Typography / Task 3A: Type Design and Communication
21/5/2021 - 4/6/2021 / Week 8 - Week 10
Ngu Kah Shin / 0347666
Module Name / B' in Creative Media / Taylor's Design School
Task 3A: Type Design and Communication
LECTURES
Week 8:
During our lecture session, Mr Vinod briefed us on what we should achieve in Task 3, which was to create a typeface. He also demonstrated on Adobe Illustrator how to construct a typeface using shapes and strokes. We were asked to sketch out our typeface for discussion and feedback next week. In our research and sketch, we should consider:
1. Upper or lowercase
2. Serif or san-serif
3 consistency of width of each stroke
Other than that, we were also told to study at least 3 deconstructed letters to further our understanding on creating typefaces. This would help us depict the technical and optical effects over the slightest differences in strokes and thickness.
Figure 1.1 Deconstructed letter 'r' 21/05/2021
Week 9:
This week, we had Mr Vinod and Mr SHamsul give us feedback on our sketches. We were then told to start digitalising our sketches on Adobe Illustrator.
Important note:
- Adobe Illustrator artboard should be 1000 x 1000 pt
- CMYK
- Ascender and descender line within the 1000 x 1000 pt artboard
- Overshoots at rounded areas (rounded parts tend to have a smaller surface area so having an overshoot can compensate optically)
Week 10: We were required to post our typefaces on our Facebook Typography group for discussion and feedback. Mr Vinod and Mr Shamsul went through everyone's work and then demonstrated on Adobe Illustrator. We were then asked to create a simple poster with no graphical elements. This is to showcase the typeface we have crafted. We had to include the name of our typeface, our name and year. 
Figure 1.4. Poster samples 04/06/2021
INSTRUCTIONS
HTML Link:
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tR4cp-MVcQMvJvFFVb6PnnZvCaHKRECx/preview" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
Task 3A: Type Design & Communication
For this task, we were required to cart a typeface that demonstrates our understanding of structure and style, rooted in typographic research and analysis. Consistency, conventions and style should be successfully executed with the knowledge have gained from the past weeks.
Before anything, I did some visual research and idea exploration on Pinterest, Behance, myfonts.com, linotype.com, and shinntype.com, as suggested in the Module Booklet. I studied the lines, geometrical shapes, proportions and consistency of each font.
Figure 2.1. 2.2, Visual research, 21/05/2021
After studying fonts and getting inspirations, I started sketching out possible fonts. Initially, Mr Vinod chose the orange 'AJTO' and I proceeded to digitalise it on Adobe Illustrator. However, not liking what I have created, I eventually decided to pursue the purple 'aocit' and see how that goes. I asked for feedbacks from my peers and many went with the latter.
Video 1.1. Sketching new typefaces (time-lapse) on 07/05/2021
Figure 2.1. Sketches on 07/05/2021
After watching the prerecorded process demo video, I started crafting the typeface on Adobe Illustrator. The first letter I created was the letter o. Once the thickness of the stroke was determined, I then moved onto the letter e. Then, I created the letter h with the same thickness of the bowl in o. After crafting h, I then proceeded with m and p and I and so on.
I had many trials and errors and made many minor changes as I progressed. Once I was satisfied with the typeface, I moved onto Fontlab.
Important note:
- use pathfinder to unite all base shapes before copy-pasting onto Fontlab
Figure 2.2, 2.3. Process 28/05/2021 - 03/06/2021
Figure 2.4. Fontlab & Kerning 03/06/2021
Font information:
Ascender height: 510
Descender height: -20
Line gap: 440
Caps height: 700
X-height: 500
FINAL SUBMISSION
HTML LINK: |
FEEDBACK
Week 9
General Feedback: Mr Vinod suggested going with my orange sketch. Others look good but the orange one could be simpler.
Specific feedback: Many of my peers suggested going forth with the purple one
Week 10
General Feedback: Mr Vinod mentioned the thickness of the stroke at g and e should be a little bit thicker.
Specific feedback: thin stroke of O is too thin. The contrast between stroke sizes should be reduced. Good effort on trying out different e's but the one on the far left (fig 2.2) looks the best since the other's stark contrast between the thick and thin strokes look unbalanced.
REFLECTIONS
Observations
Through my letter deconstruction studies, I've observed that although a font design may look equal, it is actually not. Such nuances and details are important and must be observed before designing a typeface because of the illusion it creates when looked at from far. An example of this is an overshoot - especially in letters that have round shapes.
Findings
I found that designing a font or typeface takes a lot of time, study, patience and observational skills. It is not an easy process and there are many technicalities to be taken into account. When sketching various design ideas, I also noticed the importance of the contrast between stroke and stem widths. Without contrast, the letters will look off, and it wouldn't be a good design.
Experience
In my opinion, this is one of my favourite tasks despite being very difficult and time-consuming. It was fun to create my very own typeface. However, I am not satisfied with my work and would redo it if I had the time. Through this project, I have learned the basics of designing and crafting a typeface. I would love to try creating a typeface again, applying all the techniques and skillset I learnt from my mistakes.
Further readings
by Rob Carter, Philip B. Meggs, Ben Day, Sandra Maza, Mark Sanders
I continued reading this book and learnt more about the anatomy of letters and type families, typographic syntax and communication, legibility of a design piece. Other than that, there were explanations on the theoretical and structural aspects of innovative typographic design in information graphics, web design and environmental design, which was very helpful for me to learn about the everchanging technological advancements and keep up with designs that suit the current era and the generations to come.
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