Advanced Typography / Task 1
30/08/2023 - 14/09/2023 / Week 1 - Week 3
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Week 2: In week 2, we had a feedback session. We were also still trying very hard to work with Microsoft Teams. After feedback, we were briefed on our second exercise as well as the competition and looked through a few of the previous student's work to see exactly how the process was for them and what we would need to create by next week.
After class, I felt unsatisfied with my axial system and so I decided to go back
and start from scratch and create a simpler layout. I'm a lot happier with how
it turned out, especially with using multiple typefaces for the title, I feel
like it really fits the vibe.
There's not a lot to say about my process with the transitional system, I
just ended up placing everything with a slight tilt for variation and
overlapped a lot of the text boxes. I ended up drawing a few lines to fill
up some of the empty space and tie it into the rest of the systems.
When I first worked on the modular system I struggled a little (mainly
because I..definitely did the guides wrong) but in the end I ended up with
something I liked. Although, it is very simple since I didn't think re-using
the same title typeface layout would have fit and I wanted it to be more
basic.
Just like the grid system, I ended up filling in the background with black
just to get rid of the empty white space and also now it doesn't make the
grid too out of place.
I made the bilateral layout first before I tried doing a multilateral system
like previous students and I preferred it better. However, Mr. Vinod said to
stick to bilateral so I ended up using my first iteration for the actual
final system.
Finally, here are my final typographic systems. However, after the feedback
session I altered a few of them (and also redid the guides for a couple).
I went around and looked for a few fonts that had some characteristics that I liked and wanted to maybe include in my letterforms.
In this attempt I turned the 'waterdrop' to face inside and widened the top of the 'f' to look a bit more like the original. I removed the round shape inside the 'a' and thinned out the top and bottom horizontal lines of the bowl. I tried copying the top half of the 'b' to the 'l' and added a serif to the left of the main stroke. I also tried to angle the 'e' to look more italic and narrowed it.
I then decided to get rid of the diagonal stroke of the 'f' and make it horizontal instead because I felt like it looked out of place with the other letters. I also tried to widen the stroke of the bowl of the 'b'. Additionally, I changed the serif of the 'a' to match with the 'b' and reverted back to the original refined 'l'. I also changed the finial of the 'e' to match the arm of the 'l'
Here, I decided to lower the horizontal line of the 'f' and also thinned out the top and bottom half of the 'b' bowl and widened the horizontal stroke. I also added a serif to the left of the 'l' to match the 'b'.
In this attempt, I changed the terminal of the 'a' to match the finial of the 'e'.
Here, I tried to make one aspect of each letter meet at the same height. However, I ended up scrapping this.
I then tried to make the empty space of 'f' a bit bigger as it looked too cramped.
I kept playing around with the empty space too see what I liked best and ended up going with attempt #7.
Final Type & Play
The Circle and Composition
Iman binti Kamarudin / 0364014
Advanced Typography / Bachelors in Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Task 1: Exercises 1 & 2
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LECTURE
Week 1: During Week 1, we mainly went over the first task and tried to
adjust working with Microsoft Teams. We looked at previous student's works and
then watched a few lecture videos. Afterwards, we attempted to create a layout
for the axial design just to test our knowledge.
AdTypo_1_Typographic Systems
Typographic Systems
Typographic systems are a grouping of designs that provide a sense of purpose
that focuses and directs the decision-making. Typographical organisation is
complex since elements are dependent on communication in order to function.
Understanding the systems allows designers to break free from a rigid grid
system and allows more fluid means to create typographic messages
Axial: elements are organised to the left or right of a single axis,
axis can be straight or bent
Fig 1.1 - Axial System
Radial: elements are extended from a point of focus
Fig 1.2 - Radial System
Dilatational: elements expand from a central point in a circular
fashion, can have multiple rings
Fig 1.3 - Dilatational System
Random: elements appear to have no specific pattern or relationship,
there is a method to the chaos
Fig 1.4 - Random System
Grid: vertical and horizontal divisions
Fig 1.5 - Grid System
Transitional: informal system of layered banding
Fig 1.6 - Transitional System
Modular: series of non-objective elements that are constructed in
standardised units
Fig 1.7 - Modular System
Bilateral: all text arranged symmetrically in a single axis
Fig 1.8 - Bilateral System
Week 2: In week 2, we had a feedback session. We were also still trying very hard to work with Microsoft Teams. After feedback, we were briefed on our second exercise as well as the competition and looked through a few of the previous student's work to see exactly how the process was for them and what we would need to create by next week.
AdTypo_2_Typographic Composition
The Rule of Thirds
Photographic guide to composition where the canvas is divided into three colomns and rows. Points of interests are placed on the intersecting lines. Realistically, nobody would use the rule of thirds when there are better options.
Typographic Systems
Post-Modernist Era: chaotic, random and asymmetrical typographical explorations. They were usually difficult to read in order to compensate however the ideal is to combine the two seamlessly.
Fig 2.1 - Paula Scher, Jonathan Barnbrook and David Carson
Environmental Grid
Information is organised around an existing structure or numerous structures.
Fig 2.2 - Environmental Grid Example
Form and Movement
Based on the exploration of the existing grid system to remove the seriousness surrounding the application of said system.
The placement of a form on a page, over many pages creates movement.
Fig 2.3 - Form and Movement Examples
Week 3: During class we had a feedback session on our Exercise 2 and then were tasked to create a poster using the letterforms we made. Afterwards, we were briefed on our second task and looked at how the previous students did. We were instructed to start brainstorming and sketching out our wordmark.
AdTypo_3_Context and Creativity
Why Is Handwriting Important?
Mechanical type is based on the form, spacing and conventions of handwriting. The variety of shapes and lines of hand drawn letterforms are influenced by the tools and materials used to make them.
Hieroglyphics
2613–2160 B.C.E.
The Egyptian writing systems are a mixture of rebus and phonetic characters. Hieroglyphic images has the potential to be used in 3 different ways:
1. As ideograms (to represent the things they actually depict.)
2. As determinatives (to indicate the general idea of the word.)
3. As phonograms (to represent sounds that "spell out" individual words.)
Cuneiform
c. 3000 B.C.E.
The earliest system of writing, written from left to right. Its distinctive form was the result of pressing the blunt end of a reed into wet clay tablets. The cuneiform characters evolved from pictograms.
Fig 3.1 - Hieroglyphics
Early Greek
5th C. B.C.E.
The Phoenicians developed a phonetic alphabet consisting of 22 letters that were then adopted by the Greeks who added vowels. Early Greek was comprised of only capital letters and was often read in a format known as boustrophedon.
Fig 3.2 - Early Greek Letters
Roman Uncials
4th C.
Roman letters were becoming more rounded, the curved form allowed for less strokes and could be written faster
Fig 3.3 - Roman Uncial
English Half Uncials
8th C.
In England the uncial evolved into a more slanted and condensed form.
Fig 3.4 - Half Uncial
Emperor Charlemagne
8 C. CE
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the end of a central advanced culture resulted in general illiteracy and a breakdown of handwriting into diverse regional styles.
Carolingian Minuscule
During Charlemagne's rule, language was standardized and a new script emerged, the Carolingian minuscule.
The Carolingian minuscule, was used for all legal and literary works to unify communication between the various regions of the expanding European empire. It became the pattern for the Humanistic writing of the 15th century.
Fig 3.5 - Carolingian Miniscule
Fig 3.6 - Carolingian Miniscule Close Up
Black Letter
12-15 C. CE
The term Gothic originated with the Italians who used it to refer to rude or barbaric cultures north of the Italian Alps.
Blackletter is characterized by tight spacing and condensed lettering. Evenly spaced verticals dominated the letterform and the condensed line and letter spacing reduced the costs of book production.
Fig 3.7 - Black Letter
The Italian Renaissance
The renaissance of ancient Greek and Roman culture kick-started a creative wave through Italian art, architecture, literature and letter form design.
Humanist named the newly rediscovered letterforms Antica. The renaissance analysis of form was directed toward letterform which resulted in a more perfect or rationalized letter.
Fig 3.8 - Antica
Movable Type
11 C.—14 C.
China had attempted use movable type for printing but was unsuccessful due in part to the number of characters and the material used (clay).
However, in late 14 C. the Koreans establish a foundry to cast movable type in bronze which allowed the dismantling and resetting of text.
Fig 3.9 - Korean Movable Type
Fig 3.10 - Movable Type Illustration
INSTRUCTIONS
Task 1 - Exercise 1: Finding Type
In class, we worked on creating an axial system to test our
understanding.
Fig 4.1 - Axial Progression 1
Fig 4.2 - Axial Progression 2
Fig 4.3 - Final Axial System
When it came to the radial system, I was having a rough time figuring out
how to pivot the text around a point (for some reason I forgot about the
Type on Path tool;;). I ended up putting it off and worked on the other
systems first just to get a better grasp on InDesign.
Fig 4.4 - Radial Behind The Scenes
Fig 4.5 - Radial Progression
Once I finally finished all the other systems I had to confront the radial
system once again and I felt a lot more confident. My idea with this was to
make it seem like a burst of light shot out of the point and the text was
like a light ray. I made each 'ray' different widths so nothing looked
repetitive and also coloured a few of them white to make it a bit more
consistent with the other systems.
Fig 4.6 - Final Radial System
Fig 4.7 - Dilatation Behind The Scenes
For the dilatational system I wanted each circle to sort of flow into the
other and I ended up with this! It felt a bit empty in some areas though
so I ended up making bigger background circles to fill it up. I also copy
and pasted the text from the axial system and coloured it green to bring
back more contrast and consistency.
Fig 4.8 - Dilatational Progression
Fig 4.9 - Final Dilatational System
Working on the random system tired me out a lot since I wasn't sure how
to...make it seem random but good? All I knew was that I wanted the text
to occupy as much space as possible without making it seem too
claustrophobic. I played around with a lot of fonts and changing the fill
colours and strokes.
Fig 4.10 - Random Behind The Scenes
Fig 4.11 - Random Progression
Fig 4.12 - Final Random System
The grid system was a bit troublesome to do since I didn't personally
enjoy working with the guides. I ended up flooding the background with
black to fill in the empty spaces and make it seem a bit more intentional.
I also added in a few lines to frame the text.
Fig 4.13 - Grid Behind The Scenes
Fig 4.14 - Grid Progression
Fig 4.15 - Final Grid System
Fig 4.16 - Transitional Behind The Scenes
Fig 4.17 - Transitional Progression
Fig 4.18 - Final Transitional System
Fig 4.19 - Modular Behind The Scenes (the boxes are wrong in these ;;)
Fig 4.20 - Modular Progression
Fig 4.21 - Final Modular System
Fig 4.22 - Bilateral Progression
Fig 4.23 - Final Bilateral System
Fig 4.24 - Final Typographic Systems Attempts
After feedback, these are the updated and final typographic systems.
Final Systems without Guides
Fig 5.1 - Final Axial System w/o Guides JPEG
Fig 5.2 - Final Radial System w/o Guides JPEG
Fig 5.3 - Final Dilatational System w/o Guides JPEG
Fig 5.4 - Final Random System w/o Guides JPEG
Fig 5.5 - Final Grid System w/o Guides JPEG
Fig 5.6 - Final Transitional System w/o Guides JPEG
Fig 5.7 - Final Modular System w/o Guides JPEG
Fig 5.8 - Final Bilateral System w/o Guides JPEG
Fig 5.9 - Final Typographic Systems w/o Guides PDF
Final Systems with Guides
Fig 5.10 - Final Axial System w/ Guides
Fig 5.11 - Final Dilatational System w/ Guides
Fig 5.12 - Final Modular System w/ Guides
Fig 5.13 - Final Random System w/ Guides
Fig 5.14 - Final Grid System w/ Guides
Fig 5.15 - Final Bilateral System w/ Guides
Fig 5.16 - Final Radial System w/ Guides
Fig 5.17 - Final Transitional System w/ Guides
Fig 5.18 - Final Typographic Systems w/ Guides PDF
Task 1 - Exercise 2: Type & Play
Fig 6. - Reference Image
Fig 6.1 - Outline Extracted Letterforms
Fig 6.2 - Solid Extracted Letterforms
Fig 6.3 - Reference Font and Extracted Letterform on Baseline
Fig 6.4 - Light Italic Boska Font
Fig 6.5 - Boska Font
I started to refine the extracted letterforms by placing my reference font behind as a guide to get the right angle and width that I wanted. The guides were placed according to the reference font as:
- Descender: -226 px
- X-height: 500 px
- Cap height: 697 px
- Ascender: 741 px
Fig 6.6 - Beginning Refinement
From there I just started simplifying the letters and also looked back often to the original to see what characteristics I wanted to keep and emphasise. At first I tried making the 'b' the same height as the 'a' and 'e' to see if it would look a bit more consistent however I ended up lowering it. I kept the diagonal line of the 'f' from the original extracted letterform and rounded it off with a sort of 'waterdrop' like shape.
Fig 6.7 - Refinement Attempt #1
Fig 6.8 - Refinement Attempt #2
Fig 6.9 - Refinement Attempt #3
Fig 6.10 - Refinement Attempt #4
Fig 6.11 - Refinement Attempt #5
Fig 6.12 - Refinement Attempt #6
Fig 6.13 - Refinement Attempt #5
Fig 6.14 - Refinement Attempt #6
Fig 6.15 - Refinement Attempt #7
Fig 6.16 - Letterform Refinement Process
Fig 6.17 - 'F' 1st vs Final Comparison
Fig 6.18 - 'A' 1st vs Final Comparison
Fig 6.19 - 'B' 1st vs Final Comparison
Fig 6.20 - 'L' 1st vs Final Comparison
Fig 6.21 - 'E' 1st vs Final Comparison
Fig 7.1 - Compiled Process JPEG
Fig 7.2 - Final Type Design JPEG
Fig 7.3 - Extracted Letterforms vs Final Refined Letterforms JPEG
Fig 7.4 - Type Showcase Poster JPEG
FEEDBACK
Week 2:
General Feedback - Downsize numbers, too much space can be
overwhelming.
Specific Feedback - Axial bit too confusing, change the ‘on’ to
face the same way as design. (Also adjust the lines to make the axis
clearer.
- Radial graphics is extreme however it is acceptable, just be careful
to not overwhelm the content
- Dilatational is okay
- Random is getting there, lets go with it
- Grid lines are a bit of a problem. Get rid of the bottom left lines
and extend too right horizontal line. Follow column gutter.
- Transitional is acceptable but lines are confusing
- If the modules are within their boxes, then its okay.
- Stick to bilateral not multilateral
Week 3:
General Feedback - Consistency is important, figure out what characteristics you want to keep and emphasise
Specific Feedback - The letters work with the original image
Week 4:
Specific Feedback - Letter spacing needs some work
REFLECTION
Whew…where do i start? Right off the bat there was a lot of work to be done within the span of a week and I definitely struggled trying to get everything looking the way I wanted and being satisfied while also trying not to break my back and meeting the deadlines. Even though it was difficult to do, I definitely enjoyed this task a lot, especially the typographic systems. The second exercise? Not as much. It was rough trying to finalise the letterforms and making them all look cohesive and good when I was actively hating how it looked every 10 minutes. However, in the end I can say that I am happy with how it turned out. If I had the time I definitely would’ve started from scratch and reimagine it into something else but for now, I like it.
I’ve observed that I really enjoy mixing different fonts together! I personally just like the way it looks.
Additionally, I’ve found that I really should trust myself more. When the feedback session came for the second exercise I was terrified that it was too heavily based on the reference font or that maybe it doesn’t really have the soul of the original image but it was a good start. I think I was just really nervous since it had been a while since the last semester.
FURTHER READING
Week 1 - Week 3
Fig - Typographic Systems, Kimberly Elam (2007)
The circle is a wildcard element - meaning it could be placed anywhere in the composition. It allows the designer to be able to focus the eyes on a particular element. It can dramatically change the composition.
Fig 8. - Circle Compositions
- Placing the circle in between lines of text can create tension.
- Close proximity to specific text can create emphasis.
- Aligning the circle with the lines can give a sense of organisation.
- Placing the circle in the top left can create a starting point, the direct opposite would create a stopping point.
Fig 8. - More Circle Compositions
Non-Objective Elements
Sharpens and articulates the composition, they can enhance the functions of emphasis, organisation and balance.
Rule Series
Can both organise and emphasise a message. Single-weight lines of equal length function as elements of organisation. A variety of weights can create a rhythm and guide the eyes. A variety of lengths can create a strong shape.
Circle Series
Can act as a pivot point or can create hierarchy by drawing the eyes towards a specific word.
Tone series
Draws the eyes to the largest volume of black on a white page. The composition can be given a sense of visual punctuation or hierarchy.
Fig 8. - Rule, Circle & Tone Series
Fig 8. - Further Rule, Circle & Tone Series
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