TYPOGRAPHY - PROJECT 2
Neoh Kar Yan (0339338)
Typography
Project 2 - Font Design
LECTURE NOTES
LECTURE 7: Text tracking, Kerning & Letterspacing
17/5/19 (Week 7)
I learned that 'kerning' is the term that is used to explain the process of adjusting the space between two letters by reducing the gap. 'Kerning' is often mistaken with the term 'letterspacing', but the difference is that 'letterspacing' occurs when you increase the space between the letters instead of reducing it in 'kerning'. The addition and removal of space in a word or sentence is referred to as 'tracking'.
When it comes to dealing with uppercase letters, we have to give it letterspacing. Flush left/ left alignment has right ragging. Centered text may have ragging on both sides while flush right/ right alignment will have "rivers" which has irregular gaps in body text. Both centered text and flush right are not suitable for large amount of text.
17/5/19 (Week 7)
I learned that 'kerning' is the term that is used to explain the process of adjusting the space between two letters by reducing the gap. 'Kerning' is often mistaken with the term 'letterspacing', but the difference is that 'letterspacing' occurs when you increase the space between the letters instead of reducing it in 'kerning'. The addition and removal of space in a word or sentence is referred to as 'tracking'.
 |
| Fig.1.3: Example of 'Kerning' |
I've understood that good design has subliminal effects and that we have to recognize that type is touchy-feely. The goal in setting text type is to allow readers for easy, prolonged reading. If we were to design something that is printed out, type size, leading and line length are crucial for type. Three of these elements must co-relate with one another.
LECTURE 8
24/5/19 (Week 8)
No lecture was conducted. Mr. Vinod explained on how to put our fonts in Font Lab Studio.
LECTURE 9: Working with Type
31/5/19 (Week 9)
There are a few ways to indicate paragraphs.
1. 'Pilcrow'
 |
| Fig.1.4: Example of 'Pilcrow' |
2. Line spacing vs Leading
 |
| Fig.1.5: Line spacing vs Leading |
Indentation is good for a large amount of text but too many of them is not good. When creating indents using left alignment, there will be right ragging which is not advised to do so. Indents are for left justifications so that it doesn't create disturbance for lines of text.
- Widow - short line of type left alone at the end of a column of text
- Orphan - short line of type left alone in a new column
 |
| Fig.1.6: Example of Widow and Orphan in text |
There are a few ways to highlight text:
- Italicize/bold short body of text
- Create bold text/ change typeface or typefamily (e.g: when changing serif to sans serif, they will look larger thus you have to downsize to 5pts)
- Create a field of colour at the back of a text
- Create bullet points
INSTRUCTIONS
PROJECT 2
To begin with Project 2, we were required to dissect five individual letters that we had to choose from one of the 9 typefaces Mr. Vinod provided for us at the start of the semester. The purpose of this exercise was to help us understand and analyse the built of each part of the letters in a detailed manner. I've chosen the typeface Futura Std Book and dissected the letters a, b, m, s. |
| Fig.2.1: Font dissection of the letter a |
 |
| Fig.2.2: Font dissection of the letter b |
 |
| Fig.2.3: Font dissection of the letter m |
 |
| Fig.2.4: Font dissection of the letter s |
After dissecting and analyzing the letters, I had a few ideas for the font designs. I wanted to make them look more interesting and unique with a little personality to it. Here are the sketches of my fonts:
 |
| Fig.2.5: Sketches of fonts #1 |
After receiving feedback from Mr. Vinod and Mr. Shamsul, I realized that my sketches with the pointy edges couldn't be applied to all fonts and that the shapes are not geometrically round as it is slightly oval. Hence, I needed to find out the characteristic of my fonts. I proceeded to re-sketch of how I want my fonts to look like.
 |
| Fig.2.6: Sketches of fonts #2 |
 |
| Fig.2.7: Final sketches of fonts #3 |
 |
| Fig.2.8: Initial attempt on font digitization |
Initially, I was using the pen tool method to help create my letters. However, Mr. Vinod said that it is best to use the stroke technique instead as it will help in maintaining the consistency of the letters and at the same time, I can reuse the strokes for different letters.
I wanted to make my fonts look more grounded with thicker strokes, more condensed, with rounder corners. Hence, the basic circle I've created was geometrically more squarish.
 |
| Fig.2.9: Using basic shapes to form letters |
Halfway through my progress, I realized my letter 'r' wasn't consistent so I went back and modified it.
 |
| Fig.2.10: Comparision of letter 'r' before & after (left & right) |
I was also struggling with the digitization of the letter 'V' because I wanted to make the top part look flat but I couldn't figure out how.
 |
| Fig.2.11: Progression of letter 'v' |
In the end, I managed to do it and rounded the corners as well. This is the final outcome of my font digitization in Illustrator.
 |
| Fig.2.12: Final outcome of digitization |
 |
| Fig.2.12: FontLab |
 | |
|
 |
| Fig.2.15: The Final outcome of Kar Yan's Regular Font on a baseline |
 |
| Fig.2.16: Arrangement of Kar Yan's Regular Font in a sentence |
Font Information of Kar Yan's Regular:
FEEDBACK
Week 7
General Feedback: Mr. Vinod reminded us again that for our name lettering exercise, we have to include our personality in every caption of each picture. He also mentioned that to make a good layout, the alignment and the consistency of letterspacing used has to be good.
Specific Feedback: Mr. Vinod agreed with the others that my layout looked messy due to its complexity. However, there is still balance in the midst of the complexity. Hence, to further improve my layout, I have to simplify and only take the core elements of the layout. Eye movement and alignment can be improved too.
Week 8
General feedback: Mr. Vinod said that our fonts should be digitalized before coming to class because most of the workload occurs in the digitalizing process. Before transferring our fonts into Font Lab, we are to make sure all points are closed as vector files by outlining the strokes and to check whether all the lines are fully joined.
Specific feedback: Mr. Vinod and Mr. Shamsul's feedback on my sketches were my pointy edges can't be applied to all. I was told to understand that the shapes are not geometrically round as it is slightly oval. I had to find out the characteristic of my fonts. Furthermore, Mr. Vinod encouraged that I should start off by creating basic shapes and strokes. Then, I am able to utilize the basic shapes for most of the fonts to produce a more consistent outcome.
Week 9
General Feedback: Mr. Vinod highlighted that we should take our feedback and reflections more seriously in our e-blogs. We should write more than just a sentence. It helps us subliminally to learn better and understand our own struggles and at the same time, It also helps Mr. Vinod and Mr. Shamsul to evaluate on the overall module.
Specific Feedback: Mr. Vinod said that my fonts looked very good, the only thing I have to do is to adjust the spacing and kerning between the letters.
Week 7: From the class feedback session, I learned a lot about text formatting and what makes a good layout. Initially, I felt very lost towards the new project as I didn't understand how to dissect the fonts.
Week 8: A lot of research has to be done prior to reconstructing our fonts as I had to understand how each font is built. Initially, I found it difficult to keep my fonts consistent as using the pen tool wasn't really the best choice. In the end, I focused on using basic geometric shapes and straight lines to digitize my fonts.
Week 9: The overall experience of digitizing the fonts was actually quite fun. However, It got a little frustrating when I was digitizing the letter v,s,r. Also, this week's class felt carefree because I was mostly done with my font design and I got to learn how to adjust the kerning and spacing between letters in FontLab. Nonetheless, seeing my fonts come to life was extremely satisfying.
Observations
Week 7: Having a good text formatting, alignment and letterspacing do make a difference in a layout. Eye movement is also important for viewers to have a seamless reading experience.
Week 9: I was surprised that even though some people started off based on the same typeface, the outcomes of their font designs looked really different and unique.
Findings
Week 7: I've noticed that I was slightly behind compared to others on the start of project 2. My mind was probably still stuck in project 1 so I couldn't fully focus on the new tasks given and had to receive guidance from the others.
Week 8: I found really intriguing to how a font can be created from scratch by just arranging circles and straight lines together to form a letter. Using basic geometric shapes help keep the fonts consistent.
Week 9: I learned that not all letters have to look similar to be fit with each other as a slight difference in a single letter wouldn't do harm to the final outcome of the font design. I've also learned that adjusting letterspacing and kerning is important so that the fonts look consistent with one another when aligned within a body text.
One takeaway that I've gotten from this book is that I learned about the history of Futura. Futura was not a typeface produced only by George Hartmann. In the 1930s, the typefoundry Deberny & Peignot signed an agreement with the Bauersche Giesserei for the casting and selling of Futura exclusively for the French market. D&P changed the name Futura to "Europe" and with this name it became the most popular typeface in France. In Argentina, the sales agents Serra Hermanos, long time distributors to Bauer types, requested the license to manufacture Futura just a few years after World War II. They had bought a typefoundry with the aim to sell their own Futura to the South American countries.
Specific Feedback: Mr. Vinod said that my fonts looked very good, the only thing I have to do is to adjust the spacing and kerning between the letters.
Experiences
Week 7: From the class feedback session, I learned a lot about text formatting and what makes a good layout. Initially, I felt very lost towards the new project as I didn't understand how to dissect the fonts.
Week 8: A lot of research has to be done prior to reconstructing our fonts as I had to understand how each font is built. Initially, I found it difficult to keep my fonts consistent as using the pen tool wasn't really the best choice. In the end, I focused on using basic geometric shapes and straight lines to digitize my fonts.
Week 9: The overall experience of digitizing the fonts was actually quite fun. However, It got a little frustrating when I was digitizing the letter v,s,r. Also, this week's class felt carefree because I was mostly done with my font design and I got to learn how to adjust the kerning and spacing between letters in FontLab. Nonetheless, seeing my fonts come to life was extremely satisfying.
Observations
Week 7: Having a good text formatting, alignment and letterspacing do make a difference in a layout. Eye movement is also important for viewers to have a seamless reading experience.
Week 8: Most of us were really confused and stuck on how to digitize a font in a consistent manner. However, I realized that there are actually many ways to design a font, definitely some ways are easier and more efficient.
Week 9: I was surprised that even though some people started off based on the same typeface, the outcomes of their font designs looked really different and unique.
Findings
Week 7: I've noticed that I was slightly behind compared to others on the start of project 2. My mind was probably still stuck in project 1 so I couldn't fully focus on the new tasks given and had to receive guidance from the others.
Week 8: I found really intriguing to how a font can be created from scratch by just arranging circles and straight lines together to form a letter. Using basic geometric shapes help keep the fonts consistent.
Week 9: I learned that not all letters have to look similar to be fit with each other as a slight difference in a single letter wouldn't do harm to the final outcome of the font design. I've also learned that adjusting letterspacing and kerning is important so that the fonts look consistent with one another when aligned within a body text.
FURTHER READING
1. I love Futura (Volume one)
17/5/19 - 24/5/19 (Week 7 - Week 8)
 |
| Fig.3.1: I Love Futura |
 |
| Fig.3.2: Example of works done by artist Axel Peemoeller |
One takeaway that I've gotten from this book is that I learned about the history of Futura. Futura was not a typeface produced only by George Hartmann. In the 1930s, the typefoundry Deberny & Peignot signed an agreement with the Bauersche Giesserei for the casting and selling of Futura exclusively for the French market. D&P changed the name Futura to "Europe" and with this name it became the most popular typeface in France. In Argentina, the sales agents Serra Hermanos, long time distributors to Bauer types, requested the license to manufacture Futura just a few years after World War II. They had bought a typefoundry with the aim to sell their own Futura to the South American countries.
2. Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton
31/5/19 - 7/6/19 (Week 9 -Week 10)
 |
| Fig.3.3: Thinking with type |
What I love about his book is that I learned about some of the histories of most of the typefaces we were given for this semester such as Caslon, Baskerville, Jenson and more. Many typefaces that we use today, including Garamond, Bembo, Palatino, and Jenson, are named for printers who worked in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
William Caslon created typefaces in the eighteen-century England with crisp, upright characters that appear, as Robert Bringhurst has written, "more modeled and less written than Renaissance forms."
John Baskerville was a printer working in England in the 1750s and 1760s. He aimed to surpass Caslon by creating sharply detailed letters with more vivid contrast between thick and thin elements. Whereas Caslon's letters were widely used in his own time, Baskerville's work was denounced by many of his contemporaries as amateur and extremist.
Fat face is the name that was given to the inflated, hyper-bold type style introduced in the early nineteenth century. These faces exaggerated the polarization of letters into thick and thin components seen in the formal typography of Bodoni and Didot. Extra condensed typefaces are designed to fit narrow spaces. Nineteenth-century advertisements often combined fonts of varying style and proportion on a single page. These bombastic mixtures were typically aligned, however, in static, centered compositions. Egyptian, or slab typefaces transformed the serif from a refined detail to a load-bearing slab. As an independent architectural component, the slab serif asserts its own weight and mass. Introduced in 1806, this style was quickly denounced by purists as "a typographical monstrosity." Gothic is a nineteenth-century term for letters with no serifs. Such typefaces could command attention with their massive frontality. Although sans-serif fonts were often served in the twentieth century to convey neutrality, flamboyantly decorated gothics were once common.
Comments
Post a Comment