Ad. Typography - Task 1 / Exercises: Typographic Systems & Type & Play

August 23rd, 2021 - September 6th, 2021 (Week 1 - Week 3)
Rusydina Fazlin Binti Fauzi / 0344000 / Bachelor's in Creative Media
Advanced Typography
Task 1 / Exercises: Typographic Systems & Type & Play

LECTURES

Week 1:
August 23rd, 2021

Course Introduction / Advanced Typography

The first week into Ad Typography, Mr. Vinod gave a brief introduction on what will be stored in this semester's module and a small welcome back to the past students.

Other than that, there was more of a recorded lecture playlist that the class is meant to watch before the 5th week into this subject and a few starters on the first task exercises on Typography systems and Type & Play.

Advanced Typography - Typographic Systems

Lecture 1 (August 23rd, 2021, Week 1)

In the first lecture, Mr. Vinod introduced the different types of typographical variations, which will lead up to the first task meant to carry out. There are 8 major variations, stated below:

Axial
Radial
Dilation
Random
Grid
Modular
Transitional
Bilateral

The reason behind these variations is to organize a particular typographical design, making it look much more appealing with a particular angle applied to the texts of typographic artwork.

“Typographical organization is complex because the elements are dependent on communication in order to function. Additional criteria such as hierarchy, order of reading, legibility, and contrast also come into play.
The typographic systems are akin to what architects term shape grammars. The typographic systems are similar in that the systems have a set of rules that is unique and provides a sense of purpose that focuses and directs the decision making.” (Elam, 2007)

From my understanding, this imposition takes intuition away from teaching, it actually gives a stable foundation that allows learners to be guided in their discovery as their intuition grows and develops.

Examples of the varieties of typographic Systems:

Axial System

Figure 1.1 - Axial System, Vertical

Figure 1.2 - Axial System, Digital

Axial System: all elements are organized to the left or right of a single axis.

The examples here are courtesy have been sourced from type 365.

Figure 1.3 - Axial System, Sample student design by Julius Teoh Hoong Boon

Radial System

Figure 1.4 - Radial System

Radial System: All elements are extended from a point of focus.

The examples here are courtesy have been sourced from type 365.

Figure 1.4 - Radial System, sample student design by Tamara Audrey

Dilation System

Figure 1.5 - Dilation System

Dilatational System: All elements expand from a central point in a circular fashion

The examples here are courtesy have been sourced from type 365

Figure 1.6 - Dilation System, sample student design by Julius Teoh Hoong Boon

Random System

Figure 1.7 - Random System

Random System: Elements appear to have no specific pattern or relationship.

Figure 1.8 - Random System, sample student design by Tamara Audrey

Grid System

Figure 1.9 - Grid System

Grid System: A system of vertical and horizontal divisions.

Figure 1.10 - Random System, sample student design by Tamara Audrey

Transitional System

Figure 1.11 - Transitional system

Transitional System: An informal system of layered banding.

The examples here are courtesy have been sourced from type 365.

Figure 1.12 - Transitional System, sample student design by Julius Teoh Hoong Boon

Modular System

Figure 1.13 - Modular system

Modular System: A series of non-objective elements that are constructed as a standardized unit.

Figure 1.14 - Modular system, sample student design by Tamara Audrey

Bilateral System

Figure 1.15 - Bilateral System

Bilateral System: All text is arranged symmetrically on a single axis

Figure 1.16 - Modular system, sample student design by Tamara Audrey

Typographic Compositions

Lecture 2 (August 30th, 2021, Week 2)

In the second recorded lecture, Mr. Vinod gave a lecture on typographic compositions. In a sense, what the lecture was about how typographic composition can be defined as the arranging of textual information in a certain space.

Principles of Design Composition:

When considering composition, we analyze the dominant concepts that support the design composition. Examples include emphasis, repetition, symmetry, alignment, and viewpoint. These concepts, however, are more applicable to pictures than to dense typographic information.

It should be noted, however, that some of the ideas described above are more easily translated than others. In a layout, for example, the emphasis can be conveyed to the reader. Meantime, it may be difficult to demonstrate repetition.

Figure 1.17 - Typographic emphasis

Understanding the format of the body texts is similar to the geometric reference on the left, arranging the body words to make it look neater.

The Rule of Thirds:

Figure 1.18 - The rule of thirds in text

The majority of the photos or photographs are organized into three columns and three rows. Using this interesting and simple arrangement of lines for guidance when placing the places of interest that can also be applied for text, fortunately. While the rule of thirds is a unique and interesting approach to translate it, typographic compositions rarely use it since there are other possibilities.

Typographic Systems:

During the first lecture and the first exercise, the eight different systems were explored. Out of these eight systems, the Grid System is the most regularly used. Originally, it was based on the grid structure of letterpress printing. As a result of the efforts of Josef Muller Brockmann, Jan Tschichold, and Max Bill, the Swiss (Modernist) Typography Style was born.

Figure 1. 19 - Types of grid systems

Modernism was challenged by a number of youthful designers, resulting in the random and asymmetrical systems that we see today. A great deal of thought and planning went into these designs even if clarity and readability weren't the top priorities. When it comes to the placement of the textual material, a lot of intuition and gut instinct are involved. Although chaotic, it creates a thrilling and innovative composition as seen below.

Figure 1. 20 - Chaotic and random compositions

Environmental Grid:

Based on the exploration of an existing structure, or a mixture of many structures, this system can be used. Because it relies not just on feel and intuition but also on structure and context, it's a shift from post-modernism.

Figure 1. 21 - Environmental Grid

Form and Movement:

An existing Grid System has been used as a starting point for the development of this new one. Developed by Mr. Vinod himself as a means of exploring the numerous alternatives offered by the grid architecture. As a result, grids lose their seriousness as the positioning of forms on a page, over a number of pages, creates motion.

Figure 1. 22 - Form and movement

Typographic Compositions

Lecture 3 (September 6th, 2021, Week 3)

Mr. Vinod's third recorded lectured covered the topic of 'Context and Creativity'. In a similar fashion, Mr. Vinod also covered a few sub-topics like hand-writing and how letters change their shapes or design over the centuries.

When it comes to handwriting, it is important to study the type/typography. But why?

Because the first machine-created letterforms were designed to directly replicate handwriting, we study handwriting in order to better understand how to write. For example, the mechanical type would aim to imitate the form, spacing, and traditions of handwriting.

In hand-drawn letterforms, the tools and materials used to create them have an impact on the shape and line of the letterform. Among the materials used to create the letterform were sharpened bones, charcoal, plant stalks, brushes, feathers, and steel pens.

Materials used to write the forms, including clay, papyrus, and palm leaf, as well as animal skins (vellum and parchment) and paper, had a role as well.

Figure 1.23 - Evolution of the Latin Alphabet

Cuneiform / c. 3000 B.C.E

Cuneiform, the earliest system of actual writing, was used in a number of languages between the 34C. B.C.E. through the 1st century C.E. The blunt end of a reed stylus was pressed into wet clay tablets to give it its unique wedge shape. Pictograms evolved into cuneiform characters. Cuneiform was written in a left-to-right direction.

Figure 1.24 - Cuneiform Writing

Hieroglyphics / 2613-2160 B.C.E

The Egyptian writing system and the art of relief carving are intertwined. The system was a hybrid of rebus and phonetic symbols, and it served as the first connection to a future alphabetic system. Hieroglyphic images have the potential to be utilized in three ways.

As ideograms, to represent the things they actually depict.
As determinatives to show that the signs preceding are meant as phonograms and to indicate the general idea of the word.
As phonograms to represent sounds that "spell out" individual words.

Figure 1.25 - Egyptian Hieroglyphics

Based on the Egyptian emblem system, the Phoenicians constructed a phonetic alphabet consisting of 22 letters Later, the Greeks adopted this, adding the appropriate vowels. They were drawn by hand and consisted solely of capital letters in the early Greek alphabet.

Early Greek writing / 5th C. B. C. E.

Figure 1.26 - Early Greek writing

The strokes of these letters became thicker over time, the aperture shrank, and serifs formed. The new forms, which were employed for inscriptions throughout the Greek empire, served as templates for imperial Rome's formal lettering.

Roman Uncials

Figure 1.27 - Roman Uncials

By the fourth century, Roman letters were becoming more rounded; the curved form required fewer strokes and allowed for faster writing.

English Half Uncials / 8th C.

Figure 1.28 - English Half Uncials

The uncial evolved into a more slanted and condensed form in England. While English and Irish uncials evolved, writing on the European continent deteriorated significantly and required correction. Fortunately, it was included in the Carolingian Handwriting Reform.

Black letter

Figure 1.29 - Black letter

What exactly is Gothic? Gothic was the pinnacle of artistic expression in the Middle Ages, lasting roughly from 1200 to 1500. The term Gothic was coined by the Italians to describe harsh or barbarous societies north of the Italian Alps. The Gothic spirit gained root in France, Germany, and England, where it revealed itself via unrelenting upward striving.

The Italian Renaissance

Figure 1.29 - The Italian Renaissance

As the Gothic spirit reached its pinnacle in other parts of Western Europe, Humanist intellectuals in Italy were gradually resurrecting antiquity's culture. The Renaissance's embracing of Greek and Roman culture sparked a creative wave in Italian art, architecture, literature, and letterform design.

The Carolingian script, with its clear open handwriting, was praised by the Humanist.

Figure 1.30 - Rediscovered letterforms; Antica

The newly found letterforms were given the name Antica by a humanist. The renaissance form analysis applied to art and architecture was focused on letter form, resulting in a more perfect or rationalized letter.

Movable Type / 11 C.-14 C.

Figure 1.31 - Movable text

Printing (woodblock) was already in use in China, Korea, and Japan (Dharani Sutra, AD 750). The Diamond Sutra is the world's first known printed book (AD 868): a 16' scroll with the world's earliest printed image.

China attempted to use movable type for printing but failed to owe to the number of characters and the material used (clay).

Greek influence on Rome

Why do we talk about Greek influence on Rome, but not Egyptian or Near Eastern influence on Greece?

Because, with the rise of the modern British Empire in the nineteenth century, it became unfashionable to credit Africa or Africans with anything of value, Greece and Rome were elevated over much older, much more influential civilizations, specifically Ancient Egypt, but also less extensive or older civilizations such as Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, China, and so on.

The way the European academic process worked to create the discipline of "Indology" is an example of this insidiousness. Max Mueller, who was essential to all of this, never visited India. By reading historical facts through colonial lenses, they ignorantly posited self-serving theories, such as Aryan theory.

Classicism, Egyptology, Africanism, Indology, and Orientalism are all examples of this.

On the other hand, when it comes to handwriting and influencing, what is noteworthy is that the following typographers would pay homage to these advancements through inquiry, curiosity, and reverence for history. Books have been produced and published, and handwriting styles have been recreated and merged into mechanical forms for printing.

Evolution of middle eastern and southeast Asian alphabets:

The usage of sound represented in letters in the Phoenician letter indicates a turning point in written language; the script itself was perhaps influenced by Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Hieratic Scripts.

Figure 1.32 - Evolution of Middle Eastern alphabets

Traditional and Simplified scripts range from the Oracle bone through Seal Script to Clerical Script.

Figure 1.32 - Evolution of Chinese script

Figure 1.32 - Indus script seals

When looking at Southeast Asia, Indian scripts were the oldest writing systems present. The most prominent is Pallava, a South Indian script that was initially used to write Sanskrit and Tamil. Because of its clout, it has become the foundation of wiring systems throughout Southeast Asia.

Figure 1.32 - Kedukan Bukit inscription from Sumatra

Indian scripts were the earliest writing systems in Southeast Asia. There were several, but the most notable was Pallava (or Pallawa in Malay), a South Indian script that was initially used to write Sanskrit and Tamil.

Pallava was extremely significant, serving as the foundation for writing systems throughout Southeast Asia.

Pallava, however, was not the only Indian script used in the Malay Archipelago. Another was Pra-Nagari, an early variant of the Nagari script, which was used to write Sanskrit in India.

Figure 1.33 - Laguna copperplate inscription

Most prominent Indonesian historical script: Kawi. But it's Javan.

Sanskrit term "kavya" means poet, hence the name Kawi. That Kawi was used to communicate with other kingdoms is interesting. Kawi became the basis for other scripts in Indonesia and the Philippines since it was so widely used.

Kawi and Indian scripts were used to transcribe the Old Malay language in early Malay kingdoms.

Figure 1.34 - Jawi script

When Islam was introduced, the Arabic-based alphabet, Jawi, was also introduced. Even if Islam didn't totally eradicate illiteracy, it did encourage educating for the sake of proselytization. Jawi was also taught to individuals by traders in the trading ports, allowing it to spread widely among the upper- and middle-classes in the trading ports. Because all famous works of literature are written in Jawi, Malaysians value it more today.

Figure 1.35 - Jawi manuscript from the 19th century; Demak

Due to its use as our primary literary script, Jawi has taken on increasing significance in modern Malaysia. Jawi is the language of every hikayat and Malay charm book. We don't have as many pre-Jawi inscriptions and writings as Indonesia, which is part of the reason why some people mistakenly say that Jawi is "Tulisan asal Melayu", which is of course wrong.

Handwriting conclusion

Due to a lack of expertise, time, money, and resources in Asia/written East's history, it was impossible to reproduce many of the old texts in printed form by using western printing methods (letterpress, linotype, Unicode).

Though we are starting to see indigenous scripts on phones, tablets, and computers due to an Eastward renaissance and the growth of computer programmers.

Designing Type

Lecture 4 (September 13th, 2021, Week 4)

In the introduction of his typeface Malaga, Xavier Dupré (2007) proposed two reasons for designing a typeface.

type design carries a social responsibility so one must continue to improve its legibility
type design is a form of artistic expression.

“Adrian Frutiger is a renowned twentieth-century Swiss graphic designer. His forte was typeface designing and he is considered responsible for the advancement of typography into digital typography. His valued contribution to typography includes the typefaces; Univers and Frutiger.”

Frutiger is a sans serif typeface designed in 1968 by Swiss type designer Adrian Frutiger for the newly built Charles de Gaulle International Airport in France.

Figure 1.35 - Frutiger

Considerations/Limitations: letterforms must be recognizable even in low-light situations or while the reader was moving fast past the sign. He experimented with unfocused letters to find which letterforms could still be identifiable.

Harry Carter, Royal Designer for Industry, contemporary British type designer, and ultimate craftsman, has a son named Matthew Carter. Carter was taught as a punchcutter at Enschedé by Paul Rädisch, who was the house designer at Mergenthaler Linotype from 1965 to 1981 and was responsible for Crosfield's typographic program in the early 1960s.

Figure 1.36 - Georgia & Verdana Font

Due to the popularity of the internet and electronic gadgets, the font was designed to be exceptionally legible even at very small screen sizes.

Figure 1.37 - Verdana font_pixels

Considerations/limitations: The Verdana fonts have pixel-derived features rather than pen, brush, or chisel-derived qualities. Characters like the lowercase I j and l are frequently confused.

Edward Johnston designed the extremely popular London "Underground" typeface, which became known as "Johnston Sans" later on (1916).

Figure 1.38 - Johnstans Sans font

He was asked to design a typeface with "bold simplicity" that was both modern and traditional. Completed in 1916, Johnston's design combines classical Roman proportions with humanism warmth.

Figure 1.39 - Requested designed typeface by Johnston

As the ultimate purist, Johnston went back to the basics - all the way to Trajan's column, with its precisely cut letterforms, which he adored. Johnston was tasked with designing a typeface with "bold simplicity" that was both modern and traditional. Completed in 1916, Johnston's design combines classical Roman proportions with humanism warmth.

Figure 1.40 - London underground exit sign

The calligrapher Edward Johnston was commissioned by London's Underground railway to create a new typeface for posters and signage. He provided specifics and samples of letter shapes that would set the tone for printed text to the current day.

General Process of Type Design:

Research
Sketching
Digitization
Testing
Deploy

Research:

Figure 1.42 - Development in font making technologies

When designing a type, we must grasp its history, anatomy, and norms. We should also be familiar with the terminology, side-bearing, metrics, and hinting.

It is next necessary to establish the type's function or what it will be used for, as well as the various applications it will be used in, such as whether the typeface will be used for school buses or airport signage, and so on.

We should also look at current fonts that are being used for inspiration/ideas/reference/context/usage pattern/etc.

Sketching:

Figure 1.43 - Sketch of Johnston Sans, designs by Edward Johnston, sketch by Eiichi Kono

Some designers draw their typefaces with traditional tools (brushes/pens, ink, and paper) and then scan them for digitization. They have more confidence in their hands and better control over them.

Some designers draw typefaces directly into font creation software utilizing digital toolsets such as Wacom (far faster, persistent, and uniform), however, this can occasionally inhibit the natural movement of hand strokes.

Both systems have advantages and disadvantages.

Digitization:

Figure 1.44 - Font Lab and Glyphs, font programs

FontLab and Glyphs App are two of the most widely used professional software programs for digitizing typefaces.

It's possible that some font designers utilize Adobe Illustrator to develop or craft the letterforms before including them in the font programs. Nevertheless, purists disapprove of this.

At this point, it's important to pay attention not just to the full form, but also to the counter form. On it, the readability of the typeface is highly dependent.

Testing:

Figure 1.45 - Prototype Stencil (Stenz) developed and designed by Vinod J. Nair.

When it comes to the design thinking process, testing is a crucial step. As a consequence of the testing, components of the typeface are being fine-tuned and corrected as part of the process. In addition to testing, prototyping helps to gather valuable feedback.

Less important is the readability and legibility of the typeface, depending on the typeface's category (display type or text type). But if the typeface is a display type, the expression of the shape takes precedence, it is less important.

Deploy:

Figure 1.46 - Prototype Number plate typeface (Car license registration) Myno & Nomy designed by Vinod J. Nair 2018.

A completed font will always include teething faults that weren't apparent during the development and testing phases, even after it's been deployed. It follows thus that revision is a continuous process that does not terminate with deployment.

The testing must be rigorous in order for the teething problems to be kept to a minimum.

Typeface Construction:

Figure 1.47 - Construction grid for the Roman Capital using 8 x 8 cells

The grid consists of a square and a circle that just touches the square's lines in four places. An additional rectangle can be found within the square, as well as a circle. Three-quarters of the square is taken up by this rectangle, which sits in the middle of the square.

Thus, using grids (with circular forms) can facilitate the construction of letterforms and is a possible method to build/create/design your letterform.

Construction and considerations:

Figure 1.48 - Classification according to form land construction

Depending on their form and construction, the 26 characters of the alphabet can be arranged into groups, whereby a distinction is made between a group for the capitals and a group for lowercase letters.

Figure 1.49 - shapes to use to build typefaces

For a new kind, several possible shapes and constructions must be considered. If the curved shapes extend beyond the baseline and cap line, this is a critical visual corrective. Additionally, the vertical alignment of curved and straight forms is affected by this.

Figure 1.50 - Type fitting

Likewise, a correction to the spacing between letters needs to be made visually. No, it's not feasible to just put letters next to each other with equal space between them. A uniform visible white space must be added to the letters. As a result, the white space between the letters should be the same size. This is referred to as 'fitting'.

Conclusion:

When it comes to design, the designer must be invested in the idea and have a thorough understanding of the requirement (limitations, use, and stakeholder).

It takes a lot of time and effort to design a typeface. Only the brave and foolish take this path, as the rewards are insignificant compared to the hard work required to complete it.

Preception and Organisation

Lecture 5 (September 20th, 2021, Week 5)

Mr. Vinod's recorded for the 5th week covered the topic of perception and organization, knowing that there are many aspects and specified domains when it comes to perception and organization, but this topic focuses more on typography.

Perception is defined as "the way something is regarded, understood, or interpreted." In typography, perception refers to the reader's visual navigation and interpretation of the content through contrast, form, and organization. Textual, visual, graphical, or color content can all be used.

Contrast

There are several methods in typography to create contrast the one on the left is devised by Rudi Ruegg.

Figure 1.51 - Contrasted fonts invented by Rudi Ruegg

On the other hand, Carl Dair adds two more principles into the mix of contrast; texture and direction. He uses contrast in typography to “make a design work and meaning pop out — clearly and unambiguously, and with flair.”

Dair put forward 7 kinds of contrast (although most of which has already been covered by Rudi Reugg though using different terms):

Size
Weight
Contrast of form
Contrast of structure
Contrast of texture
Contrast of color
Contrast of direction

Contrast in Size

Figure 1.52 - Contrast in size

A contrast of size provides a point to which the reader’s attention is drawn. For example, if you have a big letter and a small letter you will obviously see the big letter first before the small one.

Contrast in Weight

Figure 1.53 - Contrast in weight

When it comes to weight in Typography it describes how bold type can stand out in the middle of the lighter type of the same style. Other than then using bold, using rules spot, squares are also providing a "heavy area" for a powerful point of visual attraction.

Contrast in Form

Figure 1.54 - Contrast in Form

The contrast of form is the distinction between a capital letter and its lowercase equivalent, or a roman letter and its italic variant, condensed and expanded versions of the typeface are also included under the contrast of form.

Contrast in Structure

Figure 1.55 - Contrast in Structure

Structure means the different letterforms of different kinds of typefaces.

Contrast in Texture

Figure 1.56 - Contrast in Texture

Texture refers to the way the lines of type look as a whole up close and from a distance. This depends partly on the letterforms themselves and partly on how they’re arranged. By putting together the contrasts of size, weight, form, and structure, and applying them to a block of text on a page, you come to the contrast of texture.

Contrast in Direction

Figure 1.57 - Contrast in Direction

The contrast of direction is the opposition between vertical and horizontal, and the angles in between. Turning one word on its side can have a dramatic effect on a layout. Text blocks also have their vertical or horizontal aspects of direction. Mixing wide blocks of long lines with tall columns of short lines can also create a contrast.

Contrast in Color

Figure 1.58 - Contrast in Color

The use of color is suggested that a second color is often less emphatic in values than plain black on white. Therefore it is important to give thought to which element needs to be emphasized and to pay attention to the tonal values of the colors that are used.

Form

For refers to the overall look and feel of the elements that make up the typographic composition. It is the part that plays a role in visual impact and first impressions. A good form in typography tends to be visually intriguing to the eye; it leads the eye from point to point, entertains the mind, and is most often memorable.

Figure 1.59- Typographical form

Typography can be seen as having two functions:

to represent a concept
to do so in a visual form.

Displaying type as a form provides a sense of letterforms’ unique characteristics and abstract presentation.

Gestalt

Gestalt is a German word meaning the way a thing has been “placed” or “put together”. Gestalt Psychology is an attempt to understand the laws behind the ability to acquire and maintain meaningful perceptions.

Therefore in design, the components/ elements that make up the design are only as good as its overall visual form. While each component may be functional at an elemental level, the sum of its parts is not greater than the whole or the overall form.

Some of the forms in gestalt theory are:

Law of Similarity: is the gestalt grouping law that states that elements that are similar to each other tend to be perceived as a unified group.
Law of Proximity: Proximity is the gestalt grouping law that states elements that are close together tend to be perceived as a unified group.
Law of Closure: refers to the mind’s tendency to see complete figures or forms even if a picture is incomplete, partially hidden by other objects, or if part of the information needed to make a complete picture in our minds is missing.
Law of Continuation: holds that humans tend to perceive each of two or more objects as different, singular, and uninterrupted object even when they intersect.

INSTRUCTIONS

Task 1 - Typographic System (Documentation)

August 23rd, 2021

Exercise 1

For exercise 1, Mr. Vinod assigned the class on creating a design for each variation (Typographic systems) listed below:

Axial
Radial
Dilation
Random
Grid
Modular
Transitional
Bilateral

When carrying out the Axial system part of the exercise, it was done during the first week of Ad. Typo class, where Mr. Vinod would give general feedback.

I started to skecth a few of my ideas down before implementing the texts into Indesign. I also did my best, making sure to not overdo it with the distortion of the texts, on the upper hand I had some references and was inspired with a few designs from Pinterest.

My sketches on each individual typography system:

Figure 1.1.1 - Sketch #1 (Radial, Dilation, Random), August 25th, 2021

Figure 1.1.2 - Sketch #2 (Grid, Modular, Transitional), August 25th, 2021

Figure 1.1.3 - Sketch #3 (Bilateral), August 25th, 2021

1. Axial System

Figure 1.1.4- Axial System (Vertical), August 23rd, 2021

Figure 1.1.5 - Axial System (Diagonal). August 23rd, 2021

2. Radial System

Figure 1.1.6 - Radial System design #1, August 23rd, 2021

Figure 1.1.7 - Radial System design #2, August 23rd,2021

3. Dilation System

Figure 1.1.7 - Dilation System, design #1, August 23rd, 2021

Figure 1.1.8 - Dilation system, design #2, August 23rd, 2021

4. Random System

Figure 1.1.9 - Random system, design #1, August 23rd, 2021

Figure 1.1.10- Random system, design #2, August 23rd, 2021

5. Grid System

Figure 1.1.12 - Grid system, design #1, August 23rd, 2021

Figure 1.1.13 - Grid system, design #2, August 23rd, 2021

6. Modular System

Figure 1.1.14 - Modular system, design #1, August 24th, 2021

Figure 1.1.15 - Modular system, design #2, August 24th, 2021

7. Transitional System

Figure 1.1.16 - Transitional System design #1, August 24th, 2021

Figure 1.1.17 - Transitional System design #2, August 24th, 2021

8. Bilateral System

Figure 1.1.18 - Dilation, design #1, August 25th, 2021

Figure 1.1.17 - Dilation, design #2, August 25th, 2021

Improvised designs:

After a few general feedbacks from Mr. Vinod on some of my system designs I showed him, there were some that needed improvement and from Mr. Vinod's general remarks, I did what I could to further my research or inspirations that feels like some of my designs need more work on.

1. Axial System

Figure 1.1.18 - Axial system improvised design, September 2nd, 2021

As you can see, I felt quite satisfied with the simplicity that my axial design was original, so I just edited the name of the lecturers and time, increasing and decreasing the amount of leading on it to make it look neater and finalizing it with a hint of color.

Figure 1.1.19 - Axial System final design, September 2nd, 2021

2. Radial System

Figure 1.1.20 - Radial system improvised design, September 3rd, 2021

Figure 1.1.21 - Radial system final design. September 3rd, 2021

Since the center of the radial design was mentioned as being too big by Mr. Vinod. I thought maybe having it as a stroke instead of a whole piece could add a lighter look to it, also moving it a little to the side instead of the center of the page adds more space for the text and removing the lines underneath each of the text definitely gives it a neater look.

3. Random System

Figure 1.1.22 - Random System improvised design, September 3rd, 2021

Figure 1.1.23 - Random system final design, September 3rd, 2021

Random on the other hand was a little challenging to improvise, so in all honesty, my initial idea was just to make it look much messy than the original design I had and of course remove the little symbol that Mr. Vinod remarked on. Later then, I experimented with the color, which resulted in my satisfaction with this system's design.

4. Transitional System

Figure 1.1.24 - Transitional system improvised design, September 3rd, 2021

Figure 1.1.25 - Transitional System final design, September 3rd, 2021

The transitional system already has its initial idea design on it and I didn't get too much of a remark on it by Mr. Vinod therefore I added color as the final design to the work.

From here on, the remaining 4 system design works were ones that I didn't have feedback on, I wanted to attempt on working on them on my own and figuring out what needed to be changed and/or improved with the help of more research and even a respectful little look on my peers' inspiring work. Doing my best to improvise my own designs to finalize them.

5. Dilation System

Figure 1.1.26 - Dilation system initial design, September 3rd, 2021

Figure 1.1.27 - Improvised/final dilation design, September 3rd, 2021

I worked my way around dilation closely towards my first design, but I added in a few other elements to make it seem as if it's a solar-like system that's dilating.

6. Grid System

Figure 1.1.28 - Grid system design amendments, September 3rd, 2021

Figure 1.1.29 - Grid System final design, September 3rd, 2021

There was not much I wanted to change for the grid system, I was quite satisfied with the first tryout of the design I did for this system, although I added a line before the 'the design school, Taylor's university' text to make it look neater with the line separating the two parts of the header text.

7. Modular System

Figure 1.1.30 - Modular system design amendments, September 3rd, 2021

Figure 1.1.31 - Modular system final design, September 3rd, 2021

For Modular I only adjust the text and elements so that it aligns and made sure it added up into each of the grids to each other.

8. Bilateral System

Figure 1.1.32 - Bilateral system design amendments, September 3rd, 2021

Figure 1.1.33 - Bilateral system final design. September 3rd, 2021

Last but not least, amending a little on bilateral system adding in lines down across the texts and horizontal texts above and below the whole body texts has an enclosed look to it for a final design.

Pdf Submission (without grid):

Pdf Submission (with grid):

Task 1 - Type & Play/Type finding (Documentation)

Type Finding

September 6th, 2021

For the second sub-task, titled 'Type & Play'. Mr. Vinod explained how we are meant to extract 'letters' from random images that we have to search for. From there, there will be a process of constantly refining the appearance of the letters.

Mr. Vinod assigned the class, attempting to find 4 letters when extracting from the images.

These are a few images I had in mind to see if I could extract any kind of letter from them:

Figure 1.2.1 - Close up an image on orange pulp, September 6th, 2021

Figure 1.2.2 - A shiver of sharks, September 6th, 2021

Figure 1.2.3 - Morel Mushrooms, September 6th, 2021

These are a few of the pictures I've chosen from here, I decided to experiment and extract from the images, except two images didn't manage to achieve the extraction of letters I desired except one image.

So out of the 3 pictures, I decided on the mushrooms, I began further extracting them:

Figure 1.2.4 - Letter extraction from the chosen image, September 6th, 2021

Mr. Vinod did mention how we should have 4 letters extracted from visual, although I may of gone overboard on that.

Figure 1.2.5 - Letter reference, September 6th, 2021

Figure 1.2.6 - Further letter reference, September 6th, 2021

Figure 1.2.7 - Letter extraction no BG, September 6th, 2021

Figure 1.2.8 - Letter extraction in-line, September 6th, 2021

From the letters that I was able to extract, I chose 4 letters.

Figure 1.2.9 - 4 letter word chosen, September 10th, 2021

Figure 1.2.10 - 4 letters word chosen_fill, September 10th, 2021

After confirming my letters, I hopped on over to illustrator, in an attempt to refine my letters.

Figure 1.2.11 - aligning letters to baseline, September 10th, 2021

Before I continue to refine my letters, I adjusted them according to their size when on the baseline and using a font as a reference for the placement of each letter feature that belongs on the baseline. As seen above.

Figure 1.2.12 - before (top) and after (after) letter refine, September 11th, 2021

After receiving a few feedbacks from my course mates during this week's class, I attempted on following their advice by having some other fonts as a reference to refine the style of my font. Then again, I wanted to experiment with the widths of strokes I had as my first refinement.

Ending up with the following below:

Figure 1.2.13 - 2nd refinement of extracted letters, September 13th, 2021

Still holding onto the curvature and bubbly width of my font, I worked a little on making it look much neater. That having all of the letters at a similar height.

Figure 1.2.14 - Letter refine font references, September 13th, 2021

Next, I scanned through the font list and found at least 3 fonts that resonate with the kind of style from my second refine to work from there, some of the letters from the fonts I chose had similar shapes and forms from my letters. So I did more experimentation on trying to achieve the same style from each font, but making sure to not stray too far from the font I initially refined.

Figure 1.2.15 - 3rd refinement of extracted letters, September 13th, 2021

From what tried to experiment on was move on a little into the style of my chosen reference fonts before evaluating and simplifying what I have as my initial refinement in the 2nd one above. What I got to understand were the many ways to play around and explore different ways to form all the letters.

Figure 1.2.16 - 4th refinement of extracted letters, September 13th, 2021

In the fourth refinement, I experimented on working out a style that is heavily influenced by the font 'Magento Bold'. In my opinion, it completely lost most of the wavy-ness to the initial extraction, it may have a neater look to it. But I decided on reverting back a little bit to the initial look I had for the letter with experimentation for the letter 'V'.

Figure 1.2.17 - 5th refinement of extracted letters, September 13th, 2021

I'd say this would e the final refinement to the raw interaction of my letters. I'm quite satisfied with how I experimented with the fonts throughout refinements with different font styles. Keeping a particular style intact so that I'm able to mix and match and still look similar to each other. Of course, making sure that the width stroked is somewhat similar in appearance.

JPEG Submission:

PDF Submission:

Type & Play

September 13th, 2021

For the last first task that was assigned by Mr. Vinod, we are meant to find any kind of images from sources or of our own to be engraved with typography as a way to title or caption the image we chose. Making sure they have a similar meaning to what the picture displays.

I first started off with an image of a shark, I wanted to go for an oceanic theme here and a picture of a shark was ideal in this case.

Figure 1.3.1 - Shark photography attempt #1

Figure 1.3.1 - Shark typography image manipulation prog 1, September 19th, 2021

Second I added in the text 'FEAR' in Adobe Illustrator and moved on to photoshop, so further the realism of the image as seen below:

Figure 1.3.1 - Shark typography image manipulation prog 2, September 19th, 2021

Figure 1.3.2 - First attempt, September 19th, 2021

After the first attempt, I thought it would already be completed. But asking for a few feedbacks from my peer of mind, they suggested maybe attempting to display as if the shark would swim through the text and so I attempted to execute that.

Figure 1.3.3 - 2nd attempt, September 20th, 2021

Moments into working it out I decided that my idea was there but when projecting it into work, it felt a little challenging. Therefore I decided on changing up the way the shark swims through the text but instead implementing motion to it.

Figure 1.3.4 - 3rd attempt, September 20th, 2021

I messed around with a few filters that had to do with motion. and it wasn't quite there but it was an attempt worth experimenting with, resulting in my final decision of typography design up into imagery.

Figure 1.3.5 - Final refinement, September 20th, 2021

PDF Submission:

T1: Ex1 2 days, Ex2 48 hours, Ex3 5 hours

FEEDBACK
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Feedback
[August 23rd, 2021, Week 1]
-
[No feedback] Mr. Vinod gave a brief introduction to this semester's module on; Advanced Typography.

Feedback

[Aug 29th, 2021, Week 2]
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General Feedback

Random System: Appearance-wise had its initial look at how the system should like but needs a little more work on randomizing the text characters a little more than the system should look like but needs a little work on randomizing the text characters a little more.

Transitional System: Initially has the appearance and hierarchy down. Maybe a few more tweaks on how to make it look more decorative and appealing with colors. Radial System: Lines underneath the text can be quite distracting.

Feedback
[Sept 6th, 2021, Week 3]
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General Feedback

Dilation System: Initial principle to have in this system has been achieved, although could reduce by adding in lines.

Radial System: Same feedback with Dilation system, just got to reduce on the lines.

Feedback
[Sept 13th, 2021, Week 4]
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Specified Feedback from coursemates

-Letters 'L' and 'E' have much thinner strokes than the letter 'V' and 'I' (To improve: must have consistent strokes)

-Suggestion to use 'Cooper black' as font reference to refine my letters

-Suggestion on Gore-like fonts to further the style of refinement on my font

Feedback
[Sept 20th, 2021, Week 5]
-
General Feedback

Feedback was not given, we proceeded to the second task.

REFLECTION
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September 6th, 2021 (Typographic Systems)

The first task that started off the advanced typography was a much in-depth understanding of composition. In my opinion. I think it was intriguing to look much more into composition, being that the only composition I was familiar with was 'the rule of thirds' and 'the golden ratio'. What else set off an interesting and fun start to this take was that I got to play around with texts and words and put them into a situated kind of composition based on the 8 types of typographic systems that Mr. Vinod introduced to the class in recorded lectures and even during classes.

What I was able to reflect on this task was that, although the design that was respectfully displayed by Mr. Vinod by our senior may look simple and easy to the eyes once I started to work on a design through countless research to understand the principle of each typographic system, it definitely was a challenge but a very good one. I had both the experience of it being hard at first but slowly attempting to take it slow and have fun with it instead of worrying too much about how it turned out. Understanding what goes where with the systems helped me out a lot.

September 13th, 2021 (Type finding)

In this task, what I understood and was able to reflect on ways that the many things around us are able to extract whether it'd be a typographical visual or even a simple drawing that turns into something extra-ordinary. It's just up to us on how we want to project that into our works and this task definitely taught me how to observe tiny little details and making the most of extracting such images to turn into letters.

It was quite a process and at times I would get stuck on coming up with ways to make it look much more than it initially looks but still maintaining its similar features to the picture of extraction. Although it was definitely a way to observe intricate details and coming up with ways through critical thinking.

September 20th, 2021 (Type & Play)

This final subtask was quite a challenge for me, I had trouble searching for an image that could fit in captions that would make sense in order to combine them. But in the end, I started to just come off it in a simpler manner, I thought to myself sometimes the image doesn't have to be as extravagant as long as the design that gets manipulated from it counts.

What I was able to reflect on this task was that it's important to be able to observe and image precisely and carefully to be to use both the image and typography and merging them with each other. To find ways to work two different things with each other, in a sense-making sure that the imagery helps the typography fit itself into place, making it look right and or appealing.

Typographic Systems
by Kimberly Elam (2007)

This book titled Typographic Systems by Kimberly Elam was the first further reading book that would assist I'd say the first task in advance typography. The reason for that is because this book displays and explains the 'Typographic organization' and how it has always been a complex system in that there are so many elements at play, such as hierarchy, order of reading, legibility, and contrast. Other than that, in Typographic Systems, Kim Elam, author of our bestselling book, Geometry of Design and Grid Systems, explores eight major structural frameworks beyond the grid including random, radial, modular, and bilateral systems. By taking the reader through exercises, student work, and professional examples, Elam offers a broad range of design solutions.

This is what Mr. Vinod had us learn about ever since week one of this subject to carry out our first task. So, in a sense this book would be a good way to further understand these 8 types of typographic systems and to try out different designs that correlate to these systems, understanding each of their principles to put into the typographic artworks.

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