Task 3 / Type Design & Communication
11/11/2024-17/12/2024 Week 8 - Week 13
Komugi Uchibori / 0363900
Typography / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Task 2: Typographic Exploration & Communication
INSTRUCTION
Task 3: Type Design & Communication
- Observation
At first I did a dissection of the letters "H, o, g, & b" using Futura Std (Light condensed). The letter "H" is very simple; each width of the line for vertical and horizontal is almost the same. However, the negative space in which the upper part and down part of the middle are a bit different. The lower part is larger than the upper.
 |
| fig.1-1 Doing dissection of H |
"o" is basically proportional and balanced out. The smaller circles in the middle are overlapped, but it is not exactly the same as the lower and upper parts. The downer part is needed for more adjustment. The outer circle has a gentle curve, while the inner circle is relatively steep.
 |
| fig.1-2 Doing dissection of o |
"g" has the most complicated letter dissection. As you can see, the circle part of g has different proportions on the left and right, so the dissection lines are also lager than those on the left. Also, the height of the upper curve of the circle part and the straight line connected to the curve is not the same.
 |
| fig.1-3 Doing dissection of g |
 |
| fig.1-4 Doing dissection of b |
- Sketch & Exploration
In the sketches, the following letters HOGB/hogb in both lowercase and uppercase are designed using the 3 different pens. I tried to make a different impression for each HOGB, focusing on balance and the width of the line. Personally, I like the fourth from the top right lowercase in fig.1-6 because this design is kind of characteristic and unique. So I'll choose it as a digitalization.
| fig.1-5 Sketches |
 |
| fig.1-6 Explaration |
- Digitalization
At first, I placed the original picture of handwriting and traced it to create a base before adjusting the text.
 |
| fig.2-1 Tracing and base |
Finally, I started creating letters in AI. I traced over the base with rectangles and made fine adjustments. I wanted the characters to have a sharp and stylish, an angular feel, so I created a calligraphic brush and applied it to all the characters.
The row of oledsnchtig,.!# in upper is with brush and adjustment. The other is without them.
The brush's values:
Angle -112 degrees
Roundness 6%
Size 5pt
Variation 22%
 |
| fig.2-2 The process in AI |
I got advice from the teacher where "o," "d," and "g" are different sizes, and it should be similar. So I recreate these 3 letters and adjust. Also, there's new instruction for comma and period, so I followed it and made them again.
 |
| fig.2-3 After advice and new instruction |
- FontLab
Each numerous value:
Ascender 730
Cap line 694
Medium line (x-height) 498
Baseline 0
Descender -228
Poster letters' size: 140 pt
 |
| fig.3-1 Setting numerous values |
 |
| fig.3-2 Adjusting side-bearings in FontLab |
When I finished the process in FontLab, I started creating posters in black and white using letters, oledsnchtig,.!#. I thought and decided to use the phrase "#let the design go!". I chose the poster in the middle as final. Here's the layout:
 |
| fig.3-3 Poster layouts |
- Final works
Link to download font:
 |
| fig.4-1 Screen grab of FontLab |
 |
| fig.4-2 Final Type Construction in AI (JPEG) |
fig.4-3 Final Type Construction in AI (PDF)
 |
| fig.4-4 Final A4 black & white poster (JPEG) |
fig.4-5 Final A4 black & white poster (PDF)
 |
| fig.4-6 Final A4 black & white poster (JPEG) |
fig.4-7 Final A4 black & white poster (PDF)
FEEDBACK
Week 8
Independent learning week
Week 9
My pen is below 3 points in size, so I was suggested to use a different size. There was not enough content, so continuing working on.
Week 10
My letters are something wrong, and the indifference is the different x-height in "o," "d," and "g." I was told to adjust by the teacher.
Week 11
I couldn't go to class because I was not feeling well.
Week 12
I showed the poster layouts for submission, and the teacher told me to continue my work for submission.
REFLECTION
Experience
It was fun to create my own letters. Honestly, I struggled with thinking of variations when sketching letters, but it was a good thing that I discovered something new by accidentally using the wrong pen size. Also, when creating with AI, it was difficult to be mindful of the balance of the letters.
Observation
I was surprised that using different pen sizes makes big changes when I write in a similar way and how much the brush tool improved the appearance of the text. When I observed the characters, I realized that parts I thought were symmetrical were actually slightly different in proportion upon closer inspection, so they had been adjusted to look balanced.
Findings
Through this assignment, I understand how difficult creating letters around us is. Usually, I just see them and think that this is a good font, but things are not so simple. Since there are various ways to design text, such as poster creation, I want to be careful of balance, size, and type, and make the most of them.
FURTHER READING
 |
| fig.5-1 ON WEB TYPOGRAPHY (2014) |
I continued to read this book. This time I read the chapter about evaluating typefaces to gain knowledge for creating letters. This chapter explains what makes the same letter look different from one typeface to another, for instance, why some typefaces look different in size when they are set at the same size and feel lighter or heavier. The answer to these questions is the relative size of the em and the width of the stroke. With ems, each character exists within a bounding box whose height is always 1 em (the same as font size). But the width of the box is different when you use different typefaces. As for the latter one, all letterforms consist of a variety of strokes, and they vary in width to several degrees, from hairline thin to very broad, and are known as high-contrast. Also, there is an explanation of x-height and readability; as x-height increases, a typeface's letters can be confused.
 |
| fig.5-2 Evaluating typefacees (p21,26~27 & 35) |
The next chapter is about choosing good fonts to make good designs in your context. Visual detail gives the viewer a particular personality, like the texture and overall mood of the page. To tell the context while keeping visual design, it’s best to look for typefaces that have a little characteristic and fulfill a few requirements like sufficient x-height and low or medium contrast.
A specific way to choose good typefaces, the book suggests word association. Thinking the feeling or moods you want to tell and scribbling down any words. Then narrowing down the words to a few to make it easy to look for matching typefaces.
 |
| fig.5-3 Choosing good typefaces (p58,65 & 68) |
Comments
Post a Comment