Advanced Typography / Task 1 / Exercises

30.8.2023 - 20.9.2023 (Week 1 - Week 4)
Elysa Wee Qi En / 0355060 / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Advanced Typography
Task 1 / Exercises

LECTURES

Week 1 / Typographic Systems

Typographic systems are simply guidelines, as there is a lot of freedom in each system. 

Variations of typographical structures:
- Axial: Placing elements to the left or right of a line

Fig. 1.1. Axial system

- Radial: Elements are extended from a point of focus

Fig. 1.2. Radial system

- Dilational: Elements are placed along a circular 'axis'

Fig. 1.3. Dilational system

- Random: No pattern or relationship between elements, organised chaos

Fig. 1.4. Random system

- Grid: Most common, elements are aligned in a grid, suitable for larger amounts of text

Fig. 1.5. Grid system

- Transitional: Information is separated in layered banding

Fig. 1.6. Transitional system

- Modular: Elements are placed in standardised units (boxes) (there can be multiple sizes) that can be shifted or moved around the page. Units must encompass each individual box in the grid and not stop halfway (applicable as text, not the box grids themselves).

Fig. 1.7. Modular system

- Bilateral: Text is arranged symmetrically on a single axis

Fig. 1.8. Bilateral system

Week 2 / Typographic Composition

Typographic composition refers to the layout of information within a given space. 

Principles of design composition:
Emphasis: Can be shown through the weight of elements

Fig. 2.1. Emphasis in typographic composition

The rule of thirds: Dividing the space into nine spaces (3 columns and 3 rows). The intersecting points of the lines are the points you would want to place important information. Rarely used in typographic composition, but still useful.

Fig. 2.2. The rule of thirds in typographic composition

Typographic systems:

Environmental Grid - Using nature or an existing structure, or numerous structures, as a grid. This would form a grid with straight and curved lines, and the designer would organise the information based on the grid. It creates a unique and interesting layout that provides excitement. 

Fig. 2.3. Use of an environmental grid

Form and Movement - Based on the exploration of an existing grid system. To imagine that the act of turning pages of a book is animation. The placement of a form over many pages creates movement. 

Each page should feel connected yet contain surprises. 

Fig. 2.4. Use of form and movement

Fig. 2.5. Example of developing form and movement

Week 3 / Context & Creativity

The first mechanically produced letterforms were meant to imitate handwriting, because handwriting would depend on the medium and materials used to write. 

Eventually, letterforms now are based on sound and not just icons or pictures to represent something. 

Week 4 / Designing Type

There are two reasons, proposed by Xavier Dupre (2007), to design a typeface.
- It's a social responsibility to continue to improve the readability of type
- It's a form of artistic expression

By knowing the history of a typeface, we can understand the considerations that the creator had and learn/improve from that. We can also understand the typeface's purpose, which can help us understand its applications.

Steps in type design:
1) Research - for the reasons stated above
2) Sketching - There are both positives and negatives to both traditionally and digitally sketching
3) Digitisation - Make sure to pay attention to both the form and counterform
4) Testing - The results are used for refining and correcting. Depending on if it's meant to be a display or text typeface, the expression and readability take precedence respectively.
5) Deploy - There may still be revisions to be made during this phase

Typeface construction:

Fig. 3.1. Roman Capital grid

Fig. 3.2. Letterforms in groups organised by form

Don't forget the visual correction of extending curved strokes above or below the baseline and cap line. Also don't forget that it's not good to simply have the spacing between letters be equal, as there needs to be even 'white space'.

To create a successful design, the designer needs to be fully invested in the project and understand the requirements, limitations, uses and stakeholders. Whether this investment be from an innate (intrinsic) need, or a commission (extrinsic).

Week 5 / Perception and Organisation

Perception in typography encompasses contrast, form and organisation. 

Contrast can be visual, textual, graphical or as colour. 
Size - Attention is drawn to the big letter first
Weight - Using bold text, but also graphical elements add weight and vice versa
Form - The distinction between a capital letter and its lowercase equivalent, a roman letter and its italic variant, condensed or extended versions of a typeface
Structure - Different letterforms of different typefaces. Like an italic and a blackletter. 
Texture - Putting together contrasts of size, weight, form and structure
Direction - The opposition between vertical, horizontal and the angles in between
Colour - Remember that a colour can provide emphasis based on what colour it is or whether it's the primary or secondary etc. colour.

Fig. 4.1. Examples of texture in typography

Form is the overall look and feel of the elements of the composition. It plays a role in visual impact and matters to create first impressions. A good form is intriguing, leads the eye, entertains the mind and is memorable.

The definition of 'typography' (made up of the words 'typos' and 'graphis' in greek), is to write with form. Writing typography with form helps provide the font with a sense of unique characteristics. 

Typography can be seen as 'to represent a concept' and to do it in a visual form. Combining meaning and form creates harmony in balance and expression. 

Organisation

Gestalt Theory says that the whole of something is greater than its parts. In design, this means that the elements of a design are only as good as the overall visual form of the design. 

Perceptual organisation:

Fig. 4.2. Laws of the Gestalt Theory

Similarity - elements that are similar tend to be seen as a group. This can apply to features like colour, orientation, size, even colour
Proximity - elements that are closer together tend to be seen as a group
Closure - refers to the mind's tendency to complete the image mentally even if the provided image is incomplete or hidden
Continuation - refers to how people tend to perceive each of two or more objects as different, uninterrupted and singular objects even when they intersect. Alignment plays a big role in this working
Symmetry (Praganz) - self-explanatory

INSTRUCTIONS

Fig. 5. Module Information Booklet (30/8/2023)

Exercise 1: Typographic Systems

For this exercise, we were tasked with creating layouts for each of the eight typographic systems. I start out with some rough idea sketches to lay out some inspiration.

Fig. 6.1. Original idea sketches (6/9/2023)

I also went on Google Images and collected some examples that I could find in order to better understand the limits of each system, along with gaining some inspiration of new things I didn't consider in my sketches.

Fig. 6.2. Examples of a few of the typographic systems (24/9/2023)

A few of my final works do not resemble my original sketches much at all. A prime example of this is the radial system. In the beginning, for my sketches, the idea behind my design was simple, with all the text originating from one single point. In the digitisation process, after looking at the progress of my classmates, I decided to try something different by using three different points. 

Fig. 6.3. Development of my radial design (6-24/9/2023)

During refining, I further rotated the information regarding 'June 24th' to align better with the text: 'open public lectures' so that the viewers' line of sight is carried more smoothly between the text. I  also decreased the opacity of the while circle so it will stand out less, while still serving as the centre piece of focus for the design. 

Another design that is different from my sketches is my design for the random system. After all, it's supposed to be random, and in the sketches the rhythm and flow of the text is still very strong, stronger than I'd liked. So I decided to just open InDesign and go with my intuition. 

Fig, 6.4. Development of my random design (6-24/9/2023)

I placed the text with some random rotations, while still trying to maintain clear readability by ensuring the text still maintained a sure hierarchy. I achieved this by simply placing the text in a simple descending order, relying on additional elements to add randomness. I lowered the opacity of the additional text so that the main text is still prominently distinguished from it, to improve clarity. The opacities and fonts are varied, along with some of the text being in yellow, to add contrast.

The remaining designs don't differ much from the sketches, there are just some minor changes to improve readability. My design for dilational is an example.

Fig. 6.5. Development of my dilational design (6-24/9/2023)

Originally, my subheadings of 'June 24' and 'June 25' are both at the top, but I decided to move the text of 'June 25' to the bottom of its 'section' to add some contrast. I added the curved yellow box over the 'lecture theatre' information for a pop of colour, but it also helps balance the piece. For the finishing touches, I added some additional text to the title, with gradually decreasing opacity. This helps prevent the design from being boring, while also drawing attention back to the title away from the colour.

Next is the grid system, which is pretty standard. 

Fig. 6.6. Development of my grid designs (6-24/9/2023)

There is a slight variation from my original sketches, but it was mostly aesthetic-based changes, like making the two chunks of information at different heights so it isn't so monotone. After, I added some yellow rectangles to make the design livelier, and tried to make the text line up. However I later remembered about the grids and cross-alignment, so I adjusted accordingly. 

Fig. 6.7. Adjusting cross-alignment (24/9/2023)

As I mentioned earlier, the remaining four designs are also similar to my original sketches. For the axial, modular and bilateral systems, I digitised both my ideas to see which would be better, but I was quite set on my first design for the transitional system, as the second idea felt too similar to my dilational design.

From the feedback my peers received, my first design for bilateral would not be accepted as it is a multilateral system, so I went with the second design for my final.

Fig. 6.8. Development for axial and transitional systems (6-24/9/2023)

Fig. 6.9. Development for modular and bilateral systems (6-24/9/2023)

FINAL Typographic System Works

Fig. 7.1. Final Axial Typographic System (24/9/2023)

Fig. 7.2. Final Radial Typographic System (24/9/2023)

Fig. 7.3. Final Dilational Typographic System (24/9/2023)

Fig. 7.4. Final Random Typographic System (24/9/2023)

Fig. 7.5. Final Grid Typographic System (24/9/2023)

Fig. 7.6. Final Transitional Typographic System (24/9/2023)

Fig. 7.7. Final Modular Typographic System (24/9/2023)

Fig. 7.8. Final Bilateral Typographic System (24/9/2023)

Fig. 7.9. Final Typographic Systems (PDF) (24/9/2023)

Fig. 7.10. Final Typographic Systems w/ guides & grids (PDF) (24/9/2023)

Exercise 2: Type & Play

For this exercise, we had to select an image and derive five letterforms from it to create uniquely shaped letterforms. This is the image that I chose, of rain against glass:

Fig. 8.1. Chosen image for Exercise 2 (6/9/2023)

I looked at the lines created by the streaks of raindrops. From this, I was able to extract the capital letters Y, A, H, O, and X. 

Fig. 8.2. Traced letterforms (13/9/2023)

After extracting the letterforms and placing them side by side, I start by resizing them to be the same height. Then I chose a reference font, which was Haettenschweiler. The letterforms in this font are taller than they are wide, but they have relatively thick strokes. However, I decided to focus on the height-to-width ratio of the letterforms and not the stroke width, since the strokes of the raindrops are quite thin.

Fig. 8.3. Development of letterforms (13-24/9/2023)

I manually adjusted each point to have round, wavy strokes. I tried to make them appear random and natural, but some letters ended up having more curves than others. So I made more attempts, reducing the number of waves (mostly in the letter 'H').

I also came up with the idea of moving the indents on the 'A' and 'O' inside, to mimic the classic look of the letterforms better. I continued the refining process, trying to make the letterforms look united, and also standardised details like general stroke width, heights between strokes etc.

Fig. 8.4. Further development and refinement of letterforms (13-24/9/2023)

After refining and getting the letterforms to a point I was satisfied with, I created the poster. I started by making the letters have a gradient opacity that ran from A to Y, starting with a lower opacity, getting higher in the middle, and fading out into a lower opacity again. I set the blending mode for the letters to overlay, which allowed them to blend into the image better and it also looked better than simple white text. I was going for a horror movie concept, so I used the logo for Blumhouse Productions, a company famous for its horror movies.

There is also a vignette effect around the edges. I achieved this by creating a square with the shape tool and using the circular gradient fill option. 

Before settling on red, the image was originally set as blue and black using the Duochrome filter setting. After deciding that my font would look good on a horror poster, I changed it to red and black using the same effect.

Fig. 8.5. Development of the poster (24/9/2023)

FINAL Type & Play Submissions

Fig. 9.1. Final Letterforms (24/9/2023)

Fig. 9.2. Final Letterforms (PDF) (24/9/2023)

Fig. 9.3. Final Poster (24/9/2023)

Fig. 9.4. Final Poster (PDF) (24/9/2023)

HONOR Competition

This was an extra exercise that was compulsory for us to complete. HONOR was hosting an art competition where we had to design either a phone wallpaper (normal or flip size was up to us), a watch display, or physical merchandise. I decided to go with a phone wallpaper. 

I started out by sketching out my ideas.

Fig. 10.1. Idea sketches (8/10/2023)

I wanted to do the flip phone screen size as I felt it would give me more room to create a story, since that's what I like to do. 

My first design shows a house. The phone wallpaper would be the outside, and the back and front of the phone would be the door, inside and outside respectively.

My second idea shows the melodies of life. Found in the birds in the morning, the children in the afternoon and evening and the cat at night. 

In the end, I decided to go with my second idea. The first I thought was too vague, that if I didn't explain it people wouldn't get it, but my second idea was straightforward enough. With that, I began the digitisation process.

Fig. 10.2. Beginning digitisation (8/10/2023)

I wanted all the pictures to flow properly into each other, so I had to make sure it did so from the beginning. The lines above are for the music bars, with the fourth panel being a duplicate of the first panel to ensure the flow was there on both sides. 

Fig. 10.3. Creating the notes and first panel (9/10/2023)

Then I created the basics, like the sky and the ground. I used the gradient tool for both of these. On the sky because I wanted the transition from day to night. Originally, I made the grass a gradient from white to green so that it would flow better with the music bars, however I changed my mind and made it an increasingly darker green instead. 

The music notes were created with the shape tool. 

I also created the lamp post for the first panel, adding a little silhouette of a bird onto it following the sketches. The grass was drawn with the blob brush tool.

Fig. 10.4. Creating the second panel (9/10/2023)

Next were the two children. I used the shape tool to create their bodies and drew the hair with the blob brush tool. 

Fig. 10.5. Creating the bench and final panel (9/10/2023)

After that I created the bench and cat. The cat was created with again the help of the shape and blob brush tools. 

As for the bench, I created it in 3D at first, trying to make it realistic and detailed. However, I didn't think this through properly or check it well enough, as afterwards I realised that it did not fit with the perspective of the rest of the artwork. The eye level was wrong. 

Fig. 10.6. Changing the bench (9/10/2023)

Therefore, I changed the perspective to have it be plain and simple, as if looking at it straight on. I felt this was more suitable, despite h
aving to erase the work I did. I also cut the bench at the mark between the panels and coloured it darker on the last panel to match the nighttime lighting. 

FINAL HONOR Competition Submission

Fig. 11.1. Final Submission (9/10/2023)

Fig. 11.2. Full three panels (9/10/2023)

Fig. 11.3. First panel (9/10/2023)

Fig. 11.4. Second panel (9/10/2023)

Fig. 11.5. Third panel (9/10/2023)

FEEDBACK

Week 1
General Feedback:
- Follow the technical rules, but don't forget the importance of aesthetics, hierarchy, and organisation of information
- Axial: axis doesn't have to be a single straight line, can be zigzag. Can have some tilting for contrast

Week 2
General Feedback:
- Make sure connected/ related information is easily identifiable as connected
- Don't make colour contrast too large, makes viewing less pleasant
- Be careful that the graphical elements enhance, not overwhelm the content. Make sure the focus of the viewer is still mostly on the information rather than the graphics
- Transitional doesn't have to be wavy, can be straight, as long as the lines are transitioning to the next. But choose either wavy or straight for a design and don't combine them, as it won't look united.
- A bilateral system is basically a central layout, so it has to be symmetrical
- When there are lines on the baseline of the text, it can make the text harder to read. One way to counter is to reduce the size of the line so it will be slightly below the baseline of the text.
- The recommended text size for print is 12pts.

Week 3
General Feedback:
- Keep the character of the font constant throughout the letterforms
- You can introduce new characteristics into the letterforms during the refinement process
- But make sure the characteristics align with the image chosen
- Sharp corners are actually a little rounded
- The word should be the focus of the poster, interacting with the image
- Make the image monochrome
- Poster should be 1024 x 1024 px

REFLECTIONS

Experience
This was a little difficult for me at this time, because there was something up with my laptop that did not allow me to use Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign. This meant I had to work on my task 1 in the library, and for my task 2 I searched for an alternative and used Inkscape. Despite this, I think my work for these two tasks turned out in a way I can be happy with, especially task 2. I had to adjust to using a new program for this task, but I managed to pull through and create a poster that I actually like the look of, so I'm glad.

Observations
In exercise 2, each letterform had to stand out and be clear on what letter it is, but should also blend into the crowd and the background image. Consistency is important though, so that the letters can easily be registered and understood to be related, especially since mine don't form a word. I also see how it's possible to search for letterforms in everyday things, like rain on a window. It was a little challenging to find them, but sometimes a bit of imagination can help create stretches. 

Findings
It can be difficult but important to pay attention to things like flow between panels. This kind of attention to detail can tie the design together that much more. However, it can be time consuming and complicated when dealing with things like paths rather than shapes. In fact, attention to detail like the height of the letterforms, is also important. Small details may not be noticeable at first glance, but when paying attention to it, it can add a lot. It can be noticeable psychologically too.

FURTHER READING

Week 6: Vinod Nair: Finding Type: A Novel Typography Exercise

Fig. 12. Finding Type: A Novel Typography Exercise by Vinod Nair (6/9/2023)

Although this is just an article written by my teacher about the very assignment I'm doing, the article provides many good visual examples of what to do and how to do it, and what I should be aiming for. It also goes more in depth into the steps involved in the exercise and explains them more to help me in areas like choosing the right picture to extract from.