Typography // Task 3: Type Design and Communication

17/10/2022 – 06/11/2022 // Week 8–Week 10

Hasnol Rafiq Bin Hasnol Raduan / 0356767

Typography / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's Design School
Task 3: Type Design and Communication

LECTURES

Lecture notes - Task 1: Exercises

Typography Briefing & Demo

We were tasked with conducting in-depth research and deconstructing two to three of the required letter formats. It was suggested that we pick more complicated letter shapes to dissect; essentially, an ascender and a descender would provide us a solid foundation from which to work. 

We must give designs that are representational of the letters we will be developing, plus a few carefully chosen letters that show potential design.

INSTRUCTIONS

We are required to create the letters "a e t k g r i y m p n! # ," for Task 3. This will enable us to create a typeface that is understandable and readable and to create one that has consistent qualities based on research and analysis.

Research on Typeface Design

In order to create fonts, we must first understand what makes a font. The font design must follow the fundamental rules of typography and each typeface sketches must be mindful of these guidelines.

Figure 1.1 - Set Width

Set Width - Each letterform has a predetermined width, which includes the width of the form itself as well as the margins needed on each side to avoid letters overlapping. Units are completely arbitrary measurements that vary from system to system and are used to indicate set widths.

Reference - Kane, John. A Type Primer2nd Ed by John Kane. King, 2011.

Figure 1.2 - Overshoot

Overshoot - In most cases, the major components of a letter are located between the baseline and the x-height, or cap height. When rounded letters (such O or n) stretch just above or just below those lines, that is known as overshoot. The optical effect that results from this tiny overshoot makes the letters appear to be the same size in relation to flat (non-rounded) characters like L or H.

Reference - “The Art of Eyeballing – Part III: Overshooting: Learn – Scannerlicker!” Learn, https://learn.scannerlicker.net/2014/09/03/the-art-of-eyeballing-part-3-overshooting/.

Figure 1.3 - X Height

X Height - One of the various typographic ideas that may be used to aid with text alignment and placement in a project is the phrase "X height." The term "X height" indicates how tall or short glyphs in a font may be by describing the highest point of a lowercase "X" in any typeface. One of the most useful tools for checking the readability of any font is the X height. A character's legibility can be improved or hindered depending on the X height, depending on whether it is large or little. In general, the bigger X height and extra white space will make the typeface easier to read in any situation.

Reference - Peate, Stephen. “What Is X Height in Typography? the Complete x Height Definition.” Fabrik Brands, 26 May 2022, https://fabrikbrands.com/what-is-x-height-in-typography/.

Sketches

Figure 2.1 - Design Sketches, Week 8 (21/10/2022)

I used grids in my font designs because I thought it would help me create a typeface that is appropriate for this purpose.

Figure 2.2 - Design Sketches, Week 8 (21/10/2022)

Figure 2.3 - Design Sketches, Week 8 (21/10/2022)

I made a couple designs using Illustrator after doing some study on font design to make sure they were clean and exact. Design #4 is one of the more preferred designs because, although being rather straightforward, I believe it has a lot of personality. I appreciate the symbolistic style they have, which allows for a more fascinating design, and it is based on ITC New Baskerville Std.

Identify and Deconstruct References

ITC New Baskerville Std is the typeface I've picked as a reference out of the ten that were provided. I used the typeface as a model for my sketch since I felt that it gave me more room to be creative. I've chosen to deconstruct the letters r, t, and n below.

Figure 3.1 - Deconstructed "n" - ITC New Baskerville Std reference, Week 8 (21/10/2022)

Figure 3.2 - Deconstructed "t" - ITC New Baskerville Std reference, Week 8 (21/10/2022)

Figure 3.3 - Deconstructed "r" - ITC New Baskerville Std reference, Week 8 (21/10/2022)

Deconstructing these letters has shown me that, while they appear to be identical, they are not. The 'n' shoulder has an overshoot to create a pleasing curve and make the letter proportional. To make it consistent with 'n,' the shoulder of 'r' is given a minor overshoot. The terminal of 't' is also utilized to achieve the same proportion and consistency effect.

Digitalize Final Font Design

Figure 4.1 - Guides and digitalized font design, Week 9 (21/10/2022)

Measurements (from baseline)
Ascender: 757 pt
Capital height: 670 pt
Median: 500 pt
Descender: -205 pt

Figure 4.2 - Digitalized progress, Week 9 (28/10/2022)

Figure 4.3 - Measuring thickness, Week 9 (28/10/2022)

I created the grids based on the qualities of the letters and are evenly split. Before turning a design into a fully functional typeface, the ascender and descender dimensions are changed for each iteration I create.

Figure 4.4 - Comparing contrasts, Week 9 (28/10/2022)

I made many versions since I wanted to be able to fine-tune the design as much as possible. Even though the intention for my font is to seem like an old typewriter font, I believed the thickness for a, e, g, and p would be too uneven. Personally, I enjoy irregularities, but since the goal of this work is to make a consistent font, I will attempt to produce an aesthetically inconsistent yet consistent font.

Figure 4.5 - Digitalized Font, Week 9 (28/10/2022)

I drew numerous sketches of alternative typefaces, and after deciding that I liked design #6, I decided to digitalize it. Throughout this procedure, I became aware that my designs' ascender heights were considerably shorter than those of ITC New Baskerville. Each of the 15 required characters, which included 11 letters and 4 special characters, was digitally created using Adobe Illustrator. The major goal of this font was to add a touch of grunginess to the design by simulating a sort of imperfect ink design.

Developing The Final Font

Figure 5.1 - Copying and pasting the letters into FontLab 7, Week 10 (31/10/2022)

Following the completion of my typeface, I copied and pasted all of my letters from Adobe Illustrator to FontLab 7. I had to make some small tweaks after I pasted my letters to ensure that everything was in order.

Figure 5.2 - Letter kerning in FontLab 7, Week 10 (31/10/2022)

I had to change the kerning after transferring my design to FontLab 7 since the letters were too close together and had uneven spacing. To assist me with my font, I modified the font information and measurements.

Figure 5.3 - Sample text, Week 10 (31/10/2022)

As soon as I installed the font on my laptop and exported the font, I made the decision to write a sample text to test the font's functionality.

Final Outcome

Now that the typeface had been decided, it was time to design a simple A4 poster exhibiting the font. Ink Dribble is the name I chose for my font family because I wanted it to appear like typewriter ink. The letters are supposed to resemble the irregularities of typewriter ink.

Figure 6.1 - Draft display poster, Week 10 (31/10/2022)

Figure 6.2 - Draft display poster, Week 10 (31/10/2022)

Here is a straightforward poster I created to display the completed font design.

Final Task 3: Type Design and Communication

This is Inkdribble ttf.

Figure 7.1 - Final Task 3 "Inkdribble" - JPEG, Week 10 (5/11/2022)

Figure 7.4 -"Inkdribble" Typo Poster A4 - JPEG, Week 10 (5/11/2022)

Figure 7.3 - Final Task 3 "Inkdribble" - PDF, Week 10 (5/11/2022)

Figure 7.4 -"Inkdribble" Typo Poster A4 - PDF, Week 10 (5/11/2022)

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FEEDBACK

Week 8: N/A

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Week 9: N/A

Week 10: 

General Feedback: Each letter lacks consistency, making the font design appear disorganized and ineffective. Always preserve a backup copy of our designs in case of an emergency that forces us to lose them.

Specific Feedback: It is quite evident from the font design that it is not really consistent throughout. A prominent indicator of inconsistency in my font design is that when I replicated my font's core characteristic, each of the letters had distinct qualities, which impacted my font design. Another sign of inconsistency is the width of each letter; most of the letters had a combination of thick and thin strokes, making the entire typeface seem cluttered and unpleasant. To improve, I'll have to go back and focus on one or two core characteristics while keeping everything constant and the same.

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REFLECTIONS

Experience 

This project using typography has so far been a lot of fun for me. The process of creating my first typeface design was intriguing. The creative process and typeface creation were the most enjoyable parts. Even though it was my first attempt, I'm pleased with how it came out, but I believe I can still do better. I also developed my observational abilities and learnt the fundamentals of font creation.

Observations

I've noticed that while most fonts appear uniform and even, there are a lot of changes such as overshoots and proportions to make it appear consistent. Such subtleties and minutiae are vital when developing a typeface since they create a consistent font when viewed.


Findings

I discovered that developing a typeface is a difficult process with many technical considerations. I learned this after receiving harsh criticism for being careless with my designs. The difference between stroke and stem widths was quite important while drawing various designs. Contrast makes each letter seem consistent and appealing.

FURTHER READING

 

Figure 7.1 - Typographic Design: Form and Communication

Reading this book has improved my typeface design skills. The book discusses mechanical and mathematical letterform creation, which can lead to major spatial issues when different forms within an alphabet look optically erroneous.

Figure 7.2 - Optical relationships within a font

Due to the fact that many forms within an alphabet seem visually erroneous, mechanical and mathematical letterform creation can generate major spatial issues. These variations of typefaces demonstrate the optical correction required to establish aesthetic harmony within a typeface. These modifications are typically invisible to the reader because they are so subtle. However, they produce a more unified and organized appearance when combined.

Figure 7.3 - Unity of design in the type font

The typographic typeface has an enormous range of shape. It must be possible to effectively combine 26 capital letters, 26 lowercase letters, 10 numbers, punctuation, and other visual components into a system that can produce an infinite number of words. A typeface's repeated curves, verticals, horizontals, and serifs work together to add variation and cohesion to typographic designs. This idea of repetition with variance can be seen in all well-designed typefaces.