17th June 2024 (Week 9) - 15th July 2024 (Week 13th)
Insha Thahirah Rajab - 0360671
Typography - Section 01
Bachelor's Degree in Creative Media (Honors) - Taylors University
Task 3
CONTENTS
Lectures
Instructions
Task 3
Exercise 1
Feedback
Reflection
Further Reading
LECTURES
Lecture playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZk01iRkmnlUF8tRLTTAogutYcraV6DFR
Text Formatting & Typography Letterforms
As taught during the course of
Task 1,
I went through a refresher course on the Anatomy of a Typeface in order to
create my own font.
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Figure 1.0 Anatomy of a TypeFace
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Figure 1.1 Describing Letterforms
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We also had lectures regarding the use of FontLab, a new program used to
covert vector digitizations, into a fully functional typeface.
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Figure 1.2 screenshot of FontLab 8 Interface
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INSTRUCTIONS
TASK
Task 3 - Part A: Typographic Design & Communication
tutorial: Typo_Task 3A_Illustrator To Fontlab5 Demo (WATCH FIRST before
FontLab 7 Video) - YouTube
: research
Before coming up with my own ideas, I scrolled through Pinterest
to gather font inspiration for my sketches. I looked at fonts that
I found visually interesting and playful. Gathering all the posts
I liked, I made a mood board:
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Figure 1.3 Mood board of Typeface 1
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Figure 1.3 Mood board of Typefaces 2
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Figure 1.3 Mood board of Typefaces 3
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I took note of the use of serifs, measurements, where the x-height
should be etc.. I was rather drawn to display fonts and wanted to
create a similar style of font.
: sketches
I started off by loosely sketching out fonts on my iPad as
this was easier than directly using paper. I used the grids
and drew out as many designs as I could, exercising my
creative capability.
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Figure 1.4 First line of
Sketches
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Figure 1.5 First line of Sketches with Grids
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After getting more comfortable and feedback from Mr.
Max on the accuracy of the heights, I decided to move
onto using paper for more precision. I used a variety of
flat and brush-tip pens to achieve these drafts.
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Figure 1.6 Practicing sketching on graph paper
with nibbed & brush pens
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During a consultation, Mr. Max selected one of the designs
from everything I sketched out and I decided to practice
this particular one further:
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Figure 1.7 Practicing chosen Typeface on graph paper
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I made more digital variations of this chosen font, making a
direct mockup of how I envisioned the final look. I paid
attention to where serifs and other elements would go, the
weight of the font, and the height of each letter.
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Figure 1.8 Digital sketch of the chosen
font in different styles
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I decided to lean more toward the 3rd version as it is
the perfect balance between al styles and Mr. Max
preferred it as well. Any further changes are to be done
on Illustrator.
: deconstruction
Before digitizing, It's important to choose a Typeface
closely similar to the one being designed. I chose Futura
Std Book as it is extremely close to my design and can be
taken as inspiration for dimensions and measurements.
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Figure 1.9 Futura Std Book Regular:
Chosen font for deconstruction
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I took the "Book" font family of this Typeface onto
illustrator and started deconstructing it into shapes
(circles) and lines and was quite surprised of the
similarities to my own design.
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Figure 2 Screenshot 1 of
deconstruction
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Figure 2.1 Screenshot 2 of deconstruction
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Figure 2.2 Screenshot 3 of
deconstruction
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Figure 32. Screenshot 4 of deconstruction
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I decided this was enough practice attempts to move on to
digitizing. I struggled a bit but understood the concept
of deconstruction and how it was to be done.
: digitization
I started off my digitization by setting my ascender.
cap line and descender. According to Mr. Vinod's video
tutorials, it is compulsory for the x-height to be
500, starting from the baseline which is 0. I used
Futura Std as the model for these measurements and had
a perfect base for my font.
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Figure 2.4 Screenshot of measurements
along with completed digitized typeface
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I customized the font to my liking, adding points within
white spaces and a semi-serif at each right edge gave it a
personalized touch. It was soon ready to be imported onto
FontLab.
: fontlab
I downloaded FontLab 8 to turn the vector characters
into a fully functioning Typeface. The interface was
rather quick and easy to use, but it was the sizing of
each character that took some time to tweak.
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Figure 2.5 Screenshot of FontLab's main
interface with my TypeFace
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Figure 2.6 Editing the letter "O" on
FontLab
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After adding in my letters, It was time for
kerning to ensure the spacing is right when typing
out word together, especially when creating the
final poster.
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Figure 2.7 Kerning Letters on fontLab
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Figure 2.8 Final Font Design
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Figure 2.9 Final Font Design (PDF)
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: poster drafts
Once the TypeFace is made, a simple poster
design is to be created with it. I created a few
drafts before settling with the final.
: final poster
This is the poster i was happy with. It had the
perfect balance between black and white space,
had interesting composition, and the perfect
sizing of fonts. It also looked visually
appealing both closeby and at a distance.
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Figure 3.6 Final Poster
Design
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Figure 3.7 Final Font Design
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FEEDBACK
Week 9
Specific Feedback: Work on the alignment of your fonts better and ensure the sizing and rotation of each italic font are consistent. Keep developing the fonts for review and come up with one more sketch.
General Feedback: Develop your finalized three sketches for task 3 on Monday. Update your e-portfolio.
Week 10
Specific Feedback: Start digitizing the chosen sketch. This one is better than the others but good sketches!
General Feedback: Make sure to use shapes, lines and correct guidelines and alignment when digitizing fonts. Install FontLab to develop the digitization for Task 3.
Week 11
Specific Feedback: I think if possible can we have the elements like the sharp point for all alphabets. Even the h i l.
General Feedback: Finish digitizing and move everything onto Fontlab
Week 12
Specific Feedback: Plain shape is okay for the dots.
General Feedback: Continue onto FontLab and start mocking-up letters. Begin designing Typographic Poster.
Week 13
Specific Feedback: Add a reflection for Final submission and do TES evaluation. Add captions for PDF embedding.
General Feedback: Compile final Reflection and Submission for evaluation week 14
REFLECTIONS
Experience: Thise sketched
un-thought-of drafts was selected by Mr. Max and I found it slightly
challenging to take my own font seriously.
Observations: While observing, I
observed that
Findings: I understood the different types of fonts and their purposes.
FURTHER READING
Chapter 2: Typefaces and Fonts
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Typeface vs. Font:
Explanation of the difference between a typeface and a
font.
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Categories of Typefaces:
Overview of serif, sans-serif, script, display, and
other typeface categories.
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Choosing the Right Typeface: Guidelines for selecting appropriate typefaces for
different contexts.
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