 3.2.7 Final version (PDF)

.  FEEDBACK  .

Week 2

  General:   

Designs that contain too many graphic and distorted elements need to be avoided, designs should focus more on the Type. And I need to update my further reading.

  Specific:   

For sketches:

Chaos   - (1) and (4) can be combined.

Bounce - (3) and (4) are the most ideal, I should choose a font that can be combined and easily adjusted with the word 'n'.

Float     - (4) is ideal, I need to select a font that is suitable for it.

Crush    - too many graphic and distorted elements. (3) can be worked but I need to make some adjustments to make it look less animated.

Week 3

  General:   

 Need to update my further reading and reflection.

  Specific:   

For digitization:

The order of Chaos should be adjusted because it can be confusing and takes time to figure out what word it is.

Week 4

  General:   

 -

  Specific:   

Ms.Hsin suggested that I convert the PDF lecture notes to JPEG or just key them in directly in Blogger due to the accessibility issues.

Week 5

  General:   

 -

  Specific:   

Ms.Hsin said it is better to arrange everything in a balanced and neat order so it will look more comfortable.

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.  REFLECTION  .

  Experience   

I realized that I had only a smattering of this subject, I didn't even know typography played such a crucial role in the design field. And I always mix the concept of type design and graphic design, Ms.Hsin also told us again and again they are not the same things. Okay, I need some times to explore and differentiate between the two of them.

  Observation   

As design learners, it is important for us to not only improve our practical skills but also develop our theoretical knowledge. We had to clearly understand what are we doing, and why are we doing this.

  Findings   

There are many things I need to learn about using Ai and Id. They are a bit difficult for me as it is my first time using these software, so I need to catch up quickly.

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.  FURTHER READING  .

'Just My Type' by Simon Garfield

For me, it is such an interesting book. I like how the author shared the background story of typefaces in a storytelling (and roasting) way.

The author also emphasises the significance of using the appropriate typefaces, and what catastrophe can happen if a typeface is used incorrectly (as a beginner really needs to know that).

Notes

- The fonts that work best are the ones that allow us to read without ruining our eyes.