Task 1: Exercises

 

4/04/2023 - 2/05/2023

Week 01 - Week 05

Adrianna Sofea Mohd Fauzi (0350661)

Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

Typography - Task 1: Exercise 1& 2

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JUMPLINKS:
1. Lecture 
2. Type Expression
3. Text Formatting
4. Feedback
5. Reflection
6. Reading

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FIRST WEEK JOURNAL :

Tuesday, 4th of April. Today is our first day of Typography class, we were introduced by our lecturer Mr Vinod who will facilitate us the entire semester of this class. Mr Vinod explained the weight this module holds and that we should prepare ourselves for whatever is to come because it requires a lot of practice and experimentation. In addition, Mr Vinod also emphasized the importance of every work in process we have done must be included in the E-Portfolio and avoid erasing any error in our progress because that will help to see the improvisation being made after we have finalized our work later.

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LECTURE NOTES

LECTURE 01 

The Development and Timeline of Typography

Evolution of Phoenicians to Roman Letterform. 
Around 1200 B.C.E., the Phoenicians' letterforms devised a simpler writing system in which the symbols represented sound rather than letters. These letters were considerably easy to master and could be written fast. 

Figure 1.0 Phoenician Alphabets

Figure 1.1 Greek Alphabets inscribed in stone  

The Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet around 800 BCE. They viewed this type of writing as a way to keep the knowledge they valued so highly. They standardised the letterforms, introduced vowels, and changed the reading direction. 

Figure 1.2 Phoenician to Roman Letterform

The Romans adopted the Greek alphabet and changed several of the letter combinations. They instantly added F and Q and gave the names of the letters that were considerably simpler than ours are today. For a long time, they solely used capital letters.

The reed pen, which is held at an angle to the page was being used at the time. This causes the variance in the line, and it significantly impacted how the subsequent lower case letters were created.

Figure 1.3 The greeks direction of writing 'boustrophedon'

The invention of the direction of writing

The greek was the initial ones to switch to writing from right to left, and they created a style known as "boustrophedon" (literally, "how the ox ploughs") in which the lines of text were read both left to right and right to left. 

The 3rd to 10th century C.E Hand script

Figure 1.4 4th or 5th century: Square Capitals

Square Capitals: Letterforms found in roman monuments with serifs added on the main strokes

Figure 1.5 Late 3rd to mid 4th century: Rustic Capitals

Rustic Capitals:

A compressed version of square capitals which allows as twice more words on a sheet of parchment and is faster and easier to do, however, it was difficult to read

Figure 1.6 4th century: Roman cursive 

Roman Cursive:

The evolution of lowercase letterforms started with cursive letterforms that  were used in everyday transactions with the advantage that took less time to write.

Figure 1.7 4th to 5th century: Unicials

Unicials: 
This letterform is an improved version of roman cursive as it is more structured and smaller sizes which helps to read better

Figure 1.8 C.500: Half-unicials

Half-unicials: The beginning of lowercase letterforms, replate with ascenders and descenders, after 2000 years from the Phoenician alphabet.

Figure 1.9 C.925: Caloline miniscule

Caloline Miniscule: 
The first unifier (Charlemagne) of Europe and issues an edict in 789 to standardize all
ecclesiastical texts

Figure 2.0 C.1300: Blackletter (Textura)

Blackletter (textura): 
The dissolution of Charlemagne's empire came regional variations on Alcuin's script. In northern Europe, Blackletter is a condensed vertical letterform.

Figure 2.1 C. 1455: Johann Gutenberg 

Johann Guternberg:  
Metalsmithing and chemistry were engineered by Gutenberg and marshalled them to build pages that mimicked the work of scribe's hand. This type mould required various different brass matrix or negative impressions on letterforms

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WEEK 2

LECTURE 2

Typography: Text Formatting 

Introduction to Kerning and Letterspacing 

Figure 2.2 Kerning on letters

Kerning

The 'kerning' term is the adjustment of space between alphabets. It is not referred to as letterspacing because letterspacing means adding space between letters and it differentiates when we see their length of space. 

Figure 2.3 Types of tracking on letters

3 Types of tracking

• Normal Tracking
• Loose Tracking
• Tight Tracking 

Tracking is often used on lowercase letters. When examining lowercase letterforms, we do not only consider the letterform but also the counterform. Because unllike uppercases that can stand on its own and has a strong attraction, it is acknowledge lowercases  texts works well with tracking or even kern. 

Figure 2.4 Normal tracking compared to loose tracking 

Tracking entails altering the spacing across the entire word. Once discovered the proper spacing between each letter, tracking can be used sparingly to modify the spacing between all letters at once. Tracking is typically used to fill an area that is greater or smaller than the type's current constraints, or to make a single word appear airy and striking.

Types of text formats:

Flush left: Readible, suitable for long paragraphs or publication 

Figure 2.5 Flush left on paragraph

The ragged margin of white space created by the irregular line endings gives the text a lighter appearance. In addition, the consistent word spacing allows readers to quickly identify word clusters. 

Centered alignment: Used for headlines or any offcial limited circumstances

Figure 2.6 Centered alignment on paragraph

For display type, centred alignment is commonly used, especially for brief headlines that span more than one text column. Text that is centred can give a paper a more official tone. It is commonly used for invitations and formal announcements.

Flush right: Headings and headlines

Figure 2.7 Flush right on paragraph

The flush-right alignment encourages the reader to slow down in order to discover the start of the next line. It is recommended to use it only for short headings and headlines.

Figure 2.8 Justified format

Justified format: Expanding or reducing spaces between words or letters.
Line breaks and hyphens is required to amend in a justified format if this problem occurs.

Texture on text

Figure 2.9 Different typefaces with contrasting gray values

Leading and Line Length

Figure 3.0

Type size: Text type should be large enough to be read easily at arms length

Leading: Text that is set too tightly encourages vertical eye movement; a reader can easily loose his or her place. A type that is set too loosely creates striped patterns that distract the reader from the material at hand.

Line Length: Appropriate leading for text is as much a function of the line length as it is a question f type size and leading. Shorter lines require less leading; longer lines more. A good rule of thumb is to keep line length between 35-65 characters. Extremely long or short lines lengths impairs reading

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WEEK 3

LECTURE 3

Text: Indicating paragraphs

Pilcrow

Figure 3.1 l Pilcrow

Pilcrow: A holdover from medieval manuscripts seldom use today

Figure 3.2 Line space compared to leading

Leading: Leading governs how text is spaced vertically in lines. For content with numerous lines of readable text, ensure that the gap between the bottom of the words above and the top of the words below is adequate to make them legible.

Line spacing: Between the paragraphs. If the line space is 12pt, then the paragraph space is 12pt. This ensures cross-alignment across columns of text.

Figure 3.3 Standard indentation

Standard Indentation: Indent is the same size of the line spacing or the same as the point size of the text.

Highlighting Texts

Figure 3.4 Highlighted text by using Italics

or Bold

Figure 3.5 Highlighted with bold and colour

(Black, Cyan and Magenta)

Figure 3.6 Highlighting key points by using

typographic elements

Widows and Orphans

Figure 3.7 Widows and orphan in paragraph

Widow: Short line of the type left alone at the end of a column of text.

Orphan: Short line of the type left alone at the start of a new column.

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WEEK 4
LECTURE 4
Text: Describing/Elements of letterforms

Baseline: The invisible line the visual base of the letterforms

Median: The invisible line defining the x-height of letterforms

X-Height: The height in any typeface of the lowercase 'x'. 

Figure 3.8 Elements of letterforms in M,P,H,X

Uppercase letters have a larger and more surface on top than lowercase letters with a single stroke, and it is usually constructed to be evenly balanced by being somewhat taller than uppercase letters near the ascender height.

Figure 3.9 Stroke in letter A,B,C

Stroke: A single line in a basic letterform

Figure 4.0 Apex above and Vertex below

Apex/Vertex: A point created by collaborating two diagonal stems 

Figure 4.1 Arm term in letters in C,G,S

Figure 4.2 Arm term in letters E,T,L

Arm: This expression refers to a letterform that extends from the stem stroke, either horizontally or vertically and is commonly found in open simple stroke letterforms such as F, L, or K, Y.

Figure 4.3 Bowl term in letters  B,D,P,Q

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

Figure 4.4 Ascender height in B,D,H,K

Ascender: The portion of the stem of a lowercase letterform that projects above the median.

Figure 4.5 Ligature of F and I

Ligature: The character formed by the combination of two or more letterforms

Figure 4.6

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

Figure 4.7

Descender: The portion of the stem of the lowercase letterform that projects below the baseline

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WEEK 5
LECTURE 5
Letters: Understanding letterforms 

Figure 4.8

Uppercase letterform: Uppercase letters are not symmetrical, as evidenced by the bracket attachment or junction in several sections of the letter

Figure 4.9

Observation on uppercase letterform: Left slope is thinner than the right stroke

Figure 5.0 Helvetica and Univers Typefaces

Letterform: A comparison between Helvetica and Univers of its stems finish and bowls direction 

and placement is different which gives character and a more harmonious look.

Maintaining X-Height

Figure 5.1 Indicating x-height

X-height: Describe the size of the lowercase letterform, it is important to note if 
the letter exceeds above the height the letter must rise above the median or sink below the baseline to ensure they appear the same size vertically or horizontally.

Counterform

Figure 5.2 Letters and counterform

Counterform: the space describes, and is often contained, by the strokes of the form. When letters are joined to form words, the counterform includes the spaces between them. How well are the counters handled determines how well the words hang together.

Typefaces and contrasts

Figure 5.3 Various typefaces with contrasts

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WEEK 6
LECTURE 6
Typography: Screen and Print 

Different medium

Type for print: Typefaces such as Caslon, Garamond or Baskerville are the most common typefaces used for print. Its characteristic are elegant and intellectual as well as readable when it is set in a small font size

Figure 5.4 Print type versus Screen type

Type for screen: Typefaces intended for use on the web are optimized to enhance the readability and performance on screen such as:

• taller x-height 
• reduced ascenders and descenders
• wider letterforms
• more open counters
• heavier thin stroke 
• reduced stroke contrast
• modified curves and angles

Pixel Differential Between Devices

Figure 5.5 different pixels on various devices

Static Versus Motion in Typography

Figure 5.6 Static versus motion 

Static typography: This type has minimal characteristics in expressing words.
Traditional characteristics like bold and italic offer only a fraction of the expressive potential of dynamic properties.

Figure 5.7 Static typography on billboard 

Different mediums

Figure 5.8 Different typefaces 

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INSTRUCTION 

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Type Expression

During lecture, we were given a brief of what to start with and references on what type expression is, therefore we were required to sketch for our first task which is the type expression. We were asked to choose four words out of five to create our own design for the type expression

I have chosen these 4 words:

1. Crush
2. Freedom
3. Water 
4. Sick

1. Sketches 

Figure 6.0 Digital Sketch on Ipad for
Crush, Water, Freedom & Sick

2. Digitization
SICK
NOTES:
For Sick, I experimented by using different fonts and maintaining the point size for some to give a balanced structure to its word

Figure 6.1 "Sick" digitisation process, Week 2 (10/04/2023)

Most of the visuals and elements seen are not digitally illustrated, however I used the letter
'I' and 'C' in a different typeface to create an emoji-looking element  

WATER
NOTES:
For Water, I struggled a lot in doing the word "water" because I see my friends have similar
ideas in executing the expression for it which led me to creating the simplest form of expression and I tried to avoid using elements

Figure 6.2 "Water" digitisation process, Week 2 (10/04/2023)

CRUSH
NOTES:
For Crush, I played around with the weight of each typeface to give a heavy look on crush and kern the spaces between the letters as well as improvising the letter by altering them to be slashed (Ex: the letter 'U' in attempt #4)

Figure 6.3 "Crush" digitisation process, Week 2 (10/04/2023)

FREEDOM
NOTES:
For Freedom, I tried to express them by dividing "freedom" into "free" and "dom".
The reason for this is to give an expression of "freedom" between the adjoined words as "free"
has its own meaning which is free or (synonym: unbound) to the word.

Figure 6.4 "Freedom" digitisation process, Week 2 (10/04/2023)

COMPILATION OF FOUR WORDS

Figure 6.5 Compilation of designed chosen words to be reviewed
by Mr Vinod, Week 2 (11/04/2023)

NOTES:
Mr Vinod had advised the word "Sick" were the best expression among the other three words,
and disliked the three designs as it does not give meaning or expression to the word

FINAL WORD EXPRESSION

Figure 6.6 Updated and finalised words, Week 2 (15/04/2023)

NOTES:

These are the final four expressive words which I have improved and chosen after getting feedback from my lecturer and I have decided to choose the word "sick" for my animation

Final Word Expression in JPEG

Final Word Expression in PDF

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Animation

I have chosen the word "SICK" for my animation and maintained the negative space as it is,
I had 23 slides in total for animation.

Figure 7.0 Final Sick Expression

Description:
Typefaces for each words are different: The letter S uses (Janson Text), I (Futura Std), K (Janson Text) and the visual of a sad face are the letter 'C' as the eyes and 'I' as the brow

Figure 7.1 Photoshop Workspace for Animation

The layers for positive spaces of "Sick" were adjusted to be "0.1 second" to avoid delayed or slow outcome of the animation, right after the black circle from the letter 'i' transitions,
the layers of negative spaces of "Sick" were adjusted to "0.2 seconds" to ensure the audience manage to see the final look of the expression 

Final Animation

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Text Formatting

TEXT FORMATTING - Kerning and Tracking, Hyphenation

 

Kerning and Tracking helps to improve the alignment and direction for the reader to read better and seamlessly

 

Kerning: The process of reconciling the spacing between characters/letterforms

Tracking: The spacing between characters or known as (letter-spacing) to provide more space between letters as it improves readability purposes.

Hyphenation: A hyphenation helps to connect two nouns to make one complete word

TEXT FORMATTING - Leading, Font Size, Paragraph Spacing and Line-length

 

In regards of long paragraphs, an unequal margin is better as the white spaces create dynamism and margin space is vital in this step as a guidance for layout structure.

• Do not exceed +3/-3 for tracking to reduce ragging (line).
• For alignments: Only use left align or left justify.
• It is best to avoid central alignment when a large amount of text is being used
• If using justify, ensure there aren't any rivers
  
• Line length: 55 - 65 (body text)
  
  
• Maintain cross alignment.
• Paragraph spacing same as leading.
• Leading: +2 points of point size or can add +2.5 or +3 depending on the font/typeface. Typefaces have different x-height which is why some may extend over the baseline grid.
• Leading has to have the same value as paragraph spacing
  
  
• Turn off hyphenation. If turning on hyphenation, ensure there are not too many tracking adjustments that must be made.
• Body text: Negative and positive space has to be equal (middle gray value).
• Avoid widows and orphans.
• For A4 size paper, it is suitable to use 8-12 point size
• If the point size is (Example) 10 pt, the leading has to be 12 (2+ larger)

Experimentation Process

Figure 7.2 My name in 10 Typefaces
Tracking and kerning on my name

Figure 7.3 Improvised name formatting

For Adobe Caslon, I used a different typeface on "O" and resize them +2 times bigger to balance out "Sofea" as beforehand it looks awkward when the "O" in lowercase is placed as it is. Gill Sans, I had used"light" and "light italic" for different letter case and used tracking to squeeze/condensed the name 

Number of layouts for "I am Helvetica" Paragraph Formatting

Figure 8.1 Layout of "I am Helvetica"

Figure 8.2 Layout of "I am Helvetica"

I placed the image on the left alignment to see whether it suits to my liking of the composition and I found that it works better in left alignment and tried different ways and +3 or -2 for the size of the image, although I can make the image bigger and outstanding/focus but I find that it would interrupt the entire text which is to attract people to read and I had set to put the focus on the alignment and/or the paragraph spacing between each paragraph. 

Cross Alignment process:

Figure 8.3 Image on the right alignment with different line length

Figure 8.4 Image on the bottom right, same alignment as text with
slightly same line length and spacing. 

Figure 8.5 Different line length but with the same 50-58 number of characters

Tracking process

Figure 8.1 Layout of "I am Helvetica"

- Tracking between words to avoid awkward spacing between one another

Figure 8.1 Expression on "Helvetica"
- I decided to use a different character for the letter "v" to give more enhancement to the title
Layout process with Grid Guides

Final Formatting in JPEG

Final Formatting of "I am Helevtica" in PDF

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Feedback

Week 5:

General Feedback: Avoid irregular texts spaces between sentences and

central alignment on long texts

Specific Feedback: Line length has to be within 55-65 and not more, avoid large line length

 

Week 4:

General Feedback: Ensure the timeframe for the animation is not too short

Specific Feedback: Animation should be straightforward and not complicated as it will not deliver

the expression of the text to the audience (redo)

 

Week 3:

General Feedback: Update on the blog weekly and record progresses

Specific Feedback: composition was not impactful and some words does not match the expression

 

Week 2:

General Feedback: Use minor graphical elements and ensure the typefaces sketches been made is applicable to be used by the 10 typefaces Mr. Vinod has provided. Limit distortion on the typeface

Specific Feedback: A few sketches does not resonate with the chosen word's meaning and I should explore more on how I can improvise them. Some of them uses too much of graphical element. I personally like the word 'sick' and the first idea of the design.

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Reflection

Experience: From my experience, this assignment was difficult for me because I was not used to being restricted from doing certain things. In this particular exercise, we had to be creatively create something of our own within the area that our lecturer allowed us to use. For example, we were allowed to add a few graphical elements but only a few because we had to ensure that the typography was as expressive as the meaning and did not rely on graphics. I also overthink a lot, which is another reason for my slow design pace. I've been working to overcome this obstacle, and learning from the feedback my peers and I received from our lecturer has been very helpful in identifying the issues I need to reevaluate. 

Observation: Throughout my studies for this module, I have seen a variety of things, including how my classmates advance and critically think through their work as well as how they manage their time for each task and progress. I believe I gained a lot of knowledge in that area because I struggle with multitasking, and I'm happy we can exchange ideas and support one another in improving our work. We contribute to the critique process and develop creative ways to communicate our work. 

Findings: This task taught me how important it is to conduct in-depth research on typography and visual research. We can't rely solely on our lectures; instead, we should broaden our knowledge by studying additional researches from E-Books that our lecturer had provided or history Typography books.

Lesson: Something that I would to change is my work management in each task. I currently find myself spending too much time on a single project and frequently becoming fixated on it. I have a tendency to focus on the talents I lack rather than looking into other worthwhile options, which results in more time wasted as I try to get better in those areas. Additionally, there are moments when I'm engrossed in another task, such as illustration, and wonderful ideas spontaneously emerge. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to overlook these thoughts rather than immediately noting or sketching them, thereby missing out on valuable opportunities to incorporate them into my work.

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Further Reading

Typographic Design: Form and Communication by Rob Carter 
(the 6th Edition) 

Summary:

Typographic Design: Form and Communication by Rob Carter examines the fundamentals and best practices of typography as a visual communication. I particularly loved reading this book since it had a lot of images, which helped me better comprehend the terms used in typography. This book analyses many typefaces and their properties as well as type anatomy, spacing, usage of colour, and layout. It also dives into the historical background of typography. I now fully comprehend the appropriate method for creating typefaces, where the most important guidelines are the significance of legibility, readability, and the relationship between form and function. Although I might not master doing so, however, with the practices I've done from the guidance of this book, it does and has helped me to create the work I did above.

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