ADVANCED TYPOGRAPHY- TASK 3

August 31, 2022

ADVANCED TYPOGRAPHY- TASK 3

Week 8 (19/10/22)- Week 14 (30/11/22)
Student: Tai Ser Yeet (0345798)
Programme: Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Task: Task 3-Type Exploration & Application

WEEK 8

LECTURE

All lecture write-ups are in Task 1's Blog post. (TASK 1- EXERCISE 1 & 2)

INSTRUCTIONS

Fig 1.0 Instructions to Task 3, Week X(19/10/22)

TASK 3: TITLE OF TASK

INSTRUCTIONS

Think and propose 3 possible projects for the final task by Week 9 (do preliminary research)
The proposal is to be done in Google Slides
Design uppercase and lowercase letterforms as well as numerals
There are 3 possible ways to go about this task:
- Discover a problem first in the area of our interest (could be from our specialization too) and create letterforms that reflect a solution to the issue. OR
- Select an existing typeface and study its flaws and devise a solution that could create added value to the typeface.
- Experiment: work with materials such as ones that are 3-Dimensional, unusual, ones from a music video, etc.
can be something that reflects the mark or is the mark

MIB Instructions

Create a font that is intended to solve a larger problem or be part of a solution in the area of your interest be it graphic design, animation, new media or entertainment design, or any other related area not necessarily reflecting your specialization. End result: a complete typeface generated (.ttf) + applications.

or explore the use of a typeface in your area of interest, understand its existing relationship, identify areas that could be improved upon, and explore possible solutions or combinations that may add value to the existing typeface. End result: a complete typeface generated (.ttf) + applications.

WEEK 9- RESEARCHING

Right off the bat, I could not think of problems that would require a set of typefaces as a solution. Usually, in a typical setting, it would be if a typeface is not suitable for that particular work, then it is just as simple as not choosing to use it. However, now we are required to discover a niche problem that might require a typeface to complete its purpose, or perhaps identify whether the existing typeface used is appropriate for the work.

After that, I ask myself these research questions:

What makes my typeface so unique that someone would be willing to buy it for their work?
Which industry lacks interesting typefaces which I could tap into?
How to choose a topic that maintains my level of interest until the end of the semester?
How to create a typeface that would enhance the work of others and it is something they never knew they needed?
Which set of typefaces is illegible but has potential in terms of the shape of the letterforms?
Do areas such as sustainability/ caring for our planet, toilets, and more consist of typefaces that convey their meaning and their purpose to the users?
Do the typefaces influence the attention span of the readers when reading an information board of an artifact?

Later on, I rewatched the recorded video from today's class and found more useful general feedback given by Mr. Vinod. Below would be the summary of what I have gathered:

A senior had referenced Wayang Kulit (Traditional Puppet) for her typeface e.g maybe extracting the characteristics of the joints from the puppet and incorporating them into the letters. After that, she used the typeface to create a short film.
From that, I realized that the idea was brilliant as creating a typeface for the movie title and showing it at the start of the film helps further emphasize how the puppet plays such a huge role in it.
The concept of the particular tradition is very rich and unique, creating a substantial foundation for the typeface later on.
Usually, typefaces are commonly created in regard to popular forms of entertainment globally such as movies and video games so for someone to create a typeface based on a niche topic is refreshing and interesting.
Perhaps I could find a subject of focus and determine a prominent characteristic of it to be implemented in my typeface so that it is simple yet conveys the message effectively.

UNDERSTANDING THE ANATOMY OF LETTERFORMS

After getting feedback from Mr.Vinod and finally having a solid direction to head towards, I went over to YouTube and refreshed myself with the anatomy of letterforms to obtain a better understanding of its structure and ultimately, play around with it or so to say, "break the rules". The video that I watched was titled, "How To Make A Custom Font Using Fontself" produced by The Futur Academy.

Fig 1.1 Explanation of Anatomy of Letterforms, Week 9 (27/10/22)

Fig 1.1.2 Anatomy of Letterforms, Week 9 (27/10/22)

Fig 1.1.3 Letter Groupings According To Their Properties, Week 9 (27/10/22)

Curved capitals share a common round stroke, thus saving time for typeface designers to produce a whole typeface as they can just copy and paste the same attribute. Curved letterforms also overshoot the cap line and baseline by a little.

Fig 1.1.4 Commonalities Between Curved Capitals, Week 9 (27/10/22)

The capital letterforms, A,V,W & M also possess identical diagonal strokes.

Fig 1.1.5 Repeated Diagonal Strokes of Capitals Above, Week 9 (27/10/22)

Fig 1.1.6 Similarities Between Letterforms in Uppercase & Lowercase, Week 9 (27/10/22)

TRAITS OF TYPEFACES FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES

From Nick Kolenda's article, below are the lessons I have extracted :

1. Choose a typeface that resembles the subject of focus

Fonts with…

similar experiences will strengthen connections.
dissimilar experiences will weaken connections.
new experiences will add connections.

Fig 1.2 Similar Traits to Subject of Focus, Week 9 (30/10/22)

This is because our brain works on a basis where we would associate similar traits of the typeface to say, beauty standards in today's society where tall and thin is the ideal body type. Hence, the customers would think that the brand could help them achieve their desired goals in terms of appearance.

Fig 1.2.2 Spreading Activation, Week 9 (30/10/22)

Bold Fonts: powerful, masculine, daring, assertive, can also have a negative connotation to it such as domineering, overbearing

Light Fonts: delicate, gentle, feminine

Fig 1.2.3 Round VS Angular, Week 9 (30/10/22)

Round Fonts: comfort, and softness, humans prefer round objects because sharp objects feel threatening.

Angular (angles & sharp corners): formal, official tone, masculine

Fig 1.2.4 Simple VS Complex, Week 9 (30/10/22)

Simple: directness, straightforward

- Rigid typefaces are better for straightforward messages because their visual simplicity matches the simple nature of this context (Li & Suen, 2010).

Complex: uniqueness

Fig 1.2.5 Short VS Tall, Week 9 (30/10/22)

Short: heaviness, feels more stable due to the concept of gravity, durable, immovable

Tall: lightness, luxury

Serif: elegant, scientific

Sans-Serif: more readable on screen

PROPOSED IDEAS FOR TASK 3

Fig 1.3 Proposed Idea For Task 3, Week 9 (30/10/22)

POST FEEDBACK

Mr. Vinod finds the Election typeface idea intriguing and current but try not to create a type that is overly condensed in nature as readability suffers exponentially. Also, study other election typefaces used in German, Spanish and Nordic country elections.

It is commonly said that democrats are more likely to use sans serifs whereas Republicans prefer Serif typefaces.

Fig 1.3.2 Comparison Between Democrat & Republican's Choice of Typeface, Week 9 (30/10/22)

ELECTION CAMPAIGN TYPEFACES GLOBALLY

After reading the article by Ramjug, 2021, I realized that it is important to select a political party to design a typeface for as different parties have different values whether traditional or modern as well as the qualities of their running candidates. Not only that, my created typeface has to work in different formats as the posters are going to be plastered on the highway, driveway, and most importantly, the web screen.

EXAMPLE 1: GOTHAM

The first typeface I researched was "Gotham" which was used during the election campaign of previous US President Barack Obama. The below summary is according to a YouTube Video titled, "HowTypefaces Shape American Politics (US Elections 2020)"

Fig 1.4 Gotham Typeface, Week 9 (30/10/22)

The typeface embodies American values, matching well with Obama's vision for the country
Letterforms have the same thickness in terms of stroke weight - a sense of practicality
Design is geometrical, clean, and symmetrical e.g when talking about the letters b & d
Its geometric and symmetric traits build a feeling of trustworthiness and comfort among the citizens because its characteristics evoke familiarity as the designer extracted some of the key features from American architecture and incorporated them into the typeface.
Sans serif typefaces are perceived as more modern due to their cleaner and symmetric look
It is also said that Serif typefaces project a more conservative nature whereas Sans Serif typefaces lean towards the liberal concept. [Liberal - open-minded, promote secularism (do not rely on religion to make decisions)// Conservatives- traditional social values, rooted in religion ( that's why some families are called conservative because most of them are very religious)]

EXAMPLE 2: SWEDEN SANS

The Swedish created their very own typeface to be used by government ministries, agencies, and corporations with one integrated visual brand identity that would represent the country to the world in a “fresh and dynamic way”. (Russells, 2014)

Fig 1.4.2 Sweden Sans Typeface, Week 9 (30/10/22)

Fig 1.4.3 Process of Creating the Typeface, Week 9 (30/10/22)

A few points of reference were used such as the Swedish National Flag, buildings, and signs from the mid-1950s.
The designers have decided to go for the motto of "not too much and not too little." hence, creating a typeface that is basic but modern.

EXAMPLE 3: DANISH

Fig 1.4.4 Danish Typeface, Week 9 (30/10/22)

INSPIRATION

SOME TYPE OF GRAPHY TALK BY DAVID HO

type should never be looked at individually but as a whole
your typeface doesn't always have to replicate your inspiration source, you can deviate from it too
being a student and not knowing what works is very powerful as you would tend to explore more possible solutions. When you enter the industry, you then would know what works and what doesn't and will stick with the things that do, thus not branching out as much.

WEEK 9

To be very frank, I do not have the slightest clue on how to start off my election typeface idea. This was due to the fact that all election typefaces are very plain, hardly decorative, and san-serifs for the sake of legibility. As a result, I was already out of ideas on how to make it more interesting and different from the rest of the typeface. I began questioning why did I even choose to follow through with this idea and on top of that, have no references to take inspiration from?

It is definitely better to start off something imperfect rather than not starting at all. Therefore, I went onto the Internet and began searching for items that reminded me of Malaysia's election that was coming up. Among the items that I thought of was, the ballot box where citizens slot their voting paper in. The shape of the box was different from the normal boxes hence, I decided that I could perhaps imitate the shape and slanted nature of it.

ATTEMPT 1

WEEK 10- SKETCHES

I then went to my tablet and sketched out the letterforms with reference to the ballot box owned by SPR (Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya). In total before the weekly feedback session, I sketched 13 letterforms altogether.

Fig XX Sketching First Attempt for Typeface, Week 10 (2/11/22)

DIGITALISATION OF SKETCHES

I used regular shapes to construct the letterforms to retain the geometrical shape.

Fig XX Tracing the Sketches, Week 10 (2/11/22)

FEEDBACK BY LECTURER

Mr. Vinod has suggested that I create something more robust and distinct e.g once you see the typeface from the poster, you can immediately recognize it. The typeface now is very rudimentary and still in the ideation stage.

ATTEMPT 2

WEEK 10-

After the feedback, I was rather defeated as the first idea was hard enough for me to think of and now I had to return to square one and begin the ideation process once again.

I went on to YouTube and came across this video titled "Designing Digital Typography" by Paola Kassa which sparked creativity in me. She talks about a few main methods to design custom typefaces but the one that stood out to me was using basic shapes and the pen tool to connect those shapes and ultimately create a whole letterform.

BRAINSTORMING IDEAS

As seen below, I started with two rectangular shapes at the bottom and used the pen tool to create random, organic shapes on the top. Later, I realized that it was slowly beginning to look more like the letter A hence I leaned over into that direction and experimented from there to create a more presentable-looking shape.

Fig XX Brainstorming for Attempt 2, Week 10 (2/11/22)

WEEK 10- SKETCHING THE REST OF THE LETTERFORMS

For the past few hours, I kept fiddling with the letter A that I got and was experimenting with either its crossbar, stroke, or slant as well as trying out different weight sizes and counter forms. In the end, I managed to create about 19 different types of A as seen below, each with its unique characteristic and almost like a mutation of its previous.

Fig XX Variations of Letter A, Week 10 (2/11/22)

I finally settle on the last variation of the letter A as I believe the strokes were not too thick and the slight separation between the left and right strokes of the A was just enough to deceive the human eye into thinking that the apex is not split in half. What I loved most about this design was the dip on the left stroke to form the crossbar.

Fig XX The Chosen Letter A, Week 10 (2/11/22)

SKETCHES OF UPPERCASE LETTERFORMS

Once I had a direction, I wasted no time to begin sketching the other letterforms from the alphabet as time was running out. One of the challenges during the sketching process was designing the letter O as the reference letter A that I created earlier did not have a significant curvature that I can pluck from it. Instead, I could only follow the weight of the letter A's strokes to achieve consistency for my typeface.

Fig XX Uppercase Letterform Sketches of Attempt 2, Week 10 (2/11/22)

SKETCHES OF LOWERCASE LETTERFORMS

Fig XX Lowercase Letterform Sketches of Attempt 2, Week 10 (2/11/22)

WEEK 11-DIGITALISING THE LETTERFORMS

Before starting to digitalize my typeface, I took the guidelines from the previous Typography assignment and place them on the canvas, putting the ascender, cap height, median line, baseline, and lastly the descender line.

Fig XX Placing Guidelines on Artboard, Week 11 (9/11/22)

DIGITALISING THE UPPERCASE LETTERFORMS

First, I needed to prepare the essential shapes needed for the main stems and curvature of the letterforms. Hence, I went ahead and measured the width of the strokes using a rectangular shape. As for J's bar with a curve at the end, I placed a circle on top of the rectangle, making sure the stroke overlaps the corners of the rectangle. After that, it was as simple as subtracting the excess with the shape builder tool.

For the H, the same, long, rectangle was placed above the sketch and the radius of its corners was pulled in about 300 point size. Lastly, a semicircle is made to be at the foot of the L.

Fig XX Construction of Uppercase Letterform J, H, L, Week 11 (9/11/22)

A similar method was used to construct the letter O but the difference is that in order to create a symmetrical letterform, I divided the letterform into 4 quadrants. After creating the first quadrant, the reflect tool option was used to duplicate the element at 90 & 180 degrees.

Fig XX Construction of Uppercase Letter O, Week 11 (9/11/22)

Fig XX Construction of Uppercase Letter C, Week 11 (9/11/22)

I didn't want the bowl of the B to be similar to the bowl of P hence, I rounded off the sharp corner on the top right. After that, I duplicated and increased the size of the bowl for the bottom as well.

Fig XX Construction of Uppercase Letters B, P, Week 11 (9/11/22)

Fig XX Construction of Uppercase Letters K, Y, Week 11 (9/11/22)

Fig XX Construction of Uppercase Letters M, S, E, Week 11 (9/11/22)

DIGITALISING THE LOWERCASE LETTERFORMS

I was still deciding on what type of tittle to do; a circle or a square with one curved edge. I ended up going for a curved one as with the circle tittle, it looked out of place with the strokes of the letterform.

Fig XX Construction of Lowercase Letters j, i, h, Week 11 (9/11/22)

For the lowercase O, I downsized the uppercase O and increase the width of each side so that it would match the overall letterforms.

Fig XX Construction of Lowercase Letters 'o', Week 11 (9/11/22)

I have produced three varieties of the letter v using the characteristic of the uppercase A. In the end, the third variation was chosen as the top stroke was parallel to the baseline, making it seem more neat and tidy.

Fig XX Construction of Lowercase Letters a,v,y, Week 11 (9/11/22)

Fig XX Week 11's Progress on Letterforms, Week 11 (9/11/22)

FEEDBACK BY LECTURER

Mr. Vinod has suggested that the middle part of the uppercase letter S is too thin; can be fixed by thickening the left bottom stroke. Lowercase Y needs to be fixed. For example, the diagonal stroke of the Y. The uppercase Y is a bit weird. Mr. Vinod questioned the appropriateness of my typeface for election. For election, the typeface looks a bit too special.

WEEK 12-

SKETCHES OF LOWERCASE LETTERFORMS PT.2

I continued my lowercase sketches from the last two weeks while also experimenting with different variations of the same letterform. The continuation was rather different from the sketches of the past two weeks because I didn't like the initial design so I began making the letters c and d slightly boxier just to try it out. Since both of the redesigned letterforms were the basis of every other letter, the recent sketch ended up looking dissimilar to the others. Anyhow, since, I did not have extra time to re-sketch the previously done lowercase letters, I would just alter it during the digitalization process.

Fig XX Letterform Sketches of Attempt 2, Week 12 (16/11/22)

SKETCHES OF NUMERALS

To remain consistent in the typeface, I placed a few of the lowercase and uppercase letterform sketches at the side of my artboard so I could refer to them while I drew my numbers. In that way, I can ensure that the number designs of it don't stray away from the alphabet designs.

Fig XX Numerals Sketches, Week 12 (16/11/22)

DIGITALISING THE LETTERFORMS PT.2

Again, starting the construction of the letter 'd', I placed the rectangles along the sketches and began to merge the shapes together. After that, the left corner radius of the rectangle was pulled in to match the curve of the bowl.

Fig XX Digitalising the Lowercase d, Week 12 (16/11/22)

For the tail of the letter 'g', I added a triangular shape with a curved side just above the descender line, matching the stem of the respective letterform. The same concept was applied to the letter 'y' but created a gap on top of the bowl to reveal an open counter form.

Fig XX Digitalising the Lowercase g, y, Week 12 (16/11/22)

RESIZING THE LETTERFORMS

Because both the lowercase were not drawn according to the fixated guidelines, the size of all the lowercase letterforms was bigger than that of the uppercase letterforms. As a result, downsizing them one by one was a must in order for both types of letterforms to be consistent. I also used existing typefaces and placed them on the lines to get an idea of where should the letter's bar go etc.

Fig XX Digitalising the Lowercase g, y, Week 12 (16/11/22)

I placed the uppercase and lowercase letterforms in their respective pairs according to alphabetical order so that it is easier to evaluate the level of consistency in regards to its strokes and level of curvature.

Fig XX Comparison Between Lowercase & Uppercase, Week 12 (16/11/22)

DIGITALISING THE 16 PUNCTUATIONS

I remembered that Mr.Vinod had shared an Instagram post by @grillitype regarding the ways to create common punctuations such as periods, commas, semicolons, etc. Following their post, I created my own set with the advice from the post.

To create the period, I used the S that I have digitalized and placed a circle on the bottom right of the letterform. I then adjusted the size of the circle so that it slightly overshoots the S.

Fig XX Digitalisation of Punctuations, Week 12 (16/11/22)

For my comma, I decided to go with more of a squarish one but with a curved corner on the top left to maintain consistency with the rest of the letterforms. As for the semicolon and colon, the top circle should be touching the median line whereas the bottom circle or comma should be touching the baseline. The rest of the punctuations are also created with the common shapes and placed in their correct position.

Fig XX Digitalisation of Punctuations, Week 12 (16/11/22)

DIGITALISING THE NUMERALS

Fig XX Digitalisation of Numerals, Week 12 (16/11/22)

WEEK 13-

IMPORTING INTO FONTLAB 8

This time, I did not use FontLab7 but instead used Fontlab 8 to avoid any issues with the importing of my letterforms as I am using the trial version. Anyhow, I began to import my letterforms from Illustrator to Fontlab, following the tutorial from the Typography lecture class last semester.

While I was importing, I faced a minor issue. I could not copy and paste the letterforms from Illustrator to Fontlab despite trying it with the x-axis and y-axis ruler and placing it at the bottom left anchor point. To overcome the issue, I applied the split screen function and dragged the letterforms from Illustrator over to Fontlab. It worked.

Fig XX Digitalisation of Numerals, Week 13 (23/11/22)

KERNING EXERCISE FROM KERNTYPE

Because Kerning is something that was very reliant on one's ability to judge the equality of both the negative and positive spaces, it is hard for a designer-in-training like myself to develop that intuitiveness to produce good kerning between letterforms. Hence, I went over the Kern Type which is a website that allows you to practice kerning words and ultimately, display your results so that the participants could gauge their competency in kerning.

Fig XX Practicing Kerning, Week 13 (23/11/22)

KERNING THE TYPEFACE IN FONTLAB

I started by selecting the famous phrase "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" and kerned the lowercase letters from there. I also made sure to keep in mind when the round and straight letterforms are side by side, the round letterforms have to be kerned slightly closer to the straight letterform due to optical illusion. The human eye naturally perceives a larger counter space in between both of the forms. On the other hand, when it is rounded letterforms or straight letterforms placed side by side, the designer does not have to kern it too much.

LOWERCASE LETTERFORMS

Fig XX Kerning Lowercases, Week 13 (23/11/22)

After kerning the common phrase, there was still individual kerning that should be done. I knew that if I did that, I would be wasting too much time and would not be able to make it for the deadline which is next week Tuesday. To compensate, I learned a very time-effective method to achieve similar results but in a shorter amount of time. It may not be the best and most accurate but it gets the job done fairly well.

My friend suggested that I could use the paragraphs written for my Critical Review from the module, Design Research Methodology. Using those paragraphs, I am able to capture the words that are commonly used together and will be able to cover most of the kerning if I used the paragraph.

Fig XX Kerning Lowercases, Week 13 (23/11/22)

UPPERCASE LETTERFORMS

To create the sample text, I copied the paragraphs from my critical review and imported them into a Microsoft Word document. After that, I used the feature that turns the lowercase letters to uppercase and later copied and pasted the body text into the metrics tab of FontLab.

Fig XX Kerning Uppercases, Week 13 (23/11/22)

MAKING THE COLLATERALS

INSPIRATION

When I think of Elections, I think of many significant items that only appear during the big event. Below is the list of items that could be potential collaterals:

1. Postal votes

2. Ballot boxes

3. Caution Tape

4. Safety Vest

5. Postage bag

6. Caps & badges

7. Flags (Neutral)

8. Election Posters

9. Banners/ Billboard

Fig XX Inspiration Pictures, Week 13 (23/11/22)

COLOR PALETTE

Next, I began choosing a color palette for all the collaterals to remain consistent.

Fig XX Color Palette 1, Week 13 (23/11/22)

Fig XX Color Palette 2, Week 13 (23/11/22)

Fig XX Color Palette 3, Week 13 (23/11/22)

I decided upon the colors from the Malaysian flag which was Color Palette 1 as it was more neutral and not leaning towards any colors represented by the big coalition parties in Malaysia. Not only that, it was rather fitting for the theme as the election as a whole sparks patriotism in the hearts of Malaysian citizens.

After deciding on the color theme, I also listed down names, some quotes, or mottos that are always used in electoral campaigns below:

1. Every vote matters/ Every vote counts/ Your vote matters

2. Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya

3. Petugas SPR

4. Use your finger wisely

5. Undilah demi masa hadapan anak-anak kita

6. Mari Kita Undi

7. VOTE

8. GE-15

ATTEMPT 1-

BILLBOARD SIGN

After finding the mock-ups, I went ahead and began on doing the billboard sign and the quote I used was "Use your finger wisely". I also experimented with either using lowercase or uppercase letterforms for the text, considering their impact and the way the message is conveyed.

Fig XX Typing the Quote, Week 13 (23/11/22)

Since I felt that the billboard looked rather with only text, hence, I added a finger that was already dipped in indelible ink and positioned it on the right side.

Fig XX Adding the Finger, Week 13 (23/11/22)

SAFETY VEST

I placed the SPR name on the top left of the vest.

Fig XX Adding the Finger, Week 13 (23/11/22)

POSTERS

Fig XX Adding the Finger, Week 13 (23/11/22)

Fig 10.4 Signage, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Safety Vest Collateral, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.6 Posters Collateral, Week 14 (30/11/22)

ATTEMPT 2-

FINDING FOR NEW MOCKUPS

I felt that the previous mockups were too plain and the colors were too similar to the ones that I used in Project 2 hence, I went back in to create new collaterals with a different color paltte.

Fig 10.6 Finding for New Mockups, Week 14 (30/11/22)

POSTER FOR BILLBOARD

Fig 10.5 Safety Vest Collateral, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Making Decorative Element, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Making Picture Black & White, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Placing Title , Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Adding Outlines for the Flag, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Reducing Opacity of the Yellow Texture, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Solid Color Behind Poster, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Variations of Building Color, Week 14 (30/11/22)

BADGES

Fig 10.5 Creating Clipping Mask on Circle, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Progress on Badges, Week 14 (30/11/22)

ID TAGS

Fig 10.5 Progress on ID Tag, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Changing Color for the Lanyards, Week 14 (30/11/22)

BARRIER TAPE

Fig 10.5 Color for Background & Change Color for Text, Week 14 (30/11/22)

SAFETY VEST

Fig 10.5 Adding Text and Logo to Vest, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Labels for the Back Panel of Vest, Week 14 (30/11/22)

FINAL SUBMISSION OF TASK 3: TYPE EXPLORATION AND APPLICATION

Fig 10.1 Final Submission of Digitalisation of Typeface, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Link to Election Typeface:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DIpvkbjTeTR9JoLMW2215DNUFgugBwnr/view?usp=sharing

Fig 10.2 Final Submission of Typeface, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.3 Final Submission of Typeface, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Final Submission of Collateral, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.4 Final Submission of Collateral, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Final Submission of Collateral, Week 14 (30/11/22)

Fig 10.5 Final Submission of Collateral, PDF, Week 14 (30/11/22)

FEEDBACKS

WEEK 9 -

General Feedback

1. To read fast, we recognize the first and last letters then only reading the whole sentence

2. Do a lot of research as it could open your eyes to more knowledge regarding the theme

3. Do a lot of experimentation for the sketches

4. Next class, letterforms must be digitalized

5. Need to have a paragraph explaining the purpose of your created typeface (e.g what is the problem, solution, etc)

6. Design typefaces that have characteristics of the reference typeface (how does the typeface work in terms of being in the poster etc)

7. First make sure that the shape of the letterform looks good first before introducing a texture

8. Designing a typeface is a process, with a lot of trial and error to be done before reaching the final idea.

Specific Feedback

1. Swash Typeface- if turned into a typeface, it might be very limiting as since it originally are letterings and the swashes cannot be extended beyond the square grid of a typeface.

2. Body Typeface- a purpose of the typeface cannot be seen. If it is for mental health posters, then at least the person used for the typeface should look optimistic instead of depressed. // The illustration chosen looks cool and Mr. Vinod could see certain letters in the image.// The typeface can be very organic, there’s no problem.

3. Screw & Finger Typeface- There is no stated purpose and problem that the created typeface intended to solve.

4. Election Typeface- Mr. Vinod finds the Election typeface idea intriguing and current but try not create a type that is overly condensed in nature as readability suffers exponentially. Also, study other election typefaces used in German, Spanish and Nordic country elections.

WEEK 10 -

General Feedback

1. Cannot have all the letterforms show the source of inspiration, some may be more prominent than others e.g showing the shape of the flowers etc.

2. Do not add the decorative elements into the typeface first, make sure the structures are first consistent.

Specific Feedback

1. Create something more robust and distinct e.g once you see the typeface from the poster, you can immediately recognize it.

2. Produce a typeface that is in the middle of the concept of being too simple and too decorative.

3. The typeface, for now, is rather rudimentary and still in the ideation stage

4. Take the typeface LICKY CHAN; reduce the contrast of it and it can be used for an election poster

WEEK 11-

General Feedback

1. Do not create something more robust and distinct e.g once you see the typeface from the poster, you can immediately recognize it.

2. Be consistent in the typeface

WEEK 12-

General Feedback

1. Choose collateral that would enhance your typeface

2. Do not worry about the background deco for collateral, its just about the typeface you have created only

3. Make the typeface big

4. Make sure to key in the points for ascender and descender height etc then when imported into FontLab, the sizing of each letterform will be identical.

Specific Feedback

5. Mr. Vinod questioned the appropriateness of my typeface for election. For election, the typeface looks a bit too special.

6. The middle part of the uppercase letter S is too thin; can be fixed by thickening the left bottom stroke.

7. Lowercase Y needs to be fixed. For example, the diagonal stroke of the Y. The uppercase Y is a bit weird.

REFLECTIONS

EXPERIENCE

Overall, I would say Task 3 has got to be the most stressful one as compared to the rest as there was so much work to do from completing a whole set of typefaces to making unlimited collaterals. However, despite the workload, I thoroughly enjoyed this module to a certain extent as it has taught me useful skills that could very much be implemented into my career as a UI/UX Designer. For instance, I would forever be sensitive towards the choice of typeface, the kerning between the letters in the typeface as well as the ability to understand what constitutes good composition and alignment. Next, I felt very proud of the work I had produced for Task 1 and had gotten rare praise from Mr.Vinod which I will never forget. Furthermore, being one of the design students who had also won Best Talent for the Honor Talent Competition was definitely the icing on the cake. However, right after Task 1, it all went downhill as expectations were higher this time and in order to get good grades, I had to re-attempt multiple times to finally head in the right direction. This caused me a lot of time and I ended up rushing both Task 2 & 3 a few days before submission which is pretty bad and hectic, to say the least.

OBSERVATIONS

I observed that I preferred typefaces that were more symmetrically balanced as well as scripts as compared to overly bold ones. I also noticed that in order to stay on top of each assignment, the weekends should be fully utilized so that when the next week starts, no work would begin to pile up. Furthermore, I realized doing collaterals is a good practice for when clients require you to apply your design to an item so that it is easier to visualize. However, sometimes it is tough finding a mock-up that is free and of high quality. This, in turn, limits the ability to expand beyond what was already provided on the internet.

FINDINGS

Doing further reading before beginning an assignment is a game-changer as books recommended by Mr. Vinod provided a good starting point for referencing and taking inspiration. I find that it also keeps me motivated to keep going with the assignment as I had a guideline to follow. For Task 3, creating an entire typeface taught me that a designer should not only concentrate on the appearance of a single letter but look at the typeface as a whole. That way, we are able to identify whether the consistency of the typeface is achieved. All- in all, I believed that Advanced Typography has developed my artistic intuition, especially in separating good design work from bad one. Having this gut feeling allowed me to gauge the quality of my work, and whether or not it was ready for submission. If I keep revisiting that piece of assignment and admiring the outcome, I would then be proud to say that I did in fact, did a good job.

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