Typography Task 3: Type Design & Communication
15.11.2023 - 12.12.2023(Week 8 - Week 12 )
Lew Guo Ying / 0365721 / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Typography
Task 3: Type Design & Communication
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1. Instructions
1.1 Week 8
1.2 Week 9
1.3 Week 10
1.4 Week 11
1.5 Week 12
2. Feedback
3. Reflections
Instructions
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Week 8:
Research
- Determining the appropriate font size becomes easier when considering factors affecting readability.
- The most crucial factor lies in the x-height of lowercase letters and their interplay with uppercase and ascender letters.
- The baseline serves as the foundation for character alignment. Characters extending below this line are descenders, while those rising above the x-height are ascenders.
- The x-height refers to the space between the baseline and the top of the lowercase letters' non-ascender portion.
- Axis: The direction of inclination in a letter, such as the central line in "o".
- Ear: Small portions of a letter, such as the upper part of "g".
- Hook: Curved portions of a letter, such as the lower part of "f".
- Bar: Horizontal parts of a letter, such as the middle of "e".
- Serif: Decorative portions of a letter, such as the top and bottom of "f".
- Counter: Enclosed or partially enclosed blank areas within a letter, such as the middle of "o".
- Bowl: Rounded portions of a letter, such as the upper part of "p".
- Stroke: Basic lines of a letter, such as the entirety of "l".
- Terminal: Terminal parts of a letter, such as the bottom right corner of "a".
Deconstruction of letterforms
For this task, we need to choose two types of letterforms to deconstruct and analyze their specialities. One is a serif letterform, and the other is a sans-serif letterform.
The first letterform I chose is Serif which is ITC Garamond Std. The second one I choose is San-serif which is Futura Std.
For the deconstruction of ITC Garamond Std Book the letter H is horizontally symmetrical and has complete symmetry both from left to right and top to bottom. The axis of the letter o is vertical and remains symmetrical. The letter g looks to maintain balance, with thicker strokes mirrored on the opposite side, ensuring a symmetrical appearance and avoiding imbalance. The straight line part of the letter b is positioned on the far left of the circular part, and the thickest stroke width is symmetrically balanced on both sides.
For the Futura Std Book letterforms deconstruction, the vertical lines of the letter H maintain the same width, but the horizontal line is not positioned at the middle, evenly splitting the upper and lower heights. The outer and inner contours of the letter o are nearly perfect circles, and it maintains perfect symmetry both horizontally and vertically. The inner contour of the letter g and the rounded corner at the bottom maintain consistency. The vertical line of the letter b and the circular bottom are not parallel, and it is not a perfect circle.
Week 9
I racked my brain and even searched online to figure out how to use three types of pens and three colors to write in different fonts. I found that complex fonts look really nice. So, I started striving to blend different types of characters. Silver writes very smoothly, but the instructor mentioned that silver can reflect light, making it difficult for people to see clearly, so it's not recommended for use.
Week 10:
At the beginning, writing was incredibly challenging, especially when combining arcs and dots. Transitioning from thick to thin strokes and dealing with various details made it difficult for me to start. The ultimate challenge was figuring out how to seamlessly integrate dots and lines in a more natural way.
After discussing with the instructor, they mentioned that this falls under an italic font category and advised me to pay attention to the angle variations. Consequently, I began adjusting the angles of the font. Additionally, it was recommended to maintain consistency in the size of the dots by potentially setting a few different sizes. Ideally, adjusting the size proportionate to the number of dots used in the font would be appropriate. However, for the sake of uniformity, I opted to use nearly the same size for all the dots.
In this version, I made some fine adjustments by placing the dots directly at the ends of the font characters, without having them connected, making them more resembling musical notes. The instructor suggested placing all the dots in a uniform direction, akin to the characteristics of musical notes. However, upon trying this, I found that it would imbalance the font, making it appear less aesthetically pleasing, unorganized, and even somewhat peculiar. Hence, I decided to maintain this design.
Week 11：
Final Outcome：
In this final outcome, I adjusted the stroke thickness, incline angle, height, width, dot angle and size, as well as the symbol size. I reached a state that I feel is the best.
Fig11.1 Final Digitalisation, week 11 (5.12.2023)
Week 12:
Fontlab Preview
Poster
After receiving feedback from the teacher, I removed the warp effect, placed the text directly on the curve, and adjusted the curvature of the graphic.
Feedback
Week 9:
General Feedback: The difference between Calligraphy and Lettering lies in how they create letter shapes. Calligraphy involves using specific angles and penmanship for varied letter shapes, while Lettering focuses on outlining letters, not necessarily following writing sequences.
Specific Feedback: Some sketches, rather than resembling writing, seem more like outlining and drawing fonts. Although they're good, they might not be suitable for this task. There's can digitize the fonts in two ways: one involves changing the angle, to appear simple yet effective, while the other includes adding dot-like notes at the end of strokes, which can also be experimented with.
Week 10：
General Feedback:
The instructor mentioned that there's no need to download or purchase the paid version of FontLab. We should manage the usage time effectively with the demo version of FontLab, allowing us to input our own fonts for fine-tuning. Finally, during class time in D704, we'll be able to export the fonts using FontLab.
Specific Feedback:
The font is of the italic type, so attention must be given to the angle by slanting the font appropriately. Dots can be placed closer to the end of the font characters to maintain consistency throughout all the characters. To resemble musical notes more closely, it's recommended to retain some characteristics of musical notes, such as keeping the direction of the dots uniform.
Week 11：
General Feedback: The stroke width needs to be consistent to maintain a reasonable appearance for each character.
Specific Feedback: Pay attention to the stroke width, preferably using 'O' and 'H' as standards to ensure overall balance in all characters. Adjust the size of dots, making them smaller as the number of dots increases. Lastly, attempt to standardize the angle of dots for uniformity and neatness.
Week 12:
General Feedback: When creating BW A4 poster; ensure sentence/phrase/words are the same point size/ font size; ensure the byline <yourfont's_name><by_your_name>,<2023.> is Univers LT Std. at 8pts.
Specific Feedback: The size of commas and periods needs to be adjusted. Upon closer inspection, there's a slight inconsistency in the slant of fonts like T, H, and L, requiring some time for fine-tuning.
Reflections
Observation:
When creating one's own font, keen observation is crucial, whether during sketching or digitalization. It's essential to observe and contemplate the type of font one intends to create—be it bold, regular, italic, or others.
After sketching, when transitioning to Adobe Illustrator, determining the right angles becomes a dilemma. Maintaining uniformity among all the characters is crucial; otherwise, the final product will lack consistency and tidiness.
Once the general structure is in place, meticulous observation becomes even more critical while delving into finer details. This involves fine-tuning stroke thickness and adjusting letter inclinations, among other aspects—all requiring time, scrutiny, and refinement.
Experience:
Fontlab is a complex application with a variety of tools and features, although in our case, only some functionalities were utilized. The font creation process doesn't conclude once the font is crafted; instead, it involves combining various characters and fine-tuning kerning.
Since the spacing and angles of each character differ, experimenting with different combinations becomes essential to achieve a more natural and uniform font.
As this particular project did not encompass all the letters, forming words within a limited set of characters proved challenging. This necessitated numerous adjustments, and observations, making the process mentally taxing and prone to fatigue.
Findings:
During kerning adjustments, referring to other fonts online or offline reveals that their kerning doesn't adhere to a specific set of numbers. Essentially, each character undergoes individual fine-tuning, resulting in nearly unique kerning differences.
Observing other elements beyond fonts expands one's perspective, leading to confusion regarding whether to align adjustments with the font's most prominent features or focus on the overall structure.
Striving for perfection in design remains elusive, as perfection is subjective—everyone perceives designs differently based on their aesthetics. Hence, one can only preserve the design that satisfies them the most.
Further Reading
Line Spacing（Leading）
- Leading refers to space between lines; no fixed rules exist.
- Font, line length, and type size affect leading.
- Leading derived from hand typesetting using lead strips.
- It can be considered character or paragraph format.
- Type size and line spacing, measured in points, are usually written together, e.g., 10/12.
- Designers can set line spacing using various methods depending on the software.
- Word processors commonly offer options like single, 1.5, or double line spacing.
- This method suits simple reports; complex formats demand greater control.
- Most page layout and word processing programs allow specifying precise line spacing settings.
Line Spacing for Headlines and Subheads
- Advanced layout programs offer more options, like specifying line spacing based on a percentage of the type size or adding a fixed amount to it.
- Typically, avoid the percentage or auto-leading option as it may cause larger headings to appear too spread out.
- When unsure, it's best to use the precise method for all line spacing.
Leading and Baseline Grid
- Baseline grid alignment ensures text alignment across columns or, to a lesser extent, across pages.
- Baseline settings are usually adjusted based on the body copy's leading within the document preferences of the file.
- Subsequently, paragraphs are fixed or aligned to this baseline grid during formatting.
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