Typography / TASK 2: Typographic Exploration & Communication (Text Formatting and Expression)
Daphne Lai Yu Cheng / 0366380
GCD 60104 / Typography / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylors' University
Task 2 / Typographic Exploration & Communication (Text Formatting and Expression)
- Lectures
- Instructions
- Task 2 / Typographic Exploration & Communication (Text Formatting and Expression)
- Feedback
- Reflection
- Further Readings
LECTURES
Week 5 (21/10/2024): Typo_5_Understanding
Typography: Letters
- Uppercase letterforms look symmetrical but it is in fact not symmetrical under close examination.
- Baskerville: The 2 different stroke weights of Baskerville's stroke form and different arcs of each bracket.
- Univers: The width of the left slope is thinner than the right stroke.
This helps to create letterforms that are both internally harmonious and individually expressive.
Figure 1.1 Baskerville and Univers
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Figure 1.2 Helvetica vs Univers
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Figure 1.3 Both Letterforms Overlaid
Above shows a comparison of how the stems of the letterforms finish and how the bowls meet the stems quickly reveals an obvious difference in character between Helvetica and Univers.
2. Maintaining X-height
- Letterforms that have curved strokes, 's' for example, must rise above the median or sink below the baseline in order to appear to be the same size as the vertical and horizontal strokes they join.
Figure 1.4 Noticeable Rise in Curved Strokes
3. Form / Counterform
- The adjustment of spaces between the letterforms increase and decreases readability.
- Counterform plays a crucial role in being able to recognise the form of either the word or the letterform itself.
- One way to understand the form and counter of a letter is to examine/analyse them in close detail.
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Figure 1.5 Counterform
4. Letters / Contrast
- Contrast is the most powerful dynamic in design to differentiate information in text.
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Figure 1.6 Diagram of Contrast in Typography
Week 6 (28/10/2024): Typo_6_Screen Print
Typography in Different Medium
1. Print Type vs Screen Type
Type for Print:
- Designed intended for reading from print long before reading from screen.
- It's the designer's job to ensure that the text is smooth, flowing, and pleasant to read.
- Good typefaces for print are Caslon, Garamond, Baskerville because their characteristics are elegant and intellectual BUT also highly readable at a small font size.
Figure 1.7 Examples for Print Type
Type for Screen:
- Screen typefaces are optimized and often modified to enhance readability and performance onscreen. (Taller x-height, wider letterforms, more open counters, heavier thin strokes and serifs, reduced stroke contrast, modified curves and angles.)
- Typefaces intended for smaller sizes are more open spacing to improve character recognition and overall readability such as the web, mobile devices, etc.
Hyperactive Link / Hyperlink
- A word, phrase, or image that is able to jump to a new document or section within the current document after clicking.
- 16-pixel text: Used for screens because it is read from far.
- 10-pixel text: Used for prints because it is read closer to our eyes.
Figure 1.8 Screen vs Print
System Fonts for Screen / Web Safe Fonts
- Open Sans, Lato, Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Times, Courier New, Courier, Verdana, Georgia, Palatino and Garamond.
Pixel Differential between Devices
- A single device class has a lot of variation of pixel texts.
- Static typography has minimal characteristics in expressing words. Traditional characteristics such as bold and italic offer only a fraction of the expressive potential of dynamic properties.
- Motion typography, temporal media offer typographers opportunities to "dramatize" type, for letterforms to become "fluid" and "kinetic" (Woolman and Bellantoni, 1999) Film title credits present typographic information over time, often bringing it to life through animation. Motion Graphics, particularly the brand identities of films and television production companies, increasingly contain animated type.
TASK 2: Typographic Exploration & Communication (Text Formatting and Expression) (21/10/2024)
For this task, we were given 3 sets of texts and choose 1 text we want to format. I decided to pick 'Unite to Visualise A Better World'. I read through the chosen text then start on finding for inspirations and sketching my ideas.
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Figure 2.1 Inspirations and Idea Sketches (22/10/2024)
Figure 2.2 Different Ideas and Layouts (25/10/2024)
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Figure 2.3 With Patches (25/10/2024)
My favourite layouts are #1, #3, and #5.
#1: I wanted to express the word 'unite' by dragging the tail of 'u' then placing 'nite' on the dragged tail to symbolize unity. Next, I turned 'V' into a side eye view illustration and placed "a better world" beside to visually represent an eye visualising a better world.
#3: I wanted to express the word 'unite' by placing 'nite' into the enlarged 'U' to symbolize unity. Next, I turned 'V' into a side eye view illustration to visually represent an eye visualising a better world.
#5: I wanted to express the words 'unite to visualise a better world' by using different typefaces to symbolize unity despite differences. Next, I turned 'V' into a side eye view illustration to visually represent an eye visualising a better world.:
After receiving feedbacks from Mr Vinod, I made some changes according to the feedbacks given and decided to proceed with #5 as my final.
Margins: 10mm (Top, bottom, left & right)
Columns: 2
Gutter:
10 mm
Figure 2.4 'Unite to Visualise A Better World' Final (28/10/2024)
Figure 2.5 'Unite to Visualise A Better World' Final (Grids) (28/10/2024)
Figure 2.6 'Unite to Visualise A Better World' Final PDF (Both Formats) (28/10/2024)
Specific feedback: Out of the 5 layouts, Mr Vinod mentioned that #1 has good layout, #2 is a little crowded, #3 has decent flow. He said #1 and #5 are his favourites, and text had noticeable rivers.
General feedback: Decide on words to express, find suitable layouts for easier readability and always keep out of rivers. The reason behind margins is because folded mixed content pages will get cut in the process of making a reading material. Every 16 pages is called a 'signature'.
Week 7
Specific feedback: I let Mr Vinod check my task 2 again after making some changes last week and he said that everything is okay and good.
General feedback: Make sure to double check if the documents in our e-portfolio are always accessible to viewers. Attempt on dissection for H,O,G,B using 1 out of the 10 fonts provided. Explore and sketch different writing styles on graph papers by retaining the same angle for each style, then select a favourite writing style and watch the tutorial videos to attempt on digitalisation.
Observations
Although the timeframe were only 2 weeks, I
observed that justified alignment is so much more harder to maintain
than flush left alignment, some of my peers and I got "there are
noticeable rivers in your justified text" by Mr Vinod during the
feedback session. I also observed that how letters can be manipulated
into expressions after looking at my peers' works in class.
Findings
I find that text formatting is very important in
editorial spreads as the layout of text will affect the reading rhythm
and readers' focus if not properly formatted. Typefaces and fonts also
play a crucial role in text formatting as it affects readability and
suitable typefaces can further enhance the visual meaning of a word.
1. Thinking with Type (Ellen Lupton, 2004)
This book talks about the use of typography in visual communication including letter, text and grid.
In page 121-124, reading materials such as newspapers and magazines are introduced with multi-columned, multimedia pages that created new grid designs. F.T. Marinetti of the Futurist movement experimented with different styles and sizes of type break away from traditional print. Dada artists and poets used letterpress printing as well as collage, montage, and various forms of photo-mechanical reproduction. Constructivists like El Lissitzky introduced precise geometric shapes to organize the page. The Dutch De Stijl was inspired by the paintings of Piet Mondrian, which used straight lines to structure and expand grids beyond the surface of the page.
Figure 3.2 Bad and Good Magazine Design
An example of a good and bad magazine design advocates staggering images in relation to content instead of forcing text to wrap around blocks moored at the center of the page by Jan Tschicold.
2. Expressive Type Today: How typography captivates in a world of visual overload (Katy Cowan, 2024)
Figure 3.3 Expressive Type Today: How typography captivates in a world of visual overload
This article interviewed Counter-Print's co-founder, Jon Dowling, about exploring the world of expressive type design and the ability to get our attention, shape perceptions and spark emotions. Type as an artistic expression stands out and make an impact through playfulness, experimentation and emotional resonance.
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