TYPOGRAPHY TASK 2 : TYPOGRAPHY EXPLORATION & COMMUNICATION

May 11, 2022

TYPOGRAPHY TASK 2 : TYPOGRAPHY EXPLORATION & COMMUNICATION

Week 6 (4/5/22) - Week 8 (17/5/22)
Student: Tai Ser Yeet (0345798)
Programme: Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Task 2: Typography Exploration & Communication

LECTURE

WEEK 5

PRE-RECORDED LECTURE

Despite looking fairly even, uppercase letterforms are not symmetrical as they have different widths of the slope as well as strokes.

Fig 1.1 Small Differences In Uppercase Letterforms, Week 5 (27/4/22)

The lowercase ‘a’ of Helvetica and Univers are not similar. In fact, In Fig XX, we could pick out how the stems of the letterforms finish and how the bowls meet the stems.

Fig 1.1.2 Small Differences in Lowercase Letterforms, Week 5 (27/4/22)

The ‘S’ alphabet must slightly overshoot the median (or below the baseline) in order to look the same size as the vertical and horizontal strokes.

Fig 1.1.3 Overshooting in Lowercase, Week 5 (27/4/22)

COUNTERFORM

The counter form(the space outside the letterform) is just as significant as recognizing specific letterforms. In other words, the positive & negative spaces around or make up the letters are equally important to each other.

Fig 1.2 Positive & Negative Spaces Between Letterforms, Week 5 (27/4/22)

We ought to be very meticulous when examining letterforms. It helps us identify how the balance between form and counter is achieved and observe the distinct characteristics they possess. It also gives you a glimpse into the process of letter-making.

The simple contrasts produces numerous variations: small+organic/large+machined; small+dark/ large light.

Fig 1.2.2 Examination of Letterforms, Week 5 (27/4/22)

WAYS TO DISPLAY CONTRAST

Fig 1.2.3 Different Methods to Show Contrast, Week 5 (27/4/22)

WEEK 6

PRE-RECORDED LECTURE

PAST IDEOLOGY OF TYPOGRAPHY

Typography only existed on paper therefore once an item was published, it could not be re-edited. With that, the good type was a by-product of extremely skilled typesetters as well as designers.

TODAY'S IDEOLOGY OF TYPOGRAPHY

Typography not only appeared on paper but on screen as well. However, the type would be affected by how the page is created such as a webpage.

PRINT TYPE V.S. SCREEN TYPE

The type was originally created for print before the screen. A good typeface for print would be Caslon, Garamond, and Baskerville due to its versatility and high readability at a small size.

Fig 1.3 Different Methods to Show Contrast, Week 6 (4/5/22)

TYPE FOR SCREEN

Typefaces designed for the screen have characteristics that increase readability and performance onscreen. The traits include taller x-height( reduced ascenders & descenders), wider letterforms, more open counters, heavier thin strokes and serifs, reduced stroke contrast, as well as modified curves and angles for some designs. Besides that, more open spacing helps to improve character recognition, perfect for e-books, e-readers, and mobile devices.

FONT SIZE FOR SCREEN

16-pixel text on a screen is ideal. Since books are read a few inches away therefore type is set at 10 points. If it's at arm's length, then 12 points would be good. With that said, if you were to pick 12 points for print then 16 points are best for the screen.

INSTRUCTIONS

Fig 2.1 Instructions for Task 2, Week 5 (27/4/22)

TASK 2: TYPOGRAPHY EXPLORATION & COMMUNICATION

TYPE EXPRESSION

WEEK 5- RESEARCHING ON 'BAUHAUS'

Three headlines were given by Mr. Vinod which were 'The Impact of Bauhaus on the Modern Culture', 'Follow The Code.' & 'Visualise for A Better World.' I felt that the Bauhaus headline & body text were more appealing & had potential in terms of illustrating an interesting headline therefore I went with that.

In order to have a better understanding of the chosen headline, I went onto the web & read a few related articles. This could also aid in the ideation process for the headline. I want it to convey the message hidden in the passage without much explanation.

Fig 2.1.2 Definition of Bauhaus, Week 6(Source: History, 2020)(6/5/22)

Essentially, Bauhaus was an art style that consisted of mainly geometrical linear elements with little to no tenderness & emotions. According to Hohenadel, 2022 in the article titled, "What is Bauhaus Style Decor?", one of the key criteria mentioned about this particular art style was the reduction of elements to their simplest form; natural & unvarnished. Wanting to gather more ideas on how I could illustrate the heading, I compiled some sample artworks from that era.

Fig 2.1.3 Examples of Bauhaus Artworks 1, Week 6(Source: Normform, n.d. & Geometric, n.d.)(6/5/22)

Fig 2.1.4 Examples of Bauhaus Artwork 2, Week 6(Source: Kadinsky, 1923)(6/5/22)

Fig 2.1.5 Examples of Bauhaus Artwork 3, Week 6(Source: Chernick, 2019)(6/5/22)

Even the Bauhaus school was designed in relation to its principles with geometrical architectures, something very modern. The overall structure of the building resembles much of a cuboid, with its sharp corners & edges.

Fig 2.1.6 Bauhaus Art & Design School, Week 6(Source: Griffiths, 2018)(6/5/22)

I conclude my findings on the Bauhaus era with a meaningful quote, "Less is more."

WEEK 6- SKETCHES

After the research, the first idea I had was to illustrate the headline in the form of a geometrical shape according to one of the Bauhaus values. Emphasis was placed on either the word, 'Impact' or 'Bauhaus' or both at the same time.

Fig 2.1.7 Sketch 1 (LEFT) & Sketch 2 (RIGHT), Week 6 (6/5/22)

Sketch 1 - In this sketch, I arranged the headline to form a square as a whole. Both of the words are emphasized differently in this layout. The word, 'Impact' is much larger compared to the other words to accentuate the importance of the word. Meanwhile, 'Bauhaus' is placed in the foreground whereas the rest of the elements are in the background.

Sketch 2- Since the general shape of a house comprises linear shapes such as a square and a triangle as the roof, it aligned with Bauhaus principles. Therefore once again, the text was adjusted to fit the appearance of a house on the exterior. I emphasized 'Bauhaus' by making it into block letters.

Next, I tried assembling the words of the headline in a 3-Dimensional format. Thus, previously from a square form to a cuboid form. Additionally, the 3D form resembles the architecture of the Bauhaus school in Dessau. (See Fig 2.1.8)

Fig 2.1.8 Sketch 3 (LEFT) & Sketch 4 (RIGHT), Week 6 (6/5/22)

Sketch 3 - The words, 'On Modern Culture' depicts the walkway from the Bau'Haus'(House).

Sketch 4- Sketch 4 is just an alternate version of Sketch 3 but viewing it from another angle.

After the sketches, I went onto YouTube and searched for how to arrange words in a form of a cube. The example they gave was not deliberate block letters, but regular typefaces. So, I wanted to make things easier for myself thus I did more sketches that were more similar to the online tutorial in terms of concept. (See Fig 2.1.9)

Fig 2.1.9 Sketch 5 (LEFT) & Sketch 6 (RIGHT), Week 6 (6/5/22)

While I was drawing Sketch 4&5, having my phone by my side sparked an idea. Since the word 'Modern' usually describes 'modern' gadgets such as handphones, tablets, etc, I could make the type expression look like a handphone with a long antenna on top. Each phrase will be placed on a different surface to illustrate the many plane areas that a cuboid has. Besides that, the 3 words, "On Modern Culture" is typed out in a straight line to represent the antenna. Sketches 7-10 express my main idea.

Fig 2.1.10 Sketch 7 (LEFT) & Sketch 8 (RIGHT), Week 6 (6/5/22)

Fig 2.1.11 Sketch 9 (LEFT) & Sketch 10 (RIGHT), Week 6 (6/5/22)

Out of curiosity, I also sketched out 'Follow The Code' just to see what it would look like since I had a few ideas in mind.

Fig 2.1.12 Sketch 11 (LEFT) & Sketch 12 (RIGHT), Week 6 (6/5/22)

Sketch 5 - Since the headline's message was to 'follow' something, I had an idea to use a one-point perspective as typically, there will be implied lines guiding the viewer's eyes to the main focal point. Nevertheless, 'code' is placed right at the vanishing point whereas 'follow the' tapers to a sharp point when it gets nearer to the main subject.

Sketch 6- When I think of CODE, a barcode immediately comes to mind. I designed the headline into a shape of a barcode which is a rectangle. Strips that are seen on the barcode would be added to the word CODE.

DIGITALISATION OF SKETCHES

ATTEMPT 1- Sketch 1&2

After much contemplation, I have decided instead of following Sketch 1 & 2 to the tea, I would only emphasize the word, Bauhaus by choosing a typeface that has block letters to make it pop out.

Fig 2.2 Comparison of Word Before & After Tracking, Week 6 (6/5/22)

It is ingrained in my mind that according to Mr.Vinod, alignment is key to developing a good composition. For example, in Fig 2.2.2, I have aligned the height of letterforms to the gridlines. Also, despite certain parts of the headline being of different sizes, I still lined them so they are directly above each other. This gives a visually satisfying and neat design.

Fig 2.2.2 Aligning Parts of Headline To Each Other, Week 6 (6/5/22)

Besides that, 'THE IMPACT OF' & 'ON MODERN CULTURE' is situated much like a staircase which guides the viewer's eyes through reading the headline.

Fig 2.2.3 Evidence of the Staircase Pattern, Week 6 (6/5/22)

Fig 2.2.4 Final Outcome of Headline 1, Week 6 (6/5/22)

ATTEMPT 2- Sketch 3&4

Since my plan was to make the headline illustrate a corner of a square, I had to so call, 'bend' the word into half thus a line was drawn to divide it.

Fig 2.3 Dividing the Word in Half, Week 6 (6/5/22)

After that, I duplicated the word and used the shape builder tool to subtract each part of a half. The Shear tool helped to angle the word at a vertical 150 degrees & -150 degrees so that it perfectly illustrates a corner. (See Fig 2.3.2)

Fig 2.3.2 Angling the Half-Word, Week 6 (6/5/22)

Both sides are conjoined at the raw ends to form a sharp edge. Next, the words other than Bauhaus were positioned the same way as in the first attempt.

Fig 2.3.3 Combining The Two Ends, Week 6 (6/5/22)

Fig 2.3.4 Middle Alignment of Headline, Week 6 (6/5/22)

To reduce the awkward spacing surrounding 'Bauhaus', I aligned the other headline texts to the baseline and would later fill in the upper spacing with a paragraph of body text.

Fig 2.3.5 Final Outcome of Headline 2, Week 6 (6/5/22)

ATTEMPT 3- Combination of Sketch 1 & 2 with 3 & 4

I also tried a similar concept with final outcome of Attempt 1 but the shadows from the font used for BAUHAUS clashed with the perspective idea so this possibility did not made the cut.

Fig 2.4 Attempt 3, Week 6 (6/5/22)

WEEK 7 - FEEDBACK FROM PEERS

I felt that my second attempt was exciting but somehow something was very off. It was not realistic. I then asked my friend, Jia Hsuan for her opinion & she pointed out that it was a case of incorrect perspective. The word 'Bauhaus' was slanted to show that the text is facing outwards whereas the connecting points of the letter 'H' illustrate that it is facing inwards. It was a mixture of two viewpoints.

Fig 2.5 Headline 2, Week 6 (6/5/22)

So after the feedback, I proceeded to search up the characteristics of a cube and how they appear when viewed from the front, side, and back.

Fig 2.5.2 Reference Picture of CubeText, Week 6 (Source: VectorStock, n.d.) (6/5/22)

Fig 2.5.3 Reference Picture of CubeText, Week 6 (Source: Ohn Ho, n.d.) (6/5/22)

Fig 2.5.4 Reference Picture of CubeText, Week 6 (Source: Soutar, 2016) (6/5/22)

Miraculously, Fig 2.5.5 truly brought my vision to Life, factoring in the size of the cuboid too.

Fig 2.5.5 Reference Picture of CubeText, Week 6 (Source: Typeroom, 2019) (6/5/22)

ATTEMPT 4- Combination of Sketch 3 to 6

First, words included in the headline ought to be made into a symbol in order to attach it to the 3D cube later on.

Fig 2.6 Turning Words Into Symbols, Week 6 (6/5/22)

In order to get the exact perspective on the text resembling a cube, an actual cube has to be drawn so that the design looked more true to life. In Fig XX, I took inspiration from the way the Bauhaus Art School was captured in the photograph. In regards to perspective, a two-point perspective is used to snap the building with two vanishing points located on either side of the frame.

Fig 2.6.2 Extrude And Bevel the Square(LEFT) & Map Art(RIGHT), Week 6 (6/5/22)

COMPILATION OF SHORTLISTED HEADLINE DESIGNS

Here are my many experimentations on the 3D effect on texts. From the third attempt onwards on the most right, I began trying out different angles and sizes for the telephone illusion.

The fifth and sixth headlines standing upright weren't how I have imagined them to be. The words, "ON MODERN CULTURE" representing the antenna, did not work well with the design due to the incorrect perspective. Therefore, it was best to scratch the perpendicular headline and focus on making it slanted to the right. As for the heading shaped like a cube, it was decent but not as interesting and capturing as the telephone idea. In the end, I chose the upper most right attempt.

Fig 2.6.3 Compilation of CubeText Attempts, Week 6 (6/5/22)

WEEK 8- FINDING INSPIRATION FOR LAYOUT

I was running dry on layout ideas after the first text formatting exercise. Plus, Mr.Vinod commented that my previous composition wasn't all that interesting. Therefore, here I am, scrolling through Pinterest once again which can hopefully pull me out of this creative block. Jokes aside, I also explored Pinterest on examples of editorial text to gain some insight into excellent usage of graphics to emphasize an important word to understand the flow of the paragraph.

Fig 2.7 Screenshot of Interesting Layouts From Pinterest, Week 8 (17/5/22)

I particularly favored how there was clear visual hierarchy in the placement of text. For example, certain body text were emphasized by positioning them away from the rest of the body texts, towards the left. Ample space on the left helps further segregate the paragraphs and perhaps, the tagline or the subheading of the article.

Fig 2.7.2 Rem Koolhaas's Pressbook, Week 8 (Source: Koolhaas, 2014)(17/5/22)

LAYOUT 1

First, I started by bolding the subheading to exert its importance. After that, I allowed for a large space to occupy the bottom, referencing the idea I got from Fig 2.7.

Fig 2.8 Adjusting the Subheading, Week 8 (17/5/22)

I noticed the excessive amounts of space allocated in between certain words when I turned on the hidden characters. Anyhow, while I was tracking the body text, I made sure to reduce the spacing so that overall, the grey area and white space looked even which enhances readability.

Fig 2.8.2 Reduction of Spacing Between Words, Week 8 (17/5/22)

The ragging was not yet fixed in Layout 1 hence it was looking rather rough. Nevertheless, in terms of the overall composition, I thought it was tidy but it was definitely lacking that OOMPH that I was looking for; a dealbreaker of some sorts but there was none.

Fig 2.8.3 Final Outcome of Layout 1, Week 8 (17/5/22)

LAYOUT 2

The only differences between Layout 1 & Layout 2 is the placement of the headline & the body text. Instead of having a small amount of text and the entire headline on one page (Layout 1), Layout 2 is centered between two pages. I thought that it would look less crowded and more spacious.

Fig 2.8.4 Layout 2, Week 8 (17/5/22)

LAYOUT 3

In this layout, I used the telephone illusion headline.

Fig 2.8.5 Experimenting With The Placement of Sub-Heading & First Paragraph of Text, Week 8 (17/5/22)

The headline was placed diagonally so that it could fit into the pages and be large in size. Due to its placement, many triangles were formed around the headline, evoking a sense of instability but I did not mind it as it contributes movement and visual variety to the composition. Not only that, when the headline is angled towards the body text on the next page, this guides the reader's eyes through the visual hierarchy of elements; headline, sub-headline to body text.

Fig 2.8.6 Final Outcome of Layout 3, Week 8 (17/5/22)

LAYOUT 4

I made another version of Layout 3 where the headline only exceeds the page fold by a little. Triangles are seen here as well.

Fig 2.8.7 Reduction in Size of Headline, Week 8 (17/5/22)

FINAL TOUCH-UPS

After Layout 4, I leaned towards Layout 3 more just because it helped reduced the positive space in the composition. But to take it up a notch, I have increased my bottom margin from 10mm to 35mm because Mr. Vinod once said that we could elevate our layout merely by doing this to give a little unevenness and flare. The columns of body text was still aligned to the baseline however, the second column became longer.

Fig 2.8.8 Adjusting the Bottom Margin, Week 8 (17/5/22)

FINAL SUBMISSION OF TYPOGRAPHY EXPLORATION & COMMUNICATION

Fig 2.9 Final Submission, PDF, Week 8 (18/5/22)

Fig 2.9.2 Final Submission With Gridlines, PDF, Week 8 (17/5/22)

Fig 2.9.3 Final Submission, JPEG, Week 8 (17/5/22)

Font : Gill Sans Std, ITC Garamond Std

Typeface: Gill Sans Std Bold Condensed, ITC Garamond Std Book, ITC Garamond Std Bold

Font size : 14pt(Subheading), 9 pt (body text)

Leading: 16pt (sub-heading), 11pt( body text)

Paragraph Spacing: 11pt

Average characters per line : 51 ~ 64

Alignment: Left (Body Text), Right(Sub-Heading)

Margins : 9.5mm (top, left, right), 35mm (bottom)

Columns : 2

Gutter: 5mm

FEEDBACKS

WEEK 7 - SKETCHES

General Feedback

Your type expression must convey a message properly, not just because it looks nice (e.g if you want to emphasize the word "World", then make it so that it speaks for itself). Essentially, we must have an idea embedded in the expression.
The distance of your column must always be the same because if not, it is implying that both columns of text are not related
Different typeface to differentiate the subheading & body text is ideal (to show visual hierarchy)
Avoid semibold & condensed typeface for body text
Visual elements(headings) can break the grid (can be outside of it)

REFLECTIONS

EXPERIENCE

In my opinion, Task 2 was a little rushed mainly because by the time Hari Raya Holidays were over, we were required to upload a digitalized version of our layout with an illustrated headline. I was not entirely clear regarding the instructions for designing the headline hence, it was pretty difficult for me to keep up with the rest. I could not ask further questions since the class was not conducted that week.

OBSERVATIONS

Similar to the previous assignments, I struggled with this one too because I always depended on feedback to guide me through the process of filtering the good from the bad; the right from the wrong. However, this time, I could do that because Mr. Vinod told us that we ought to "Learn to learn." which means to develop our own judgment and not fear making mistakes. I noticed that was one of my weaknesses thus I am still trying to change my mentality for the better. In terms of the activity itself, I am grateful that Mr. Vinod did a great job conducting feedback sessions during every class so that we could at least recognize our mistakes and develop our judgment based on that. I also believed that more explanation could be provided regarding the illustration process of the headline so it was not too confusing when we start executing the project.

FINDINGS

I learned more about the principles of the Bauhaus era and its art styles. Not only that, alignment in a typography layout is crucial in allowing the composition to look visually neat and appealing to the eye.

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