Typography: Task 1 / Exercises 1 & 2

7/4/2023 - 12/5/2023 / Week 1 - Week 6 

Ee Chern Jun / 0338542

Bachelor of Mass Communication (Hons) Digital Media Production

Task 1: Exercise 1 & 2

---

Figure1.0 Thumbnail

LECTURES NOTES

WEEK 1

TYPOGRAPHY: DEVELOPMENT / TIMELINE

1. Early letterform development: Phoenician to Roman

• Phoenicia
  n: Scratching into wet clay using a sharpened stick or carving into a stone using a chisel

Figure1.1 Evolution of Phoenician Letter

• Uppercase letterforms: A simple combination of straight lines and pieces of circles, as the materials and tools of early writing required.

2. The Direction of Writing

• Phoenicians / First True Alphabet: Right to Left 
• The Greeks / Boustrophedon: Left to Right and Right to Left

Figure 1.2 Style of 'Boustrophedon'

• Figure1.2: Lines were read and write alternately from right to left and left to right.

2(i). The Method of Writing

Figure 1.3 Evolution from Phoenician to Roman

• Etruscan: Roman Carvers use a paintbrush to draw the letterforms before inscribing them. 
• While they crave it, the size and material of the tools form a change in the weight and quality of the alphabet from vertical to horizontal.

3. Hand Script from 3rd - 10th-century C.E.

• Square Capitals: Found in Roman monuments. The letter has Serifs added to finish off the main strokes.

Figure1.4 Square Capitals: 4th or 5th century

• Compressed Square Capitals / Rustic Capital: saved time when writing and increased the number of words that could fit on a parchment sheet by two. Yet since they were compressed, they were a little more difficult to read.

Figure1.5 Rustic Capital: Late 3rd - 4th mid century

• Uncials: Small letters were easier to read at small sizes because they incorporated elements of the Roman cursive hand.

Figure1.6 Uncials: 4th - 5th century

• Half-uncials: The formal beginning of lowercase letterforms, replete with ascenders and descenders

Figure1.7 Half-uncials: C.500

• Charlemagne: The first unifier of Europe since the Romans, entrusted Alcuin of York, Abbot of St Martin of Tours to standardize all ecclesiastical texts such as uppercase and lowercase letters, capitalization, and punctuation which named "Caroline minuscule".

Figure1.8 Charlemagne

Figure1.9 Caroline minuscule C.925

5. Blackletter to Gutenberg’s Type

• Blackletter: A condensed strong vertical letterform 
• Gutenberg: Create pages that closely resembled the scribe's handwriting.

6. Text Type Classification

Figure1.10 Text Type Classifications

#Interesting Facts: 

• Writing, any tools or material that we are holding in our hand that can be used to create the fonts! 
• Lowercase Letter was formed because of writing fast!

WEEK 2

TYPOGRAPHY: TEXT 

1. Tracking: Kerning and Letterspacing

• Tracking: Addition or removal of space in a word or a sentence

Figure2.0 Types of Tracking

• Kerning: Automatically adjust the space between letters.

Figure2.1 Types of Kerning

• Letterspacing: Addition of space between letters.

2. Formatting Text

• Centered: Aligned to the center of a column or page. It can be used to create a sense of balance and symmetry to both ends of any line, which creates a strong shape on the page.

Figure2.2 Centered text with ragging on the left and right.

• Flush left: Aligned to the left margin of a column or page. Each line begins at the same point and ends where the previous word on the line leaves off. The text has consistent word spacing, which enables the type to produce an even grey value.

Figure2.3 Text flushed left, ragged right.

• Flush Right: Aligned to the right margin of a column or page. Each line is emphasized at the end of the line as opposed to the start, which is useful in situations like ‘Caption’. 

Figure2.4 Text flushed right, ragged left.

• Justified: Aligned to both the left and right margins of a column or page. Each line modifies the amount of space between words and, occasionally, between letters. Because of the lines' consequent openness, the text occasionally has vertical "rivers" of white space.

Figure2.5 Justified Text

3. Texture

Figure2.6 Anatomy of A Typeface

Different typefaces suit different messages. 

A good typographer has to know which typeface best suits the message at hand. In comparison to a type with a relatively smaller x-height or lighter stroke, a type with a relatively generous x-height or heavy stroke produces a darker mass on the page. Sensitivity to these color contrasts is essential for producing effective layouts.

    Figure2.7 Difference in Gray Value In Between Typefaces

4. Leading and Line Length 

• Type size:  Should be large enough to be readable at arm's length.
• Leading:  The space between adjacent lines of the typeface.
• Line length:  The number of characters in a line and keep the line length between 55-65 characters.

Figure2.8 Reference of Line Length

5. Type Specimen Book

A book shows samples of typefaces in various different sizes. It provide an accurate reference for type, type size, type leading, type line length, etc.

To clearly see the link between ascenders on one line and descenders on the line below, it is helpful to magnify the font on the screen by 400%. It is recommended to print off an actual page of the result if it is on a printed page so you may carefully examine the specifics. The judging kind on screen is accurate if the results are displayed.

Figure2.9 Sample Type Specimen

#Interesting Facts: 

• A field of type should occupy as much space as the photograph used.
• "If you see the type before you see the words, change the type."

WEEK 3

TYPOGRAPHY: TEXT 

1. Indicating Paragraphs

• ‘Pilcrow’: A holdover from the medieval manuscripts which used to indicate paragraph spacing. 

Figure3.0 Pilcrow shown in paragraph

• Line Spacing (Leading): Cross-alignment is achieved when the leading and paragraph spacing is the same size.
• Line Spacing: Space from the baseline of a sentence to the descender of the next sentence.
• Leading:  Space between two sentences.

    Figure3.1 Line Spacing V.S Leading

• Standard Indentation: Indent is the same size of line spacing or the point size of the text.

Figure3.2 Example of Indentation

• Extended Paragraphs: Create unusually wide columns of text and compelling compositional or functional justification for the selection.

Figure3.3 Example of Extended Paragraph

2. Widows and Orphans 

• Widows: Short line of type that is left alone at the end of the column of the text 
• Orphans: Short line that is left alone at the beginning of the column

Figure3.4 Example of Widows and orphans.

3. Highlighting Text

Different kinds of emphasis require different kinds of contrast. Common examples include:

• Italics
• Bold - Same typeface
• Bold - Different typeface
• Different Color
• Quotation marks

Figure3.5 Example of Highlighting Text between Bolded paragraph.

4. Headline within Text

• A head: Creates a clear break between topics within a section.
• B head: Indicates a new supporting argument or example for the topic at hand. Subordinate to A head.
• C head: Shown in small caps, italics, serif bold, and sans serif bold. Specifically highlights facets of material within B head text.

Figure 3.6 Example of A head.

Figure 3.7 Example of B head.

Figure 3.8 Example of C head.

5. Cross Alignment 

The architectural feeling of the page or structure is reinforced while the complementary vertical rhythms are articulated by cross-aligning headlines and captions with text type.

Figure3.9 Cross Alignment of Highlighted Text & Body of Text

#Interesting Fact: 

• Design student should use the name leading in typography.

WEEK 4

TYPOGRAPHY: BASIC

1. Letterforms 

• Baseline: Imaginary line, the visual base of the letterforms.
• Median: Imaginary line defining the x-height of letterforms.
• X-height: The height in any typeface of the lowercase 'x'.
• Stroke: Any line that defines the basic letterforms.
• Apex / Vertex: The point created by joining two diagonal stems.
• Arm: Short strokes off the stem of the letterform. [horizontal / inclined upward]
• Ascender: The portion of the stem of a lowercase letterform that projects above the median.
• Barb: The half-serif finish on some curved stroke.
• Beak: The half-serif finish on some horizontal arms.
• Bowl: The rounded form that describes a counter. [can be either opened / closed]
• Bracket: The transition between serif and the stem.
• Cross Bar: The horizontal stroke in a letterform that joins two stems together.
• Crotch: The interior space where two strokes meet.
• Descender: The portion of the stem of a lowercase letterform that projects below the baseline.
• Em: Distance equal to the size of the typeface.
• En: Half the size of a em.
• Ligature: Character formed by the combination of two or more letterforms.
• Spine: The curved stem of the 'S'.
• Stress: The orientation of the letterform, indicated by the thin stroke in round forms.
• Swash: The flourish that extends the stroke of the letterform.
• Terminal: Self-contained finish of a stroke without serif.

2. The Font

• Uppercase: Capital letters including certain accented vowels.
• Lowercase: Same characters as uppercase.
• Small Capitals:  Uppercase letterforms drawn to the x-height. Found in serif fonts.
• Uppercase Numerals: Lining figures. Same height as uppercase letters. Have the same kerning width.
• Lowercase Numerals: Old style / text figures, set to x-height with ascenders and descenders.
• Italic: Refer back to the 15th century Italian cursive handwriting. Oblique based on the roman form of the typeface.
• Punctuation / Miscellaneous Characters: It’s important to ensure that all the characters are available in a typeface before choosing the appropriate type for a particular job.
• Ornaments: Used as flourishes in invitation or certificates.

3. Describing Typefaces

• Roman: Uppercase forms are derived from inscriptions of Roman monuments.
• Book: Uppercase forms which lightly lighter stroke in Roman.
• Italic: Named for 15th century Italian handwriting on which the forms are based. 
• Boldface / Semi bold / Medium: Characterized by a thicker stroke than a roman form.
• Light:  A lighter stroke than the roman form.
• Thin: A Even lighter strokes than 'light'.
• Condense: A version of the roman form.
• Compressed: An extremely condense styles
• Extended: An extended variation of a roman font.

Figure4.0 Some examples of Typefaces

4. Comparing Typefaces

Each result of selection is distinct due to the aggregation of the many options that result from the variances between the fonts. Choosing the right typeface for a certain subject is a decision that must be made based on one's feelings, study, and inquiry.

Figure4.1 Total 10 fonts used in this course.

WEEK 5

TYPOGRAPHY: LETTERS

1. Understanding Letterforms

The uppercase letter form suggests symmetry, but it is not symmetrical; it is easy to see the two different stroke weights of the Baskerville stroke form, and more noteworthy is the fact that each bracket connecting the serif to the stem has a unique arc.

Figure 5.0: Diagram of an Uppercase letter form in Baskerville font

A close examination shows that the width of the left slope is thinner than the right stroke demonstrates that a type designer must be very meticulous to create letterform that is internally harmonious and expressive.

Figure 5.1: Diagram of an Uppercase letter form in Univers font

The complexity of individual letterforms can be demonstrated by examining the lowercase 'a' in two seemingly similar sans-serif typefaces, Helvetica and Univers. A comparison reveals differences in how the stems of the letterforms finish and how the bowls meet the stems quickly.

Figure5.2 Helvetica on the left and Univers on the right.

2. Maintaining X-height

• X-height:  The size of the lowercase letterforms.
• Curved strokes: such as in ‘s’, rise above the median line or drop below the baseline, in order to appear to be the same size as the vertical and horizontal strokes they adjoin.

Figure5.3 Example of Curved Alphabet

3. Letter form / Counter form

Developing attention to the counter form, which refers to the space described and often contained by the strokes of a letterform, is crucial. It becomes particularly important when working with letterforms that lack counters, such as the lowercase "r."

Understanding the concept of counter form is essential as it pertains to the space between letters that are joined to form words. It plays a significant role in increasing or reducing readability.

Analyzing an existing typeface is a valuable approach to grasp the conventions followed by the type designer regarding counter form and other design elements.

Figure5.4 Example of Counter form

4. Contrast

"The Most Powerful Principle In Design: it refers to the intentional juxtaposition of different elements or qualities to create visual or conceptual distinction.

Figure5.5 Examples of Contrast

WEEK 6

TYPOGRAPHY: DIFFERENT MEDIUM

Typography encompasses both traditional paper mediums and a wide range of digital screens. However, it is greatly influenced by numerous uncertain and variable factors, including operating systems, system fonts, device specifications, screen characteristics, viewport settings, and more. The rendering of typography in the browser adds another layer to our contemporary typographic experience.

When it comes to app or website design, the level of experimentation with typography is often limited.

1. Print Type vs. Screen Type 

Print Type: 

• Designed intended for reading from print long before we read from a screen. 
• Caslon, Garamond, Baskerville, the most common typefaces.
• Not only elegant and intellectual but also highly readable even at small font sizes. 
• It possesses a versatile and easy-to-digest quality, offering neutrality and adaptability.

Figure6.0 Typography in Printed Type

Screen Type: 

• Designed for web usage undergo optimization and often undergo modifications to improve readability and performance across different digital platforms.
• Alterations can involve adjustments such as a taller x-height (or reduced ascenders and descenders), wider letterforms, more open counters, heavier thin strokes and serifs, reduced stroke contrast, as well as modified curves and angles for certain designs.
• Particularly for typefaces intended for smaller sizes, is the incorporation of increased spacing between characters.
• Enhance character recognition and overall readability in non-print environments, including web, e-books, e-readers, and mobile devices.

Figure6.1 Typography in Screen Type

Hyperactive Link / Hyperlink:

• A word/phrase/image that you can click on to jump to a new document or section within the current document. 
• It was found in early all web pages, which are usually blue and underlined by default. and allowing users to click from one page to another page.

Font Size for Screen:

• 16-pixel, about the same size as text printed in a book/magazine
• Printed text is typically set at about 10 points within the reading distance of a few inches away, while at least 12 points within the reading distance of arm's length

System Fonts for Screen/ Web Safe Fonts: 

• Each device comes with its own pre-installed font selection. 
• Such as Windows, macOS and Google's own Android system have their own system font
• Fonts: Open Sans, Lato, Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Times, Courier New, Courier, Verdana, Georgia, Palatino, Garamond

Pixel Differential between Devices

• The screens used by our PCs, tablets, phones and TVs are not only different sizes, but the text you see on-screen differs in proportion too because they have different sized pixels.
• For example, 100 pixels on a laptop is very different from 100 pixels on a big 60' HDTV

Figure6.2 Pixel Differential between Devices.

2. Static vs. Motion

Static Typography: Commonly used in mediums like billboards, posters, magazines, and flyers, possesses minimal characteristics for expressing words. The traditional attributes of bold and italic, although present, only provide a fraction of the expressive potential compared to the dynamic properties that can be achieved.

Figure6.3 Example of Static Typography

Motion Typography: Offer Typographer to infuse letterforms with fluidity and kinetic energy. This can be seen in film title credits, where typographic information is presented over time and often brought to life through animation. Additionally, motion graphics, especially in the branding of film and television production companies, increasingly incorporate animated type.

---

INSTRUCTIONS

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y675x97R7nqT7tE_ZOXzSJklG4Hm-cOK/view?usp=share_link

EXERCISES

TASK 1 : EXERCISE 1

TYPE EXPRESSION

We were given the words to make type expressions and we are required to choose four words from: Destroy, Split, Surprise, Love, Silence, Party, and Pause. Our first task is to sketch out the meaning through the letters from the word either digitalize or sketch it on paper.

1. Sketches 

The pictures below are the type expression sketches for the words I chose which are Love, Split, Surprise, and Party. Through my process of sketching, I tried to visually express the meaning of the words by alternating the sizes of the letters, bolding, and trying with different typefaces of the alphabet. 

Figure7.0 Sketch 1

Figure 7.1 Sketch 2

From the selection of the words, I tried to begin my sketches with the word Love. The reason I started with Love is because I feel like this is the easiest expression words among the other candidates. 

Love:

#1 - Simple linking of four letters and switching the alphabet "o" change to a love shape. 

#2 - While drawing a big heart shape, I try to make the alphabet outline to become a big heart shape. 

#3 - I tried to imagine the alphabet "o" as a engaged ring and put the rest of the letters as accessories. 

#4 - Using the letter of capital "L" to draw a vertical love and involve the remaining letters. 

#5 - Bold and fluffy letters define as two person kissing together with the alphabet "E".

#? - The internal part is "ove" which combine as a ring and "L" is the border or box which covering the ring. 

Later, I try to express with other words. For example, Split, Surprise, and Party. Split is one of the words that are easy to understand and express, therefore it is my second choice in this sketches process. Surprise is something I would like to do for my family and friends and Party is the word that having similar explanation as Surprise. 

Split:

#1 - Crossing the word with only one line, but the feeling of this expression is more towards " slice"

#2 - Having a lot of cut in each letters to show a different textures of the word. 

#3 - Consistence blanks in each alphabet to make it look split. 

#4 - Other than just crossing with one line like #1, it have bigger gaps and distance to show that it is split. 

Surprise:

#1 - We usually surprise people by volume up and open our mouth, so the letter "S" is like the tones when we transfer this word from our mouth

#2 - Other than shouting, the "S" can present like a megaphone to express the excitement of the meaning of surprise. 

Party:

#1 - Party hat is what we will use in the celebration and the capital letter "A" is more alike with the triangle hat. 

#2 - Going to more graphic, we will have fancy glass for any gathering. Yet, I use letter "Y" which are the best expression among the alphabet. 

2. Digitization

After watching the recording from week 2 classes, I received some points from Mr. Vinod while he commenting others' feedback. Therefore, I try to redesign my sketches and try to work with other words.

Figure 7.3 Digital Draft Ideas

Love

I tried to use lesser graphic from the word love and played around with the letter "L" which similar to my first hand draw draft. The font I am using for this word is Regular, Gill Sans MT. 

To draw the heart shape and make it visible, I used two alphabet "O", compress it, and make the internal circle look bigger. For the remaining letters are depends on the heart shape could cover all the expression or both half of the heart shape are linking to each other with "ove". 

Unfortunately, during the brainstorm process, I couldn't think of any new and simple sketch idea for this word. Yet, I tried with the word Silence. 

Silence

This word give me a idea of making it simple, mystery, and aesthetic feel. I tried with Regular, Adobe Caslon Pro. Not only make it look more simplify, I tried to make with different shade of colors to make it have more layers so that it turns out will not be flat. 

From left to right of the third draft in the first row, the idea is to combine the paralanguage of "shhhh" and adjust the shading as well as opacity of the letters to express as the tone of the words while coming from our mouth. 

In the second row last box, the word can be seen that the lowercase alphabet "i" only have the "." and the remaining "I" can take from the outline of "n". 

All of the sketches are including a "." (full stop) behind is because silence equal to quite which mean that after we develop this word to the environment, it should be no more sound or noises. Therefore, is a end.    

Figure 7.4 Digital Draft Ideas

Pause

Another new word that I tried to develop some new sketches on it and the only graphic that represent pause is "II" and while we pause, some device might show the triangle that representing the action of "play". I used Futura Std in Light, Medium, and Medium Condensed. 

In the first row, the first draft is simple and understandable. Second idea is to make it slowly invisible due to the meaning of the word will be freeze after the action. Last idea in the first row, I am thinking to make the letter "U" as the "II" sign among the word and it is the darkness alphabet in there compared to the remaining one. 

After exploring the idea from the last box in first row, I decided to make the letter "u" as the sign of the pause and simplify it by trying the different of color, the different length, and different shading. 

Figure 7.5 Digital Draft Ideas

Surprise

From collaborating my ideas from my hand drawn sketches, I remain to express this word from the tone of the excitement of the word by using Gill Sans MT, Bold. 

The first two of the sketches are trying with developing the different syllabus of pronouncing which matching with the tones. It is more simplify and understandable. 

The last box of first row which I tried to do a mirror extraction from the word and adding more "e" at the end to make it look like a megaphone. Moving on to the next draft, I added the idea of megaphone and involve different scale, lines, shades, and strokes. 

During the process of including megaphone concept, I thinking of confetti which we will be normally use in our celebration as a props to surprise our target. This result in trying to express in the style of using confetti and exploding vibe. 

Figure 7.6 Digital Draft Ideas

Split

As mentioned above, Mr. Vinod suggest us to not using a lot of graphics so I will stick with my first hand drawn draft and transfer it to digital style. There is two type of fonts which used in this expression are Univers LT Std and Serifa Std. 

The first idea is just increasing the tracking number to 500 and make the every letter have more distance to each other which easily identify the definition of this word. 

The second and third box of first row expression is extending the alphabet by lines from their top and bottom. This idea is to show that the letters are expanding by splitting by themselves individually. However, I feel like the difference between alphabet "I" and "L" are not clearly shown as a different words. So, I decided to lessen the extension of lines to make it more clear. 

Sketches in the bottom row is my revision of sketches from my first hand draft and I just enhance it in illustrator to see the outcome.  

2.1 Final Digital Type Expression 

Figure7.7 Final Type Expression

https://drive.google.com/file/d/190OeMkBrxX-2cB-CZKhU7AiLshgzdQKi/view?usp=share_link

3. Text Animation
I tried the word Surprise as the text animation because I feel like is it clearly describe as the confetti from the expression of the word. 

Figure 7.8 Animated "surprise" GIF

After the letter "S" go up and explode as a lot of different scale and colors of letters and waving down. I redesign the letter "S" to make it look more like ribbon with different shading to creates the shadow. However, Mr. Vinod suggest me to change the letter of "S" to the original one and add more frame to create a more details animation. 

Figure7.9 Animation Storyboard

After getting the feedbacks from Mr. Vinod, I changed the letter "S" to original and compress it to be thinner. Besides, I added few more frames in between to make sure it travelling smoothly as well as add three more frame for the last pose so it wont replay immediately. 

3.1 Final GIF Animation

Figure 7.10 Final Text Animation

TASK 1 : EXERCISE 2

1. TEXT FORMATTING

After we complete the exercise for Expression and Animation, we started working on the second task by practicing with the technique of kerning and tracking by the recorded video posted from Mr. Vinod. 

Figure8.0 - First Trial with 10 Fonts

In the video, Mr. Vinod encourage us to start the practice by using our name and the keyboard to present kerning and tracking. After that, we also watched the rest of the videos to understand what is cross-alignment, perfect line length, proper letterspacing and paragraph spacing, leading, good headline and byline as well as a comfortable layout.

Later, I started to try on my own with arranging all the elements in InDesign after I downloaded the file from Facebook and understand the content of it. On top of that, I also search up some references in the Facebook group to get an idea of how people arrange their article and try to get some inspiration. 

Figure8.1 Layout Draft

Figure8.2 Layout Draft

Figure8.3 Layout Draft

Figure8.4 Layout Draft

The images above were the first exercise that I tried to explore the different type of possible layout with the image that I have chosen which are suitable with the content of the article. The body paragraph that I am using is Futura Std because I feel like it is simple without the extra border or stroke in this font. Moreover, I tried to use different type of characters to build in with the body paragraph. 

During the first feedback from Mr. Vinod, he said that the cross alignment were not successful and Figure8.2 was the best arrangement among the other three practices I have made. 

1.1 Final Text Formatting

• HEAD
• Font/s: ITC Garamond Std, Ultra
• Type Size/s: 23 pt, 48 pt
• Leading: 20 pt
• Paragraph spacing: 0

• BODY
• Font/s: Futura Std, Book
• Type Size/s: 9.5 pt, Capitalized letter: 9 pt
• Leading: 11 pt
• Paragraph spacing: 11.5 pt
• Characters per-line: 60
• Alignment: Flushed Left
• Margins of Top, Bottom, Inside, Out: 12.7 mm
• Columns: 4
• Gutter: 4.233 mm

Figure8.5 Final Layout with Grids.JPEG

Figure8.6 Final Layout with Grids.PDF

Figure8.7 Final Layout without Grids.JPEG

Figure8.8 Final Layout without Grids.PDF

After digest the feedbacks from Mr. Vinod, I tried to focus on the figure8.1 layout to edit with all the changes by focusing on making the body paragraphs balance and visible. 

For example, I rearrange the leading and paragraph space to make sure it is align with the grids, I also highlighted most of the capitalized letters to make it 0.5 pt smaller than the rest of the words to make it look synchronize with each other, and I used the technique of kerning & tracking to adjust the spacing of each lines and some of the alphabet. 

Furthermore, I changed  the heading to the same font and I have chosen ITC Garamond Std is because it has a lot of different typeface to explore and express different meaning of words. Such as differentiating the heading and the author name, the importance of the meaning for the word to show on screen. 

---

FEEDBACK

Week 2

• General Feedback: 
• From the recorded recording, I wrote down some notes like we need to label each sketches accordingly. Also, the use of color will not be conveyed in this exercise and must avoid the use of graphics, distortion, as well as illustration.

Week 3 

• General Feedback: 
• Public holiday and we do not have compulsory class, but Mr.Vinod did provide us a feedback session and guiding us to update our progress through Facebook Group. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend due to my schedule to oversee I am on the road. 

Week 4 

• General Feedback:
• Animation should stay for 2 to 3 seconds at the last frame so it do not loop right away to have a complete presentation. One second of motion will have 25 frame which shows that more frame will result to have a more detailed and smoother work. 

• Specific Feedback: 
• Little amendment to be made for the word "Surprise", the idea of confetti is good but change the designed shape of "S" to the original font of alphabet "S".

Week 5 

• General Feedback:
• Make sure the everything is even and balance between letters and lines such as leading, paragraph spacing, used of font & font size. Use the advantage of small capital letter for capital letter to make everything equal. Additionally, text and layout can be more dynamism to enhance the texture of whole exercise. Also, never use bold, italic, condensed style for the whole body paragraph. 

• Specific Feedback:
• The better alignment for this exercise is left align or left align justified. Letters spacing need to be equal, adjust the cut word and be careful of the cross alignment, refer back to lecture video.

---

REFLECTIONS

Experiences

This is my first time taking design module as a free elective subject. Throughout these few weeks, I notice that being a design school student is not easy and every steps were taken in the process are very vital for us to growth and keep track what we had done. While exploring different exercises and practices, we can find out more ideas and points to enhance our skills. Throughout these week of doing this two exercises, I understand that going through step by step is very important. Especially the lecture video playlist posted by Mr. Vinod is one of the most useful and knowledgeable method to involved in our assignment one. The first exercise, type expression, is a challenging task for me. Because we will need to really understand what we trying to express about and I did not get the chance to join the classes in week 2, that's why I have missed out the most important feedback time with Mr. Vinod and only could watch the recording from other classes to get the points that he try to elaborate. From the sketches, digitization until the animation stage, I believe animation stage will be slightly relax for me because I have done this before and know the technique of using Adobe Photoshop. In exercise two, the major guideline is to complete the task stage by stage and did it according to the rules including the formatting, font size, line length, and more.  

Observations

Through the practices by using illustration and InDesign, I observed that I am improving my skills to utilize the elements in both application. Especially the short-cut button to active the tools to do editing and acknowledge the usage of more tools in the software which could help me in the future. Although I remembered Mr. Vinod said that Futura is not one of his preference fonts, but I realize that I like the typefaces which look highly geometric, clean, and precise proportions. In the process of learning from our classmate, I realize that a lot of them are very creative and able to express the outcome that they want. I am trying to develop this attitude to my upcoming projects to seek for more improvement as a non-design school student.    

Findings 

All in all, in the weeks of burning midnight oils and receiving comments from Mr. Vinod. I realized that the typography is the appearance of how you want the text to be presented by it's audience, like what is the feeling, thoughts, questions, understanding of the person who see your words, articles, designed logo. A good typography establish a very strong visual hierarchy with the balance graphics, layers, tones, scale, and opacity which I started to realize that typography is very important as we could see it in everywhere and anytime in our daily life.  

---

FUTHER READING

1. "A Type Primer" 2nd Edition by John Kane

I started with this book which Mr. Vinod use it for the first lecture and it catch my interest in searching for the details of this book as Mr. Vinod said it is a book that provides an introduction to typography for beginners which suit someone like me who do not have any foundation in design. 

Figure9.0 The Book's Cover

The book is divided into three sections: 

• Understanding Typography: evolution of typography and the importance of typography in communication design
• The Anatomy of Type: the anatomy of type, including the characteristics and classification of typefaces, as well as the terminology used to describe typography
• Using Type: type effectively, including tips for typography design and layout

After viewing the book, I gave it 8/10 because it is accessible and easy to understand with a lots of examples and graphics given. 

Figure9.1 Explanation of The Origins of Type Units

Figure9.2 Explanation of Cross Alignment

2. "Typographic Design: Form and Communication" by Rob Carter, Ben Day and Philip B. Meggs

Going into another book which I saw it from senior's work and I feel like it could help me with the proportion, structure, grids, and spacing which could develop in exercise two.

Figure9.3 The Book's Cover

This book contains several chapters but I only focus on Chapter Four & Chapter Five ( pg65 - pg100). 

Chapter Four

The columns and margins:

A layout is governed by the proportion of the column height to weight texture like the tactile appearance of the type and tone from the differences of lightness and weight of the typeface.  

Figure9.4 Explanation of margins

Figure9.5 Explanation of proportion with words and graphics

Chapter Five

Typographic Hierarchy:

Creating visual hierarchy through typographic elements to show the different textures.

Using size, weight, and style variations to establish a clear hierarchy.

Figure9.6 Explanation of the effects of outcome