Typography / Task 1: exercises

9/30/2023 - 10/10/2023 (week 1 - week 6)

Abdullah Yazdan Zahid - 0367869

Bachelor of design in Creative media

task 1: exercises

LECTURES

WEEK 1:

INTRODUCTION

Typography is the art of the creation of typefaces or typefamilies. However, it is not just the art of simply typing letters. It is arranging type to be readable and visually appealing.

Fig. 1 Typography in everyday life

Typography is something that is extremely important for a designer in any field. In fact, tyography is so prevalant in our everyday lives that we can see it almost anywhere we look. From directions on a sign to the apps on your phone. This is why making sure that the readabilty and effectiveness of your typography is so important.

Before typography there was caligraphy and lettering. caligraphy is the style of writing and lettering is drawing out the circumference of the letter.

LECTURE 1 : DEVELOPTMENT / TIMELINE (typo_1_developtment)

Early letterform developtment: Phoenician to Roman

In the olden days writing was developed by indenting into wet clay with sharpened sticks. The instrument used to create the forms will greatly effect how the script ends up. In the case of Phoenician alphabet, the uppercase forms are a combination of simple lines and curves.

The Greeks had a very unique way of writing there letter forms. Unlike the Phoenicians who wrote from right to left like most semetic cultures, the Greeks developed a style call 'boustrophedon'. This means the texts orientation alternate, which makes the person reading also have to alternate their direction of reading.

Fig. 1.3 Boustrophedon

Handscript from 3rd - 10th century C.E

Square capitals (4th or 5th century): The tools used in this era has a slant which cause the letters to have sudden thick and thin strokes.
Rustic capitals (Late 3rd - mid 4th century): The letters where developed to make take less space.This made the hand script to be more compressed. In order to get this effect the pen at an angle
Roman cursive (4th century): This is the early stages of lowercase letterforms. Roman cursive was used for more informal writings where you prioritize letters which are simple and faster to write.
Uncials (4th -5th century): Uncials incorporates elements of both upper and lower case into the writing system. Uncials is more readable at small sizes when compared to rustic capitals.
Half-uncials (C. 500): This is the beginning of lower letterform, including ascenders and descenders.
Caloline miniscule (C. 925): A writing method developed by Alcuin of york, Abbot of St Martin of Tours under the order of Charlemagne, the first unifier of Europe, in order to standardize all ecclesiastical texts.
Blackletter (C. 1300): After end of Charlemagne's empire regional variation of Alcuins script started developing. One of which known as Blackletter or Textura gained popularity.

Fig. 1.5 Square Capitals

Fig. 1.8 Uncials

Fig. 1.6 Rustic capitals

Fig. 1.7 Roman cursive

Text type classification

1450 Black letter: The earliest printing type. Its forms were based upon the hand copying styles used in northern Europe.
1475 Oldstyle: Based upon the lowercase forms used by italian humanist scholars for book copying.
1500 Italics: The first Italics were cendensed and close-set, allowing more words per page.(Note: when you use serif letters that are Italicised, they are called Italics, but when using letters that don't have serifs it is known as oblique)
1550 Script: Originally an attempt to replicate engraved caligraphic forms. This text is not appropriate for use in lengthy texts due its decorative and hard to read nature.
1750 Transitional: A refinement of oldstyle forms that developed due to the advances in casting and printing. Thick to thin relationships were exaggerated and brackets were lightened.
1775 Modern: This style represents a further rationalization of oldstyle letterforms. serifs were unbracketed and the contrast between thick and thin strokes were more extreme.
1825 Square serif / Slab serif: Originally heavily bracketed serif, with little variation between thick and think strokes. This was use in commercial printing, However, as they evolved the bracket were dropped.
1900 Sans serif: This typeface eliminated serifs alltogether. Variation tended toward either humanist form or rigidly geometric. Occasionally strokes were flared to suggest the calligraphic origins of the form. Its was also reffered to as grotesque and gothic.
1990 Serif / Sans Serif: Enlarges the notion of a family of typefaces to include both serif and sans serif alphabets.

Fig. 1.10 Text type classification

LECTURE 2 - TYPO_3_TEXT_P1

Text / Tracking: Kerning and Letterspacing

Kerning: Kerning is the automatic adjustment of space between letters.

Letter spacing: Adding space between letters.

Tracking: The addition and removal of space in a word.

Fig. 1.11 - representation of text with and without kerning

Types of tracking:

Formatting Text (types of formatting text)

Flush Left: This format mirrors the assymetrical experience of handwriting. Each line starts at the same point but ends on the last line of the word. When you flush left you will always have ragged right. Ragging is the jagged end of the left alligned text.

Centered: This format imposes symmetry upon the text, assigning equal value to both ends of any line. It is important to make changed to the line breaks so that the text does not appear too jagged when using centered text.

Flush right: This format places emphasis on the end of a line as opposed to its start. It can be useful in situations where the relationship between text and image might be ambiguous without a strong orientation to the right.

Justified: Like centering, this format imposes a symmetrical shape on the text. This is done by expanding or reducing spaces between words and letters.

How different typefaces feel as text

Different typefaces suit different messages. It is important to understand this as a typographer. You have to consider the different textures of the typefaces. Type with a relatively generous x-height or relatively heavy stroke width produces a darker mass on the pafe than type with a relatively smaller x-height or lighter stroke. Sensitivity to these differences in colour is fundamental for creating successful layouts.

Anatomy of a typeface

Fig 1.19

The x-height refers to the area between the baseline and the line above the baseline. The line above the baseline is known as the median or mean line. The x-height in contrast to the ascender space descender space decides wether the x-height is below. The space above the x-height is known as the ascender and the space below the x-height is known as the descender. The x-height is larger in proportion to the ascender and descender which increases readability.

Leading and line length
The goal in setting text type is to allowe for easy, prolonged reading. At the same time a field of type should occupy the page as much as a photograph does.

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

Leading: Text that is set too tightly encourages vertical eye movement.

Line length: Appropriate leading for text is as much as a function of the line length as it is a question of type size and leading. An important rule for leading is that not more than 55 - 65 characters occupy one sentence. If it exceeds this value, readability decreases.

It is often useful to enlarge type to 400% on the screen to get a clear sense of the relationship between descenders on one line and ascenders on the line below.

LECTURE 3 - TYPO_3_TEXT_P2

Text / Indicating paragraph

There are several option for indicating paragraphs. In the first example, we see the 'pilcrow' (¶), a holdover from medieval manuscripts seldom use today.

Widows and Orphans

In traditional typesetting there are two inexcusable mistakes-widows and orphans. Designers must avoid this at all costs.

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

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

Fig. 1.26 - example of widow and orphan

In justified text both widows and orphans are considered serious gaffes. Flush right and ragged left text is somewhat more forgiving towards widows, but only a bit. Orphans remain unpardonable.

Cross allignment

Cross aligning headlines and captions with text type reinforces the architectural sense of the page and the structure whilst articulating the complimentary vertical rythms.

Below, one line of headline type cross-aligns with two lines of text type, and four lines of headline type cross-align with five lines of text type.

Fig. 1.34 - Examples of cross-alignment

LECTURE 4 - TYPO_2_BASIC

Basic / describing letterforms

Typography is an artform that has been in developtment for hundreds of years. It employs a number of technical terms that mostly describe specific parts of the letterform. Knowing a letterform's components makes it much easier to identify specific typefaces.

These components are:

Base line: The imaginary line the visual base of the letterforms.
Median: The imaginary line defining the x-height of letterforms.
X-height: The height in any typeface of the lowercase 'x'.
Stroke: Any line that defines the basic letterform.
Apex / Vertex: The point created by joining two diagonal stems. The apex is on the top and vortex is on the bottom.
Arm: Short strokes of the stem of the letterform, either horizontal or inclined upward
Ascender: The porton of the stem of a lowercase letterform that projects above the median.
Barb: The half-serif finish that is seen on some curved strokes
Bowl: The rounded form that describes a counter. The bowl may be either open or closed.
Bracket: The transition between the serif and the stem.
Cross stroke: The horizontal stroke in a letterform that joins two stems together.
Crotch: The interior space where two strokes meet.
Ear: The stroke extending out from the main stem or body of the letterform.
Em/en: The width of an uppercase M, and em is now now the distance equal to the size of the typeface. An en is half the size of an em.
Finial: The rounded non-serif teminal to a stroke
Ligature: The haracter formed by the compination of two or more letterforms.
Link: The stroke that connects the bowl and the loop of a lowercase G.
Loop: In some typefaces, the bowl created in the descender of the lowercase G.
Serif: The right-angled or oblique foor at the end of the stroke.
Shoulder: The curved stroke that is not part of a bowl.
Spur: The extension that articulates the junction of the curved and rectilinear stroke.
Stem: The significant vertical or oblique stroke.
Stress: The orientation of the letterform, indicated by the thin stroke in round forms.
Swash: The flourish that extends the stroke of the letterform.
Tail: The curved diagonal stroke at the finish of certain letterforms.
Terminal: The self contained finish of a stroke without a serif.

The Font

Uppercase: Captial letters, including certain accented vowels.
Lowercase: Lowercase letters include the same characters as uppercase.
Small capitals: Uppercase letterforms draw to the x-height of the typeface. Small caps are primarily found in serif fonts as part of what is often called espert set.

Fig. 1.48 - Small capitals
Uppercase numerals: These numerals are the same height as uppercase letters and are all set to the same kerning width.
Lowercase numerals: These numerals are set to x-height with ascenders and descenders.
.Italic: Most fonts today are produced with a matching italic. Small caps, however, are almost always only roman. The forms in an italic refer back to fifteenth century italian cursive handwriting. Oblique are typically based on the roman form of the type face.

Fig. 1.51 - Italic
Punctuation, miscellaneous characters: although all fonts contain standard punctuation marks, miscellaneous characters can change from typeface to typeface.
Ornaments: Used as flourishes in invitations or certificate. They usually are provided as a font in a larger typeface family.

Describing letterforms

If you can recognise the parts of a letterform you can easily identify the type-faces. However, some or all of these styles can be found within one type family.

Roman: The uppercase forms are derived from inscriptions of roman monuments. A slightly lighter stroke in roman is called a book.
Italic: Named for the Fifteenth century italian handwriting on which the forms are based. Oblique conversly are based on roman for of typeface.
Boldface: Characterised by its thicker stroke than the roman form.
Light: A lighter stroke than the roman form. Even lighter strokes are called thin.

Fig. 1.52 typefaces

LECTURE 5 - Typo_5_Understanding

Letters / understanding letterforms

Letterforms are not always symmetrical. It is easy to see the two different stroke weights of the baskerville stroke form. It is also worth noting that each bracket connecting the serif to the stem has a unique arc.

The uppercase letterforms may appear symmetrical but a close examination shows that the width of the left slope is thinner than the right stroke.

Maintaining x-height

The x-height generally describe the size of the lowervase letterforms. However, curved strokes, such as 's', must rise above the median in order to appear to be the same size as the vertical and horizontal strokes they adjoin.

Fig. 1.54 - Maintaining x-height

Counterform

Counterform is extremely important because it aids in the readability of formatted text or letterform. When letters are joined to form words, the counterform includes the spaces between them.

Fig. 1.55 - Counterforms

You can understand counterform by examining other forms in great detail. The examination provide a good feel for how the balance between the form and counter is achieved and a palpable sense of letterform's unique characteristics.

INSTRUCTIONS

TASK 1 - Type expression

For this task the words I chose were Soup, Spooky, Fold and impact. For the sketches i decided to do them directly in illustrator with the limitation of the ten fonts. This is so that my ideas can be limited to whats possible using the fonts.

sketches:

Fig. 2 - Sketches for soup

For the first word soup, I decided to play with the idea of a shape of a bowl. First i tried two seperate sketches making the full word form the shape of a bowl. Then i decided to make the 'U' the bowl. On one of sketches i use the an 'S' to convey steam coming out of the bowl.

Fig. 2.1 - Sketches for spooky

For the word spooky, I first started with flippng the 'o' and adding a smaller 'o' in the middle to give the effect of eyes. The effect really works well the font 'Bembo Std Bold' due to the elongated letter 'o'. The next sketch is trying to give the effect of somone being eerily lit by a streetlight. For the third sketch i duplicated the word, lowered the opacity and arranged it in a way that makes it look ghostly. For the last sketch i increased the kerning on the letters to make them feel more isolated.

Fig. 2.2 - Sketches for fold (10.10.2023)

For the word fold, I primarily focuse on finding ways to actually fold the word. I tried many ways to see how the word would fold in a pleasing way. My favourite one is the fold that is seperated by two different shades.

Fig. 2.3 - Sketches for impact (10.10.2023)

For the word impact, I first used a bold font that has a 3D effect. For the second sketch the word is hitting a another pair of words and causing an exploding effect showing the level of impact. For the last sketch I was trying to mimic the look of a shockwave or bomb going off from a top-down perspective.

Digitization:

process:

Fig. 2.4 - Process for fold

For fold i used a clipping mask and duplicated the text. Then I pasted it directly over the other text and used a clipping mask in order to cover half the word as suggested by Vinod sir. I also added a thin line to emphasise the fold.

Fig. 2.5 - Process for spooky

For spooky I simply took the 'O' from Bembo extra bold and rotated it. Then I also added an even smaller set of 'o's for the eyes pupils.

Fig. 2.6 - Process for soup

For soup I first gathered 3 different fonts to make up the full word. Then I rearranged and re-sized them without stretching or distorting the image.

Fig. 2.7 - Process for impact

For Impact I used a bold typeface. Then i added a subtle shadow to the word by duplicting the word changing its color and sending it to the back. Afterwards, I made several tiny versions of impact and arranged it to look like the word had hit it.

Final

Fig. 2.8 - Type expression final

Fig. 2.9 - Type expression animation

TASK 1 EXERCISE 2 - Type formatting

For this task I first created sketches using a simple geometric layout for the format. The title is colored black, the content is grey and the pictures are light grey.

Fig. 2.10 - Type formatting sketch 1

Fig. 2.11 - Type formatting sketch 2

For the final Format i went with the second sketch. This is because it looks like the 'H' from Helvetica.

I used an image to for the bridged between both sides.

Fig. 2.12 - Type formatting process

HEAD
Font/s: ITC New Baskerville Std
Type Size/s: 55
Leading: 60

BODY
Font/s: Bembo Std
Type Size/s: 10
Leading: 12
Paragraph spacing: 3mm
Characters per-line: 55-65
Alignment: Left justified

Margins: 10 mm top, 10 mm left + 10 mm right + 10 mm bottom
Columns: 2
Gutter: 5 mm

FEEDBACK

Week 1 (general feedback): Don't wait till the end of the semester to ask questions.

Week 2 (Specific feedback): For the type expression task dont overcomplicate the work and use less graphical elements when designing.

Week 3 (Specific feedback): For the type expression task, Vinod sir gave a suggestion on of changing the way the words fold and impact was executed.

REFLECTIONS

Experience: The class itself is very informative and intresting.

Observations: I wasnt expecting to have to learn much about the history of typography. History was one of my best subjects, so having to do it now is a little stressfull.

Findings: I found using Illustrator to be very intuitive and fun.

PERSONAL READING

For my personal reading the book i chose was 'A Type Primer' by John Kane.

I found this book very intresting because it features alot of topics that we are already learning from the lectures that Sir Vinod is already giving. Due to this, learnt alot of helpful information from skimming through this book.

For one, I learnt about how the placement of a word can change the meaing of an arrangement in meaningful ways. For example for the word dance, the placement and repetition of the word can bring to mind different ways of dancing.

I also learnt about the Golden section. This is a huge influence of the sense of proportion found in western art. The term itself describes how a relationship occurs between two numbers when the ratio of the smaller to the larger is the same as the ratio of the larger to the sum of the two.

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Abdullah Yazdan Zahid (367869)

Typography / Task 1: exercises

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