Typography Task 3A: Type Design and Communication
9 May 2022 - 30 May 2022 / Week 08 - Week 10
Lim Wei Xian / 0342559
Typography / Bachelor's of Mass Communication (HONS) (Advertising and Brand Management) / Taylor's University
Task 3A: Type Design and Communication
LECTURES
Week 7 | Brief
Notes of Lecture 1-6 is available in "Typography Task 1: Exercise 1 & 2".
Link to Task 1: https://limweixian.blogspot.com/2022/04/typography-task-1-exercise-1-2.html
In Week 7, Mr. Vinod briefed us on Task 3. We are required to research on some typefaces and to also have sufficient sketches for out typeface. We were told to design the following western alphabets and characters:
a e t k g r i y m p n ! # , .
Task 3A
1. Research on type design.2. Sketch typefaces based on existing typefaces that interests us.
3. To identify which typefaces (the 10 typefaces provided at the start) comes closest to our own sketch/ design of typefaces.
4. Deconstruct the references.
Guidelines when designing typeface
1. Baseline2. Ascender
3. Descender
4. Capital Height
5. Mean & Median Line
6. X-height
Important notes
1. Adobe Illustrator settings: 1000pt x 1000pt2. X-height SHOULD NOT exceed 500pt
3. Ascender & Descender SHOULD NOT exceed 1000pt
4. Keep an eye for 'Overshoot' (optical or technical reasons)
INSTRUCTIONS
Task 3A: Type Design and Communication
Research
While designing and creating our own typeface, following the theories and concepts of typography is important for better execution. Below is a some simple and effective guide for me to reference when I'm designing my typeface.
Figure 1.1.0 Anatomy of Typography
Ascender & Descender
As the guideline was to not go over 1000pt for both the ascender and descender, it is crucial to keep the height of the ascender within 1000pt.
Figure 1.1.1 Ascender and Descender
Figure 1.1.2 Ascender over the Ascender Line
Overshoot
Optically, rounded shapes looks smaller compared to geometric shapes. In order to make each letter promotional when I'm designing my typeface, I should make rounded shapes slightly bigger/ higher. The best way to keep myself on track is to review the letters when I'm designing the typeface.
Figure 1.1.3 Overshoot
Sketches
Figure 1.2.0 Sketch attempt #1 [Progression] 23/05/2022
Figure 1.2.1 Sketch attempt #2 [Progression] 23/05/2022
Based on the feedback by Mr. Vinod, in general, it was suggested to work more on my sketches. I went back to my notebook and refined my typeface based on Sketch attempt #1.
Figure 1.2.2 Sketch attempt #3 [Progression] 24/05/2022
Identifying and deconstructing references
Figure 1.3.1 Comparison of my sketch and the chosen reference [Progression] 24/05/2022
For reference, I've chose Gill Sans SemiBold as I feel like the overall silhouette is quite similar to my sketch. Other than the letter 'g', some of it looks inspired by the Gill Sans SemiBold typeface, especially the letters 'a', 'r' and 'i'.
Below will be the letters 'a', 'r' and 'i' from Gill Sans SemiBold that I deconstructed.
Figure 1.3.2 Deconstructed 'a' - Gill Sans SemiBold reference [Progression] 24/05/2022
Figure 1.3.3 Deconstructed 'r' - Gill Sans SemiBold reference [Progression] 24/05/2022
Figure 1.3.4 Deconstructed 'i' - Gill Sans SemiBold reference [Progression] 24/05/2022
Digitalise Font Design
Followed Mr. Vinod's video on laying out the guides when designing the typeface.
Figure 1.4.0 Guides [Progression] 24/05/2022
While designing the letters, I made the curves in 'k', 'r', 'i' and 'n' to be slightly bigger or higher. This is so that when looking at the letters optically, it would look better.
Figure 1.4.1 Overshoot in 'k' [Progression] 24/05/2022
Figure 1.4.2 Overshoot in 'r' [Progression] 24/05/2022
Figure 1.4.3 Overshoot in 'i' [Progression] 24/05/2022
Figure 1.4.4 Overshoot in 'n' [Progression] 24/05/2022
I placed all the letters into FontLab 7 from Adobe Illustrator. I messed around with the kerning for each letter and below will be a screen grab of my letters in FontLab 7.
Figure 1.4.5 Kerning on letters in FontLab 7 [Progression] 25/05/2022
Before finalising anything, I've downloaded my typeface on my laptop and tested it out. I've typed out some random word combinations and below will be samples of my typeface in action.
Figure 1.4.6 Sample texts #1 [Progression] 25/05/2022
Figure 1.4.7 Sample texts #2 [Progression] 25/05/2022
On Week 10, Mr. Vinod told me that I need a lot of work to refine most of the letterforms. It was suggested that all the other letters can be found from the base of my existing letter 'e' and I should start from there and redo.
In this screen grab below, I've designed the exclamation and comma based on the shape of a circle (from the exclamation) so that it would look more organised.
Figure 1.4.8 Re-designing the exclamation mark, comma, and period [Progression] 30/05/2022
It would be better for the rounded shapes of the characters above to be slightly bigger than the circle of the letter 'i'. Below will be a comparison between the period and the letter 'i'.
Figure 1.4.9 Comparison between period (grey) and the letter 'i' (black) [Progression] 30/05/2022
Below is the updated typeface. The orange highlights are there to showcase the uniformed counterspace.
Figure 1.4.10 Updated type design [Progression] 30/05/2022
Everything looks fine to me, except for the letter 'r'. The top was thicker and from far away, it doesn't fit well along with the other letters. In the end, I've made the weight of the top to scale the same with other letters.
Figure 1.4.11 Updated type design - 'r' [Progression] 30/05/2022
Once again, I went onto FontLab 7 to rework and kern the characters accordingly.
Figure 1.4.12 Kerning on letters in FontLab 7 (Updated) [Progression] 30/05/2022
Figure 1.4.13 Poster mockup #1 [Progression] 30/05/2022
Figure 1.4.14 Poster mockup #2 [Progression] 30/05/2022
Final Task 3A: Type Design and Communication
Download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16gv22J-wB7KJ-kntduWlQ9963JVfAyA-/view?usp=sharing
Figure 1.5.0 Final Task 3A Type Design Letters (JPEG) 30/05/2022
Figure 1.5.1 Final Task 3A Type Design Letters (PDF) 27/05/2022
Figure 1.5.2 Final Task 3A: Type Design and Communication Typo Poster A4 (JPEG) 27/05/2022
Figure 1.5.3 Final Task 3A: Type Design and Communication Typo Poster A4 (PDF) 27/05/2022
Measurements
Ascender: 733 pt
Cap Height: 695 pt
Median: 500 pt
Baseline: 0 pt
Descender: - 225 pt
Type Design in Action
FEEDBACK
Week 09
General Feedback: Overall needs more work on sketching. Refining the letterforms further.
Week 10
Specific Feedback: Everything is not uniformed and weird. Try and refine everything based on the base of the letter 'e'. The counterspace should be uniform.
REFLECTION
Experience
The overall experience was great. I have achieved some what of a sense of achievement when completing my own typeface design. Designing the letters and turning it into real fonts that can be typed with my keyboard is unbelievable to me.The task was truly a whole new experience for me that I've enjoyed.
Observations
One major aspect throughout this assignment that I've observed was the optical importance of shapes and letters. For instance, overshoots are necessary in case of rounded corners or shapes in order to make letters look optically even.
Findings
I've found out that in order to design a good typeface, it requires a lot of time, as well as theoretical knowledge of typography. While deconstructing the typeface reference, it was actually extremely complicated for the design of one letter. All the little details actually matters when designing a typeface and that was when I've found out the crucial aspect of patience.
FURTHER READING
A TYPE PRIMER
by John Kane
Figure 2.1.0 Cover of The Vignelli Canon
This book goes through a lot of the basics of typography, going through the history of type as well as theoretical implications. It showed great examples of letterforms that guided my a bit when I was designing my typeface.
Figure 2.1.1 Examining the lower case 'a'
It is important to understand the complexity of each letterform. Not everything is mathematically symmetrical, however it should be comforting for the human eye. Rounded shapes are seen to be smaller optically, therefore the weight and height of some aspects in a letterform should be adjusted accordingly.
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