Typography Task 1/ Exercise 1 and 2.

22/4/2024 - 20/5/2024 (WEEK 1- WEEK 5)

LEBON STEPHANIE AMELIE JUDITH 0362853

Typography/ Bachelor of Design ( Honors) in Creative Media/ Taylors University

Task 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Lectures.
Instructions.
Exercise 1.
Exercise 2.
Feedback.
Reflection.
Further reading.

LECTURES

Week 1 : In week 1 I learned how to make a blogger website, How to create the layout of the blogger and how to add different types of attachments to the blogger using the given You-tube tutorials.

Week 2 : I watched the lecture video "Typo_1_Devolopment" and started making a mind map on the evolution of typography.

Fig 1.1 Mind-Map for "Typo_1_Devolopment" video.

In summary the first part of the lecture gives you a history of early letterforms, how they were initially created, the Phoenician alphabet and how it evolved to Arabic and Modern Latin, hand scripts from the 3rd to 10th century for example Charlemagne that introduced uppercase, lowercase, capitalization and punctuation.

In the second part of the lecture I learned about the 'Text type classification' that was developed in prevailing technology. Alex Lawson created a type form classification that covers the main kind of text types from '1450 Blackletter style' to '1990 Serif/Sans Serif'.

Week 3 : I watched the lecture video "Typo_3_Text P1".

In summary in the first part of this lecture I learned about the difference between kerning and letterspacing, how to kern in Adobe InDesign. second part of the lecture we went into depth with text tracking such as the different types of tracking such as normal tracking, loose tracking and tight tracking.

Fig 1.2 the types of tracking.

I also learned the different types of text formatting:

flush left alignment/ ragged right (most natural way)
centered alignment (important to amend line breaks to make it less jagged)
flush right alignment/ ragged left (used in minimum quantities)
justified alignment (you need to letter space more with justified)

In the last part of the lecture I learned about the anatomy of different type faces, the leading and the line length.

Fig 1.3 Anatomy of type face.

Week 4 : I watched the lecture video "Typo_4_Text P2".

In summary the first part of the lecture we recapped "Typo_3_Text P1" and the use of 'pilcrow' to indicate paragraphs. In the second part of the lecture we learned the basics in InDesign for leading ,line length and line spacing.

Fig 1.4 using bread and jelly to show the difference between lie spacing and leading.

I also learned that:

A widow is a short line of type left alone at the end of a column of text.
An orphan is a short line of type left alone at the start of a new column.

Fig 1.5 Widow vs orphan.

At the end of the lecture I learned about the typography hierarchy such as the different types of heads (A,B and C) and cross alignment.

Week 4 : I watched the lecture video "Typo_2_Basics".

In summary the first part of this lecture we learned how to describe letterforms. Some of the basic ways to explain a letter form may include:

Fig 1.6 Main lines in a letterform.

Fig 1.7 The stroke.

There are many other ways to describe letter forms for instance apex/vertex, arm, barb, bowl, bracket, crotch and ear.

In the second part of the lecture I learned the difference between a font and typeface, lower and uppercase, small capitals, lower and upper case numerals, italics, punctuation, miscellaneous characters and ornaments.

In the last part of the lecture I learned about comparing typefaces.

Fig 1.8

Week 5 : I watched the lecture video "Typo_5_Understanding" and "Typo_6_Screen and Print".

"Typo_5_Understanding"

In this short lecture I learned about all the little details designers use to design letter forms to make them more harmonious and less rigid. two fonts where also compared to show the small differences that make a big difference in the whole 'vibe of the typeface, maintaining the x-line, counterform and contrast.

"Typo_6_Screen and Print".

In this final short lecture I learned about the different mediums of print typography such as A1 posters and also learned about different mediums of screen typography such as websites and apps. I also learned about the differences between mediums of screen and print typography.

Fig 1.9 Type for print

Fig 1.10 Type for Screen

The last part of this lecture I learned about static vs motion typography, static being less expressive than motion.

INSTRUCTIONS

Exercise 1: Type Expression

In Week 1 have selected the 4 words ; time, swing, swim and spark to sketch. When sketching I put the animating into consideration using a different color (red) to show imaginary lines and annotations.(Fig 2.1)

Fig 2.1 Sketches of time, spark, swing and swing

In Week 2 I updated my sketches to create the final 8 sketches (Fig 1.2) so I could start digitalizing my work.

Fig 2.2 Updates sketches of time, spark, swing and swim.

In Week 3 I started experimenting with Adobe Illustrator and making some rough drafts of the words.

Using Different tools such as ' the touch type tool' to adjust the design, spacing, sizes and angles of each letter in the word.

Fig 2.3 Screenshot of the progress from week 3.

In Week 4 I continued with my drafts for my final designs for each design making 1 to 2 digitalization for each sketch. After making all the designs where completed I chose 4 designs( 1 for each word).

Fig 2.4 Drafts for the final.

Fig 2.5 Final chosen designs

In Week 4 I also started sketching the frames for the animations to get an idea on how to animate the designs. For 'Time' the I rotates like the hand of a clock, for 'Swing' the word swings from left to right using the dot in the 'i' as a pivot point, for 'Swim' each letter swims to each other and for 'Spark' there is an outline of a spark that sparks over the word 'Spark'.

Fig 2.6 The sketches of the animation slides

Final Type Expressions
Fig 2.7 Final Type expressions.

In Week 5 I started animating the chosen word out of my 4 final expressions, 'swing' in Adobe Photoshop.

Fig 2.8 Animation process.

Final animated expression:

Fig 2.9 'Swing' animation.

Exercise 2: Text Formatting

In Week 5 watched the videos 'Typo_Ex' Formatting' 1 To 4.

In the first video I learned how kern and track in Adobe InDesign and was given a Task to learn how to do so (Fig 3.1)
In the second video I learned about how to make an attractive page layout.
In the third video I learned about adjusting hyphenation in justified text.
In the last video I learned about the page layout.

Fig 3.1 Kerning task.

I also has to make 6 layouts for exercise 2 so the best one could be selected as my final for exercise 2 by my tutor in Week 6 class.

6 drafts:

In week 5 I needed do the final kerning Adjustments for the final chosen layout (layout 3) for Exercise 2.

Final layout for Exercise 2:
Fig 3.2 JPEG with gridlines

Fig 3.3 JPEG without gridlines

Final layout for Exercise 2 (PDF):

Details for Exercise 2:

HEAD LINE
Font/s: Bembo Std
Type Size/s: 72 pt
Leading: 36 pt
Paragraph spacing: 0

BODY

Font/s: Bembo Std
Type Size/s: 9 pt
Leading: 11 pt
Paragraph spacing: 11 pt
Characters per-line: 57
Alignment: left justified Margins: 123 mm top, 26 mm left + right + bottom
Columns: 2
Gutter: 10 mm

FEEDBACK

Week 2 : Format of the E-Portfolio is in correct, please amend following the exemplary portfolio example shared. (Include Table of content, Feedback, Reflection and Further Reading as well); Module Information Booklet needs to be public access to be viewable; Sketches are approved and please proceed to digitization.

Week 3 :Improve and add more to the Drafts for the Expressions.

Week 4 :Finnish the Drafts for the Expressions and chose the final 4 to start animating 2 of the 4 final expressions. Make final animation less jumpy and more fluid.

Week 5 :Finnish Exercise 2 and complete E-Portfolio by Monday week 6.

REFLECTION

Experience

Overall this task got me understanding the basics of typography. I was able to understand the whole concept of the task quite quickly and all my struggles were resolved on time.

Observations

In Task 1: Exercise 1 I learned a lot not just from the lectures and further reading but mostly from tutorials, trial and error, previous work of students by viewing their e portfolio and feedback given by the teacher . This really showed me learning is not only about reading and watching lectures but also doing it myself getting it wrong and trying again. This task i struggled to stay on track because I did not know what was due for when next time il keep a closer look at the Teams and Module Information to keep with my Deadlines.

In Task: Exercise 2 I learned more about the longer text formatting this time around I depended a lot on the video tutorials on formatting provided and some I found online myself. I had better time management for this assignment and was able to get this part of the task done quickly and all issues were resolved by questioning my tutor.

Findings

I found out Many new things such as even the smallest details in a letter form make a big difference in the whole type form, how contrast improves legibility, how using kerning and letterspacing makes a big difference in both short and long text and the anatomy of a typeface.