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Typography | Task 3: Type Design & Communication

10.11.2023 - 21.12.2023 / Week 7 - Week 13
Khu Ying Ying / 0357306
Typography / GCD60104 / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media 
Task 3: Type Design & Communication
TABLE OF CONTENTS

LECTURES

INSTRUCTIONS
    
EXERCISE - DESIGNING A TYPEFACE
    Week 8 (17/11/2023)  Research & Sketches
    Week 9 (24/11/2023)  Digitalisation
    Week 10 (01/12/2023)  Adjustments
    Week 11 (08/12/2023)  FontLab
    Week 12 (15/12/2023)  Poster Design    
    Week 13 (22/12/2023)  Finalisation

FEEDBACKS

REFLECTIONS

FURTHER READING

QUICK LINKS

LECTURES

All lectures 1 to 6 are completed.

INSTRUCTIONS

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EXERCISE - DESIGNING A TYPEFACE

Week 8 (17/11/2023)  

Research & Sketches

Prepare graph paper and 3 marker pens (must be 3.0 above). Then, select a preferred font from the 10 fonts provided. Do a detailed dissection of the letters H,o,g,b and write the observations. After that. sketch the following letters ODHNG / odhng using the 3 pens. Explore 3 different writing styles for each of the 3 pens. After that, write all the letters (o l e d s n c h t i g , . ! #) with the final decision on the sketches, then digitise in Adobe Illustrator.

Pinterest Board (Typography) 

Note
A note of letterforms basic.
Figure E8.1: Letterform Basic, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

  • X-height: The height in any typeface of the lowercase 'x'
  • Ascender: The portion of the stem  of a lowercase letterform that projects above the median
  • Cap Height: The height of a capital letter above the baseline for a particular typeface
  • Descender Height: The portion of the stem of a lowercase letterforms that project below the baseline
  • Meanline: The imaginary line defining the x-height of letterforms
  • Baseline: The imaginary line in the visual base of the letterforms
  • Overshoot: Rounded or pointed letters will usually have an overshoot, which means the character design extends over the x-height, cap height or under the baseline to make the letter appear of equal size with the rest of the letters

Dissection of the Letters
I listed down the 10 fonts provided on a page and I selected Univers LT Std as my preferred font. The reason I chose this font was because it looks clean, modern, and minimalist.
Figure E8.2: 10 Fonts, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

Then, I dissected Univers LT Std 55 Roman letterforms. 
Figure E8.3: Univers LT Std 55 Roman "H" Dissection, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

Figure E8.4: Univers LT Std 55 Roman "o" Dissection, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

Figure E8.5: Univers LT Std 55 Roman "g" Dissection, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

Figure E8.6: Univers LT Std 55 Roman "b" Dissection, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

Observations
I observed that the letter "H" stems were equal, but the cross bar (horizontal stroke) wasn't the same weight (overall thickness) as the stems. Besides that, the letter "o" wasn't perfectly circular, and it didn't have the same weight because the bottom seemed slightly heavier. Furthermore, the letter "g"  also wasn't perfectly circular, it had the rounded form of a shoulder and the stroke didn't over the bowl. Lastly, the letter "b" wasn't perfectly circular and the stem appeared unequal.

Sketches
These were the materials I used on this assignment:
  1. Artline Calligraphy Pen EK-243 3.0mm - Black
  2. Artline Calligraphy Pen EK-244 4.0mm - Black
  3. Artline EDF-3 Decorite Marker 3mm - Pastel Purple
  4. Graph papers
Figure E8.7: Materials, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

These were some writing styles I found on Pinterest and I gathered them together as reference.
Figure E8.8: Reference from Pinterest, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

I started with rough sketches and I couldn't write smoothly with Artline Calligraphy Pen EK-244 4.0mm - Black, because the nib was scratchy. However, I still tried my best to write it out. 
Figure E8.9: Rough Sketches, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

Then, I sketched out different writing styles with the 3 pens to explore a variety of options. 
Figure E8.10: Exploring Writing Styles with The 3 Pens, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

Figure E8.11: Exploring Writing Styles with The 3 Pens, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

Then, I chose my preferences from the sketches of exploring the writing styles with the 3 pens.
  1. Artline Calligraphy Pen EK-243 3.0mm - Black
    • 1, 2, 4, 5
  2. Artline Calligraphy Pen EK-244 4.0mm - Black
    • 7, 8, 9, 12
  3. Artline EDF-3 Decorite Marker 3mm - Pastel Purple
    • 16, 17, 23, 24
Figure E8.12: My Preferences for The 3 Pens, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

I decided to go with Sketch #6 in uppercase as the final design of this assignment. Before proceeding to digitalisation, I made some changes to Sketch #6.
  1. For the letter "O": changed from diagonal stress to vertical stress 
  2. For the letter "D": adjusted the (upper left) serif to match the bowl 
  3. For the letter "H": changed the (upper left) serif, and increased the width of the crossbar to make it look consistent 
  4. For the letter "N": increased the width of the stroke to make it look as consistent as the other letterforms
  5. For the letter "G": adjusted the position of the right stem as it was too far away from the barb, and increased the width of the bowl
Figure E8.13: Adjustments of Sketch #6 (Before & After), Week 8 (17/11/2023)

Then, I applied Sketch #6 to the selected letters (o l e d s n c h t i g , . ! #) in uppercase.
Figure E8.14: Finalised Sketch #6, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

Week 9 (24/11/2023)

Digitalisation

In the previous exercise (sketches), I chose and finalised Sketch #6 as my final design for the assignment. I started to digitalise the letters by creating the typefaces with the shape tool in Adobe Illustrator.
Figure E9.1: Creating Typefaces with Shape Tool, Week 9 (24/11/2023)

Then, I duplicated the artboard to keep the parts in the typeface construction. This was because it would help me to maintain the originals, so I could revert back if something went wrong with the next phase of the designing process. After that, I united the shapes and started to curve the typeface. During the process, I also added and deleted some anchor points of the typeface so I could control the stroke better. 
Figure E9.2: Duplicating Artboard, Uniting & Curving Typeface, Week 9 (24/11/2023)

Close-up of the curving the typeface.
Figure E9.3: "O" - Curving the Typeface, Week 9 (24/11/2023)

Figure E9.4: "S" - Curving the Typeface, Week 9 (24/11/2023)

I created shapes that were often used in typefaces.
Figure E9.5: Shapes Often Used, Week 9 (24/11/2023)

I could see the outlines of the typeface by using Ctrl + Y. The difference between original shapes and united shapes on the typeface. 
Figure E9.6: Difference between Original Shapes & United Shapes, Week 9 (24/11/2023)

This was the typeface outcome before feedback. 
Figure E9.7: Typeface Outcome with Guidelines (Before), Week 9 (24/11/2023)

Figure E9.8: Typeface Outcome without Guidelines (Before), Week 9 (24/11/2023)

This was the outline of the typeface before feedback.
Figure E9.9: Outline of the Typeface (Before), Week 9 (24/11/2023)

Week 10 (01/12/2023)

Adjustments

There were some adjustments I needed to make based on the feedback. For the letter "N", I adjusted the width of the diagonal stroke because it looked too narrow with the stem on the right side. Then, I adjusted the letter "H" serif because it didn't look as consistent as the other letterforms. Lastly, for the letter "G", I adjusted the height of the right stem because it was too short to balance the letter "G".
Figure E10.1: Adjustment of "N" (Before & After), Week 10 (01/12/2023)

Figure E10.2: Adjustment of  "H" (Before & After), Week 10 (01/12/2023)

Figure E10.3: Adjustment of "G" (Before & After), Week 10 (01/12/2023)

This was the typeface outcome after feedback. 
Figure E10.4: Typeface Outcome with Guidelines (After), Week 10 (01/12/2023)

Figure E10.5: Typeface Outcome without Guidelines (After), Week 10 (01/12/2023)

This was the outline of the typeface after feedback.
Figure E10.6: Outline of the Typeface (After), Week 10 (01/12/2023)

Week 11 (08/12/2023)

FontLab

Notes:
  1. Use FontLab 7, FontLab 8 has too many bugs/ issues.
  2. What to do after you download FontLab 7?
    • Copy the font from Adobe Illustrator, then paste (double click) inside in FontLab 7
    • When the coordinates rounding pop up, click on Turn off Round when Editing, don't click Round
    • Edit > Preferences... > at the Paste & Duplicate, Vector artwork: Import original position: prefer AI vector format need to click on (/)
Figure E11.1: Placing Letterforms in FontLab 7, Week 11 (08/12/2023)

Figure E11.2: Adjusted Side Bearing, Week 11 (08/12/2023)

Week 12 (15/12/2023)

Poster Design

Notes:
  1. When creating the BW A4 poster; ensure sentence/ phrase/ words are the same point size/ font size; ensure the byline <font's_name> <by_name>, <2023.> is Univers LT Std. at 8pts.

I experimented with creating different poster designs before finalizing decisions.
Figure E12.1: Different Poster Designs, Week 12 (15/12/2023)

Figure E12.2: Different Poster Designs, Week 12 (15/12/2023)

Then, I decided to go with Poster Design #1 as the final work. I readjusted the words' position for the changes.
Figure E12.3: Poster Design #1 (Before & After), Week 12 (15/12/2023)

This was the Final Poster Design #1 before feedback.
Figure E12.4: Final Poster Design #1 (Before Feedback), Week 12 (15/12/2023)

Week 13 (22/12/2023)

Finalisation

After getting feedback from Mr Vinod, I should add grey words as the background to fill up the white space. Besides that, the 250 pt words position needed to be higher than the line because it was too close to the line.
Figure E13.1: Poster Design #1 (Before & After), Week 13 (22/12/2023)

Final Submission of Type Design & Communication.

Figure E13.2: Screen Grab of FontLab Process (Side Bearings), Week 13 (21/12/2023)

Figure E13.3: Final Type Construction "Wonderland" in JPEG, Week 13 (21/12/2023)

Figure E13.4: Final Type Construction "Wonderland" in PDF, Week 13 (21/12/2023)

Figure E13.5: Final Poster in JPEG (After Feedback), Week 13 (22/12/2023)

Figure E13.6: Final Poster in PDF (After Feedback), Week 13 (22/12/2023)

FEEDBACKS

Week 8 (Online/ ILW)

Specific Feedback: 
  1. I decided to go with Sketch #6 as my final design for this assignment.

Week 9

General Feedback:  
  1. Choose either uppercase or lowercase. 
  2. The fewer the anchor points, the smoother/ control the stroke.
  3. The shape and structure of the font must be consistent.

Week 10

Specific Feedback: 
  1. The letter "N" has a wider diagonal width stroke, and needs to be reduced.
  2. The right stem of the letter "G" is very short, which makes the letter look not balanced at all.
  3. The letter "H" serif is not consistent with the others and needs to be adjusted.

General Feedback:  
  1. Must be consistent, especially width.
  2. Not all of the punctuation looks consistent.
  3. If confused, type out the letters to see the difference clearly.
  4. Notably mention the exclamation mark, be careful not to make the exclamation mark into the letter "i", as it should be big at the beginning and small at the tail.
  5. The comma's tail must be longer because it helps prevent the comma from looking too small or getting lost within the text.

Week 11

General Feedback:
  1. Adjust the side bearings of your letters using the chart provided (images are attached in Teams).

Week 12

General Feedback:
  1. The design can look "incomplete", so it'll engage the audience to think about the artwork.

Week 13

Specific Feedback:
  1. The design can look "incomplete", so it'll engage the audience to think about the artwork.
  2. The 250 pt words position needed to be higher than the line because it was too close to the line.

REFLECTIONS

Experience
This was my first time creating my own typefaces and it helped me to understand more about the basic typography. I think the hardest part was doing the sketch with calligraphy pens because I needed to ensure consistency such as curves, angles, and stroke thickness. In addition, I realised that the FontLab side bearings should be around 10 to 30 so it wouldn't give too much white space.

Observation
I observed that typefaces require consistency because this will make text easier to read. Besides that, it is not only for aesthetic purposes but also practical and effective in conveying information across a variety of mediums and environments. I also observed that the comma's tail must be longer because it helps prevent the comma from looking too small or getting lost within the text, which can differentiate from full stop too.

Findings
I found that understanding basic typography was crucial during the process of creating typefaces. Besides that, the transition form sketch to digitalisation part was challenging too because I needed to maintain the essence and consistency of my original sketch. During the digitization process, it became equally important to ensure that my typeface was easy to read, ensuring that it remained legible across different uses and sizes.

FURTHER READING

Week 9 - Week 13

Figure FR.1: Typography Referenced (2012)


Reference:
Haley, A., Poulin, R., Tselentis, J., Seddon, T., Leonidas, G., Saltz, I., Henderson, K., & Alterman, T., (2012). Typography Referenced. Beverly, Massachusetts: Rockport Publishers Inc.

QUICK LINKS

Tasks

Task 2: Typography Exploration & Communication

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