Typography Task 1- Exercise 1 & 2 / Type Expression and Text Formatting

30/03/2022 - 27/04/2022 

Week 1-Week 5

Tan Pei Yun / 0345386

Typography /Bachelor of Design in Creative Media

Task 1 - Exercise 1 & 2

---

LECTURES 

WEEK 1 - 30/03/2022

INTRODUCTION TO TYPOGRAPHY 

Fig 1.0 Informal Calligraphy (Penmanship)

Fig 1.1  Black letter calligraphy

WHAT IS TYPOGRAPHY?

    "LEARN THE CONVENTIONS, UNDERSTAND THE RULES BEFORE YOU BREAK THEM!"    

Typography is the act of creating letters , the creation of type faces / type families. Well, typography aren't just text, it is a fundamental skill set that attributes and characteristics. It allows to develop a features, attributes and characteristics in yourself.  Wikipedia describes typography as the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. 

The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point size, line length, line-spacing (leading), letter-spacing (tracking), and adjusting the space within letters pairs (kerning). The term typography is also applied to the style, arrangement and appearance of the letters, numbers and symbols created by the process.

Typography has evolved over 500 years from Calligraphy >> Lettering >> Typography 

• Calligraphy - refers to writing styles
• Lettering - draws to letter out 

FONT/ TYPEFACE / TYPE FAMILY

Fig 2. Typeface

Fig 2.1 Typefamily

Font- refers to individual font or weight within the typeface 

Typeface - refers to the entire family of fonts/weight that share similar characteristics/styles 

TYPOGRAPHY DEVELOPMENT

1. Early letterform development : Phoenician to Roman

Fig 3.0 Evolution of Phoenician Letters

Fig 3.1 Greeks' Direction Writing - "Boustrophedon"

Phoenicians Direction Writing- wrote from right to left.

The Greeks Direction Writing-  developed a writing style called "Boustrophedon" (which meant the lines of text were read alternately from right to left and left to right. As they change the reading direction, they also changed the orientation of the letter forms)

2. Hand Script from 3rd-10th Century C.E.

Fig 4.0 4th/5th Century : Square Capitals

Square Capitals 

The letterforms have serifs added to the finish of the main stores. The stroke can achieved by writing with an angle of approximately 60 degree of the perpendicular.

Fig 4.1 Late 3rd-4th Century : Rustics Capitals

Rustics Capitals 

Rustics Capitals were more like a compressed version of square capitals. It took far less time to write, and can be achieved with an angle of approximately 30 degree off the perpendicular from the pen or brush. Rustics Capitals were faster and easier, but the readability were hard due to their compressed.

Fig 4.2 4th Century : Roman Cursive

Roman Cursive 

Cursive Hand in which forms were simplified for speed, so the development of the lowercase letterform was a result of writing fast uppercase letter form quickly , as a result the lowercase that a letterform was developed.

Fig 4.3 4th-5th Century : Uncials

Uncials 

Uncials incorporated with some aspects of the Roman Cursive (especially in the shape of A,D,E,H,M,U and Q) and is simply as small letters. The broad forms of Uncials are more readable at small sizes than Rustic Capitals.

Fig 4.4 C. 500. : Half-uncials

Half-uncials 

Half-uncials mark the formal beginning of lowercase letterforms, replete with ascenders and descenders, 2000 years after the origin of the Phoenician alphabet.

Fig 4.5 C. 925. : Caloline Miniscule

Caloline Miniscule 

Charlemagne, the first unifier of Europe since the Romans, issued an edict in 789 standardise all ecclesiastical texts. The monks rewrote the texts using both majuscules (uppercase) , miniscule , capitals and punctuation which set the standard for calligraphy for a century. It is to standardised writing system but also to convey messages more accurately and precisely.

3. Blackletter to Gutenberg's type

Fig 5.0 C. 1300 : Blackletter (Texture)

Blackletter 

In northern Europe, a condense strongly vertical letterform known as Blackletter or Texture gained popularity while in the south, a rounder more open hand gained popularity, called "Rotunda". The humanistic script in Italy is based on Alcuin's miniscule. Everything has an impact. Anyone who traverses across the large landscape will naturally form his own styles due to the influence of geography, the tools obtained from the surrounding environment and also the characteristics of people.

Fig 5.1 C. 1455 : 42 Line Bibble, Johann Gutenberg, Mainz

Gutenberg's type

Gutenberg's skills included engineering, metalsmithing, and chemistry.He marshaled them all to build pages that accurately mimicked the work of the scribe's hand. Blackletter of Northern Europe. His type mold required a different brass matrix, or negative impression for each letterform.

4. Text type classifications 

Fig 6.0 1450 Blackletter

Blackletter

The earliest printing types. Its forms were based upon the hand-copying styles that were then used for books in northern Europe.

Examples: Cloister Black , Goudy Text

Fig 6.1 1475 Oldstyle

Oldstyle

Based upon the lowercase forms used by Italian humanist scholars for book copying. The uppercase letterforms found inscribed on Roman ruins. The forms evolved away from their calligraphic origins over 200 years, as they migrated across Europe, from Italy to England 

Examples : Bembo , Caslon , Dante , Garamond , Janson , Jenson , Palatino

Fig 6.2 1500 Italic

Italic 

Echoing contemporary Italian handwriting. The first italics were condensed and close-set, allowing more words per page. Although originally considered their own class of type, italics were soon cast to complement roman forms. Since the sixteenth century, virtually all text typefaces have been designed with accompanying italics forms.

Fig 6.2 1500 Script

Script 

Originally and attempt to replicate engraved calligraphic forms. This class of type is not entirely appropriate in lengthy text settings. In shorter applications, however, it has always enjoyed wide acceptance. Forms now range from the formal and traditional to the casual and contemporary

Example: Kuenstler Scipt , Mistral , Snell Roundhand

Fig 6.3 1750 Transitional 

Transitional 

A refinement of oldstyle forms. This style was achieved in part because of advances in casting and printings. Thick to think relationships were exaggerated, and brackets were lightened

Example : Baskerville , Bulmer , Century , Time Roman

Fig 6.4 1775 Modern

Modern

This style represents a further rationalization of oldstyle letterforms. Serifs were unbracketed, and the contrast between thick and thin strokes extreme.English versions (like Bell) are also known as Scotch Romans and more closely resemble transitional forms

Examples : Bell , Bondoni , Caledonia , Didot , Walbaum 

Fig 6.5 1825 Square Serif/ Slab Serif

Square Serif / Slab Serif 

Originally heavily bracketed serif, with little variation between thick and thin strokes, these faces responded to the newly developed needs of advertising for heavy type in commercial printing. As they evolved the brackets were dropped.

Examples : Clarendon , Memphis , Rockwell , Serifa

Fig 6.6 1900 Sans Serif

Sans Serif

As their name implies, these typefaces eliminated serifs all together. The forms were first introduced by William Calson IV in 1816, its use did not become wide-spread until the beginning of the twentieth century. Variations tended toward either humanist forms (Gill Sans) or rigidly geometric (Futura) Occasinally, strokes were flared to suggest the calligraphic origins of the form (Optima). Sans serif is also referred to as grotesque (from the German word grotesk) and Gothic.

Examples: Akzidenz Grotesk , Grotesk , Gill Sans , Franklin Gothic , Frutiger, Futura , Helvetica , Meta , News Gothic, Optima , Syntax , Trade Gothic, Univers

Fig 6.7 1990 Serif/Sans Serif

Serif/ Sans Serif

A recent development, this style enlarges the notion of a family of typefaces to include both serif and sans serif alphabets (and often stages between the two)

Examples : Rotis , Scala , Stone

WEEK 2 - 06/04/2022

TYPOGRAHY BASICS/ DESCRIBING LETTERFORMS

“To work successfully with type, you should make sure that you are working with full font and you should know how to use it.” 

Fig 7.0 Anatomy of Typography

Fig 7.1 Basic of typography 1

Fig 7.2  Basic of typography 2

Baseline -  The imaginary line the visual base of the letterforms
Median - The imaginary line defining the x-height of letterforms
X-height - The height in any typeface of the lowercase 'x'

Stoke - Any line that defines the basic letterform

Apex/Vertex - The point created by joining two diagonal stems (apex above and vertex below)

Arm - Short strokes off the stem of the letterform, either horizontal (E,F,L) or inclined upward (K,Y)

Ascender - The point of the stem of a lowercase letterform that projects above the median

Barb - The half-serif finish on some curved stroke

Bowl - The rounded form that describes a counter. The bowl may be either open or closed

Bracket - The transition between the serif and the stem

Cross Bar - The horizontal stroke in a letterform that joins two stems together 

Cross Stroke - The horizontal stroke in a letterform that joins two stems together

Crotch - The interior space where two strokes meet

Descender - The portion of them stem of a lowercase letterform that projects below below the baseline

Ear- The stroke extending out from the main stem or body of the letterform 

Em/en 

Em- Is the distance equal to the size of the typeface (for example, an em in 48 points)

En - Is the half size of an em , most often used to describe em/en spaces and em/en dashes

Finial- The rounded non-serif terminal to a stroke

Ligature - The character formed by the combination / joined of two or more letterforms 

Link - The stroke that connects the bowl and the loop of a lowercase G

Loop - The bowl created in the descender of the lowercase G

Serif - The right-angled or oblique foot at the end of the stroke

Spine - The curved stem of the S

Spur - The extension the articulates the junction of the curved and rectilinear stroke

Stress -  The orientation of the letterform, indicated by the thin stroke on round form

Swash -  The flourish that extends the stroke of the letterform

Tail - The curved diagonal stroke at the finish of certain letterforms

Terminal - The self-contained finish of a stroke without a serif. Terminal may be flat ('T' above) flared, acute ('t' above), grave , concave , convex, or rounded as a ball or a teardrop (see finial)

 

Fig 7.3 Typefaces

Roman - The letterform is so called because the uppercase forms are derived from inscriptions of Roman monuments. A slightly lighter stroke in roman is known as 'Book'
Italic - Named for fifteenth century Italian handwriting on which the forms are based. blique conversely are based on roman form of typeface
Boldface - Characterized by a thicker than a Roman form. It can be called 'semibold' , 'medium' , 'black' , 'extra bold' or super
Light - A lighter stroke than the roman form. Even lighter strokes are called ' thin'
Condense - A version of the roman form and extremely condense styles are often called 'compressed'
Extended - An extended variation of a roman font

Fig 7.4 Uppercase 

Uppercase - Capital letters including certain accented vowels, the cedilla and n tilde, and the a/e and o/e ligatures

Fig 7.5  Lowercase 

Lowercase - Lowercase letters include the same characters as uppercase

Fig 7.6  Small Capitals 

Small Capitals - Uppercase letterforms draw the x-height of the typeface.Small Caps are primarily found in serif fonts as part of what is often called expert set

Fig 7.7  Punctuation and Miscellaneous characters

Punctuation, Miscellaneous characters - Altogether all font contains standard punctuation marks, miscellaneous characters can change from typeface to typeface. It’s important to be acquainted with all the characters available in a typeface before choosing the appropriate type for a particular job

Fig 7.8 Ornaments 

Ornaments - Used as flourishes in invitations or certificates. They usually are provided as font in a larger typeface family.Only a few traditional or classical typefaces contain ornamental fonts as part of the entire typeface family (Adobe Caslon Pro)

Fig 7.9  Uppercase Numerals 

Uppercase Numerals - Also called lining figures, these numerals are the same height as uppercase letters and are all set to the same kerning width

Fig 8.0 Lowercase Numerals

Lowercase Numerals - Also known as old style figures or text figures, these numerals are set to x-height with ascenders and descenders.

WEEK 3 - 13/03/2022

TYPOGRAPHY TEXT/TRACKING 

KERNING & TRACKING

Fig 9.0 Without Kerning & With Kerning

Kerning 
The terms kerning refers to the automatic adjustment of space between letters. It is often mistakenly referred to as ‘letterspacing’ . In fact, letter spacing means to add space between the letters.

Fig 9.1 Tracking

Tracking 
The addition and removal of space in a word or sentence is referred to as ‘tracking’

Fig 9.2  Types of Tracking and its readability

A clear example of how impact of patterns of the words ( increase or reduce the readability) , Normal tracking are a lot more easier to read compared to the loose tracking. While for tight track, the paragraph where kerning has been given a tight track, as a result the counter form has been reduced to a point where its negligible the shapes have become difficult to discern

TYPOGRAPHY TEXT/FORMATTING TEXT

Fig 9.3 Text Formatting

Flush left 

• This format most closely mirrors the asymmetrical experience of handwriting.
• Each line starts at the same point but ends with the last word on the line ends. 
• Spaces between words are consistent throughout the text, allowing the type to create an even grey value 

Justified 

• Like centerings , this format imposes a symmetrical shape on the text. 
• It achieved by expanding or reducing spaces between words and sometimes, between letters. 
• The resulting openness of lines can occasion produces ‘rives’ of white space running vertically through the text. 
• Careful attention to line breaks and hyphenation is required to amend this problem whenever possible 

Centred 

• This format imposes symmetry upon the text, assigning equal value and weight to both ends of any line. 
• It transforms fields of text into shapes, thereby adding a pictorial quality to material that is non pictorial by nature. 
• The cantered type creates such a strong shape on the page , it’s important to amend line breaks so that the text does not appear too jagged

Flush right 

• This format places emphasis on the end of a line as opposed to its start. 
• It can be useful in situations like captions. 
• The relationship between text and image might be ambiguous without a strong orientation to the right

TYPOGRAPHY TEXT/LEADING AND LINE LENGTH

The goal in setting text type is allow for easy, prolonged reading. At the same time a field of type should occult the page as much as photograph does.

Type size
Text type should be large enough to be read easily at arms length (imagine holding a book in your lap)

Leading 
Text that is set too tightly encourages vertical eye movement , a ready can easily looks his or her place. Type that is set too loosely creates stripped patterns that distract the reader from the material at hand

Line length 
Appropriate leading for text is as much as a function of the line length as it is a question of type size and leading. Shorter lines requires less reading ; longer lines more. A food rule of thumb is to keep line length between 55-65 characters. Extremely long or short lines impairs readings

WEEK 4 - 20/04/2022

TYPOGRAPHY TEXT/INDICATING PARAGRAPH 

Fig 10 Pilcrow 

In the first example , we see the “pilcrow’ , a holdover from medieval manuscripts seldom use today.

Fig 10.1 Leading

The example here displays a ‘line space’ (leading) between the paragraphs. Hence if the line space is 12pt then the paragraph space is 12pt. This ensures cross-alignment across columns of text 

TYPOGRAPHY TEXT/WIDOWS AND ORPHANS

Fig 10. 3 Widow and Orphan

There are two unpardonable gaffes which  are widows and orphans

Widow - A widow is a short line of type left alone at the end of a column of text. The only solutions to widows is to re break the line endings through out the paragraph so that the last line of any paragraph is not noticeably short 

Orphan - An orphan is a short line of type left alone at the start of a new column. Careful typographers make sure that no column of text starts with the last line of the preceding paragraph 

TYPOGRAPHY TEXT/CROSS ALIGNMENT

Fig 11 Cross Alignment

Cross-alignment is when you have two columns of text sitting next to each other . One line of headline type crocs-aligns with two lines of text type, and (right ; bottom left) four lines of headline type cross-align with five lines of text type.

TYPOGRAPHY TEXT/HIGHLIGHTING TEXT

Fig 11.1 Types of Highlighting Text 1

Fig 11.2 Types of Highlighting Text 2

The following are some simple examples of how to highlight text within a column of text. Different kinds of emphasis require different kinds of contrast . It can be highlighted in Italics , increase the boldness, change the type face and making it bold also changing the text colour.

WEEK 5 - 27/04/2022

TYPOGRAPHY LETTERS /LETTERFORMS

Fig 12.0  Baskerville letter "A"

The uppercase letterforms suggest symmetry , but in fact it is not symmetrical. The two different stroke weights of Baskerville stroke form.

Fig 12.1 Univers letter "A"

The each bracket connecting the serif to the stem has a unique arc. The uppercase letter forms may appear symmetrical but in a closer look , it shows the width of the left slope is thinner than the right stroke.Both Baskerville and Univers demonstrate the meticulous care a type designer takes to create letterforms that are both internally harmonious and individually expressive.

Fig 12.2 Helvetica and Univers letter "A"

A comparison of how the stems of the letterforms finish and how the bowls meet the stems quickly reveals the palpable difference in character between the two (Helvetica and Univers) 

TYPOGRAPHY LETTERS /LETTERFORMS

Fig 13.0 X-height 

The x-height describe the size of the lowercase letterforms. The curved strokes suck as in ‘s’ must rise above the median (or sink below the baseline) in order to appear to be the same size as the vertical and horizontal strokes they adjoin .

Fig 13.1 Form/ Counterform

Counterform (or counter)the space describes, and often contained, by the strokes of the form. When letters are joined to form words, the counterform includes the spaces between them. The latter is particularly and important concept when working with letterforms like lowercase ‘r’ that have no counters per se. 

Fig 13.2 Form/ Counterform

One way to understand the form and counter of a letter is to examine in close detail. The examinations provide a good feel for the balance between form and counter is achieved palpable sense of letterforms unique characteristics.

TYPOGRAPHY LETTERS /CONTRAST 

Fig 14.0 Letters A in Helvetica 

& Baskerville

Fig 14.1 Contrast

 

The use of contrast able to  differentiate the information . The simple contrast produces numerous variations

Small + organic / large + machined ; small + dark/ large light…

---

INSTRUCTIONS 

 

TASK  
Task 1 Exercise 1 - Type Expression  

For our very first task there will be four words that must be composed and expressed and a set of typefaces will be provided. Through iteration, use the appropriate typeface and compose the letters in a manner that allows meaning of the word to become visible. 

These are my 4 selected words out of 6 :

• Squeeze ✓
• Pop ✓
• Explode ✓
• Grow 
• Cough ✓
• Wink

VISUAL RESEARCH

Fig 15.0. Reference for type expression, Week 1(31/03/2022)

Here are the reference photos I found before I started sketching that really helped me to get a clearer idea of typography expression and gave me a lot of inspiration. There are pictures of squeezing lemons, anger expressions that look like he was about to explode and burn, coughs, and bubbles that pop and burst. 

 

SKETCHES 

Fig 15.1  Squeeze Expression
Week 2 (06/04/22)

Squeeze

I started the type expression by doing squeeze word. The main character for the squeeze will be the alphabets of both E . Idea 1 and 2 was kinda similar, but only the different typeface and weight of the font.  Idea 5 was simple straight-foward and minimalist type. My favourite will be idea 3 and 6 as both can be more explore around.

Fig 15.2 Pop Expression
Week 2 (06/04/22)

Pop

I came up with 4 ideas for the POP expression. The visual research helped in giving me idea of bubble burst as shown in the Idea 1 and 3. Idea 4 was about the bubble keep popping and that's why the letter 'o' keep duplicating at the sktech. While for the idea 2 reminds me of popcorn which I like about the idea. 

Fig 15.3 Couch Expression
Week 2 (06/04/22)

Cough

Cough Expression was little harder than I thoughts. Idea 1 and 4 was similar , the C alphabets are the main character and I try to draw the C more like a mouth. It is either keep it simple or make it messy, idea 2 and 3 can be interesting / challenging to work i digitized but I afraid it will not turn out my expectation.

Fig 15.4 Explode Expression
Week 2 (06/04/22)

Explode

Lastly, There some similar in this 4 ideas. Main character will be alphabets 'O' in idea 1 and 3. I like idea 2 where the stroke can be fun and explore around with if working in digizited. Idea 4 is about a shape of a volcano and the explode was about to explosive.

Fig 15.5  Final Sketch Type Expression, Week 2 (06/04/22)

Fig 15.6 Type Expression Chosen by Mr Vinod, Week 2 (06/04/22)

During week 2 typography class, Mr. Vinod gave each of us feedback on the sketches, Mr. Vinod circled a few of mine and I even received some good feedbacks about the good amount of the ideas.It was enough and looking forward at the digitization of the type expression.

DIGITALIZATION

Fig 16.0 Progress for Type Expression, Week 3 (13/03/2022)

Fig 16.1 Used of tools in Illustrator,Week 3 (13/03/2022)

I was exploring around with the Adobe Illustrator, as I was still a beginner into this software.There are many tools and even effects available, such as the Warp tool. I tried using the Squeeze effect to create a kind of tight and squashed text and it worked as I expected.

.

Fig 16.2  Draft 1 for type expression, Week 3 (13/04/2022)

Fig 16.3 Draft 2 for type expression, Week 3 (13/04/2022)

During the week 3 feedback session , Mr Vinod loved the pop turns out and reminded him of a movie. He suggested that I can change the explode to another more appealing one (middle). As for the cough, he told to make it simple, "less is more" so I decided to keep draft 1 as my final outcome.

FINAL TYPE EXPRESSION

Final Type Expression in JPG  Week 3 (13/04/2022)

 

Final Type Expression in PDF,  Week 3 (13/04/2022)

3. TYPE EXPRESSION ANIMATION

Fig 17.0 GIF Progress, 
 Week 3 (13/04/2022)

Fig 17.1 First Attempt GIF in Squeeze,
Week 3 (13/04/2022)

My first attempt with squeeze was quite easy for me after watching the type expression animation tutorial video provided by Mr Vinod. However, I observed that the overall look of the GIF is still very simple and plain, which leaves me the feel that the squeeze could be have some improvement to it.

Fig 17.2 First Attempt GIF in explode,
Week 3 (13/04/2022)

While for the explode, I did not mange the frames very well, I should have made it more explosive , the result wasn't really what I wanted. After a few tries and comparison, I decided to choose and improve more on squeeze, which I thought can be improve by adding the drip (the juice/liquid is dripping)

Fig 17.3 Second attempt GIF in Squeeze,
Week 3 (13/04/2022)

In the second attempt, the squeeze word was improved by separating the "EE" and the drip part, as the timeline was a bit too fast and the drip is not easily noticeable in just a few seconds. Therefore, I decided to improve and change a little more with the framework.

Fig 17.4 Animation Frames in Squeeze (18 frames),
Week 3 (13/04/2022)

Fig 17.5 Final GIF Timeline Frames (18 frames),
Week 3 (13/04/2022)

FINAL TYPE EXPRESSION ANIMATION 

Fig 17.6 Final Animated Type Expression,
Week 3 (13/04/2022)

TASK 1 EXERCISE 2  
Text Formatting 1:4

The second task exercise is about text formatting where we will be given incremental amounts of text that address different areas within text formatting i.e. type choice, type size, leading, line-length, paragraph spacing, forced-line-break, alignment, kerning, widows and orphans etc. This exercise will help us in creasing our familiarity and capability with the InDesign.

Fig 18.0 Progress , Text Formatting InDesign
Week 4 (24/04/2022)

This was my first time using Adobe InDesign, I didn't know about InDesign before having this exercise , the program is quite simple and straight-foward. It's kind of mixture between Photoshop and Illustrator but in a more professional typesetting features to format the text consistently across pages, chapters and publications.

KERNING & TRACKING 

Fig 18.1 Close-up , Before & After Kerning 
Week 4 (24/04/2022)

Fig 18.2 Before & After Kerning in Bembo Std
Week 4 (24/04/2022)

Fig 18.3 Before & After Kerning in Bondoni Std
Week 4 (24/04/2022)

Kerning and letter tracking are the main keys to this exercise. At first I could see the "awkward" spacing between the P and e , and on the first try I started to adjust by increasing the spacing between the individual letters. After all, it helps to improve and create better visuals.

Fig 18.4 Experiment in tracking
Week 4 (24/04/2022)

While in tracking, it can be examines the overall spacing between the groups of letters and blocks of letter. I try to compare each difference by increasing the horizontal spacing between the letters with my name.

Fig 18.5 Text formatting without kerning
Week 4 (24/04/2022)

Fig 18.6 Text formatting with kerning
Week 4 (24/04/2022)

Text Formatting 2:4 to 4:4

"See what you have, understand what is it, what are the hierarchy and information within the text."

This exercise is about the relationship between font size, line length, line spacing, and paragraph spacing. Not only that, I managed to learn about text fields, alignment, roughness. At the beginning of the video, Mr. Vinod talks about learning how to operate a grid system. A grid system is essentially a system that allows information to be arranged within a given space. Margin space with a good page layout has no impact and is visually pleasing to the viewer.

Things to take note when completing Exercise 2 of Task 1 

• Font Size (8-12)
• Line Length (50-60 Characters)
• Leading (2, 2.5 , 3 points larger than font size)
• Ragging (Left alignment) or Rivers (Left Justification)
• Cross Alignment 
• No Widows / Orphans

Fig 19.0 Progress , Text Formatting InDesign
Week 4 (24/04/2022)

Fig 19.1 Without Kerning and With Kerning 

Week 4 (24/04/2022)

Fig 19.2 Correcting the widow and hyphenate
Week 5 (27/04/2022)

Kerning helps a lot by improving fonts to look more visually pleasing and making them more readable. Not only changes to kerning, but small details that don't allow widows, orphans, and hyphens. Using "Option +  >" does take some time and patience, slowly making a lot of detailed changes, but the end result is really satisfying.

Fig 19.3 Cross Alignment
Week 5 (24/04/2022) 

Fig 19.4 Cross Alignment Close-up
Week 5 (27/04/2022) 

Text Formatting Layout Progress

Fig 19.5  Layout #1
Week 5 (26/04/2022)

Layout #1 was my first attempt, as you can tell the layout and alignment are not the best. There wasn't much creativity with this layout, I was afraid I would do it wrong, so I tried it in a safe area (and there seemed to be a lot of rules to follow) so I decided to keep trying and improve it again and do more layouts in the next few days as an exercise .

Fig 19.6  Layout #2
Week 5 (26/04/2022)

Fig 19.7  Layout #3
Week 5 (26/04/2022)

Fig 19.8  Layout #4
Week 5 (26/04/2022)

Fig 19.9  Layout #5
Week 5 (26/04/2022)

Fig 19.9 Left Alignment & Left Justification in Layout #5
Week 5 (26/04/2022)

The final chosen was layout #5 but I was struggle between doing / experimenting with the left alignment and justifications. The left alignment has the straight left edge and the text are more closer together but there is uneven right edge. Compared to the left aligned, the justification gives a text a cleaner and more formal look , it helps the words in each line with all the lines are the same length easily which was very satisfying to look at but the same time the typesetting somehow may effect the readability too.

Fig 20.0  Mistake in Layout #5
Week 5 (26/04/2022)

During the week 5 feedback session, Mr. Vinod pointed out some mistakes I made and suggested using images that has to be related about Helvetica. Out of risk, I'd choose to improve my left-aligned layout #5, as it's a slightly risky and challenging reason to make adjustments and affect readability in Left Justification. But I do learned from my mistakes and here I am to improve and making adjustment again before submitted as my final result.

Fig 20.1 Improve-ing for Layout #5
Week 5 (27/04/2022)

Fig 20.2 Adjusting the alignment & letter spacing
Week 5 (27/04/2022)

Final Task 1 - Exercise 2 Text Formatting 

Fig 20.3 Final Task 1 - Text Formatting , Week 5 (26/04/2022)

Font : ITC New Baskerville Std (Roman , Bold Italics & Italics)
Font size : 10pt (body text) 40pt (heading)

Leading :12pt (body text) 24pt (heading)
Paragraph Spacing : 12pt
Alignment : Left Alignment

Average characters per line : 53-65

Columns : 4

Gutter : 5mm

 

Fig 20.3 Final Task 1 - Text Formatting (Baseline Grids),Week 5 (26/04/2022)

 

                                Fig 20.3 Final Task 1 - Text Formatting in PDF , Week 5 (26/04/2022)

---

FEEDBACKS

Week 2 (06/04/2022)

Specific feedback

Type expression Sketches -The sketches was nice and contained amount of ideas and exploration. The idea of pop was interesting and looking forward for the digitized work. The squeeze which drip out the liquid was nice. The idea with type expression for cough and explode conveys the message but it can be improve further too,

General feedback

Do not add too much distortion to the wording, effect, and design. Illustrations are not allowed. Make sure of the positioning of the alphabets when doing the digitized version. For blog, do adjust the spacing and gap of the text.

Week 3 (13/03/2022)

Specific feedback

Digitized Type Expression -The pop looks nice with the evaporate effect, it reminds Mr Vinod about one of the movie he watched. Squeeze its fine with no comments. While for explode can be change into another one in the draft , that looks more attractive and outstanding. "Less is more" for the cough,  It looks simple and straight-foward but it can conveys the type expression.

Week 4 (20/04/2022)

General feedback

Blog- Add more progress work and visual research to the blog for improvement. Do Complete the lecture video , reflection and further reading.

Week 5 (27/04/2022)

Specific feedback

Type Formatting - The pictures should be relevant about Helvetica. Concern about the letter spacing , alignment and kerning and use them correctly. Suggest to watch clearly on tutorial video again.

General feedback

Blog posts turns out good, and have improved with the progress, with visual research and informative information combined. 

---

REFLECTIONS 

Experience 

First week and second week went smoothly , even though each brainstorming session was stressful, I was energized by the feedback I received from Mr. Vinod, which boosted my confidence and motivated me for the next task. However, weeks three and four were emotionally challenging. A lot needs to be accomplished, lectures video, multiple exercises and blog has to be informative and arranged accordingly. It may sounds easy at first, but it really takes many hours in a day and to sit down and focus for typography. But my time management is lacking, and procrastination in myself is an issue too. Till week 5,  back from this typography blog, I can defiantly feel my typography skills has been improve (even its just a little). In some ways, I find it is good to put some good pressure on myself, although the feeling of not being good enough is always in my heart. Just hoping I can improve more in the next task, I will do my best, good luck Pei Yun.

Observation 

Observe about Typography is more than just choosing beautiful aesthetic fonts , its about a vital component of one's interface design. I strongly believed a good typography can establish a strong visual hierarchy, provide a visual pleasing , good balance and overall tone. Typography can guide us and optimize readability and accessibility.Typography has taught me something useful that I can apply to anything. Now, when I go out and look at billboards, cafe menus or even poster designs, I observe stylish typography, and I notice fonts and even layouts.

Findings 

I find and realize about "design progress over perfection". At first through this semester, I had a bad case of imposter syndrome. Sometime , lacking a step makes me feel uncomfortable and I would delay showing my work until I thought it was perfect trying to cover all the possible use cases.Both of these scenarios led me to more work and stress in the end. So, I think we all don't have to come up with a perfect version of a typography design. Instead make it a daily goal to make progress over perfection. One thing that makes me grateful is that my blog contains all my progress, experimentation, mistakes and visual research, at the end of week 5 my blog has received a nice compliments from Mr Vinod.

---

FURTHER READING

Why is typography important in graphic design ? 

Fig 21.0 Cover of the Blog by Stephanie Corigan

“Typography is an art that makes language visible”

When typography is done well, it:

Invites - Good typography invites a reader to actually read a text, while bad typography tends to make people refrain from reading that text.
Comforts - Good typography provides a smooth, comfortable reading experience. Bad typography has the tendency to irritate, which may send your reader away without having finished your content.
Incentivizes - Good typography makes the reader want to read more, or at least not make them refrain from doing so. When the text of a book is properly set, you will be able to read more pages of it before the eyes tire. With a badly typeset book, you may experience that you require more breaks, and stop reading sooner.
Communicates - Good typography works with the proper connotations to communicate a given message accordingly. Bad typography by contrast can be very clumsy in communication and even obfuscate the message.
Reinforces - Good typography reinforces the meaning of text. When typography is lacking, the meaning of text weakens

The Psychology of Fonts (Fonts that evoke emotion)

Fig 21.1 The Psychology of Fonts by Grace Fussell

Designers have used powerful fonts to give designs a certain mood and feel for decades, but the power of font psychology to shape individuals emotional responses to a brand or logo has only been fully realised in recent years. Fonts that provoke a psychological reaction can be used to make a brand feel more trustworthy, friendly, or aspirational, with designers often turning to emotional fonts to give brand identities a powerful psychological impact. 

A psychological approach can also be taken towards other design elements, such as colour. Savvy designers can combine multiple psychological effects by choosing particular fonts and colours, resulting in a psychologically engineered combination of design elements that communicates one or multiple emotional moods.

(Link to Psychology of Fonts)