Advanced Typography / TASK 3: Type Exploration & Application
Daphne Lai Yu Cheng / 0366380
GCD 61004 / Advanced Typography / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylors' University
Task 3 / Type Exploration & Application
LECTURES
Week 1-5 lectures notes are completed in Task 1 & Task 2.
TASK 3: Type Exploration & Application (17/6/2024)
During Week 9, we were assigned to decide on our final project direction. Mr. Vinod mentioned the possibility of redesigning a font based on LLM (Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia) lettering. I decided to focus on the narrow version of the LLM lettering as my area of exploration. This typeface presents several design issues, and I aim to address and improve upon them through this task. While I focus on LLM Narrow, Chang Wing will be focusing on the LLM Normal, check out her research here ~
Type Exploration
Observations / Research
- Malaysian road signs use a variety of fonts: Mainly Transport Heavy, LLM Normal & Narrow, which results in different letterspacing.
- Edges are not smoothen, e.g., 8.
- Letterspacing is narrow, slightly cramped together.
- Counter space are too small, e.g., A, B, N, a, b, d, e, 4 & etc.
- Uppercase letter I and J are difficult to differentiate.
- Horizontal stroke of E and F is slightly short.
- Tail of Q is hardly noticeable.
- Bar of T is slightly short.
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Figure 1.1 Highway Gothic and Clearview
A video by Vox talked about the introduction of Highway Gothic and Clearview in US highways.
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Highway Gothic has looser and wider spacing to ensure better viewing at long distances.
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Figure 1.3 Angled tops
Highway Gothic also uses angled tops to differentiate certain letters like I and l.
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Figure 1.4 Issue: Halation
However, there is an issue with Highway Gothic font, the letters are blurred due to halation, an effect caused by car headlights shining onto the signboards. Letters like a, e, s legibility are hardly visible due to their narrow counterspaces.
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Figure 1.5 Clearview font design
Clearview was then introduced. It increased larger counter spaces and has a more squarer composition to open up the letters' counterspaces for better legibility.
Mr Vinod asked me to study about the Wayfinding Sans font on how their letterforms are constructed.
Figure 1.6 Wayfinding Sans
- Wayfinding Sans is specifically designed for optimal legibility in signage systems, especially in real world conditions like highways, train stations and airports.
Figure 1.7 Real World Conditions Testing
Developed through extensive legibility testing under poor visibility like fog, halation, motion blur, positive/negative contrast and distance.
Conducted user tests to compare readability with other signage fonts like Frutiger, DIN 1451 and Highway Gothic.
Wayfinding Sans font's (Bottom) diacritical marks are more prominent compared to British road signage font (Top) and Polish road signage font (Middle). This increases the legibility of the letter in real world situations due to its prominent size.
Figure 1.9 FMT's Refinement
An article by Mr Vinod talked about JPJ 1 A Standardised Number Plate Typeface for Malaysia. In Figure 1.9, Mr Vinod redesigned the FMT's B, numerals 3 and 8 by reducing the size of the equal open and closed counters because of how the human brain digest visual information.
Figure 1.10 Ink Traps
Ink traps were introduced in the vertex and apex area of the letter form W. It is evident that the use of ink traps showed better visibility and clarity at distance.
Figure 1.11 Colour Chromaticity Coordinates for Signboard colours
*All research source are cited in Further Readings section*
Process
1) Uppercase Letterforms
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Figure 1.12 LLM Normal & Narrow Capital Letter Dissection & Strokes (22/6/2025)
In LLM Normal and Narrow, the strokes used are the different width. LLM Narrow has thicker strokes compared to LLM Normal which makes the letters themselves look more thicker and lesser legibility when viewed at a distance.
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Figure 1.13 First draft (23/6/2025)
This was the first draft I designed and it ended up looking inconsistent from the look of it. I've made a mistake because of using inconsistent strokes.
During feedback session, Mr Vinod mentioned not to make LLM Narrow wider, instead adding ink trap and increase counters to fix LLM Narrow. Start by placing the letters on a grid and compare the strokes of both LLM Normal and Narrow.
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Figure 1.14 Letter Construction (26/6/2025)
While constructing my letterforms, I referred to Univers LT Std 57 Condensed from a feedback from Mr Vinod to study existing fonts with condensed variations. Some letters like C, D, G, O, Q tend to look squarer from the look of it, just like Univers LT Std 57 Condensed and Clearview.
I used the original LLM strokes as a base by refining the initial stroke's position to open up counterspaces for better legibility while carefully maintaining the overall width and modular consistency.
To further increase the legibility, inktraps were used to the letterforms:
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Figure 1.15 Letter Construction (28/6/2025)
After applying the inktraps, I chose certain letters that tend to have lesser legibility to test out the before and after (from what I observed when driving):
- Gaussian Blur (Halation & Long Distances)
- Motion Blur (High speed)
Letters A, N, W with Gaussian Blur:
Figure 1.16 LLM Narrow Letters A, N, W (29/6/2025)
The LLM Narrow letter A’s counterspace becomes even less distinguishable under Gaussian Blur, the same goes to the space between letters N and W, largely due to its tight counter space. This limitation reduces legibility in low clarity environments or at smaller sizes.
Figure 1.17 Redesigned Letters A, N, W (29/6/2025)
The redesigned letters with ink traps that opened up the counterspace make it noticeably more legible even under Gaussian blur. This improvement enhances the letter clarity in low resolution or visually degraded conditions like halation.
Letters A, N, W with Motion Blur:
Figure 1.18 LLM Narrow Letters A, N, W (29/6/2025)
The LLM Narrow letter A's counterspace is hardly visible with motion blur, it compromises the legibility at a distance or during high speed reading situations.
Figure 1.19 Redesigned Letters A, N, W (29/6/2025)
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Figure 1.20 Uppercase Letterforms Outline View (30/6/2025)
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Figure 1.21 Final Outcome of Uppercase Letterforms (30/6/2025)
After several refinements, the final outcome of the uppercase letterforms improved the clarity, balanced proportions and enhanced legibility across various viewing conditions, including motion and blur.
2) Lowercase Letterforms
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Figure 1.22 Lowercase Letterforms Dissection (3/7/2025)
It appears that both LLM Normal and Narrow lowercase letters have the same strokes. However, LLM Narrow lowercase forms use tighter curves and smaller counters compared to the uppercase letters, which can reduce the legibility at smaller sizes.
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Figure 1.23 Letter Construction (6/7/2025)
I did the construction of the lowercase ‘s’ by using a geometric grid system. I used a grid and combination of circles to maintain the consistency in proportion and curvature across the other letterforms.
To further increase the legibility, inktraps were used to the letterforms:
Figure 1.24 Ink Traps (7/7/2025)
After applying the inktraps, I chose certain letters that tend to have lesser legibility to test out the before and after (from what I observed when driving):
- Gaussian Blur (Halation & Long Distances)
- Motion Blur (High speed)
Letters a, w, x with Gaussian Blur:
Figure 1.25 LLM Narrow Letters a, w, x (7/7/2025)
The LLM Narrow letters counterspace becomes more cramped together under Gaussian Blur due to its narrow counter space. This limitation reduces legibility in high speed or at smaller sizes. Honestly, they look almost like a blob...
Figure 1.26 Redesigned Letters a, w, x (7/7/2025)
Letters a, w, x with Motion Blur:
Figure 1.27 LLM Narrow Letters a, w, x (7/7/2025)
The letter x from the LLLM Narrow font looks overly cramped and is difficult for viewers to distinguish the letters.
Figure 1.28 Redesigned Letters a, w, x (7/7/2025)
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Figure 1.29 Lowercase Letterforms Outline View (7/7/2025)
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Figure 1.30 Final Outcome of Lowercase Letterforms (7/7/2025)
After several refinements, the final outcome of the lowercase letterforms improved the clarity, balanced proportions and enhanced legibility across various viewing conditions, including motion and blur.
3) Numerals & Punctuations
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Figure 1.31 Issues in Numerals
I noticed that the number 8 has inconsistent strokes, the top strokes are thicker compared to the strokes below and the composition is not smoothen as there are noticeable extra anchor points on the top stroke (Figure 1.32):
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Figure 1.32 Extra Anchor Points
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Figure 1.33 Numeral Dissection (7/7/2025)
I analysed the construction of the number 5 by overlaying it with circles and a grid system to break down its structure. I noticed that the bowl of the 5 is drawn very close to the vertical stem, which causes it to resemble the letter C. This tight spacing creates a compressed and lesser legibility if viewing from a long distance.
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Figure 1.34 Numerals Constructions (8/7/2025)
I began constructing the numerals 0 to 9 based on visual references from the LLM, Wayfinding Sans and Univers LT Std typefaces. I worked within a strict guide structure to ensure the baseline alignment, consistent height and even optical weight across all digits.
Figure 1.34 shows the difference in sizes of the open and closed counterspaces. The top parts 3 and 8 are reduced and look smaller than the bottom.
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Figure 1.35 LLM Punctuations
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Following the tutorial, Figure 1.36 shows an example of constructing the period punctuation. I used the letter i as instructed in the tutorial and created a size larger for the period punctuation.
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Figure 1.37 Numerals & Punctuations Outline View (14/7/2025)
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Figure 1.38 Final Outcome of Numerals & Punctuations (14/7/2025)
After several refinements, the final outcome of the numerals and punctuations improved the clarity, balanced proportions and enhanced legibility across various viewing conditions, including motion and blur.
Figure 1.39 Rounded Corners (14/7/2025)
Lastly, rounded corners at 10 pts were applied on the constructed letterforms, numerals and punctuations.The constructed letterforms are then imported into FontForge after reading an article about how to import fonts into Fontforge provided by Mr Vinod. Creating A Font with Font Forge.
After reading the article, I proceeded to export my asset into SVG in Adobe Illustrator and put my constructed letterforms into FontForge one by one:
Figure 2.1 Asset Export (15/7/2025)
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Figure 2.2 FontForge Screenshot (15/7/2025)
FontForge did not have the symbols: \ — and arrows (left, right, up, down, leftright, updown) so I added glyphs to create them.
Figure 2.3 FontForge Screenshot: Adding Glyphs (15/7/2025)
Side Bearings Guide
I followed the side bearings guide uploaded by Mr Vinod to adjust my letterforms and also spaced by eye for some letters.
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Figure 2.4 Side Bearings Guide
Font Side Bearings / Kerning Adjustment Process
*Side bearings in FontForge may appear looser than they actually are because spacing can look more cramped especially in real world usage after the font is generated. Do not rely solely on how the spacing appears within FontForge.*
After adjusting, I exported my fonts and test it out on Adobe Illustrator. However, the spacing was affected and looked different from what I have adjusted and typed from FontForge.
Uppercase Letterforms
Figure 2.5 Uppercase Side Bearings / Kerning Adjustment (15/7/2025)
Lowercase Letterforms
Numerals & Punctuations
Figure 2.7 Numerals & Punctuations Side Bearings / Kerning Adjustment (15/7/2025)
Combination of Uppercase, Lowercase, Numerals & Punctuations
Figure 2.8 Combination Side Bearings / Kerning Adjustment (15/7/2025)
Colour Palette
For the colour palette, I chose contrasting and vibrant colours which are used in road signs.
Figure 3.1 Colour Palette (20/7/2025)
Process
When designing the font presentations, I referred to road sign designs to make sure the use of colours are suitable and make my designs resemble the signboards.
Figure 3.2 Font Presentation Inspiration (20/7/2025)
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Figure 3.3 Font Presentation Process (20/7/2025)
Font presentations designs:
#1: Inspired by signboards design, 'PANDU CERMAT JIWA SELAMAT' is a term often seen on the road.
#2: Implemented yellow expressways indicator and using the number 404 as known as the 404 not found code but with a twist, signal not found which means that some drivers do not turn on their signals which could cause accidents if unfortunate. (sarcasm)
#3: Font presentation of a complete set of Mononaro.
#4: Font presentation in more of a fun way by using punctuations to create Kaomojis (Japanese emoticons).
#5: Font presentation with a description of Mononaro.
Figure 3.4 Font Presentation Process (20/7/2025)
Finalised Font Presentation
Figure 3.5 Finalised Font Presentation #1 (20/7/2025)
Figure 3.6 Finalised Font Presentation #2 (20/7/2025)
Figure 3.7 Finalised Font Presentation #3 (20/7/2025)
Figure 3.8 Finalised Font Presentation #4 (20/7/2025)
Figure 3.9 Finalised Font Presentation #5 (20/7/2025)
I created 5 applications using my font and made sure they are related to my font's topic. One of them is for the HONOR Talents standby mode clock design where all of us are required to do as part of the submission.
Font Application #1: Shop Signboard
It was difficult to find a mockup for road signboards so I did a shop signboard as an alternative.
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Figure 4.1 Font Application #1 Process (20/7/2025)
Finalised Font Application #1
Figure 4.2 Finalised Font Application #1 (20/7/2025)
Font Application #2: Road Signboard
For my second font application, I did a mockup of how my font would look like on a road sign. I chosen the orange road signboard as it was often used for LLM Narrow font so I decided to test it out.
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Figure 4.3 Font Application #2 Process (20/7/2025)
Finalised Font Application #2
Figure 4.4 Finalised Font Application #2 (20/7/2025)
Font Application #3: Wayfinding Signboard
I decided to use my font in a wayfinding signboard mockup inspired by a wayfinding signboard near LT21&22.
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Figure 4.5 Font Application #3 Process (20/7/2025)
Finalised Font Application #3
Figure 4.6 Finalised Font Application #3 (20/7/2025)
Font Application #4: Poster
I added colour halftone on one of the signs to replicate a reflective material, just like the materials used in a signboard.
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Figure 4.7 Font Application #4 Process (20/7/2025)
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Figure 4.8 Font Application #4 Process (20/7/2025)
Finalised Font Application #4
Figure 4.9 Finalised Font Application #4 (20/7/2025)
Font Application #5: HONOR Talents Global Design Awards: Standby Mode Clock Design
For this last font application, everyone was required to submit a standby mode clock design for the HONOR Talents Global Design Awards.
There are 4 design themes for the standby mode clock design
- Renewal of Life · Return: Contemplate Human Beings' Relationship with All Things
- Cultural Prosperity · Celebration: A Totem of Renewing Festive Culture
- Genesis · The Future: Imagine the Innovative World of the Future
- Youth Convergence · Integration: International Cultural Exchange Through A Youth Lens
Figure 4.10 ChatGPT's response
For my standby mode clock designs, I thought of implementing traffic lights design into my colon symbol then used colour halftone to make the traffic lights look like they are lighting up, just like Figure 4.11 below:
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Figure 4.11 Traffic Lights
According to The Manual on Traffic Control Devices: Standard Traffic Signs Application by JKR (Jabatan Kerja Raya) Malaysia (2019), the minimum material requirement for Malaysian traffic signs is High Intensity Prismatic retro-reflective sheeting. This material is used to ensure visibility and legibility of signs, especially at night, by reflecting headlights back to drivers.
This information further supports the use of colour halftone to create a reflective effect for the signboards designs.
Figure 4.12 The Manual on Traffic Control Devices: Standard Traffic Signs Application by JKR (Jabatan Kerja Raya) Malaysia (2019)
I decided to add little human figures, just like the symbols in Wayfinding Sans's symbols and used Eclipse and Pen tool to trace a symbol that looks like it's walking to symbolise the sentence "we constantly live in motion." in my design elaboration.
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Figure 4.13 Font Application #5 Process (20/7/2025)
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Figure 4.14 Font Application #5 Process (20/7/2025)
Mr Vinod suggests that I could design the standby mode inspired by road signboards, it was definitely a good idea so I decided to create these designs. After completing the designs, I imported them into Adobe Photoshop and paste them in the mock up template provided by HONOR.
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Figure 4.15 Font Application #5 Process (20/7/2025)
I repeated the same process, adding little human figures, using Eclipse and Pen tool to trace a symbol that looks like it's walking to symbolise the sentence "we constantly live in motion." in my design elaboration.
Figure 4.16 Font Application #5 Process (20/7/2025)
I repeated the same process for another symbol, a human figure sitting to symbolise "It reflects moments when life pauses, urging us to take our time, process thoughts and accept stillness as part of the journey, just like waiting in a traffic jam" from my design elaboration.
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Figure 4.17 Font Application #5 Process (20/7/2025)
I also used the same process, applying colour halftone, from the two designs.
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Figure 4.18 Font Application #5 Process (20/7/2025)
Lastly, I created the animation of traffic lights lighting up per second by importing into Adobe Photoshop to create a frame by frame animation.
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Figure 4.19 Font Application #5 Process (20/7/2025)
Finalised Font Application #5
Figure 4.20 Finalised Font Application #5 (20/7/2025)
Figure 4.21 Finalised Font Application #5 (20/7/2025)
Figure 4.22 Finalised Font Application #5 (20/7/2025)
Figure 4.23 Finalised Font Application #5 (20/7/2025)
Figure 4.24 Design Elaboration for Standby Mode Clock Design (20/7/2025)
After completing Font Application #5, which is the HONOR Talents Global Design Awards: Standby Mode Clock Design, I proceeded to submit them on their website. Below is the proof of submission:
Figure 4.25 HONOR Talents Submission Proof (21/7/2025)
Task 3 Final Outcome/Compilation
Figure 5.1 Mononaro TTF File (PDF)
Figure 5.2 Finalised Letterforms (PDF) (18/7/2025)
Figure 5.3 FontForge Screenshot (15/7/2025)
Figure 5.4 Font Presentation #1 (JPEG) (20/7/2025)
Figure 5.5 Font Presentation #2 (JPEG) (20/7/2025)
Figure 5.8 Font Presentation #5 (JPEG) (20/7/2025)
Figure 5.9 Font Application #1 (JPEG) (20/7/2025)
Figure 5.10 Font Application #2 (JPEG) (20/7/2025)
Figure 5.11 Font Application #3 (JPEG) (20/7/2025)
Figure 5.12 Font Application #4 (JPEG) (20/7/2025)
Figure 5.13 Font Application #5 (JPEG) (20/7/2025)
Figure 5.14 Font Application #5 (MP4) (20/7/2025)
Figure 5.15 Font Presentation (PDF) (20/7/2025)
Figure 5.16 Font Application (PDF) (20/7/2025)
Figure 5.17 HONOR Talents Submission (PDF) (21/7/2025)
Week 9
Specific feedback: -
General feedback: Poor formatting is a problem in eportfolio. Put horizontal rule. Process work is important, always document your process as you go. Show how it's used.
Week 10
Specific feedback: Don't make LLM narrow wider. Add ink trap and increase counters to fix LLM narrow. There's no point refining the existing letters since there are already mistakes. Instead, explore and create a new typeface by studying about other fonts (Wayfinding Sans). Start by placing the letters on a grid and compare the strokes of both LLM normal and narrow.
General feedback: -
Week 11
Specific feedback: Study existing fonts and their characteristics. Be critical on the letters, lower case letters are going to be more critical. Redesigned Letter D looks more rectangle compared to LLM Normal but acceptable. Example: Comparison between Univers Roman and Univers Condensed. Stand by mode clock design can be inspired by road signs.
General feedback: Make sure to type out an existing font and study them before designing letterforms because there is a tendency to assume. Don't assume. See the letterforms' proportion in an artboard. Include participation receipt screenshot after HONOR submission.
Week 12
Specific feedback: Make sure there's legibility when looking at the constructed fonts. Smoothen edges.
General feedback: Font presentation can use combination of other fonts.
Week 13
Specific feedback: Font tester is interesting, make a video tutorial on how to create it. X height is a little low but it's fine. Can construct arrows like Wayfinding Sans but have to do in Fontlab because the glyphs are not available in FontForge.
General feedback: Complete all work by Week 14, submission after Week 14 equals fail.
Experiences
Task 3 was definitely the most challenging for me, as it required identifying an issue and designing a new typeface in response to it, which really broadened my understanding of the design process throughout this task. Researching the issue in the LLM (Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia) font that contributed to the problem was quite stressful and sometimes it messes up my thought process, as there were many elements to consider when creating a typeface. Despite these challenges, I enjoyed the learning experience as it pushed me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to try new things, especially in type design. Mr. Vinod’s feedback and guidance were, as always, very helpful, and the comments I received played a big role in helping me improve and refine my font design toward the end. In my opinion, I think I still have room for improvement, there will definitely be flaws after exploring and experiencing something completely new for my first time and I remembered how Mr Vinod said "focus more on the learning rather than the grades."
Observations
I observed that font design is not just about how letters look but it is a form of visual communication. Different fonts can communicate different moods, tones or messages, even if the changes between them seem small. I also enjoyed observing my peers’ font designs and the process of exchanging feedback on our own font design from different perspectives. I also learned that designing a font takes a lot more time and patience than I expected. Functionality of the font plays an important role in design a clean and consistent font because small details like one letter having a slightly thinner stroke than the rest can affect the overall design. I had to be very focused and attentive during the process while constantly adjusting and refining my letters to get them to feel balanced and clean.
Findings
Throughout Task 3, I found that designing a font is definitely not an easy task. One of the biggest challenges was maintaining the consistency across all the letters by making sure the strokes were balanced. It was challenging to stay consistent, as some letters ended up with slightly different stroke weights or forms. Aside from that, I find that using FontForge was also slightly tricky to use, compared to Fontlab, especially since it works very differently from Adobe Illustrator. I had to manually adjust each element, which was time consuming and still did not always give the exact results I wanted. Despite these struggles, I feel that designing a typeface gave me valuable exposure and has definitely improved my learning experience throughout this module.
1. Wayfinding Sans Pro The Ultimate Signage Typeface
Figure 6.1 Support, F. (2025, June 16). Wayfinding sans pro. FDI Type Foundry. https://fdi-type.de/fonts/wayfinding-sans-pro/
- Wayfinding Sans is specifically designed for optimal legibility in signage systems, especially in real world conditions like highways, train stations and airports.
- Designed by Ralf Hermann and Sebastian Nagel. Released in 2012.
Developed through extensive legibility testing under poor visibility like fog, halation, motion blur, positive/negative contrast and distance.
Conducted user tests to compare readability with other signage fonts like Frutiger, DIN 1451 and Highway Gothic.
Wayfinding Sans font's (Bottom) diacritical marks are more prominent compared to British road signage font (Top) and Polish road signage font (Middle). This increases the legibility of the letter in real world situations due to its prominent size.
2. Ink Traps (CBA Italy, 2023)
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This article explores the history and transformation of ink traps in typography. Originally, ink traps were small notches placed in tight corners of letterforms to prevent ink from bleeding and distorting shapes in low quality print settings (like phone books or newspapers). These functional features allowed typefaces to stay crisp and legible at small sizes.
In modern type design, however, ink traps are no longer always necessary, especially in digital environments but designers continue to use them for aesthetic purposes. Exaggerated or stylised ink traps are now part of a font’s visual identity, a technical, sharp or contemporary feel. The article highlights how something once purely functional has evolved into a creative design choice.
Key highlights from the article:
- Redesign of FMT's font, letters B, 3, 8 were refined by reducing the size of open and closed counters. Based on how the human brain digests visual information.
- Introduced ink traps in the vertex and apex areas of W to improve legibility at small sizes and clarity at long distances.
- Enhances performance on embossed or printed number plates.
Key features and improvements in the redesign
- Maintains familiarity within the Malaysian context.
- Incorporates ink traps to support legibility in real world conditions.
- Uses rounded corners to suit metal embossing techniques for number plates.
- Includes a wider Latin character set for international readability and cross border travel.
- Developed as a digital typeface for use in JPJ diagrams, documents and digital signage systems.
Proposes a new national number plate format
for consistency.- Improves cross border identification and readability from various distances.
4) 4. Why the US has two different highway fonts
Figure 6.4 Vox. (2021, April 30). Why the US has two different highway fonts [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/eky17clTEeQ?si=YMFCJK98MZBX5C9E
Highway Gothic was developed in the 1948 for US freeway signage and it was designed for clarity at high speeds and long distances.
Halation occurred when signboards used retro reflective materials due to headlights shining and blurring them. Letters like "e", "a", and "s" became harder to distinguish at night.
Clearview was introduced to fix halation issues, designed in the late 1990s to fix issues by opening up counterspaces.
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16% increase in nighttime reading distance since Clearview was introduced.
- Since 2018, states can choose either Highway Gothic or Clearview which leads to a mixed of both fonts on US road signboards.
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