Typography - Task 3: Type Design & Communication

 16.5.2023 -26.6.2023 / Week 7 -Week13

NIE WEIQIU / 0350928 / BA of Design (HONS) in Creative Media

Typography

Task 3

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INSTRUCTIONS

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INDEX:

1 Class summary

2 Task3

   Type Design & Communication
3.Feedbacks

4.Reflection

5.  Further Readings

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CLASS SUMMARY

Week 7 / Task 3 + Activity

Mr. Vinod gave us a new task, let us choose a font from the tenth typeface, learn a font in fontshare to analyze their anatomical parts, suggest us to choose tools by rising and falling x height of message letters and capital letters with capital height then we started to experiment with different tools to practice different angles of draping horizontal lines, vertical lines, diagonal lines and circles The pens I use are the fine pen, the thick pen, the pen with half out and the thick pen.

Week 8 / Independent Learning Week 

Week 8 is independent learning week, so there was no any physical or online classes.

Week 9 / Task 3

In the ninth week we continued with the writing activity of Task 3, Mr. vinod showed us and demonstrated the way to digitize the questions using Adobe Illustrator, Mr. vinod explained to us how we will proceed with Task 3 which will enter the digitization phase

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TASK 3: Type Design & Communication

1. Type Design Researches 

Typography Anatomy

Typography anatomy introduces us to different parts of a letter, such as x-height, stem, ascender, descender, baseline, serif, counter, and more. We have to aware of these elements when sketching and creating a typeface.

Fig.2.1 Typography anatomy

Basic Concepts

The basic concepts of type design include stroke, counter, body and structural groups. 

 Stroke refers to the main, continuous line that forms the shape of a letter. It can be thick or thin and may have different degrees of modulation or contrast within a typeface. 

 Counter refers to the enclosed or partially enclosed space within a letterform. It is the negative space surrounded by the stroke. 

 Body group includes the letters that have a similar basic shape or structure, such as the lowercase letters in a typeface. These letters typically share similar characteristics, such as x-height, baseline, and overall proportions, to maintain consistency and harmony within the typeface. 

 Structural group comprises letters that share similar constructional elements. Archetypal groups can be made on the basis of the dominant strokes of each letter: verticals and horizontals (E F H L T), diagonals (V W X), verticals and diagonals (K M N Y), horizontals and diagonals (A Z), circular strokes (C O Q S), circular strokes and verticals (B D G P R U), and verticals (I J).

Typography Illusions 

 Overshoot

Human perception makes circles look smaller than squares of the same width and height. Designers have to utilise optical corrections: they draw circle-shaped glyphs slightly bigger than their square based counterparts. This makes them protrude slightly beyond the baseline and the cap-height line.

 

Fig.2.2 Overshoot

Lower is bigger 

Many glyphs rendered upside down look wrong. As if their proportions were distorted. This is due to an optical illusion making the top of two objects seem bigger. Type designers often have to design the lower part of a glyph bigger, to make it look balanced.

Fig.2.3 Lower is bigger

Intersections

When two lines of differing widths intersect at an angle other than 90°, the thinner line seems not to be continuous. This occurs most often in the glyphs /X and /x. To counteract it, the diagonals need to be optically corrected.

                                                     

                                                               Fig.2.4 Intersections

 Diagonal Thickness Variations

There is a variation in thickness of diagonal lines even in sans-serif typefaces. This effect is a legacy of ancient and medieval calligraphy. It is sometimes used even in glyphs without diagonal lines, like /U. This illusion can be very helpful when drawing typefaces. Designing a /V with both legs of the same thickness could lead to it being perceived as having the right leg thicker.

Fig.2.5 Diagonal Thickness Variations

Congestions and Tapering 

Wherever two lines cross, especially at a steep angle, the illusion of a congestion appears. To combat this, type designers make some lines thinner near the joints. This is called tapering. Even the most geometric of typefaces use this trick to actually appear more geometric.

Fig.2.6 Congestions and Tapering

Deconstruction References

By deconstructing letters, designers gain a deeper understanding of their structure, enabling them to create more informed and intentional typographic designs. It facilitates exploration, experimentation, and customization, leading to innovative and impactful typographic solutions.

Fig.2.7 Deconstruction of Letters References (ctto)

Reference: https://www.piotrlukaszkiewicz.pl/blog/?lang=en

 Writing Activity

Writing diagonal, horizontal, vertical and circular lines for all 5 tools in 5 different ways for each tool and write atmx with those five tools

Select 1 option from the 5 different options from each tool and write "a e t k g r i y m p n" in the selected style. Choose either UPPERCASE or lowercase to write in.

5 tools in 5 different ways for each tool:

Fig.2.8 Writing Activity

Fig.2.9 Writing Activity - Round (16.5.2023 - Week 7)

Fig.2.10 Writing Activity -super fine (16.5.2023 - Week 7)

Fig.2.11 Writing Activity - Broad (16.5.2023 - Week 7)

Fig.2.12 Writing Activity - fine(16.5.2023 - Week 7)

Fig.2.13 Writing Activity -bold(16.5.2023 - Week 7)

5 selected options:

Fig.2.14 Writing Activity - 5 different selected options (16.5.2023 - Week 7)

I record which way I use the angle so that I can reproduce the style and when I see that each angle has a different effect, is I I find this very interesting because we can use the work to explore different writing styles

Writing Style

Fig.2.15 Writing Styles (23.5.2023 - Week 8)

Bespoke Serif

Fig.2.16 Deconstruction of 'D' (Bespoke Serif) (16.5.2023 - Week 7)

Fig.2.17 Deconstruction of 'n' (Bespoke Serif) (16.5.2023 - Week 7)

My Own Writing

                                      

                       Fig.2.18 Deconstruction of 'A' (Bespoke Serif) (16.5.2023 - Week 7)

 Digitisation

Requirements:
1000pt x 1000pt art board; 500pt x-height*; cap line; descender and ascender line; baseline and median line)
*subject to your design, it can be smaller or bigger

After I decided on my font, I started digitizing the font

Fig.2.16 Digitisation of letterforms using basic shapes and pencil tool (30.5.2023 - Week 9)

 Refinement

We entered the refinement phase this week, and I will refine all the letters word by word

Fig.2.17 Refinement Process  (6.6.2023 - Week 10)

Fig.2.18 Refinement Process  (6.6.2023 - Week 10)

Fig.2.19 Refinement Process  (6.6.2023 - Week 10)

Fig.2.20 Final Outcome (6.6.2023 - Week 10)

After receiving the feedback, I rectified it and added the symbol

Fig.2.21 Final Outcome (6.6.2023 - Week 10)

Measurements (from baseline)

Ascender: 730 pt
Capital height: 690 pt
Median: 500 pt
Descender: -230 pt

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FontLab

After watching the video posted by Mr. Micro where he shows how to set up the application and copy them according to the measurements only, I will follow the video step by step to move the letters into FontLab7.

Fig.2.21 Adobe Illustrator to FontLab 7 (6.6.2023 - Week 10)

I will next word spacing adjustment

Fig.2.22 Testing the Outcome (6.6.2023 - Week 10)

I started to make adjustments to the distance of these fonts, because I found that some of the words were too close or too far apart

Fig.2.23 Individual Kerning (6.6.2023 - Week 10)

Fig.2.24 Testing the Final Outcome (13.6.2023 - Week 11)

Poster

After generating the fonts, we had to create a poster using the fonts we created ourselves, and we could create our own phrases with a limited number of letters.

Fig.2.25 Poster Attempts (13.6.2023 - Week 11)

Fig.2.26 Poster Attempts (13.6.2023 - Week 11)

Fig.2.27 Poster Attempts (13.6.2023 - Week 11)

Shortlisted Posters

                                               

                                             Fig.2.28 Poster #1 (13.6.2023 - Week 11)

Fonts: Fat Regular
Point size: 150 pt; 12 pt 
Leading: 130 pt; 14 pt

After receiving feedback in week 12, I readjusted the letters

 Fig.2.29 Poster #1 (13.6.2023 - Week 11)

Fonts: Fat Regular
Point size: 150 pt; 12 pt 
Leading: 130 pt; 14 pt

Final Type Design & Communication

Font download: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iZ0ozTg7Oit39PT8OvFihC4kuD0dzdF8/view?usp=sharing

Fig.2.30 Final Task 3: Type Design and Communication "Fat Regular" - JPEG (20.6.2023 - Week 12)

      

Fig.2.31 Final Task 3: Type Design and Communication "Fat Regular" - PDF (20.6.2023 - Week 12)

Fig.2.32 "Fat Regular" Screen Grab from FontLab (20.6.2023 - Week 12)

Fig. 2.33 "Fat Regular" A4 Poster  - JPEG (20.6.2023 - Week 12)

                       Fig.2.57 "Fat Regular" A4 Poster - PDF (20.6.2023 - Week 12)

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FEEDBACKS

Week 8 Proceed with the third one. Explore writing that style a few more times.

Week 9

General Feedback:

Follow the procedure of the writing activity and use the five tools to write out the five forms without jumping directly to the five chosen options

Specific Feedback:

The lower body part is a little longer to adjust the size of the letters

Week 10

General Feedback:

Continue to finish last week's number painting, and next we need to refine them from our digitized letters in Refine Letters is to start again

Specific Feedback:

After the first declension, I should change the other letters to be thicker and more rounded at the end like the "k"

Week 11 General Feedback: Analyze the different types of subject labels to understand the nuances that indicate the different stroke sizes of the markers. Specific Feedback: All letters should be like "p", improve punctuation

Week 12 General Feedback: Use this information to connect sentences, paying attention to the adjustment of the word spacing between letters, depending on the shape of the glyphs Specific Feedback:Put the label part at the bottom, and arrange the letters all together

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REFLECTION

Experiences

It was very interesting to explore different writing styles with different tools and degrees, and this task was a good experience for me because now I know I can make my own fonts, I am trying it for the first time, so the result may not be very satisfying, but through my understanding of it, I am getting more and more interested in this typography project, so I can learn the basics of font creation

 

Observations

I noticed that although most of the digital bodies look uniform and homogeneous, there are many variations. Let's understand the nature of strokes with different nibs or strokes, angles, pressure, etc. The results of the strokes can be very different for different factors.

Findings

I noticed that although most of the digital bodies look uniform and homogeneous, there are many variations. Let's understand the nature of strokes with different nibs or strokes, angles, pressure, etc. The results of the strokes can be very different for different factors.

FURTHER READINGS

Fig.5.1 Tyography

This book is the ultimate source of information and inspiration for typography. It is a record of knowledge and design from the beginnings of typography to the present. Typography is both personal and social. The intricate details of text or the bold simplicity and clarity of variable letterforms in sans serif fonts attract attention, and the effective use of typography can show a neutral effect, symbolize art or express the personality of individuals and organizations, and add characters to make type distinctive and memorable. elements and modern sensibilities into one.

offers a broad definition of typography as design for reading, whether in print or on screen.

Chapter 3: Type Classification and Identification 

Fig.5.2 15 Groups of Type Styles

1. Serif Old Style 

The straight bent strokes usually slant to the left character stroke thickness contrast is not obvious

2. Serif Transitional

Moderate contrast in stroke weight, bracketed serifs, and a more vertical stress than their Old Style predecessors

3. Serif Neoclassical/Didone

Extreme contrast in stroke weight, hairline serifs, and a vertical stress that emphasizes their geometric structure

4. Serif Clarendon

Their stroke contrast is slight and serifs tend to be short to medium length

5. Serif Slab

Thick, block-like serifs and uniform stroke weight, often with little contrast between thick and thin strokes

6. Sans Serif Grotesque

Uniform stroke weight, simple geometric shapes, and lack of ornamentation, giving them a modern and functional appearance

 7. Script Formal

Characters have strokes that join them to other letters, flowing letterforms that emulate the look of handwriting with a formal and refined style

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BARANG2 SENDIRI S’JA – Commercial Vehicle Labels in Malaysia

This is a sharing session by Ms Low Hsin Yin about the commercial vehicle labels in Malaysia. 

In this talk, we are introduced to the typography on the vehicles in Malaysia.

Fig.5.3 D.I.Y

Fig.5.4 Shapes of Letterforms

Fig.5.5 Shapes of Letterforms

Introduced us to the guidelines for commercial vehicles in Malaysia

Fig.5.6 Combination of Different Writing Styles