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Typography Task 01: Exercises


27/08/2021 - 24/09/2021 (Week 01 - Week 05)
Adena Tan Sue Lynn / 0345769 / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Typography
Task 1 / Exercises

LECTURES

27/08/2021 (Week 01)
Today, Mr Vinod and Dr Charles introduced the class. They introduced the Facebook group and showed us where we could access files for our further reading and analysis. Examples of the books reccomended were Typer Primer, Vignelli Canon as well as Typography Basics.

We were also to start this particular blog post! Luckily, Mr Vinod also shared some helpful tips on how to manage our blogs as I was feeling really haywire with getting to know Blogger. 

Lecture 0: Introduction to Typography

What is Typography?
Typography is the act of creating letters/type frames. We can find them everywhere around us. Examples are animated forms, website design, application design, signage design, product labels and logotypes. 

Oxford definition: The style & appearance of printed matter.

Wikipedia definition: The art & technique of arranging types to make written languages legible, readable & appealing when displayed. 

Applying to my daily life, I noticed this is many things that I love. For example, Seventeen's logotype for their album, 헹가래. The designer had cleverly designed the Korean characters to intersect one another, and makes the overall look very intriguing to analyse. 

Figure 1.0.1 Seventeen's 헹가래 album cover, 21st June 2020.


Calligraphy

Next, the difference between calligraphy & lettering was established. Calligraphy is to be written, whereas lettering is to be drawn.

1. Black Letter Calligraphy

Figure 1.0.2 Black letter calligraphy, February 2005.

2. Informal Calligraphy/Penmanship

Figure 1.0.3 Calligraphy, n.d.

- In olden days, handwriting revealed one's class & educational background.

Who practices Typography?
Typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic designers, art directors, manga artists, comic book artists, graffiti artists, anyone who arranges words, letters, numbers to be published, displayed or distributed use typography in their work. Typography used to be a specialized occupation until the digital age. The Digital Age brought gave opportunity to utilize typography to new generations. Now, it is something that everybody does.

Typography Terminology

Font: Refers to individual fonts/weights within a typeface

Typeface: Refers to the entire family of fonts 

Figure 1.0.4 Lemon Milk's Fonts, 03 September 2021.

Figure 1.0.5 Different Typefaces, 03 September 2021.


Lecture 1: Development

Early Letterform Development: Phoenician to Roman

  • Initially scratching into wet clay/carving into stone.
  • Uppercase letterforms evolved from these tools & materials
  • At its' core, uppercase forms are simple combinations of straight lines & circles.
Figure 1.1.1 Left showcases Phoenicians votive stele Carthage, 4th Century B.C.E.
Right showcases Evolution from Phoenician Letter.

  • Greeks changed the direction of writing. Phoenicians wrote from the right to left, but the Greeks created a style of writing called 'boustrophedon' which means 'how the ox ploughs'. The style consisted of words being read from left to right and right to left with no use of letter space or punctuation.
Figure 1.1.2 Direction of the Greek's writing

  • Etruscan (& then Roman) carvers used to paint letterforms onto marble before inscribing them. This was due to the value of marble. Certain qualities of the carvers' strokes carried over into the carved letterforms.

Figure 1.1.3 Late first century B.C.E., Augustan inscription in the Roman Forum, Rome.

Figure 1.1.4 Early letterform development


Hand script from 3rd-10th century C.E.
  • Found in Roman monuments, square capitals were the written version. These letterforms have serifs added to the finish of the main strokes. Variety of strokes width were achieved when the reed pen was held at an angle of approximately 60 degrees off the perpendicular.
Figure 1.1.5 4th or 5th century: Square Capitals

  • Rustic capitals are a compressed version of square capitals. They allowed for twice as many words on a sheet of parchment and took less time to write. The writing instrument was held at an angle of approximately 30 degrees off the perpendicular. Despite being easier and faster to write, they were slightly harder to read due to the compressed nature.
Figure 1.1.6 Late 3rd - mid 4th century: Rustic Capitals

  • Both capitals were typically reserved for documents of some intended performance. As for everyday transactions, they were typically written in cursive which was utilized for speed. Here, we can see the beginning of the lowercase letterforms.
Figure 1.1.7 4th century: Roman Cursive

  • Uncials incorporated aspects of the Roman cursive hand. These were particularly obvious in the shapes of A, D, E, H, M, U, Q. 'Uncia' in Latin means the 'twelfth of anything'. As a result, some scholars think that uncials refer to letters that are one inch high. However, it might be more accurate to think of uncials as small letters. Broad forms of uncials are more readable at small sizes than rustic capitals. Uncials did not have lowercase or uppercase forms.
Figure 1.1.8 4th-5th century: Uncials

  • Half-uncials were the further formalization of the cursive hands. They marked the formal beginning of lowercase letterforms, replete with ascenders & descenders, 2000 years after the origin of the Phoenician alphabet. 
Figure 1.1.9 C. 500: Half-uncials

  • Charlemagne, the first unifier of Europe since the Romans, issued an edict in 789 to standardize all ecclesiastical texts to avoid misunderstanding of texts. Alcuin of York, Abbot of St Martin of Tours, was trusted with this task. The monks rewrote the texts using majuscules (uppercase), miniscule, capitalization as well as punctuation which set the standard of calligraphy for a century.
Figure 1.1.10 C.925: Caloline miniscule

Blackletter to Gutenberg's type
  • With dissolution of Charlemagne's empire came regional variations towards Alcuin's script.
  • Nothern Europe is where a condense strongly vertical letterform known as Blackletter or textura gained popularity. As for Southern Europe, a rounder more open hand called 'rotunda' gained popularity. The humanistic script in Italy is based on Alcuin's miniscule.
Figure 1.1.11 C. 1300: Blackletter (Textura)

  • Gutenberg's skills included engineering, metalsmithing & chemistry. To build pages that accurately mimicked the work of the scribe's hand, he marshaled them all. Blackletter of the northern Europe. His type mold required a different brass matrix, or negative impression for each letterform. Developed a system to print quickly. 

Figure 1.1.12 c. 1455: 42 line bible, Johan Gutenberg

Lecture 2: Basics

Describing Letterforms

Typography employs a number of technical terms. They describe specific parts of letterforms. Knowing them will make it much easier to identify specific typefaces.

Baseline: The imaginary line of the visual base of the letterforms
Median: The imaginary line defining the x-height of the letterforms
X-Height: The height in any typeface of the lowercase 'x'

Figure 1.2.1 Baseline, Median & X-Height

Stroke: Any line which defines the basic letterform. Best way to remember letterform is a stroke.

Figure 1.2.2 Stroke

Apex/Vertex: The point created by joining two diagonal stems.

Figure 1.2.3 Apex/Vertex

Arm: Short strokes off the stem of the letterform. It can be either horizontal or inclined upwards.

Figure 1.2.4 Arm

Ascender: The portion of the stem of a lowercase letterform that projects above the median.

Figure 1.2.5 Ascender

Barb: The half-serif finish on some curved strokes.

Figure 1.2.6 Barb

Beak: The half-serif finish on some horizontal arms.

Figure 1.2.7 Beak

Bowl: The rounded form that describes a counter. The bowl is either opened or closed.

Figure 1.2.8 Bowl

Bracket: The transition between the serif & the stem

Figure 1.2.9 Bracket

Cross Bar: The horizontal stroke in a letterform that joins two stems together

Figure 1.2.10 Cross Bar

Cross Stroke: Horizontal stroke in a letterform that joins two stems together. (Usually in lowercase f & t)

Figure 1.2.11 Cross Stroke

Crotch: The interior space where two strokes meet

Figure 1.2.12 Crotch

Descender: The portion of the stem of a lowercase letterform that projects below the baseline.

Figure 1.2.13 Descender

Ear: The stroke extending out from the main stem or body of the letterform

Figure 1.2.14 Ear

Em/en: Originally refers to the width of the uppercase M. Em is now the distance equal to the size of the typeface. An en is half the size of an em. Most often used to describe em/en spaces and em/en dashes. A gap in between words.

Finial: The rounded non-serif terminal to a stroke.

Figure 1.2.15 Finial

Leg: Short stroke off the stem of the letterform, either @ the bottom of the stroke, or inclined downward.

Figure 1.2.16 Leg

Ligature: Character formed by the combination of two or more letterforms.

Figure 1.2.17 Finial

Link: Stroke that connects the bowl & the loop of a lowercase g.

Figure 1.2.18 Link

Serif: Right-angled or oblique foot at the end of the stroke.

Shoulder: The curved stroke that is not part of a bowl.

Figure 1.2.19 Shoulder

Spine: The curved stem of the S.

Spur: The extension that articulates the junction of the curved and rectilinear stroke.

Stem: Significant vertical or oblique stroke.

Stress: Orientation of letterform, indicated by the think stroke in round forms.

Figure 1.2.20 Stress

Swash: Flourish that extends the stroke of the letterform.

Figure 1.2.21 Swash

Tail: Curved diagonal stroke at the finish of certain letterforms. (Q)

Terminal: The self-contained finish of a stroke without the serif. May be flat, flared, acute, grave, concave, convex, or rounded as a ball or a teardrop.

The Font

Uppercase letters: Capital letters, including certain accented vowels, the c cedilla & the n tildge, and the a/e & o/e ligatures.

Figure 1.2.22 Uppercase letters

Lowercase letters: Lowercase letters include the same characters as uppercase.

Figure 1.2.23 Lowercase letters

Small Capitals: Uppercase letterforms draw to the x-height of the typeface. Small caps are primarily found in the serif fonts as a part of what is called an expert set. Allows for non-disruptive bodies of text. 

Figure 1.2.24 Small Capitals

Uppercase Numerals: Also known as lining figures, these numerals are the same height as the uppercase letters & are set to the same kerning width. Successfully used with tabular materials or in any appropriate situation.

Figure 1.2.25 Uppercase Numerals

Lowercase Numerals: Known as old style figures / text figures, these numerals are set to x-height with ascenders and descenders. Best used when one would use upper and lowercase letterforms. Less common in sans serif type-faces than in serif. Originally the form that numbers used to take.

Figure 1.2.26 Lowercase Numerals

Italic: Forms in Italic refer back to fifteenth century Italian cursive handwriting.

Figure 1.2.27 Italic

Punctuation, misc characters: Can change with different typefaces. It's important to know with all the characters available before choosing the appropriate type.

Figure 1.2.28 Punctuation

Ornaments: Used as flourishes in invitations of certificates. They are usually provided as a font in a larger typeface family. 

Figure 1.2.29 Ornaments


Describing Typefaces

Figure 1.2.30 Describing Typefaces

Roman: The uppercase forms are derived from inscriptions of Roman monuments. Slightly lighter is referred to as 'Book'.

Italic: Fifteenth century handwriting on which forms are based. Oblique conversely are based on roman form of typeface.

Boldface: Characterized as thicker stroke than a roman form. Can be called semi-bold, medium, black, extra bold, or super, depending on the strokes of the typeface.

Light: A lighter stroke than the roman form. Even lighter, would be called thin.

Condense: Version of roman form, extremely condensed versions are called 'compressed'.

Extended: Extended variation of roman font.

Lecture 3: Text - Part 1

Kerning & Letterspacing

Kerning: The automatic adjustment of space between letters. Often mistaken as letterspacing. In figure below, left doesn't have kerning, whereas the right has kerning.

Figure 1.3.1 Kerning

Letterspacing: Addition of space between the letters.

Tracking: The addition & removal of space in a word / sentence. Has normal, loose & tight tracking.

Figure 1.3.2 Tracking

Designers always letterspace uppercase letters, but there has been strong resistance within the type community to letterspace lowercase letters within text. Uppercase letters are created to be able to stand on their own, whereas lowercase letters require the counterform created between letters to maintain the line of reading. 
Figure 1.3.3 Letterspace in lowercase

Text Formatting

Flush left: Closely mirrors the asymmetrical experience of handwriting. Each line starts at the same point, but ends whenever the last word on the line ends. Spaces between words are consistent throughout, allowing the type to create an even gray value. Flush left always has ragged right. Best used for Roman text for easy readability.

Figure 1.3.4 Flush left

Centered: Imposes symmetry upon text, assigning equal value & weight to both ends of any line. Transforms fields of text into shapes & adds a pictorial quality to the material. It creates such a strong shape, so it is important to amend line breaks so that the text does not appear jagged. Should be used sparingly for smaller amounts of text.

Figure 1.3.5 Centered

Flush right:Places emphasis on the end of a line instead of the start. Useful in situations (captions) where the relationship between text & image might be ambiguous without a strong orientation to the right. 
Figure 1.3.6 Flush right

Justified: Like centering, imposes a symmetrical shape. Achieved by reducing / increasing spaces between words & letters. The result openness of lines can occasionally produce 'rivers' of white space running vertically through text. Careful attention to line breaks & hyphenation is required to amend issues.
Figure 1.3.7 Justified

Designers set type depending upon several factors: personal preference, prevailing culture, & the need to express. However, it is important to keep in mind the typographer's first job; clear, appropriate presentation of the author's message. 

Type that calls attention before reader can get to the words is interference. If you see the type before you see the words, change the type.

Texture

It is important to learn how different typefaces feel as they suit different messages. Good typographers knows which typeface best suits the message at hand.Consider the different textures of typefaces. Type with a generous x-height or relative heavy stroke produces a darker mass on the page than a type with a smaller x-height or lighter stroke. Sensitivity to these differences are fundamental for creating successful layouts.

Figure 1.3.8 Anatomy of Typeface

Leading & Line Length

Type size: Should be large enough to be easily read at a arms-length

Leading: Text that is set too tightly encourages vertical eye movement. Type that is set too loosely creates striped patterns that distract the reader from the material.

Line Length: Appropriate leading for text is as much a function of the line length as it is a question of type size and leading. Shorter lines require less leading; longer lines more. A good rule of thumb is to keep line length between 55-65 characters. Extremely long or short lines lengths impairs reading.

InDesign Notes
Facing pages: Usually for books
Ctrl+Shift+Bigger than or Ctrl+Shift+Alt: Increase size of word
Ctrl+;: Turn off margin & columns
Alt+< / Edit>Preferences: Kerning
Alt+>: Increase spacing

Lecture 4: Text - Part 2

Indicating Paragraphs

There are several options for indicating paragraphs. 

Below, we see the 'Pilcrow' which is a holdover from medieval manuscripts that are seldom used today.

Figure 1.4.1 Pilcrow

Below displays a 'line space' (leading) between the paragraphs. Hence, if the line space is 12pt, the paragraph space is 12pt. This ensures cross-alignment across columns of text. Cross-alignment creates good reading rhythm. 

Figure 1.4.2 Line Space

Line Space VS Leading.

Figure 1.4.3 Line Space vs Leading

Below shows standard indentation. Typically, the indent is the same size of the line spacing or the same as the point size of text. Usually seen on newspapers, and best used when text is justified.

Figure 1.4.4 Standard indentation

Below showcases the method of extended paragraphs which creates unusually wide columns of text. Despite these issues, there can be compositional / functional reasons for choosing. Sometimes used in academic material.

Figure 1.4.5 Extended Paragraphs

Widows & Orphans

In traditional typesetting, there are two unpardonable gaffes. These are widows & orphans. Designers must be aware to avoid the occurrence. 

Widow: Short line of type left alone at the end of a column of text. Can be avoided by adding more words in the same line as the potential widow.

Orphan: Short line of type left alone at the start of a new column. Can be avoided by properly placing the lines, and checking the previous column.

Figure 1.4.6 Widows & Orphans

In justified text, both are considered serious gaffes. Flush right & ragged left text is somewhat more forgiving towards widows. However, orphans remain unpardonable. Widows' solution is to re-break your line endings throughout your paragraph so that the last line is not noticeably short. For orphans, they require more care. Careful typographers ensure that no column of text starts with the last line of the preceding paragraph.

Highlighting Text



Headline within text



Lecture 05: Understanding

Understanding letterforms
Uppercase letter form below suggests symmetry. However, it is not symmetrical. It is easy to see the two different stroke widths of the Baskerville stroke form; more noteworthy is the fact that each bracket connecting the serif to the steam has a unique arc. 

Figure 1.5.1 Letter A Baskerville

Letters
Uppercase letter below may appear symmetrical, but a closer look tells that the width of the left slope is thinner than the right stroke. Both Baskerville (previous) & Univers (below) demonstrate the meticulous care a type designer took to create letterforms that are internally harmonious & individually expressive.

Figure 1.5.2 Letter A Univers

The complexity of each individual letterform is demonstrated by examining the lowercase "a" of two similar sans-serif typefaces: Helvetica & Univers. The difference in character between the two can be seen by how the stems of the letterforms finish & how the bowls meet the stems showcases the palpable difference in character between the two.

Figure 1.5.3 Letter a: Helvetica & Univers

Maintaining x-height
X-Height generally describes the size of lowercase forms. However, curved strokes, such as "s", must rise above the median, or sink below the baseline, to appear to be the same size as the vertical & horizontal strokes they adjoin. 

Figure 1.5.4 X-Height

Figure 1.5.5 X-Height

Counterform
Recognizing specific letterforms allows us to develop a sensitivity to the counterform. The space allows us to see how the strokes are described and contain the spaces.

Figure 1.5.6 Counterform

Contrast
Typography also uses the basic principles of Graphic Design. Below are examples of typography using contrast.

Figure 1.5.7 Contrast


INSTRUCTIONS

 

Exercise 01: Type Expression

Idea Process
We were given the chance to vote for the selection of words to be used for our exercise. The whole process was very exciting as a class as we got to suggest words and vote.

Figure 2.1.1 Voting for the selection of words, 27/08/2021

Once I tried thinking of ideas for each of the words, I decided to use these words.
  • Terror
  • Space
  • Water
  • Bark

With that, I came up with a few sketches to visualize my ideas clearly.

For 'Terror', I wanted to incorporate the feeling to fear people experience when they are faced with terror. Firstly, I tried sketching a terror with a big scary face with lowercase letters to emphasize the terror the O was experiencing. Next, I sketched a feeling of shiver onto terror, which made people shake in fear. Finally, I tried playing with the first idea and made the TERR_R capitalized and made the expression much smaller.

Figure 2.1.2 Terror sketches, 02/09/2021

For 'Space', I first thought of outer space when sketching, which lead to the top two sketches. Both of them were to represent a planet and had an irony of having no 'space' as they were tied together. Next, I tried to think of how just space could be emphasized by the letters. The bottom left has the A spaced away from the SP and CE, looking isolated. The bottom right spaced out all the letters far away from each other.

Figure 2.1.3 Space sketches, 02/09/2021

For 'Water', I tried to think of how water lives in my mind. The first two thoughts were water drops and water waves. Then, I looked at my water bottle and imagined what it would look like if it fell all over my notes. I'd be extremely upset, but oh well.. It led to the water smudge idea. 

Figure 2.1.4 Water sketches, 02/09/2021

Finally, for 'Bark', I kept thinking of all the ways a dog could be represented in the word. As I kept looking at my aunt's dog, I realized that the B sort of looks like a snout! I then added a nose and spots to try and further represent the dog. Then, I tried making another version but with more items that represents a dog like a bone and a ball. Finally, I looked at the A and changed it into a paw. 

Figure 2.1.5 Bark sketches, 02/09/2021

Digitization
After getting feedback on my sketches, I chose one design for each of the selected words. Then, I digitized them in Adobe Illustrator.
Figure 2.1.6 Digitization of chosen ideas, 09/09/2021

When receiving feedback, I noted down the feedback that I had gotten from Mr Vinod & Dr Charles. According to their feedback & suggestions, I altered "Terror" & "Water".

Figure 2.1.7 Digitization of words, 23/09/2021

Type Animation

During 10/07/2021, we were given the chance to animate a gif for one of the chosen typefaces. Below was my first gif. It appeared to be bouncing before being pushed back into space.

Figure 2.2.1 First 'Space' gif, 10/09/2021

My second tryout was somehow even more of a fail than the first. I had forgotten to align the "SP" and "CE", which made the words float up at the end.

Figure 2.2.2 Second 'Space' gif, 16/09/2021

Realizing that, I went back into Adobe Illustrator to fix the alignment. However, I found the ending to be a little awkward, as the space jumps out, and the 'slowing down' of the "SP" & "CE" to be a little jumpy. 

Figure 2.2.3 Third 'Space' gif, 16/09/2021

Finally, I decided to follow the general feedback and implement it into my gif. I tried to make it reloop, and smoother. (Which was hard, as my Adobe Photoshop is so laggy.)

Figure 2.2.4 Fourth 'Space' gif, 23/09/2021

Final Submission

Figure 2.2.5 Final Submission: Type Expression, 23/09/2021


Figure 2.2.6 Final Submission: Animated Type Expression, 23/09/2021


Exercise 02: Text Formatting

Work Process

To start, I watched the videos provided by Mr Vinod. I followed the first of the series, which was to learn how to carry out kerning & tracking. Below was me following his tutorial to learn kerning & tracking. 

Figure 2.3.1 Kerning & Tracking, 23/09/2021

Then, I continued to watch his videos to further understand the process of text formatting. Below is what I produced. I made sure to cross-align the work.

Figure 2.3.2 Cross-alignment attempt, 23/09/2021

Figure 2.3.3 Text Formatting Exercise Version 01, 23/09/2021

The above version includes:

  • Headline Typeface / Font / Font Size: Janson Text LT Std 75 Bold, 22pt
  • Sub-Headline Typeface / Font / Font Size: Futura Std Heavy Oblique, 10 pt
  • Body Text Typeface / Font / Font Size: Futura Std Book, 9pt
  • Picture Caption Text Typeface / Font / Font Size: Futura Std Light, 8pt
  • Text Leading: Heading (24pt), Sub-Headline (12pt), Body Text (11pt), Picture Caption Text (10pt)
  • Characters Per Line: 55-70 (Too much)
  • Alignment: Rivers (Left Justification)

Looking at the above, I knew I wanted to try to learn how adjust some things, especially the Characters per line, as I was too focused on adjusting the hyphenations in Version 01. I also adjusted my attempt of cross-aligning so that more lines would cross-align, rather than just two lines.

Figure 2.3.4 Cross-alignment attempt 2, 24/09/2021

Figure 2.3.5 Text Formatting Exercise Version 01, 24/09/2021

The above version includes:

  • Headline Typeface / Font / Font Size: Janson Text LT Std 75 Bold, 22pt
  • Sub-Headline Typeface / Font / Font Size: Futura Std Heavy Oblique, 10 pt
  • Body Text Typeface / Font / Font Size: Futura Std Book, 9pt
  • Picture Caption Text Typeface / Font / Font Size: Futura Std Light, 8pt
  • Text Leading: Heading (24pt), Sub-Headline (12pt), Body Text (11pt), Picture Caption Text (10pt)
  • Characters Per Line: 55-65
  • Alignment: Rivers (Left Justification)
However, I wanted to try out more layouts to determine a good layout for cross-alignment. So, I played around with the layouts.
Figure 2.3.6 Cross-alignment attempt 3, 24/09/2021



Figure 2.3.7 Text Formatting Exercise Version 03, 24/09/2021

The above version includes:

  • Headline Typeface / Font / Font Size: Janson Text LT Std 75 Bold, 22pt
  • Sub-Headline Typeface / Font / Font Size: Futura Std Heavy Oblique, 10 pt
  • Body Text Typeface / Font / Font Size: Futura Std Book, 9pt
  • Picture Caption Text Typeface / Font / Font Size: Futura Std Light, 8pt
  • Text Leading: Heading (24pt), Sub-Headline (12pt), Body Text (11pt), Picture Caption Text (10pt)
  • Characters Per Line: 55-65
  • Alignment: Rivers (Left Justification)
However, after doing Version 03, I knew I wanted to do a more reader-friendly layout.

Figure 2.3.8 Cross-alignment attempt 4, 24/09/2021

Figure 2.3.9 Text Formatting Exercise Version 04, 24/09/2021

The above version includes:

  • Headline Typeface / Font / Font Size: Janson Text LT Std 75 Bold, 22pt
  • Sub-Headline Typeface / Font / Font Size: Futura Std Heavy Oblique, 10 pt
  • Body Text Typeface / Font / Font Size: Futura Std Book, 9pt
  • Picture Caption Text Typeface / Font / Font Size: Futura Std Light, 8pt
  • Text Leading: Heading (24pt), Sub-Headline (12pt), Body Text (11pt), Picture Caption Text (10pt)
  • Characters Per Line: 55-65
  • Alignment: Rivers (Left Justification)

Looking at all my attempts, I found it safe to say I liked Version 04 the best. It allowed for the Headline to stand out, instead of the pictures. I also liked how the body text on the right column gave some breathing space at the top right. Next, the photos also flowed with the text, only starting when the column doesn't have anymore text to show, which makes doesn't force the readers to look at the photo.

Final Submission

Figure 2.3.10 Final Submission: Text Formatting, 24/09/2021



FEEDBACK

Week 2 (03/09/2021)

General Feedback: Layout of exercise is to be in a square format. Next, it is good to try and emphasise the typefaces given as "less is more." Besides that, exaggeration can bring interesting outcomes to the task. Next, cutting layouts into half can create disturbing static conflict in a layout. Finally, learn to take feedback and apply to oneself to be able to learn to self-progress.

Specific Feedback: For Terror, choosing a proper thin typeface will make the idea the best. For Bark, it would be best to modify the snout to express the dog better. For Space, the irregular spacing in the third sketch is interesting. For Water, the water smudge is a good idea.

Week 3 (10/09/2021)

General Feedback: We were reminded of no colour is to be used in the exercise. Then, Mr Vinod showcased how the brush widget can be used in the exercise. Next, we were advised to use the ten typefaces provided to us to get to know the ten typefaces intimately & understand why they are a few of the best typefaces around. Distortion can be used at a minimum. It was highlighted that our work has to be looked and worked within the square frame we were assigned. We should also view how the four artworks sit together. Artwork should also be exported as an artboard instead of screengrabbed. The given point size for the typeface in the artboard is 7.

Specific Feedback: For Terror, the expression replacing the O (:O) needs more expression. For Water, the typeface chosen is good, but it would be better to remove the water smudge/water gradient. As for Space & Bark, they are both okay. After trying out the animation of the word, 'Space' seemed to be bouncing but it was alright for the time given

Week 04 (17/09/2021)

General Feedback: We should ask ourselves some questions while animating. These include, "Is animation suitable?", "Does animation reflect/enhance meaning of word?", "Does animation reflect form being expressed?", "Does animation create a smile in mind?" & "How can it be improved?". Next, it was said that putting care into how things move with usage of kinetic energy, potential energy etc, is good. We were once again reminded to use the ten typefaces given. Next, to ensure that a artboard is filled completely (especially when using coloured backgrounds), make the box slightly bigger than the artboard. Then, animation of words can be good to have an ending. Finally, we were advised to understand the words to be able to create better works.


REFLECTIONS

Type expression allowed me to think about words, and their true meanings. It also allowed me to analyze and learn how to choose the best typeface for each word. Besides that, I also learnt how to make a Gif, which was something new to me. I always thought people who made Gifs were hiding some super secret information, but now, I'm one of those people! Not only that, learning how to format text will be so helpful in the future as I always just played with the format and hoped it was right. I'm glad to say that I now know better.
 

FURTHER READING

I decided to read 'Typographic Design: Form and Communication', a book which was supplied by Mr Vinod in the Facebook group. 

Figure 3.1.1 Cover of Typographic Design: Form and Communication

I decided to read Chapter 02: The Anatomy of Typography to learn more.

It's stated in the beginning chapter that typographic design is a complex human activity. It mentions how the twenty-six alphabets can be transformed into a tremendous amount of words, which allows for visual acknowledgement of languages. 

Figure 3.2.1 Major Components of Letterform Construction
Chapter 02: The Anatomy of Typography, Page 32.

Figure 3.2.2 Major Components of Letterform Construction
Chapter 02: The Anatomy of Typography, Page 33.

Reading this after have watched Mr Vinod's Lecture 02, it was very interesting to see all the features combined. It was interesting to see how letters could defer look in various ways just by adding or taking away Serifs, Ears, Tails, and many more. It was also intriguing how these features are usually overlooked, but have so much detail and care put into them.

Figure 3.2.3 Proportions of Letterform
Chapter 02: The Anatomy of Typography, Page 34.


Next, proportions of letterform was introduced. It was noted that there were four major variables.
  1. Stroke-to-height ratio.
  2. Contrast in stroke weight.
  3. Expanded & condensed styles.
  4. X-height & proportion.

Figure 3.2.4 Historical Classification of Typefaces
Chapter 02: The Anatomy of Typography, Page 38.

Figure 3.2.5 Historical Classification of Typefaces
Chapter 02: The Anatomy of Typography, Page 39.

With the above pages, it was easier to identify the differences between the Historical Classifications of Typefaces. Even for a simple character like '&', it has been created in so many different ways, and seems to be so versatile, like many other letters.

It was helpful to also know the history behind some styles. For example, Italic, which was used as an independent typestyle in the olden days. Close-set & condensed was how the first Italic characters got described as. Some Italic styles were even based on handwriting.

Figure 3.2.6 Typographic Measurement
Chapter 02: The Anatomy of Typography, Page 43.

Something I never seemed to overlook is definitely how space plays such an important role onto Typography. In the top figure of the page, it showcases the different spacings. I think the thick quads are my favourite, as it's the nicest middle. The Em quads somehow make me feel uneasy with how much space is in the middle, with the Hair quads, giving me slight dizziness at how close the words are. Suddenly, the Justify align option of documents appeared in my head. I guess that is where spacing is mostly used for people in their everyday lives. With different spacing each line to ensure the body of text is in a rectangle form rather than messy. 

Something else I seemed to have overlooked was how spacing also increases with the sizing. As we can see with the bottom right figure, it showcases how the P in points are all lined up, but the spacing gets bigger as the size increases, which is understandable, but I never properly sensed how much until reading this chapter. 

Figure 3.2.7 Typographic Measurement
Chapter 02: The Anatomy of Typography, Page 44.

Not only that, interletter spacing is something that's tremendously important too. It determines how separated/close characters are. Lesser space can makes characters touch, and more space provides more room for characters.


References
Carter, R., Phillip, B. M., Day, B., Maxa, S., Sanders, M. (2015). Typographic Design: Form and Communication. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 

Picture Credits
Figure 1.0.1 - Seventeen 7th mini album '헹가래[Heng:garæ]' Online Cover. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/pledis_17/status/1274537528008245248
Figure 1.3 - Calligraphy Styles. Retrieved from https://pretty-letters.com/calligraphy-styles/ 
Figure 1.0.4 - 1.0.5 - Personal documentation
Figure 1.1.1 - 1.5.7 - Mr Vinod's lecture slides
Figure 2.1.1 - Facebook Group Poll
Figure 2.1.2 - 2.3.10 - Personal Documentation
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