TYPOGRAPHY - Task 02: Typographic Exploration & Communication
28/05/2024 - 14/06/2024 | Week 06 - Week 08
Koh Sher Wei | 0353816
Typography | Bachelor of Design in Creative Media | Taylor's University
List of Contents:
> Lectures
> Task 02
Lectures:
WEEK 06 : [Typo_5_Understanding]
Understanding Letterforms:
- Some uppercase forms may seem symmetrical but is not.
- Slight stroke differences shows the meticulous care of the
letterform designers.
Fig 1.1.1 Example of symmetry difference in letterform
- Stem strokes in letterforms differ slightly according to
different typefaces.
- Most letterform complexity can be observed from the lowercase
'a'.
Fig 1.1.2 Example of stem difference in lowercase "a"
Maintaining x-height:
- x-height describes the size of lowercase letterforms.
- Curved strokes must rise above the median to appear the same
size as the vertical/horizontal strokes they adjoin.
Fig 1.2 Example of letter 'r' and 'a' rising above the median
line
Form/Counterform:
- Counterform (space between letters that are joined to
form words)
- Counterforms should be handled well to determine how
well words hang together.
- Balancing between form and counterform is crucial in
designing typefaces.
- Breakdown letterforms to examine them in detail to
understand the relation between form and counterform.
Fig 1.3 example of black blocks representing
counterform
Contrast:
- Simple contrast produces numerous
variations:
- [small + organic/large]
- [small + dark/large light]
Fig 1.4 Variations of contrast
WEEK 07 : [Typo_6_Screen&Print]
Different Mediums:
- Good typography and readability were the result of
skilled typesetters and designers. (in the past)
- Typography has changed based on how digital pages are
rendered, because now typesetting happens on a multitude
of screens.
- Print Type:
- Type is intended for reading from physical prints.
- It was the designer's job to ensure that the text is smooth, flowing and pleasant to read.
- Characteristics of a god type print (elegant, intellectual but highly readable when set to small font sizes, versatile, easy-to-digest, neutrality)
Fig 1.5 Example of traditional "Print
Type"
- Screen Type:
- Intended for web-use.
- Usually optimised and often modified to enhance readability and performance onscreen in a variety of digital environments.
- Important factor (adjustment of space for smaller typeface sizes) to ensure that text information isn't lumped together.
- Hyperactive/hyperlink (a word or phrase that you can click on to jump to a specific link), for easy navigation.
- Font Size for screen (16-pixel text on screen, typically set to 10 points or 12 points for arm-length distance reading)
- System fonts/web safe fonts (Devices comes with its own pre-installed font selections)
- Pixel Differences between Devices (Same amount of pixels may look different on different devices)
-
Fig 1.6 Pixel differential between devices
- Static Vs Motion:
- Static typography
- Minimal characteristics in expressing words.
- Billboards to posters, magazines to fliers, we encounter all forms of static typography with wide ranging purposes.
- Level of impression and impact left on the audience is closely knitted to the emotional connection with the viewers.
- Motion Typography
- Temporal media offer typographers opportunities to "dramatise" type for letterforms to become "fluid" and "kinetic".
- Motion graphics, brand identities of film and television production companies, increasingly contain animated type.
- On-screen typography had developed to become expressive.
Task 02: Typographic Exploration & Communication
In this task, we are to utilise our knowledge from the previous
exercises to express the contents given. There are 3 passages to choose
from; we will need to pick 1 to format into a 2-page editorial spread
(200mm x 200mm per page). Adobe Illustrator can be used to create the
headline/title expression of the passage, but the final layout should be
done in Adobe InDesign, as taught in Task 01, exercise 02.
Week 07
Initial idea sketches:
Fig 2.1 First Idea [04/06/2024]
My first idea was just a random composition of the words of
the titles, to sort of give myself an idea of my next
direction. However, the issue with this design is that the
readability is slightly off as I started the title on the
right side of my border.
Fig 2.2 Second Idea [04/06/2024]
Moving on, I thought of using the interpretation of
"morse code" from the word "code". Then, I tried to
incorporate some coded words like "impact" and "design",
taken from the content of the passage, to build a
design.
Fig 2.3 Third Idea [04/06/2024]
As for the third idea, I thought of highlighting the
word "CODE" by having the word itself be made out of
the individual morse code letters. I placed them
zig-zag, diagonally to give some shape to the
composition, then added the phrase "to build on and
live by" while utilising the already existing letters
'C', 'O', 'D', 'E'.
Digitisation:
Fig 3.1 First Digitisation [10/06/2024]
I digitised the idea from my third sketch
(fig2.3) but i didn't like how unorganised it
was initially. So I ended up placing the word
"CODE" vertically, as well as add the letter 'A'
to the design which i missed out in the sketch.
Then, for the phrase "To Build on and Live By",
I felt it would have added more depth if i only
bolded the main words and made the conjunction
words lighter.
Fig 3.2.1 Second Digitisation variation
1 [11/06/2024]
Fig 3.2.2 Second Digitisation variation
2 [11/06/2024]
These two variations of digitisation are
developed from my second idea sketch (Fig2.2). I
wrote the words "Design Impact" in morse code,
then arranged it in a way that had a good
structure. Then, the phrases were just placed
however I thought would look readable.
Fig 3.3 Revised Digital Composition [11/06/2024]
Lastly, I utilised idea (Fig3.2.1)'s wording placement and
composition, then simplified the morse code as graphic instead
of being part of the title design. This time, I used the phrase
"self-reflection" in morse code, taken from the contents of the
passage as well. In order to ensure that the composition is not
too plain, I added two 4pt straight lines between "A" and "CODE"
to add some structure but not overcrowd the page.
Layout:
Fig 4.1 Initial Editorial layout [11/06/2024]
As for the editorial layout, I formatted
each page into 4 columns. Initially, I
wanted to incorporate morse code graphics
into the second page as well. However, upon
attempting, I realised that it would have
looked too crowded and blends into the
passage despite colour and size differences.
So instead, I opted to center the passage in
a horizontal line. This is because the
passage chosen is actually not too long,
hence i was able to fully even out each
paragraph across the pages.
Final Editorial Layout:
Fig 5.1 Final Editorial Layout (JPEG) [12/06/2024]
Fig 5.2 Final Editorial Layout with grid
(JPEG) [12/06/2024]
The only change I made in my final composition is
changing the font for the title, and adjusting the
placement to make the overall design look neater.
BODY
Font: ITC Garamond Std (Book)
Type Size: 9pt
Leading: 10pt
Paragraph Spacing: 10pt (3.528mm)
Characters per-line: 60
Alignment: Left justified
Margins: Top - 10mm, Bottom - 10mm
Columns: 4
Fig 5.3 Final Editorial Layout (PDF) [12/06/2024]
Fig 5.3 Final Editorial Layout with grid (PDF) [12/06/2024]
Feedback from lecturer:
Week 07
General Feedback:
- Upload progress on Facebook page
- Watch lecture recording to learn how to export
Specific Feedback:
- The morse code is a good idea but the execution doesn't work
well.
- Try using morse code as the main design, then add the title at the
bottom of the artboard
- Must leave space between the morse code and the title to really
emphasise the two distinct ideas.
- Idea 1(digitised and revised) stands out because of the vertical
"CODE" but still not the best composition.
- The morse code should be used as a graphic (make it
grey/smaller)
- Make the title stand out more.
Week 08 (independent learning week)
Specific Feedback:
- The final editorial layout is fine, just need to change the font
for "A CODE". Consider "Sans Serif" to make it neater/uniform.
Reflection:
Experience
This task is essentially a combination of exercise 01 and
exercise 02 from Task 01. So I think in terms of progress, it
was just a matter of putting our knowledge into practice and
refining our skills. It was nice to be able to recap on our
learnings and try out different ideas to see how we would be
able to develop our new skill to create a proper editorial
layout.
Observations
In terms of self-development, I think I managed to come up
with a creative design concept. The morse code was a good
idea, but I lacked in executing the composition. It was
definitely more difficult having to arrange and design a
phrase rather than a single word. So instead, I opt for
going simple on my composition and did not achieve a "wow"
factor in my design. However, I do think that my layout
for the passage was not too bad and played into making the
title look better.
Findings
The way that a title and passage is built and put
together, can really determine the direction and
overall delivery of a passage. Whether it be
articles or brochures or booklets, it's important to
know that layout and title design helps to engage
readers. Readabilty, impression and organisation
should always be prioritised in order for the
content to be displayed well.
Further Reading
_page-0001.jpg)
Fig 6.1 "The Vignelli Canon" book by
Massimo Vignelli [13/06/2024]
INTRODUCTION
Massimo Vignelli is a legendary figure
in the world of design who wrote the
renowned design book "The Vignelli
Canon". This book shares Massimo's
enhanced understanding of typography in
Graphic Design. The idea of this book
comes from his observation on younger
designer's lack of basic typography
principles, as creativity thrives on a
foundation of knowledge. The aim of this
book is to address the complexity of a
design profession. Proper use of
knowledge is essential for achieving
good designs. He also goes to explain
that many of his insights and imputs are
invaluable discoveries learnt from
various colleagues worldwide.
KEY ASPECTS OF DESIGN
Semantic:
- Search for meaning in design.
- Research history and context of a
subject.
- Focus on the company, product,
market position, competition,
destination, final user and semantic
roots.
- Understanding complexities and
context is essential for satisfactory
results.
- Define problems by combining
intuition and diagnosis.
- The outcome should provide a basis
for project inception and guides
appropriate form.
- Goal is to design with cognitive
inputs naturally and effortlessly.
- Essentially, Semantics ensure that
every detail in design has a purpose
and meaningful connection between
sender and receiver.
Syntactic:
- The discipline that controls the
proper use of grammar in constructing
phrases and articulating design
language.
- Components in Graphic Design
(Overall structure / Grid / typefaces
/ text & headlines /
Illustrations)
- Consistancy is achieved through the
appropriate relationship of
syntactical elements.
- Important to ensure cohesive design
across all pages and elements.
- Grids are crucial tools for
maintaining syntactical consistency in
graphic design.
- Syntactic consistency is essential
in all human endeavours.
Pragmatics:
- Even if designs are semantically
correct and syntactically consistent,
they must be clear to the audience
without needing explanations.
- A design should be able to stand
alone in its clarity.
- The final look reflects the clarity
of the design process.
- Understanding the project's starting
point and assumptions is crucial for
evaluating its success.
- Clear intentions lead to clear
results; complicated designs indicate
a confused mind.
- Embrace complexity but avoid
complications.
- Designs should be intellectually
elegant but avoid vulgarity
- Designs should also transcend trends
and be timeless.
- Design for longevity.
