Typography - Task 2: Typographic Exploration & Communication
Samuel Keane / 0376236
Task 2
JUMPLINKS
3. TASK
LECTURES
Lecture 5: Typo_5_Understanding
1. Understanding Letterforms
Sometimes, uppercase letterforms can look symmetrical even when they are not. For instance, it is easy to tell the different stroke weights on Baskerville's uppercase A. The uppercase A in Univers, however, may appear symmetrical at first. But upon closer inspection, it can be seen that the with on the left slope is a little thinner than the right stroke.
These are intentional as they are both internally harmonious and individually expressive.
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| Fig. 1.1.2, left: Baskerville right: Univers, (26/10/24) |
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| Fig. 1.1.2, left: Helvetica right: Univers, (26/10/24) |
2. Maintaining x-height
Curved strokes, such as in the lowercase 's', have to rise above the median or sink below the baseline in order to give the impression of equality (in terms of sizes) as the horizontal and vertical strokes they adjoin.
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| Fig. 1.1.3, Maintaining x-height of curved strokes, (26/10/24) |
Knowing the space outside of the form of the letter are as important as understanding the shapes of the form itself. This is important since it helps in the readability and legibility of the text.
Close examinations provide a good feel for how the balance between the form and its counterform is achieved and a palpalable sense of letterform's unique characteristics.
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| Fig. 1.1.4, Left: Helvetica Black; right: Baskerville, (26/10/24) |
4. Contrast
Sometimes, when dealing with various sets of information at once, there needs to be a way to differentiate those information. One of the way to do that is with contrast.
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| Fig. 1.1.4, Contrast (26/10/24) |
INSTRUCTIONS
TASK
Week 6
1. References & Sketches
After watching the brief tutorial provided by Mr. Vinod, I immediately realized that this task is basically an amalgamation of the two previous exercises. Therefore, I need to do both type expressions for the thumbnail and also do the layout for the text. Before I started working on Illustrator for the headers, I am going to find references and do a little bit of sketching.
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| Fig. 3.1.1, References, (27/10/24) |
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| Fig. 3.1.2, Sketches, (27/10/24) |
2. Digitalization
Next, I started to work on the heading using Illustrator. I tried to put focus on the 'Bauhaus' text, so make the text bigger. I also used some shapes to replace the letters to emphasize the 'Bauhaus' theme of the heading. Here are some of my ideas I turned digital after a few hours of working.
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| Fig. 3.1.3, Heading design on Illustrator, (27/10/24) |
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| Fig. 3.1.4, Heading design on Illustrator, (27/10/24) |
Week 7
After receiving several feedbacks from Ms. Vitiyaa, I decided to change some of my layouts and tidy them up.
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| Fig. 3.1.5, Revised layouts, (05/11/24) |
After further consideration, I picked Layout 1 as my final layout.
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| Fig. 3.1.6, Final layout, (05/11/24) |
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| Fig. 3.1.7, Final layout (with grid), (05/11/24) |
HEAD
Fonts: 'Bauhaus': Futura Std Book; 'The Role of', 'Thought on Modern Culture': Futura Std Heavy
Type Size/s: 91 pt, 28 pt
Leading: 0 pt
Paragraph spacing: 0 pt
BODY
Font: Futura Std Book
Type Size/s: 10 pt
Leading: 12 pt
Paragraph spacing: 12 pt
Average characters per-line: 47-57 characters
Alignment: Left aligned
Margins: 12.7 mm (top, left, right, bottom)
Columns: 2
Gutter: 5 mm
CAPTIONS
Font: Futura Std Book
Type Size/s: 14 pt
Leading: 16 pt
Paragraph spacing: 16 pt
FEEDBACKS
Week 6
Week 6 feedbacks are on Task 1
Week 7
General Feedbacks
Ms. Vitiyaa gave feedbacks to every student on their task 2 layouts. Also, we were told to start working on task 3 assignments with graph papers and markers.
Specific Feedbacks
Layout 1: Nothing wrong with the heading, but the text needs to be adjacent with each other.
Layout 2: The spacing between text is uneven.
Layout 3: Make the text adjacent to each other.
REFLECTIONS
Experience
I remember stressing out when I was sketching and digitizing the layout out on my tablet and it turned out so badly. In the end, I scrapped all of the designs and started working on the Bauhaus text the next day. I was also struggling at creating the layout at first, but after looking at more reference I finally get more ideas and went with it. All in all, I feel like this task made me understand a little bit more on designing layouts and how to make layouts that are pleasant to look at.
Observations
During this task, I realized that it is hard to design a layout with minimal shapes since we need to be creative on putting and arranging the text and heading. It made me starting to compare my works to my senior's work often and it made me want to be on the same level as them. Also, I realized that I have gotten more proficient on using Illustrator and InDesign for working on layouts and typography in general.
Findings
The minimalistic nature of text layouts made me realized that it is hard to design a layout with minimal shapes since we need to be creative on putting and arranging the text and heading. In my case, there is only so much a designer can do with a specific sets of words until they run out of ideas when designing a heading.
FURTHER READING
Why Fonts Matter by Sarah Hyndmann
Why Fonts Matter is a book about why fonts are important and how they affect us more than we realize. Hyndman also shows us how different fonts can make us feel certain ways or even change how we understand messages. For example, some fonts feel serious and professional, while others can feel a little bit more fun or casual.
The first chapter is all about telling the power of fonts and why they’re more important than people think. Hyndman tells explains that fonts are like the “personality” of text. They give words a specific atmosphere that can change how we understand the context of what we’re reading. She then dive into how fonts can trigger emotions, memories, and even physical reactions.
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