TYPOGRAPHY | TASK 3: TYPE DESIGN & COMMUNICATION
TYPOGRAPHY | TASK 3: TYPE DESIGN & COMMUNICATION
|| 10/06/24 – 22/07/24 (Week 8 – Week 13)
|| Liu Cheng Rui, 0370930
|| Typography
|| Task 3: Type Design & Communication.
3. Process work
1.1 Pre-recorded lectures/briefings
BRIEFING FOR TASK 3 - TYPEFACE CONSTRUCTION (SHAPES)
Set up Artboard in AI: 1000 pt height.
Draw out rulers: Right-click on artboard > Show Rulers (points). Put your baseline at 0; generally, x-height is 500 pt, but determine your own via your own design.
To have the dots at the outlines: Path > Outline Stroke
]EXTRA - HOW PUNCTUATIONS RELATED TO EACH OTHER? (Source: Insta@grillitype)
.
Its shape is related to i (dot), but slightly larger. Heavier font requires heavier punctuation.
Large enough to indicate a pause in text, but not interfere with the flow of reading.
May slightly less overshoot than O (round period) or sits directly on baseline (square period).
,
Roughly the height of two stacked periods.
Comma head slightly smaller than period.
Downstroke of terminals angle is related to the angle in S.
...
It replaces three consecutive periods.
Decreasing dot's width and weight.
1.2 Class Summary
Week 8: Tried a bit of calligraphy using 5 tools.
Week 9: Tutorial to digitalize our calligraphy.
Week 10: Taking Goodwork to share the importance of research to break new ground. Create but based on other researches too. However, most of the things are not apple to apple, so find something similar.
Tips
Methods: (1) brush to write + minimal pen tool to adjust. (2) pen tool to write. (3) shape building tool, then adjust, which you're fully constructing it instead of the computer helping you. Took longest time but precise.
To add roughness to your type: Calligraphic Brush Options > Edit accordingly.
To make lines become "editable" shapes. Object > Path > Outline stroke
Use pathfinder > Minus front
Week 11: We had a small activity which everyone gives comments on e-portfolio of two locals and two foreigners outside our table. Mr Vinod gave a tutorial on FontLab.
Setting up FontLab:
(1) Ctrl + , (Edit > Preference) > Paste & Duplicate > Mark "Keep stroke and colors, place color elements" > Mark "Import original position: prefer AI vector for format" > Mark "Keep position if available" > Mark "Pasting contour to another element preserves appearance."
(2) Open Files:
• Font info > Name your font's Family name, and Style name.
• Font Dimensions > x-height 500
• Note > To write notes of your typefaces: "This is a font for display uses only, please don't use it as text. This is a licensed/- typeface. You can visit my website for more details, e.g. your blog link.
• Legal > Copyright. Google EULA licensing for more.
• License > Copy paste your license agreement here.
• Trademark > Your nameline, eg. ·v·
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Figure 1.3.1 Example of a license agreement, Week 11 (13/6/2023).
Task 3: Type Design & Communication (30%)
The end goal is to design a few western alphabets of your own design: a e t k g r i y m p n ! # , . To begin, study and analyze (deconstruct) anatomical parts of two existing font designs that adheres to the direction that you would like to head in. Then do rough sketches to explore the options and begin digitalization upon approval. Software: Adobe Illustrator (AI) then FontLab7 demo.
Finally, use the fonts to create a poster with a few rules:
- Letters that you use in your font should be a sentence of about 6 words (if include words like I, am); or a sentence of about 4 words (if your words are long).
- Cannot change the size of the sentence.
- Can play with alignment and composition.
- PDF (One portrait layout in A4 size)
- To write credits (eg. Kezia Serif by Vinod J. Nair, 2021.), use Univers (Regular) 12 pt, leading can be 2.5, 3 or larger for A4 paper.
Marking Criteria:
- Evidence of in-depth research and visual analysis is visible.
- Multiple ideas have been explored with great care and deliberation.
- The design process showcases knowledge of typographic convention, methodology and production.
- The designs are extremely well crafted, consistent and technically sound.
- To develop student’s ability to construct a readable and legible font.
- To develop student’s ability to design a font with consistent characteristics premised on research and analysis.
Timeframe:
- Week 8 – Week 12 (Deadline on Week 13)
3.1 Research
To begin, we are tasked to study and analyze anatomical parts of one (1) existing font designs from the 10 fonts given and one (1) other font from fonts.google.com, font.share.com, etc., by deconstruction or dissection. The purpose of deconstruction is to give us a general idea/principle of how other create their font.
I also observed how details of different letters differ from one and another.
3.2 Exploration
The first time for font design, I chose to outline my sketch on paper first, during which I drew on some works of the website sent by the teacher, and completed the first version of the sketch。
This sketch has some problems, for example, the stem of the character # is different from other characters, so it needs to be adjusted.
Finally, the teacher chose two fonts and asked me to design the remaining letters for comparison.
Final sketch
Uppercase version
Lowercase version
3.2 Exploration
The first time for font design, I chose to outline my sketch on paper first, during which I drew on some works of the website sent by the teacher, and completed the first version of the sketch。
Final sketch
3.3 Digital Exploration
week9
General feedback:
This week, we will study a new section again, that is, "Type Design & Communication". In the class, the teacher first told us the relevant knowledge and personally demonstrated the design of several letters. After class, I chose to borrow excellent works from the teacher's website first, and then try them myself. I found that the knowledge of font design has increased on the basis of the original module knowledge, and more points need to be paid attention to.
5. REFLECTION
5.1 Experience
While doing the calligraphy, I discovered how the serifs were "invented" via my own experience! Basically, it's due to the tools they are using doesn't store inks like modern pens do. When they use those kinds of tools, they dip it into an ink pile, then write, which most of the ink piled up in the beginning of the stroke, resulting a big fat stroke than subsequent strokes.
While working on digitalization, we had the chance to attend a talk related to the calligraphy industry. It was quite an experience as although I do join lots of random workshops, but surprisingly I never joined any graphic design, calligraphy-related workshops, as the event info somehow seldom reach to my side. It's cool to see there still are people having the skills to write calligraphy directly on an object as the world has become so digitalized and printed.
In the workshop, they also shown a video of the calligrapher writes on the lorry door directly. The attention, the firm strokes, the beautiful and consistent outcome.
5.2 Observations
While adjusting the size of a letter in my own font design, sometimes I would directly press Shift to enlarge it with ratio, which it will increase the stroke weight, leading to not consistency if there are big changes and therefore as said --- slight differences in thickness due to optical/TECHNICAL reasons.
In one of the sessions, we get to roam around the classroom to see others' typography work. It was a cool chance to see my coursemates' work and get to know the owners of the names which I always see in the course name list, or hear when lecturer calls out their name. Would say I definitely seen some originally unnoticed ones shine in their current works :D Also, by the end of the day, I realized seems like no one in class added the side ink changes, how could they not haha its so cool.
Overall, I had fun creating the font and thinking of the sentences for the poster. I find it would be better if we have the * punctuation as it can be used to replace the missing words.
5.3 Findings
Conclusion: Observed, analyzed and created typography. Would actually be interested to complete the whole set when I'm free. Also, there are a few things I learnt the hard way:
- Make sure the "dots" on the strokes are completely adjusted nicely first then only start adjusting the stroke width using the width tool, or you will need to back-and-forth these two steps endlessly --- waste of time, gained experience :D
- Upload backup documents more often, or even upload the screenshot progress to Blogspot right after taking the screenshot to save progress. Usually, I would wait till the end to compile and standardize the style to upload to blog, which turns out to be quite risky in a sense.
During these whole series of analyzing and creating typography, as well as attending the calligraphy talk, what I gained the most might be observation skills --- I find myself getting more and more able to notice the calligraphies and typographies in my daily life. I tried applying into my work of what I see/learned from my observation of others' work, perhaps I can apply into future works too.
6. FURTHER READING
Figure 6.1 Typography workshop: BARANG² SENDIRI S’JA – Commercial Vehicle Labels in Malaysia, Low Hsin Yin as speaker Author, Week 9 (02/06/2023, 10AM).
Mr Vinod have invited Low Shin Yin, a type and graphic designer from Malaysia for a typography workshop which is related to this assignment. I’ve summarized what I’ve learnt from the workshop below:
Commercial vehicle labels:
- Represent the legal status of vehicles for commercial usage.
- Different formats: Alignment, writing styles.
- Related jobs: (1) Sign writer. (2) Runners. Help vehicle owners to run errands to register/update document in Puspakom, then writing the labels on the vehicle according to text required. May also help simple wiring/fixing of the vehicle.
Various forms of shortforms in Malaysia:
- BARANG-BARANG SENDIRI SAHAJA
- BARANG2 S'RI S'JA
- BARANG2 SDN SHJ
However, there's a reduced use of handwriting on vehicle. Nevertheless, the handwriters are positive -- will find a different way to get their own income.
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