Exercises

Typography
27/03/2018 - 24/04/18 (Week 1 - Week 5)
Afsah Faheem (0334242)
Typography Exercises

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Lecture Notes

Lecture 1: Briefing
27/03/18
The first class we had was not a proper lecture but a mixture of an introduction and lecture. We were first introduced to Mr.Vinod who would be our lecturer and he started the class by breaking down our module and the assignments. He explained the format of the blogs and clearly explained how he wanted them arranged.

Once the introduction was out of the way. We were given our first lecture which explained to us what typography is: the tool used for communication in the modern world, the development of typography: calligraphy, lettering and typography, who practices typography: typesetters, composites etc. The typography terminologies were also explained: fonts, typeface and type family. Fonts refer to the foundry, where letters were first casted using hot lead, arranged and then processed. Typeface refers to the individual weight in a type family. For example: Times New Roman, Times New Bold.

Lecture 2: First Attempt at Typography
03/04/2018
For our second class, we had to bring graph paper and our calligraphic pens and begin our attempts at typography. We started with three basic strokes: vertical, horizontal and circular strokes. We had familiarise ourselves with the pen and find out which angle we found comfortable drawing with.

2.1 First attempt at vertical, horizontal and circular lines.

2.2 Second attempt at vertical, horizontal and circular lines

2.3 Third attempt at vertical, horizontal and circular lines.

After practicing the strokes and familiarising myself with the angel of the pen. We were given three options to choose our calligraphic hand from. I chose the hand Foundational.

2.4 Foundational Hand Reference

I then began practicing the hand and the letters of the hand.

2.5 First attempt at letters A-C

2.6 First attempt at letters D-G

2.7 First attempt at letters H-S

2.8 First attempt at letters S- Z

After the first trail run of the letters, I had a look at the work of the fellow classmates and started to practice the letters again.

2.9 Second Attempt at letters A-K

2.10 Second attempt at letters L-W

Second Attempt at Letters X-Z

Lecture 3: The Development of Typography

10/04/18

The class started with Mr.Vinod showing us a presentation that contained all the information regarding the development of typography. He stated and explained important facts about typography such as: that the early letterform development happened from Phoenician to Roman. How initially, writing meant scratching a stone into wet clay. How there were no lowercase letters but only lower case ones due to the tools they had. How the Greeks decided to change the direction of writing etc.

Once we finished the lecture, it was time for us to start working on our quotes. In our previous class, he had told us to come prepared with a quote which we would write in the hand we had chosen. The quote I chose was, "The perception of beauty is a moral test."

Initially there were two ways I decided to space my quote. 

3.1 First style of spacing

3.2 Second style of spacing.

After discussing with Mr.Vinod, we came to a conclusion that the second style was much more visually pleasing. 

3.3 Seeing how many boxes each word split into before writing it down

3.4 Final attempt at writing down the quote

3.5 quote on A4 paper

Lecture 4 Creating Our Owns Letter

17/ 04/18

Mr.Vinod had told us to create five or six different lettering types that reflected our own personalities and an expression we wanted to express. He then told us to animate that letterform in a way that expressed the expression we had chosen. He also told me to reattempt writing my quote since it still wasn't aligned properly. 

4.1 Quote

4.2 Six letterforms made by me

4.3 The letter form I decided to go with and wanted the express the feeling of being bubbly and day dreaming.

4.4 A screenshot of all my animation frames.

4.5 Static name art

4.6 Name Gif expressing being bubbly. Each letter pops up and then the bubbles surrounding the name in the end is to create a sense of cheerfulness and fun.

Week 5 Type Expressions

24/04/18

This week we were given six words: loud, quick, dark, dead, drunk and stress. We were also given ten typefaces and had to choose a typeface that best expressed the word given. We were allowed to rotate, reflect but we were not aloud to distort the typeface is any way. 

5.1 Type Expressions

Once we were done with the type expressions, we were given another task to do which was to choose an expression fro the six given and animate it, making it into a gif. This was the challenging part, expressing a word to typeface is easy but having to express the word through the typeface using animation, isn't easy.

                                      

5.2 Static Quick

5.3 Type Expression 'Quick' Gif

Week 6 NO LECTURE

01/05/18

This week we had no class because it was a public holiday for Labour Day.

Week 7 The Babadook

08/05/18

This week, Mr.Vinod gave us our first project which is to design a book for the folktale Mr.Babadook. He showed us examples and then told us to choose one font from the 10 fonts he'd given us to use and express the story. The task is to design and express certain words in the book which can create an ominous feeling

INSTRUCTIONS

Feedback

Week 2: During the circular strokes, Mr.Vinod told me my circular strokes were too small and had to fit into the edges of the graph paper grids. He also told me that the pen must be held at a specific angle and all strokes must be made at that angle. He also told me to sit up straight when drawing calligraphy since leaning effects the spacing of the letters.

Week 3: Upon seeing the difference in my first attempt at writing letters and second attempt, Mr.Vinod said the second attempt was much cleaner and there was a smooth transition. However, he said the letters still lacked consistency in size, since some were bigger than others. He also pointed out that some of the vertical strokes were slanted and unequal. All in all he said he would give me a 3 or 3.5 out of 5.

When it came to my quote, he said it should be centrally aligned and must be adjusted optically so it at least appears in the centre.

Week 4: After seeing my final quote, Mr.Vinod told me to attempt it one more time since it still wasn't perfectly aligned. After seeing my lettering, he approved with the type I had chosen and gave me advice on how to animate it.

Week 5: After seeing my type expressions, Mr.Vinod gave feedback on each word. For the loud, he said it didn't have to repeated, the typeface for my quick was too elegant and had to be changed, my dark could be darker, my drunk needed to be a little less constructed but he approved of my dead, adding how it could be mirrored and not reflected.

Week 6: No feedback since no class.

Week 7: This week, Mr.Vinod told me that my name gif still doesn't express what I've been trying to express and told me to redo it. He also told me to change my type expression gif since it looks more drunk than it does quick.

Reflection

Experiences

Week 1:  Since this was the first week and our first time being introduced to typography, there wasn't a lot to do. Everyone was bored and very sleepy at one point. We had to write down notes that introduced us to typography and would come in handy in the future.

Week 2; One thing I learnt is that almost everyone in my class works better when we have something to do and not sit and listen to a lecture. Another thing I observed is that calligraphy is not easy at all, even though it looks like simple letter drawing, each stroke has to be positioned properly for the letter to have its proper shape.

Week 3: This week was very frustrating, alignment is something that comes with a lot of practice and patience. I found myself wanting to slam my own head on the table due to frustration and by the  end of the class my hand hurt a lot but at least i mastered the art of alignment which proved to be very satisfactory.

Week 4: This week wasn't as frustrating or stressful in comparison. We finally moved on from the calligraphy and learned something else. The only stressful thing was trying to get the lettering perfect on the computer and then figuring out how to animate it.

Week 5: Creating gifs isn't easy, and finding a typeface that matches words perfectly also isn't easy. This week's class was quite frustrating because I was unable to find a typeface that expressed the word quick, no matter what I did, it managed to express everything but quick. However, after eight attempts, I managed to find something that Mr.Vinod approved off.

Week 6: No reflection since no class

Wee7: Designing a book using a specific type face is quite challenging. The book and text have to create an ominous feeling and a lot of work has to be put into that. WE also had to use a software completely new to us which was a little frustrating because not only did we have to design a book, we also had to get used to a new software.

Findings

Week 1; I realised that I need something to do in class and that I cannot just simply sit and focus on a lecture for hours. I need something to be happening in class for me to not lose my focus, such as an activity or note taking.

Week 2; I realised that perfectionism is a concept that needs to be forgotten when you attempt something new. Once I started, I kept drawing the same letter until I thought it looked perfect and didn't focus on the consistency. I let go of the perfectionist approach when I began my second attempt and it turned a lot more better than the first attempt. 

Week 3: This class was a bit frustrating because it took me a lot of tries ti finally get my quote centrally aligned. I started to get restless and frustrated in class because I kept making mistakes. I learn that each time I criticised my own work, the attempt after that would come out worse. I also realised that Mr.Vinod isn't as scary as he seems, so this class I was a little less scared to approach him and ask him for advice.

Week 4: This week, I found that the class experiences one similar emotion every week, this week was hunger. All in all, we always name and this class proved to be fun in a way since we have a slight idea on how to animate. I also learnt that alignment isn't easy and it can take two weeks to get good at strokes and a lot of practice to change your writing styles.

Week 5: Similar to this week, the class thinks alike in more than one way. We all experienced a creative block and were asked to look around and to my surprise, a lot of us had the same ideas for our type expressions. We all also got frustrated and disappointed when our work was disapproved and everyone became restless. Ive learnt to realise that there is a lot more to expressing words than meets the eye, theres a whole process of what typeface will look good with which emotion, each emotion has to match the type face and express what it is meant to express. Another thing I learnt, is that it can take up to either times of ailing and getting something right the ninth time.

Week 6: NO findings since no class.

Week 7: This week, I found that there was a little more energy and concentration put into my work since it was something new. Sometimes, typography classes can be repetitive because we keep working to perfect the same thing but this week we were given something new to work on and perfect. It was a little more exciting and new.

Further Reading

Stop Stealing Sheep and Find Out how Type works:

The book breaks down the basic typographic principles and presents them in a way, where an everyday reader will be able to comprehend.

The thing I learnt from reading this book is that type can express emotions; different emotions are presented through the different types of type. For example, dark emotions call for a black typeface with sharp edges. Whereas, pleasant feelings are best expressed through informal and light characters. 

Exploring TypographyAn In-Depth Guide to the Art and Techniques of Contemporary Typography:

The book talks about legibility and readability of typography and the different factors that can affect the two such as: familiarity, colour, size and shape, stroke weight, contrast and width.

The book refers to legibility as the easily a reader can recognise and differentiate letterforms. The book refers to readability as how easily a page of text can be read and navigated. Legibility affects readability but so do other factors. According to the book, familiar typefaces can be quicker to read. Colour, helps set the mood and grabs attention. For example: black text is easier to read on a white background. The sizes and shapes of letterforms affect legibility since bigger letterforms are easier to read than smaller ones. Stroke weight affects legibility since a moderate stroke weight is usually more easier more easier to read. Contrasts affect legibility since some letterforms vary in the size of strokes; the level of contest between the thickest and thinnest strokes of characters can affect legibility. Last but not least, width also affects legibility. Some typefaces have letters that are unusually narrow or wide which can be difficult to read in long paragraphs.

Type Style Finder The Busy Designer's Guide to Choosing Type:

The book focuses on how colour can be defined to affect the perception of typefaces.

According to the book a composition in black and white may exhibit dynamic typographic colour such as contrast in scale, grey value and spacing. However, colouring type elements adds dimension, expression and informational clarity. For example the colour red is among the most noticeable so text in this colour catches the attention of the reader.

The book also explains how colour exhibit a number of spatial properties in addition to its psychological aspects and thus has a profound affect on the composition and legibility when applied to type. For example cool colours such a blue and green may appear to recede, whereas warm colours such as red and orange may appear to advance.

Type Matters: Simple Tips for Everyday Typography:

The book focuses on the anatomy of letterforms, focusing mainly non letters and the different type of letters.

To begin with, the book explains that each individual letter is called a character. There are two types of letters, capital and lowercase. Capital letters are called caps or uppercase, small letters are called lowercase. The terms upper and lowercase come from metal setting, this is when the type case containing capital letters would sit above that containing the smaller letters. Apart from these two, there is another type called small capitals. These are a range of capitals that match the lowercase letters of a given typeface in height, weight and colour. These are sometimes used to replace the lowercase element.

The book also states that there are is a standard set of terms used to describe the constituent parts of a character referred to as typeface anatomy.