Typography / Task 3: Type Design & Communication

22.10.2022 – 20.11.2022 / Week 9 – Week 12
Hewr Khaled Mohamed Walid Bayazid / 0337650
Typography / B' of Mass Comm (Hons) (Broadcasting)
Task 3: Type Design & Communication

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LECTURES

Refer to Task 1.

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INSTRUCTIONS

TASK 3 / Type Design & Communication

"You will endeavour to create a typeface that has the hallmarks of a good typeface; subtlety, character, presence, legibility and readability. Below are the letters you will design: "a e t k g r i y m p n ! # , .". Upon completion of the font, you will create a basic A4 size poster displaying your font."
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Research
The first thing I did before working on my sketches was looking at various fonts for inspiration. I did not have a specific idea in mind regarding what I wanted to create, so I looked at different styles.

Fig 1.1, Visual References, (15/10/2022)

I also did some further reading (refer to Fig 6.1) to help me as I develop my own typeface.

Sketches

After doing research, I came up with the following five sketches using different tools on Illustrator:

Fig 2.1, Sketches, (17/10/2022)

While I initially wanted to create something elegant, I decided it would be best to create something simple, and execute it well, as this was my first time developing a typeface. Thus, my top 2 choices were sketches #2 and #3.

After consulting Mr. Vinod, I decided to go with sketch #3.

Digitisation

Before digitising my sketch, I decided to deconstruct Bodoni's letters 'm' and 't' as I thought Bodoni was most similar to my sketch in terms of the contrast in stroke widths.

Fig 3.1, Letter Deconstruction, (18/10/2022)

After deconstructing the letters, I then began constructing my own. I first set my guidelines for the baseline, x-height, ascenders, descenders and cap height. Then, I started by constructing the letter 'a' using the shapes tool, which I used as the basis for creating the other letters as well.

I first completed the set of letters and punctuation without any customisations.

Fig 3.2, Digitisation Process #1, (21/10/2022)

I then started uniting the shapes and fixing the letters that needed to be fixed. Then, I began customising the letters to make them similar to my sketch, but after making the strokes thicker, I did not really like how it looked. Thus, I decided to go with a slightly different direction.

Before settling on a specific look, I created many many variations:

Fig 3.3, Digitisation Process #2, (23/10/2022)

Fig 3.4, Digitisation Process #3, (23/10/2022)

Finally, this was my first completed outcome:

Fig 3.5, Typeface Outcome #1, (25/10/2022)

After feedback from Mr. Vinod, I adjusted some of the letters, as well as the punctuation.

FontLab

After finalising the design of my typeface on Illustrator, I began the process of developing and exporting my font using FontLab.

However, after pasting the letters, kerning each of glyphs as instructed, I realised that some of the letters sit very awkwardly next to each other due to my design (as seen in the word 'me' below), which I had not noticed while designing my typeface.

Fig 4.1, FontLab Process #1, (07/11/2022)

Therefore, I had to go back to Illustrator and readjust some of the letters. After doing so, I repeated the entire process on FontLab again.

Poster

After exporting my font, which I decided to name 'Northwest', and installing it on my laptop, I created a poster as instructed.

FINAL Task 3: Type Design & Communication

Download font here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Oq6nzqPBPfTWHeCGtBgu1HzqNDhKrqQZ/view?usp=share_link

Fig 5.1, FontLab Screengrab, (13/11/2022)

Fig 5.2, Final Task 3A: Type Design and Communication "Northwest" (jpg), (13/10/2022)

Fig 5.3, Final Task 3A: Type Design and Communication "Northwest" (PDF), (13/10/2022)

Fig 5.4, Final Poster (jpg), (13/10/2022)

Fig 5.5, Final Poster (PDF), (13/10/2022)

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FEEDBACK

WEEK 7
General feedback: Mr. Vinod explained to us what an ‘ink trap’ is. He also mentioned that one of the characteristics of a good typeface is not having sharp points.

WEEK 8
Independent-learning week

WEEK 9
General feedback: Mr. Vinod said that while digitising our typeface, we should first create the basic structure of the letters/characters before we tweak and add minor elements and so.
Specific feedback: (Sketch #3) A little too thin, you can’t even see the lines. So first of all, the thick strokes need to be thicker, and the thin strokes need to be a lot more thicker (at the minimum, they should be as thick as the thick strokes). This is almost mimicking calligraphic strokes, right? Except that the angle of the pen is kind of flat instead of it being a 30-degree angle. My suggestion here would be to increase the thickness. I would suggest using a pen (4.0 artline) and if you draw out the letterforms, you would be able to imagine them better. The ’t’ is too tall, it needs to be shorter. You might also want to consider introducing a stroke that is diagonal towards the end. // (Sketch #2) Does not strike me as the kind of typeface that wouldn’t have a counter. I think it might look better if it does have a counter. It is an interesting typeface, it reminds me of those old initial writing kind of typefaces where they never used much curves.

WEEK 10
Specific feedback: It’s fairly consistent, but maybe you might want to try increasing this (rounded corners - m) as opposed to having it straight and flat. The rest are fine, generally this is supposed to be higher up (bottom stroke of letter ‘k’) and the leg is longer, but that’s a design decision. This (exclamation mark) is incorrect, it needs to be tapered. The tail (comma) needs to be thicker. This (stroke of letter ‘r’) should probably go from thin to thick. This one (the dot of the letter ‘i’) - keep it square. You don’t need to round one corner, it looks a bit weird. Generally quite consistent.

WEEK 11
Specific feedback: Relatively consistent, however the letter 't' is too long. The rest are fine. Interesting typeface- interesting take I would say. Nice exclamation mark.

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REFLECTION

Experience
This task by far has been the most challenging one. While I was very excited in the beginning about the idea of creating my own typeface, I quickly realised that it was not easy. I had also caught Covid-19 while working on this task and was very ill, which hindered my progress. While I am not extremely happy about the typeface I have designed, I tried my best to make it consistent and legible. It is also my very first typeface design, so I am proud of my outcome regardless.

Observations
While working on this task, I looked at various typefaces and tried to observe the characteristics of each individual letter. As a result, I noticed many things which I was previously unaware of. For example, I never noticed that the letter 't' is usually shorter than the other letters. I also enjoyed seeing the work of my classmates, as each design was very different from the other.

Findings
While the process of designing and developing a typeface was a difficult one, I believe I learnt the most while working on this task. As we were required to construct letters from scratch, this made me realise the different nuances and characteristics of each letter. Additionally, we had to utilise not only our creativity, but technical skills as well. While I am familiar with Illustrator, I found myself learning new things as I was designing my typeface.

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FURTHER READINGS

Fig 6.1, Typographic design: Form and communication (2015)

As Mr. Vinod strongly suggested the book 'Typographic design: Form and communication', I decided to read sections of it on a weekly basis.

Fig 6.2, Typographic Design Process: A Traditional Model (222 p.)

I first read this chapter to know how to go about the design process. This chapter talks about five steps, taken from a well-known model. These steps are: defining, gathering, ideating, synthesising and realising. However, it does state that this process is not linear, and more often than not, designers approach the designing process in a highly individual manner. I often find myself going back and forth as I design, so understanding that this is normal, and a part of the process, has helped me work more confidently.

Fig 6.3, The Evolution of Typographic Technology: Digital Typesetting (128 p.)

To better understand how text is composed, I decided to read about the history of digital typesetting. In this chapter, the book talks about the use of the grid, and how the shape of each letter is defined as a certain number of distinct points. The more the points, the better the resolution.

Fig 6.4, Typographic Design Process: A Typographic Expedition (242 p.)

I was first unsure how to go about sketching my ideas, which is why I read this page. However, while I attempted to use a grid for my sketches, I found it limiting my explorations (as in my head, I had to follow the grid), so I decided to first sketch my ideas on a plain white spread.

Fig 6.5, Typography on Screen: Rendering Type on Screen (136 p.)

While skimming through the book, I came across this chapter and I thought the pixelated letters looked quite interesting, which is why I decided to read this page. What I've learnt about pixel fonts is that they can be useful for small on-screen text, as they can be designed to maximise legibility when pixelated. They are also known to express computer technology (due to their look), which is why they are often used as display fonts.

Fig 6.6, Typographic Design Education: Flowering Typography (199 p.)

I thought seeing as many references as possible would help inspire me, as well as help me as I developed my own typeface. Although the typeface I have designed is very different to the ones in the above page, I decided to read this chapter because I thought it would help me understand how differently you can go about designing a typeface. My takeaway from this chapter was the importance of the relationship between positive and negative space, and how that can be utilised in design.