Typography / Task 3

Typography | Task 3: Exercise

|| 11/11/2024 - 09/12/2024  (week 8 - week 12)

|| Leong Hui Xuan / 0365793 / Bachelor of design (Honours) in creative media

|| Typography

|| Task 3 : Type Design adn Communication

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Lectures

2. Instructions

3. Process Work

4. Feedback

5. Reflection

6. Futher Reading

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LECTURES

Refer to the Task 1

INSTRUCTIONS

PROCESS WORK

In task 3, our work was create and design a typo by ourself,  We can find online references and explored writting styles with 3 different type of pen and at least 3 different writting style for each of the 3 pens, then selected a writting style and digitising the chosen letterforms in Adobe Illustrator. 

 References:

Figure 1.0, Font References

Figure 1.1, Font References

These writting style were found in pinterest, I like the design of flat pen more as it look more classic and have a mythical feel. So, I come out my 9 sketches with these references , 3 flat pen design, 3 ball pen design, and 3 brush pen design.

Sketches:

Figure 1.2, Sketches

The first vertical roll sketches were made by using the brush pen, second vertical roll sketches were used ball pen and the third vertical roll were using flat pen to design.

Design comcept:

Brush pen sketches : The calligraphy writting style served as the inspiration for the brush pen sketches. During exploration, I try to control the pressure to create a different calligraphy writting style since the brush pen is soft and can create a effect from thin to thick line by applying the pressure. I added my idea to the calligraphy writting sketches to make it look different and special.

Ball pen sketches: For the ball pen sketches, I tried  using ball pen to add more pattern to the letters in the sketches so they wouldn't look boring. Since the ball pen lacks the pen's unique effect, I can only do more to working on the writting style design. To make the letter more interesting, I give it a shape, like a triangle or a curved line.

Flat pen sketches: The flat pen can create a effect like straight, so I use this to help with my design. To make the writing style more unique, I added different cur-off patterns some were diagonal, while others were horizontal. I also add lines and dot next to the stems of the letters to add more detail.

Figure 1.3, Final design 1

I originally chose this design as my final design, but after I consulted with Mr. Max, he said that this art style was a little tricky and some of the letters were hard to recognize, such as "D, G, B, E, L", which didn't feel like they were part of the same family as the other letters. 

Figure 1.4, Final design 2

So, I decided to choose another design as my final outcome, which is the second design of the flat pen. Then I also designed other letters and symbols. After getting approval from Mr. Max, I started drawing in Adobe Illustrator, following the typography format.

Digitalisation:

Before digitalise in Adobe Illustrator, I deconstruct the letter "m" and "t" with tutorial.

Figure 1.5, Deconstruct Activities 

For digitizing, I set guidelines for the x-height, baseline, ascender, descender, and cap height as shown in the tutorial video. I then used the shape tools to follow the rough draft to construct the letters I designed.

Figure 1.6, Progress 1

Figure 1.7, Progress 2

After finisging the digitalise in Illustrator, I found out that the I and T is a bit weird due to the crossbar of the letter "T" and serif in the letter "I" is higher than the other letter. So, after consult with Mr Max he suggessted me to add a small triangle to the cross bar and the serif as a spur and lower down the height of the crossbar and serif. 

Figure 1.8, Progress 3

The edited version of letter "T" and "I" look more better.

To make the font look nice and neat overall, I checked the strokes, cut-off spaces, and tilt angles of each letter using one of the red shapes cut off by the font.

Figure 1.9, Progress 4

Figure 2.0, Progress 5

The final digitalise in Adobe Illustrator.

Figure 2.1, Final digitalise

FontLab
Then, we neeed to move the fonts into fontlab. 

Figure 2.2, Screenshot of FontLab

And set the kerning and matrix as shown in the tutorial video.

Poster:

After downloading the font, we need to make a poster with the font we designed. 

Figure 2.3, Poster

Final Task 3 Outcome

Typeface Download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mu7JPJSfgbV-ek3s1FqEJrg3xC4zo9Uz/view?usp=drive_link

Figure 2.4, Screenshot of the margins 

Figure 2.5, Final digitalise in AI

Figure 2.6, Final Poster 

FEEDBACK

Week 9

General Feedback: Processing the sketches of Task 3 

Week 10

General Feedback: Sketches done, approve by Mr Max and chose the final design to on going.

Specific Feedback: Don't over design the font.

Week 11:

General Feedback: Process in Adobe Illustrator and mostly done.

Specific Feedback: The letter "S, D, C, N" not look like a family, maybe I can change a design.

Week 12: 

General Feedback: Task 3 was done and Mr Max was approved.

Week 13:

General Feedback: Everything done.

REFLECTION

Experience

Task 3 is interesting in that we can create our own font and actually use it. This project was a valuable learning experience for me, exploring different designs using three types of pen: brush pen, ball pen, and flat pen. The most challenging part was digitising the letter; I needed to ensure they maintained consistency as a cohesive typeface. So, I checked the letter one by one, and it took me a lot of time. However, at least it was completed successfully. I think I will finish the rest of the font and use it for my future project.

Observation

Exploring with different pens, I discovered their unique qualities, like some brushes can create elegant calligraphy-style designs, but consistency is a challenge due to their flexibility; ballpoint pens require creative use of patterns and shapes to make up for their simplicity; and flat pens with their clean lines inspire a classic, mythical aesthetic.

Findings

I found that creating a typeface involves creativity and technical precision. Consistency is important, as stroke weight, tilt angles, and proportions must align to ensure a cohesive design. Besides, the feedback from Mr. Max was invaluable for identifying weaknesses and improving my skills. The tools like Adobe Illustrator and FontLab are very helpful for translating sketches into functional fonts. The project highlighted the importance of problem-solving in achieving a refined and complete outcome.

FUTHER READING

Figure 2.7, Typography Referenced Book

The book "Typography Reference" covers the language, history, and practice of typography.

Historical: Greek gematria and Roman capital letters laid the foundation for Western type. Gutenberg's movable type revolutionized printing, spreading culture and knowledge. Nikolaus Jansen pioneered Roman type design, while Aldus Manutius introduced italic typefaces for compact books.

Development of tpe design: Garamond replaced Gothic styles with Roman typefaces in the 16th century. Besides, Baskerville improved printing technology, while Bodoni and Didot created modern high-contrast typefaces in the 18th century. The 19th century saw the emergence of sans-serif typefaces such as Caslon’s Old Style and Akzidenz Grotesk.

Modern Era: Helvetica was introduced in 1957 and became one of the most widely used typefaces. Digital tools and platforms such as Adobe revolutionized type design in the 20th century.