Typography - Task 1: Exercise 1 & 2
29.09.2023 - 27.10.2023
(Week 1 - Week 3)
Ahmad Fikri bin Anizat / 0369437
Typography / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
LECTURES
30 September 2023
Week 1: For our first class which was scheduled for 29th September at 2-6pm, Mr Vinod couldn't make it due to a prior commitment, and replaced the class on the next day from 8-9am online. We were briefed on about what is expected in the module. Then, we were asked to make our own E-Portfolio on Blogspot. Exemplary works of previous students were shared with us as guidance so we would know how to setup our E-Portfolio. Mr Vinod also asked the whole class to come up with words to kickstart our first task. From the words suggested, a poll was made to choose the best words. The 8 chosen words are : Smoke; Soup; Spooky; Power; Impact; Crunch; Drunk; Fold.We were asked to choose 4 words and start doing sketches for each word.
Lecture notes:
Development / Timeline
Early Letterform Development
Phoenician letters: The origin of modern Latin and Arabic letters, an early developed writing system.
Figure 1.1 Table of the different evolutions originating from Phoenician letters.
Phoenicians wrote from right to left, meanwhile the Greeks alternatively changed from right left, left to right with the orientation of each letters changing. However both did not include letter spacing or punctuations.
Figure 1.2 Early development of writing styles used by the Greeks, 'Boustrophedon'.
Using brushstrokes that broaden/weighted in certain horizontal/vertical, creating the modern look we are used to now.
Figure 1.3 Timeline on the development of modern Roman letters
Different Types of Hand Scripts
Figure 1.4 Square Capitals (4th or 5th century)
Square Capitals are mostly found in Roman Monuments, characterized by serifs added to the finish of main strokes.
Figure 1.5 Rustic Capitals (late 3rd to mid 4th century)
Rustic Capitals are used mostly for efficiency, it is a compressed version of square capitals which allows for twice of wordcount on a sheet of parchment and saves more time. Both are used in documents for intended performance.
Figure 1.6 Roman cursive (4th century)
Roman cursive was one of the early cases of lowercase letterforms as a result of writing fast, also used for speed efficiency in writing however for everyday transactions.
Figure 1.7 Uncials (4th to 5th century)
Uncials were influenced by Roman cursive hand. These are simply seen as small letters that are easier to read in small sizes in comparison to rustic capitals. These letters didn't have any lowercase or uppercase.
Figure 1.8 Half-uncials (C.500)
Half-uncials are early formalized lowercase letterforms, supported by ascenders and descenders.
Figure 1.9 Caloline miniscule (C.925)
Caloline miniscule was said to unify Europe as it is the standardized script used in texts. Had been set as a standard for calligraphy for a century, where uppercase, miniscule, capitalization and punctuation had been utilized.
Figure 1.10 Back letter (textura) (c.1300)
Back letter is one of the regional variation that had been influenced by geography, especially after the dissolution of Charlemagne's empire, individuality had been developed.
6 October 2023
Week 2 : In our first physical class with Mr Vinod, he asked us to upload our sketches in the TDS Facebook group, and started giving feedbacks for most of the sketches uploaded. Mr Vinod emphasized that we need to focus during the feedback session as feedbacks given to others could be applied to us too, and that from the overall feedbacks we get to improve our work. At the end of the class, he randomly checked our E-Portfolio and gave comments on what needs to be done.
Lecture notes:
Text/Tracking: Kerning and Letterspacing
Figure 2.1 Comparison of using kerning and without
Kerning refers to the automatic adjustments of spaces that have been applied between letters. Meanwhile the addition or substraction of space is referred to tracking.
Figure 2.2 Types of tracking
Types of tracking:
-Normal
-Loose
-Tight
Uppercase letters are drawn to be able to stand on their own, in comparison to lowercase letters which will need counterforms to be able to maintain a proper line of reading.
Text/Formatting Text
Figure 2.3 Flushed left text format
Flushed left - mirrors the real life experience of handwriting where it would be asymmetrical. Each lines would start at the same point but end at where the word in the last line ends.
Figure 2.4 Flushed right text format
Flushed right - Emphasis on the end of a line.
Figure 2.5 Justified text format
Justified - similar to centering where it imposes a symmetrical shape on the text by expanding or reducing space between words/letters.
Text/Texture
Figure 2.6
Affects the readability, some can be designed specifically for screen reading. Factors such as gray value, contrast, thin and thick stroke would be considered
Anatomy Of A Typeface
Figure 2.7
The x-height refers to the area between the baseline and the line above the baseline. The line above the baseline is known as the median or mean line. The x-height in contrast to the ascender space descender space decides wether the x-height is below. The space above the x-height is known as the ascender and the space below the x-height is known as the descender. The x-height is larger in proportion to the ascender and descender which increases readability.
Text/Leading and Line Length
Type size - should be large enough to be read easily at arm length
Leading - set too highly would encourage vertical eye movement, set too loosely creates striped patterns that distracts readers.
Line Length - Short lines require less reading, longer lines require more. Tip: keep line length between 55-56 characters.
Figure 2.8
Text/Type Specimen Book
Text should create a field that can occupy a page/screen. Ideal: middle gray value.
13 October 2023
Week 3 : For this class, Mr Vinod asked us to upload our Digitised sketches in the TDS Facebook group, and like last week, he checked on almost everyone's artwork and gave feedbacks again. From this, we know especially what we aren't allowed to do, and the restrictions that we had. He then checked our E-Portfolio randomly and during this class, he emphasized that we should update our E-Portfolio on a weekly basis. Before the class ended, Mr Vinod showed us how to make a gif using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, then asked us to animate 1 digitised design from our 4 words.
Lecture notes:
Text / Indicating paragraph
There are several options for indicating paragraphs. One of them is,
we see the 'pilcrow' (¶), a holdover from medieval manuscripts rarely used today.
Figure 3 shows example of the pilcrow.
The example below displays a 'line space' (leading*) between the paragraphs. Hence if the line space is 12pt, then the paragraph space 12pt. This ensures cross-allignment across columns of text.
Figure 3.1 shows an example of the line spacing.
A leading space is the space that you see between two sentences. However, a line spacing takes into consideration the baseline of one sentence to the descender of the other sentence.
Figure 3.2 shows line spacing vs leading.
The example here displays the standard indentation. Typically here the indent is the same size of the line spacing or the same point size of your text.
Figure 3.3 shows an example of standard indentation.
The method of extended paragraphs below creates an unusually wide column of text. Despite these problems there can be strong compositional or functional reasons for choosing it.
Figure 3.4 shows examples of extended paragraphs.
Widow : a short line of type left alone at the end of a column of text
rebreak your line endings through out your paragraph so that the last line of any paragraph is not short
Orphan : a short line of type left alone at the start of new column
require more care by making sure that no column of text start with the last line of the preceding paragraph
Figure 3.5 An example of widow and orphan.
Highlighting text :
-There are some examples of how to highlight text within a column of text.
Figure 3.6 shows texts highlighting example 1
Figure 3.6 shows texts highlighting example 2
-By placing a field of colour at the back of the text, maintaining the left reading axis (right example) of the text ensure readability is at its best.
Figure 3.7 on the left is highlighted using indented bullets. On the right is highlighted using extended bullets
-Sometimes it is necessary to place certain typographic elements outside the left margin of colomn of type (extending as opposed to indenting) to maintaining a strong reading axis
Figure 3.8 on the left is highlighted using indented bullets. On the right is highlighted using extended bullets
-Quotation mark, like bullets, can create a clear indent, breaking the left reading axis. Compare the indented quote at the top with the extended quote at the bottom
Figure 3.9 Texts highlighted using quotation marks
Headline within text :
A head indicates a clear break between topics within a section (like this one). In the following examples 'A' heads are set larger than the text, in small caps and in bold. The example shows an A head 'extended' to the left of the text.
Figure 4.0 shows examples of A heads
The B head is a subordinate to A heads. B heads indicate a new supporting argument for the topic at hand. As they should not interrupt the text as strongly as A heads do. Below are B heads examples.
Figure 4.1 B heads shown in small caps, italic, bold Serif and bold San Serif.
Although not common, the C heads, highlights specific facets of material within B head text. They do not materially interrupt the flow of reading. As with B heads, these C heads are shown in small caps, italics, serif bold and san serif bold. C heads in this configuration are followed by at least an empty space for visual separation.
Figure 4.2 examples of C heads.
Putting together a sequence of subheads makes a hierarchy. There is no single way to
express hierarchy in text.
Cross alignment is a heading and captions with text type reinforces the architectural sense of the page, the structure, while articulating the complimentary vertical rhythms.
Figure 5.1 Examples of cross alignment 1
One line of headline type cross-align with two lines of text type, and (right; bottom left) four lines of headline type cross-align with five lines of text type.
Figure 5.2 Example of cross alignment 2
Basic / Describing letterforms :
Baseline - The imaginary line, the visual base of letterforms.
Median - The imaginary line defining the x-heigh of the letterforms.
X-height - The height in any typeface of the lowercase 'x' .
Figure 6.1 Components of a letterform
Stroke - Any line that defines the basic letterform.
Apex / Vertex - The point created by joining two diagonal stems. The apex is on the top and vortex is on the bottom.
Figure 6.2 Apex / Vertex
Arm - Short strokes of the stem of the letterform, either horizontal or inclined upward
Figure 6.3 Arm
Ascender - The portion of the stem of a lowercase letterform that projects above the median.
Figure 6.4 Ascender
Barb - The half-serif finish that is seen on some curved strokes
Figure 6.5 Barb
Bowl - The rounded form that describes a counter. The bowl may be either open or closed.
Figure 6.6 Bowl
Figure 6.7 Bracket
Cross stroke - The horizontal stroke in a letterform that joins two stems together.
Figure 6.8 Cross stroke
Figure 6.9 Crotch
Figure 6.10 Ear
Em/en - The width of an uppercase M, and em is now now the distance equal to the size of the typeface. An en is half the size of an em.
Finial - The rounded non-serif teminal to a stroke
Figure 6.11 Finial
Ligature - The haracter formed by the compination of two or more letterforms.
Link - The stroke that connects the bowl and the loop of a lowercase G.
Loop - In some typefaces, the bowl created in the descender of the lowercase G.
Serif - The right-angled or oblique foor at the end of the stroke.
Shoulder - The curved stroke that is not part of a bowl.
Spur - The extension that articulates the junction of the curved and rectilinear stroke.
Stem - The significant vertical or oblique stroke.
Stress - The orientation of the letterform, indicated by the thin stroke in round forms.
Figure 6.12 Stress
Swash: The flourish that extends the stroke of the letterform.
Figure 6.13 Swash
Tail - The curved diagonal stroke at the finish of certain letterforms.
Terminal - The self contained finish of a stroke without a serif.
The font :
Uppercase are Capital letters, including certain accented vowels like the c cedilla, the n tilde, a/e and o/e ligature
Figure 7.1 Uppercase letters
Lowercase letters include the same characters as uppercase
Figure 7.2 Lowercase letters
Figure 7.3 Small Capitals
Uppercase numerals have same height as uppercase letters and are set to the same kerning width. The Tabular material or any situation that calls for uppercase letters is best used. It is also called Lining Figures
Figure 7.4 Uppercase numerals
Lowercase numerals are set to the x-height with ascender and descenders, also known as old style figure or text figures
Figure 7.5 Lowercase Numerals
Italic is the forms in an italic refers back to fifteenth century Italian cursive handwriting
Oblique are typically based on the roman form of the typeface
FIgure 7.6 Italic
Figure 7.7 Italic and Roman
Punctuation, Miscellaneous Characters can change from typeface to typeface. It isImportant to acquainted with all the characters before choosing the appropriate type for certain job.
Figure 7.8 Punctuation, Miscellaneous Characters
Ornaments are used as flourishes in invitation or certificates. they are usually provided as a font in a larger typeface. Only a few traditional or classical typeface contain ornamental fonts as part of the entire typeface family
Figure 7.9 Ornaments
INSTRUCTIONS
Task 1: Type Expression
The 4 words that I chose are :
1. Drunk
2. Impact
3. Smoke
4. Spooky
1. Drunk
Usually when people get drunk. they have blurry vision and feel trippy. Hence, my sketches are from that basis and the perspective of a drunk person.
Figure 8.1 Sketches for the word "Drunk"
2. Impact
For the first sketch of the word impact, it shows that as the letters goes towards the end, they get closer, and the "A","C" and "T" of impact are in condensed bold, kerned closer, and made bigger to visualize the word impact.
The second sketch shows how to the word impact falls from the letter "P" and at the letter "T", the impact of falling down was emphasized.
As for my third sketch, I honestly ran out of ideas so I just made three "IMPACT" words and made them bigger and more impactful each time.
Figure 8.2 Sketches for the word "Impact"
3. Smoke
For my second sketch, as the letter "S" gradually reach "e", the colour gets lighter to visualize smoke.
Again for my third sketch, I ran out of idea and tried to visualize the word smoke.
4. Spooky
Figure 8.3 Sketches for the word "Smoke"
For the first sketch, I just wrote "Spooky" choosing the font "ITC Garamond" hoping it is spooky enough.
As for the next sketch, the "O"s at the middle of the word were made into eyes with "evil" eyebrows to associate the text with ghosts.
Last but not least, as per usual, out of ideas hence capitalized "O"s in the middle and the remaining letters are in lowercase.
Figure 8.4 Sketches for the word "Spooky"
My Final Designs :
Figure 8.5 shows my final designs
My GIF:
Figure 9 shows my GIF for the word "Impact"
Task 1 Exercise 1 :
Figure 10 shows my type formatting exercise 1
Figure 11.1 shows my task 1 exercise 2 with visible guidelines
Figure 11.2 shows my task 1 exercise 2 without guidelines.
Below are the details of my exercise 2:
HEAD
Font/s: Futura Std
Type Size/s: 48 pt
Leading: 57.6 pt
Paragraph spacing: 3px
BODY
Font/s: Futura Std
Type Size/s: 10 pt
Leading: 12 pt
Paragraph spacing: 3 px
Characters per-line: 50+
Alignment: 6
Margins: 36 mm top, 36 mm left + 36 mm right + 36 mm bottom
Columns: 4
Gutter: 10 mm
FEEDBACK
Week 1 : -
Week 2 : I didn't do the sketches and straight away did the final designs. Mr Vinod did not give any commenrs on my artwork but advised me to do 3 sketches for each word.
Week 3 : I was asked to enlarge my words within the squares on the template provided so they would give a better impact. For the word spooky, Mr Vinod asked me to use a shorter "evil eyebrows" which is to just use the hyphen. For the word impact, Mr Vinod said I didn't need to enlarge the size font of the last 3 letters, just bolding them would do. As for the word smoke, I was asked the make the words smoke that are visualizing smoke from the cigarette in smaller sizes and need to make the smoke looks like its dissipating.
Week 4 : I need to add a pause to my gif to really show the "Impact".
Week 5 : I filled in the white spaces but Mr Vinod said the white space is not your enemy and he told me to use the white space well.
REFLECTION
Experience : All in all, I really enjoyed Typography class because of the lecturer himself, Mr Vinod. He is a cool guy yet very detailed and thorough especially in giving feedbacks. For someone with no Adobe Illustrator basic, Typography was tough for me at first, but as time passes by, doing the exercises, reffering to the provided Youtube videos, I managed to catch up. Obviously, I felt inferior in class seeing my classmates' artworks, given their experience and skills in using Adobe Illustrator, however, I told myself that even with zero Adobe Illustrator experience, I still managed to pull of the task although I feel that they're not on par with my classmates. I could only imagine my final artwork if I have their skills, knowledge and experience using Adobe Illustrator.
Observation : When everyone posted their sketches in TDS Facebook group, I was totally amazed by those that did the sketches using AI. As mentioned, I had no experience with AI, so I was curious how they are going to digitise their sketches. Although some of them didn't disappoint, most of the digitised sketches weren't as cool as the sketches especially those hand drawn. I also notice that the weakness of my class is, as mentioned by Mr Vinod, are our E-Portfolios. When checking the E-Portfolios randomly, most of them are not done correctly according to the guidelines, including my current E-Portfolio.
Findings : I realized that compared to my peers, I am not as creative as them. Creativity is not something that we could refer a textbook and learn, but I hope as I spend more time doing this Creative Media degree course, my creativity would also rose. My main weakness is actually my mastery of Adobe Illustrator. To overcome this, I need to learn from Youtube, or ask my friends who are good to teach me.
FURTHER READING
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