Typography - Task 3

2023.11.14 - 2023.12.19 / Week 8 - Week 13

Velicia Raquel Dewi Setiawan / 0369188 / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media

Typography 

Task 3

1. LECTURE

2. INSTRUCTION

Task 3

Text Formatting and Expression

You will be tasked to design a limited number of Western alphabets. To begin, choose an existing font design that adheres to the direction that you would like to head in. Study the font carefully by its anatomical Parts.

Start with rough sketches, explore a variety of options, and upon approval begin digitization of the drawings—software for digitization is Adobe Illustrator and later FontLab. Artworks shall be printed out for critique sessions followed by refinements. If time permits we shall generate the font for actual use. Watch the video before starting.

You will endeavor to create a typeface that has the hallmarks of a good typeface; subtlety or character, presence, legibility, and readability. Below are the letters you will design: o l e d s n c h t i g, . ! # Upon completion of the font, you will create a basic A4 size poster displaying your font (further instructions in class).

Marking Criteria

• Eportfolio: All gathered information (failures, successes, epiphanies, sketches, visual research, printouts, websites, images, charts, etc.) must be documented logically and chronologically in the portfolio for the duration of the task in one post.
• Eportfolio: All images/sketches/diagrams/scans must be captured/photographed/scanned well, with good even natural light, without shadows — use of tube/bulb/flashlight is not allowed. All images/sketches/diagrams/scans must be labeled (fig 1, 2, etc.), described and dated. Final submission must be indicated clearly (distinguishable from process work) and you as PDF and JPEG &. TTF (TrueType Font) or as instructed in class.
• (Only if instructed) Tasks to be documented in a printed A4 enclosed in a Clear Sheet, logically and chronologically. The works must be labeled and dated – use a pencil and write neatly.
• Evidence of in-depth research and visual analysis is visible. Multiple ideas have been explored with great care and deliberation. The design process showcases knowledge of typographic convention, methodology, and production. The designs are extremely well crafted, consistent, and technically sound.

Timeframe

Week 8 – Week 9 (Deadline on Week 10)

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3. TYPE DESIGN &; COMMUNICATION

3.1 Research

Fig 3.1.1 Gill Sans MT Bold, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Observations (Gill Sans MT Bold)

• the ascender line and the cap line are the same for this font

• the top and bottom of o extend more than the baseline and x-height, this happens so the o looks like it is the same height as other letters (Overshoot)

• The letter g (Ear) when extended turns out to cut through the (Bowl). Both the bowl and loop strokes get thinner near the (Link).

• the rounded shape of letter b (Bowl) is the same as the o as it extends more than the baseline and x-height (Overshoot)
• The top rounded stroke of b (Bowl) is slightly thicker than the bottom.

Overshoot in type is a term that refers to the degree of extension of a letter above or below its normal height, to create an optical illusion of being the same size as another letter. For example, the letter O has more overshoot than the letter X, because it extends higher and lower than the X.

Ear: the store extending out from the main stem or body of the letterform.

Fig 3.1.2 Ear, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Link: the stroke that connects the bowl and the loop of a lowercase g.

Fig 3.1.3 Link, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Bowl: the rounded form that describes a counter.

Fig 3.1.4 Bowl, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Loop: The bowl created in the descender of the lowercase g.

Fig 3.1.5 Loop, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

3.2 Sketch

For the sketch, we need to make sketches with 3 marker pens which must be 3.0 or above. These are the markers I use.

Fig 3.2.1 Markers, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

I did a couple of trials of the markers before writing out the preferred sketch. 

Fig 3.2.2 Sketch, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Fig 3.2.3 Sketch, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Fig 3.2.4 Sketch, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Preferred Sketch #1

At the time I didn't know that you could style the font however you please, so I just stuck with changing the boldness, italics, and how condensed the letters are.

Fig 3.2.5 Sketch, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Fig 3.2.6 Sketch, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Fig 3.2.7 Sketch, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Fig 3.2.8 Sketch, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Chosen Sketch

Fig 3.2.9 Chosen Sketch, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

The sketch chosen was because of the stroke on top of the G (Barb) and the Miss thought that we could expand on that. 

Barb is he half-serif finish on some curved strokes.

Fig 3.2.10 Barb, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Revised Sketch

Miss showed some variation I could do with the chosen sketch, to add the stroke on top of G (barb) across all the letterforms.

Fig 3.2.10 Revised Sketch, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Fig 3.2.11 Sketch, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Miss showed some variation I could do with the chosen sketch, to add the stroke on top of G (barb) across all the letterforms. But I didn't quite like how stiff they were, I wanted them to be rounded instead of sharp rectangular edges, so I tried to make other variations of it.

Fig 3.2.12 Sketch, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Fig 3.2.13 Sketch, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Took a couple of tries and Miss said that I couldn't just write each letter on its own but write out a word so we can see how they do with each other. The Revised sketch is similar to ITC New Baskerville Std and ITC Garamond Std albeit rounder ITC New Baskerville and sharper than ITC Garamond Std.

Fig 3.2.14 ITC New Baskerville and ITC Garamond, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

From the rounded shape o, ITC New Baskerville has no stress as its axis is vertical and ITC Garamond has a slight diagonal stress. They both also have highly contrasting strokes and serifs.

Fig 3.2.15 Contrasts and stress, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

My font also has diagonal stress opposite to the diagonal stress of ITC Garamond and not so much contrasting strokes. But similar in serifs, so used these fonts as a guide for some of my own fonts.

Fig 3.2.16 ITC New Baskerville and ITC Garamond, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

It definitely feels better to use the calligraphy pen as it gives so much variation of contrast of thickness between strokes and different typographic stress (where based on the angle of the pen, the imaginary line through the thinnest stroke tells the font typographic stress). 

Axis: an imaginary line that determines the angle of stress in fonts. A vertical axis means it has zero stress.

Fig 3.2.17 Axis, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

Stress: the orientation of the letterforms, indicated by the thin strokes in round forms.

Fig 3.2.18 Stress, Week 9(Nov 21, 2023).

3.3 Digitization

Attempt #1

Fig 3.3.1 Digitazation, Week 10(Nov 28, 2023).

Fig 3.3.2 Digitazation, Week 10(Nov 28, 2023).

I started designing the letter in Illustrator with strokes and then changing it with a custom brush calligraphy pen that was shown in Mr. Vinod's video with the sketch as a template. I took Miss's advice and wrote out the letters in words so I could get a feel for how they looked with other letters.

Fig 3.3.3 Digitazation, Week 10(Nov 28, 2023).

Fig 3.3.4 Digitazation, Week 10(Nov 28, 2023).

Attempt #2

There is a lot that got revised, so I'll just put it in the form of bullet points:

• The stroke on top of D and E needs to be smaller
• The H, T, I, and L horizontal stroke need to be shorter
• The S need to be more balanced
• The stroke in the middle of N needs to be thicker than the vertical strokes.
• The period needs to be thicker
• The comma thickness is flipped, the top should be thicker than the bottom
• The white space in the middle of the number sign needs to be bigger

Fig 3.3.5 Digitazation, Week 11(Dec 5, 2023).

Also turns out I used the wrong scale of artwork (it needs to be a height of 1000 pt), so I also changed that and added the guidelines such as x-height, baseline, ascender, and descender (I should have done this before digitizing).

Fig 3.3.6 Digitazation, Week 11(Dec 5, 2023).

Measurements (from baseline)

• X-height: 705 pt
• Ascender: 941 pt
• Capital height: 650 pt
• Descender: -272 pt

Final Design

When the design is finally approved, I unify the shapes with Pathfinder and make the letter have as littlest nodes as possible

Fig 3.3.7 Digitazation, Week 11(Dec 5, 2023).

Fig 3.3.8 Digitazation, Week 11(Dec 5, 2023).

3.4 FontLab
Once the design has been finalized I copy and paste the letters to fontlab 7 following Mr Vinod's video adding the x-height, ascender, descender, cap line, and the side bearing measurement given. 

Fig 3.4.1 FontLab, Week 12(Dec 12, 2023).

Fig 3.4.2 FontLab, Week 12(Dec 12, 2023).

Fig 3.4.3 Side-Bearings, Week 12(Dec 12, 2023).

Then it's just a matter of seeing the letters together in a bunch of words and giving kerning where is needed. Sometimes increasing and decreasing the size to see if it works whether small or big. Then I exported it and it is ready to be used.

Fig 3.4.4 FontLab, Week 12(Dec 12, 2023).

3.5 Posters

After I downloaded the font, I tried to make a couple of posters to showcase the font in use. The font is called "Regnum" which means literary kingdom in Latin. I thought "kingdom" fits the bold and rigid nature of the font. Like how a castle is tall and strong and the strokes at the end of the E are like the top of a castle wall.

For the poster I just searched up a bunch of words formed from the letter I've digitized, then tried to make a comprehensible sentence from them. I also added some elements that I thought appropriate with the design but I realized that the poster needed to be in black and white so I changed that.

Fig 3.5.1 Poster, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

Fig 3.5.2 Poster, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

Fig 3.5.3 Poster, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

Fig 3.5.4 Poster, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

Fig 3.5.5 Poster, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

Fig 3.5.6 Poster, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

In the next class, miss told me that I needed to incorporate the punctuation marks too in the design, so I did some more posters.

Fig 3.5.7 Poster, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

Fig 3.5.8 Poster, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

The poster needs to have all of the punctuation marks so this is the final poster with the suggestion from Miss to combine the poster "THE DESIGN GOD" and "SINGLE DECISION CHOSEN" with punctuation marks. The font size is supposed to be the same but for this one miss said is okay. 

Fig 3.5.9 Poster, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

FINAL Task 3: Type Design &; Communication

1a) Link to download fonts

1b) Screen Grab of FontLab process (side-bearings)

1c) Final Type construction in Ai JPEG (1024px, 300ppi, Grayscale)

1d) Final Type construction Ai in PDF

1e) Final JPEG A4 black & white poster(1024px width, 300ppi, Grayscale)

1f) Final PDF A4 black & white poster 

1g) Font Tester/Preview (optional)

Download Font: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17ZjQ9uc5n9ilyxLIld2jgXBnHf5AlZVw/view?usp=sharing 

Fig 3.5.6 Poster, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

Fig 3.6.2 Final Type Construction in Ai PNG, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

Fig 3.6.3 Final Type Construction in Ai PNG, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

Fig 3.6.4 PNG A4 black &; white poster, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

Fig 3.6.5 PNG A4 black &; white poster, Week 13(Dec 18, 2023).

Fig 3.6.6 Font Tester/Preview, Write according to the posters in all capitals, Week 14(Dec 25, 2023).

4. FEEDBACK

Week 9

General feedback: Make as many letterform explorations as you can. Don't use a color marker, use black instead, so you can clearly see the letters.

Specific feedback: Good exploration of the bold letterforms, playing with many weight distributions. Pay attention to the x-line of typography, and make sure the letterforms do not go outside of it. The letter forms need to have the same modification.

Week 10

General feedback: Add baseline, x-height, ascender & decender line, cap height, median, and letter width.

Specific feedback: The scale is wrong. Don't make your layers, make sure all the letters have the same x-height. Consider the weight of each letter with each other (some may be too thin or too bold when put next to a certain letter).

Week 11

General feedback: Check the consistency of the letterforms, the negative and positive of each letterform and each other need to be equal.

Specific feedback: To expand each of the letterforms and reduce each node as much as possible. A couple of the letters are in uneven weights with each other such as the L, H, T, and N

The horizontal line of L, H, T, and the vertical line of N need to be thicker.

Week 12

General feedback: Watch Mr Vinod's video on Fontlab before exporting the letter forms to Fontlab.

Specific feedback: The comma thickness is flipped the top should be thicker than the bottom. Fill in the X-height, ascender, descender, and all that before putting the letterforms in.

Week 13

General feedback: When making the poster don't add unnecessary elements, the poster is just for showcasing the font. A little element is fine. You can only change the composition and size.

Specific feedback: The poster needs to be black and white, it can't have other colors to it. Make posters with all of the punctuation marks.

5. REFLECTION

5.1 Experience

It was fun, my first time making a font, though my hand got cramped writing with markers. Wish that I knew that I could make the font however I liked instead of following with what markers I bought. It was cool to find out that there's a way to make a custom brush in Illustrator, which can be turned into a Calligraphy Pen.

In font lab, new system, new interface, new everything so it's normal to struggle a bit, but it's not too bad, miss has been helping a lot with it. Overall all this making font business is easier than I thought it would be. Had a lot of fun making the posters too! I hope you can do it with colors and not just black and white.

5.2 Observations

Each font has its unique way, it's surprising how many tweaks each font has. you can make a calligraphy pen in Illustrator is good to know. FontLab 7 is pretty easy to handle with guidance from Miss. I need to watch Mr. Vinod's videos more, I missed a lot of info because I didn't watch videos.

5.3 Findings

Each font has its unique way, you can make a caligraphy pen in Illustrator. Make a lot of sketches even though it's not needed or instructed go wilder with imagination and research and a lot, instructed deconstruct more, and just pick at every little bit. basically, do more than what is asked.

6. FURTHER READING