Typography / Task 2：Typographic Exploration & Communication

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Week 6-Week 7

WangShengxiao/0369380

Bachelor of Design(Honours)in Creative Media

Typography/Task2：Typographic Exploration & Communication

Table of Contents:

1. Lectures

2. Instruction

3. Lecture Notes

4. Task 2

5. Feedback

6. Reflection

7. Further Reading

LECTURE

Week 6: On the basis of the last project, we learned the design of long typesetting. I think I still need to make progress in typesetting, and my creativity and imagination are not rich enough.

Week 7: Mr. Vinod taught us to use three different pens for font design and to digitize the design once it was approved.

INSTRUCTIONS

    • LECTURE   Week 6

    Typography: Letters

    1. Understanding letterforms
    Capital letters look symmetrical, but they're not exactly symmetrical. The strokes of the Baskerville typeface come in two different thicknesses, and more importantly, each of the curved brackets that connect the serifs to the trunk has a unique curved design.

    Capital letters may look symmetrical, but a closer look reveals that the left slash is slightly thinner than the stroke on the right. Both the Baskerville typeface of the past and the Univers typeface of the present day demonstrate the meticulous effort that typefaces designers put into creating glyphs that are both harmonious and unique.

    By analyzing the lowercase "a" of two seemingly similar sans-serif typefaces, Helvetica and Univers, the complexity of each glyphs can be clearly demonstrated. Comparing how their strokes end and how the rings connect to the trunk quickly reveals significant differences in glyphs.

    2. Maintaining x-height
    X- Height : refers to the height of lowercase letters. Letters with curved strokes like the letter 's' must be slightly above the center line (or below the baseline) in order to look the same size as the vertical and horizontal strokes around them.

    3. Form / Counterform
    Inner space (or anti-white)  - refers to the space enclosed or depicted by font strokes. When letters are combined into words, in-word space also includes the spacing between them. The quality of the processing of the in-word space determines the overall coordination of the words and how easily we can read these typeset contents.

    4. Contrast
    Contrast is one of the basic principles of graphic design and is directly applied to typography. As we can see, simple contrast can create many variations, such as:

    - Small + organic
    - Large + mechanized
    - Small + dark
    - Large + light color
    And many more combinations.

    • LECTURE   Week 7

    Typography in Different Medium

    Different media

    Over the past few decades, with the rise of technological advances, especially screen-based technologies, many people believed that paper printing would gradually be replaced by digital printing. However, with the spread of home printers (a technology that developed largely after the spread of the Internet), paper printing actually became more popular. Therefore, it is too hasty to assume that the classic form of paper printing will become obsolete due to the emergence of new technologies. Two great ideas can exist side by side without undermining each other.

    Typography used to be presented only on paper and was seen as a static existence that did not change once it was published and printed. However, modern typography exists not only on paper, but also on numerous screens. As typography technology continues to change in browsers, our experience of typography changes depending on how pages are rendered.


    Thirteen common layout design types

    1. Skeleton type
    Standardized segmentation, the common layout includes vertical columns, horizontal columns, and usually strictly arrange pictures and text according to proportion, showing rational and harmonious beauty. The hybrid layout combines organization and flexibility.
    2. Full plate type
    It is mainly filled by images, visual communication is intuitive and strong, and the text is configured around or in the center of the image, which is often used in commodity advertising, giving people the feeling of broad stretch.
    3. Upper and lower split type
    The layout is divided into two parts, one part is configured with pictures, the other part is configured with text, the image part is emotional and lively, and the text part is rational and static.
    4. Split left and right
    The layout is divided into two parts, respectively configured text, resulting in visual contrast. By repeating or inserting text, the left and right layout can achieve harmony and nature.
    5. Axis type
    Graphics horizontal or vertical arrangement, text configuration, horizontal layout gives a sense of stability, vertical layout is full of dynamic.
    6. Curves
    Create rhythm and rhythm by arranging pictures or text with curved lines.
    7. Tilt
    The main image or layout is tilted to enhance motion and visual impact and attract attention.
    8. Symmetrical
    Symmetrical layout gives people a stable, solemn, rational feeling, usually using relative symmetry, avoid being too strict, mostly left and right symmetry.
    9. Center
    Three forms: center occupation, centripetal convergence and centrifugal diffusion, the center layout makes the visual focus prominent and enhances the impact force.
    10. Triangle
    Equilateral triangles (such as pyramids) give the most secure and stable feeling, while round and inverted triangles are full of movement and instability.
    11. Juxtaposition
    The same or different pictures are arranged repeatedly in different positions to form contrast and interpretation, so that the complex layout becomes orderly and harmonious.
    12. The free type
    The structure is irregular, random distribution, and has the characteristics of liveliness and lightness.
    13. Four corners
    The graphics are arranged in four corners, and the four corners are connected by a diagonal structure, and the layout is rigorous and standardized.

    Print fonts & screen fonts
    a) Typography
    Typography needs to be legible, flexible, fair and easy to read.
    Examples: Caslon, Garamond, Baskerville.
    b) Screen fonts
    To improve the appearance of the screen, the font needs to be adjusted, such as increasing the X-height, optimizing strokes and serifs.
    For example, Verdana and Georgia.
    c) Hyperlinks
    A hyperlink is a text or image, usually blue and underlined, that is clicked to jump to a new file or page.

    Static fonts & dynamic fonts
    a) Static fonts
    Static fonts are used to convey text messages and are commonly found in announcements, posters, magazines and flyers.
    b) Dynamic fonts
    Dynamic media offers typographers the opportunity to make fonts' fluid 'and' dynamic '(Woolman and Bellantoni, 1999).

    • Week 6
    Update your Task 2 eportfolio:
        - write your lecture summary for "Typo_6_Understanding"
        - update your progress Task
    Editorial Layout (Txt. Frmt. & Exp.) 
        - update your feedback, reflection and further reading for week 6
    Upload your final T2 onto your T2 eportfolio post (deadline to be determined next week):
        - JPEG 300ppi, grayscale (with grid visible and without)
        - PDF (with grid visible and without    )

    Final Submission：
    Feedback
    Week 6

    General feedback：In the design process, more consideration should be given to the user's reading experience. Make sure the text is easy to read, well laid out, and provides good readability across different devices, and the design style is too simple and single, you can enhance the user experience by introducing some creative elements and diversified design.

    Specific feedback：Your current approach to typography is relatively conservative and uncreative. You can try more different typographical layouts and design techniques to enhance the visual effect and appeal. It is a little too simple in composition, which can increase the sense of hierarchy and complexity. 

    Fonts displayed on the screen need to be more flexible, with improved font sizes and typography to ensure a comfortable and readable reading experience.


    Week 7

    General feedback：Your fonts have smooth lines, which is good for readability. However, it lacks uniqueness, especially compared to fonts created with whiteboard markers. Develop unique strokes, decorative details, or explore different serif styles. Try bold, italic or condensed versions for versatility. 

    Specific feedback：Your font is straightforward and needs unique elements to stand out. Add style ornate, unique glyphs, or unconventional letter forms with personality. Ensures readability across sizes and platforms, while highlighting its unique design. Implementing these will make your fonts more memorable and appealing


    Reflection
    I learned to fill in the blanks with words, which made the pictures not so simple, but the creativity still needs to be improved, and I need to learn more typesetting methods
    On the basis of the previous part, I learned to use various creative typesetting to make our typesetting more attractive, so that pictures and text are not so monotonous and become rich, and I learned some ways to make the picture more tidy.
    By innovating flat fonts, and then digitizing them, continue to innovate fonts.


    📖Further Reading

    《Grid Systems in Graphic Design》
    written by Josef Muller-Brockmann, was only released in Chinese in 2016. The author, a pioneer of the Swiss graphic design style, Known for his minimalist and grid graphic design, he has had a major impact on graphic design in the 21st century. The subtitle of this book is "The Visual Communication Design Handbook for Graphic Design, Typography, and Space Design." In this book, he first explains in detail what is the grid system and his classification and historical background, which discusses including paper size, font selection, column width and narrow line spacing and page margins and other specific issues, and then introduces the layout design for readers and how to carry out this design, and finally provides us with some cases, which can let us have some basis.
    source of the picture
    1. Basic principle and historical background of grid system:
    - Explains the basic concepts and principles of grid systems in graphic design, including how to divide a page into uniform grids or columns and organize content and layout through this structure.
    - Discusses the evolution and application of grid systems in the history of design, as well as the exploration and experimentation of grid systems in different design schools.

    2. Different types of grid systems:
    Different types of grid systems such as single grid, composite grid and modular grid are introduced in detail.
    Each type of grid system has its own specific design principles and application scenarios, and the book provides a wealth of examples and cases to show their application in real projects.

    3. Practical guidelines for layout design:
    - Provides practical tips and strategies on how to select and apply grid systems.
    - Including how to choose the right grid system based on the design goals and content type, and how to use the grid system to effectively typeset and layout.

    4. Visual hierarchy and balance:
    - The method of achieving visual hierarchy and balance through grid system is discussed.
    - Discusses how to optimize the visual and structural feel of your design work by adjusting grid spacing, block size, and text alignment.

    5. Examples and case Studies:
    - Through rich examples and case studies, the application examples of grid systems in different types of design projects are shown.
    - These cases help readers understand and apply the design principles and techniques presented in the book, thereby enhancing their design abilities and creativity.

    • Some of the pictures are from inside of the book:




    I think this is a classic book, and it is very suitable for artists and designers or people who are learning typographic design professional book. Since the two weeks are short, I only have a general understanding of this guide, but I think it is worth reading, so I will find time to finish it.

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