Typography Task 3 / Exercises

 10/11/2023 - 21/12/2023 / Week 8 - Week 13

Chai Wei Yi (0369561)

Typography / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Task 3: Exercise 3

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Instruction

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Exercise

Dissection of Letter (H, o, g, b)

Before diving into this exercise, I took the initiative to research the anatomy of a typeface. This exploration aimed to enhance my understanding of the task at hand. I discovered the importance of scrutinizing intricate details when analyzing letters, including aspects such as height, letter spacing, baseline, and various other elements

After completing my research, I commenced the process of dissecting my letters, following the reference provided by my lecturer. In this analysis, I chose to focus on typefaces with Serifs and Sans Serifs. I made this choice because I believe that both categories possess unique strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, the decision on whether to use Serif or Sans Serif fonts depends on the designer's preferences and the context they wish to convey to the audience.

Serif fonts are characterized by small decorative strokes or lines at the end of each character. These strokes can take various styles, as illustrated in the image below. Among the most commonly used Serif typefaces are Baskerville, Georgia, Times New Roman, and Garamond. Serifs are generally considered formal, traditional, and conducive to easy reading, especially in printed materials with lengthy paragraphs, such as books or newspapers.

In contrast, Sans Serif fonts lack the decorative strokes at the end of their characters. However, they are renowned for their modern, clean, and easy-to-read appearance, particularly on digital screens, despite their simplicity. Among the most widely used Sans Serif typefaces are Arial, Helvetica, Calibri, and Verdana. The image below provides examples of Sans Serif fonts

To summarize up, Serifs for printed material while Sans Serifs for digital content or anywhere that requires modern typefaces.

Dissection of Letters (H, o, g, b)

Observations:-

letter "H," both stems are vertically aligned, creating a harmonious and consistent appearance. The inner crossbar shares the same stem size as the side stems.

letter "o," the stress is vertical, contributing to a uniform and balanced design.

letter "g," the closed counter of the letter resembles that of "o" and "b." However, the black strokes of the bowl gradually narrow as they connect to the stem.

letter "b," the black stroke on the stem maintains a consistent width, but there is a disparity in size between the inner and outer bowls. The black strokes of the inner bowl narrow as they attach to the stem

Observations:-

Letter "H," the middle stem is of a different size compared to the vertical stems on both sides. However, the arms of the letter maintain a consistent size.

Letter "o," a vertical stress is evident, and the size of the inner closed counter has been reduced.

Letter "g," a vertical axis is observable at the bowl of the letter. The stroke of the ear has been reduced, and the stroke of the link has been made thinner. The size of the loop remains in a balanced state.

Letter "b," the strokes on the head and tail of the stem have been made thinner.

3. (o l e d s n c h t i g , . ! #) in approved writing style

4. Digitisation of the final work

Prior to commencing my digitization process, I engaged in thorough research to enhance my understanding of letter construction. Additionally, we were directed to view lecture videos provided by our instructor, which focused on typeface construction using strokes, brushes, and various shapes

Typo Task 3A Typeface Construction (Shapes)

• Look for a reference of an existing typeface that comes close to the design I've worked on
• Curved area tend to overshoot X-height of the borders of letterform 
• Less surface area than a form that has a flat edge
• Some anchor points can be reduced so that we could adjust properly

Typo Task 3A Typeface Construction (Strokes + Brush)

Anatomy of Typeface

X-height, descender, and ascender spaces are distinct areas containing letterforms. When sketching, strokes of letters with descenders should extend below the baseline. Uppercase letters typically occupy the space above the X-height line, while the ascender line represents the upper limit for ascenders.

When Using Strokes

• Pen tool is used to create lines or shapes
• Ensure that all the strokes are having the same size
• For circle, turn on scale, scale options and tick the box of scale corners and scale strokes & effects
• To check the thickness, go to stroke window
• There will be unevenness in letters if they are having different thickness
• Before merging the shape, leave the raw shape and place in other artboards
• Merge / unify / unite the shape using pathfinder tool when the letters had done constructing

For Creating Imperfections in Letters

1. Object > Path > Outline Stroke
2. Pathfinder > Unite
3. Object > Compound Path > Make (If the letters didn't unite entirely)
4. Use brush to create pattern on the letter
5. Object > Path > Outline Stroke
6. Pathfinder > Unite
7. Lastly, select the whole shape (Pathfinder > Minus)

Process During Digitisation

The displayed images below showcase some of my drafts as I delved into the artistic process of constructing letters. In this assignment, we were tasked with utilizing Adobe Illustrator for letter construction, adhering to an artboard format of 1000 x 1000 points. To measure the letters accurately, a 500pt x 500pt rectangle was placed above the baseline within the artboard. Curved areas tended to extend beyond the x-height borders more than those with flat edges, indicating less surface area. To facilitate proper adjustments, necessary anchor points could be reduced. The use of the "Command R" shortcut enabled the Ruler, allowing for the dragging and dropping of guides to identify specific lines. Moreover, our font design was required to incorporate fundamental typographic elements, including Ascender Height, Capital Line, Median Line, Baseline, and Descender Height.

Final Digitisation Of The Work(JPG)

Final Digitisation Of The Work(PDF)

Adobe Illustrator to FontLab 7      Following the digitization of our work in Adobe Illustrator, the next step involved downloading FontLab 7 (Demo Version). Subsequently, we were required to transfer all the letters and punctuation (o l e d s n c h t i g , . ! #) into FontLab 7. The accompanying images below illustrate charts discussing the side bearings of letters, thoughtfully provided by my instructor. The instructions provided in the image below outline the necessary steps to follow before making adjustments to our letters in FontLab 7. When configuring preferences, it is essential to check the following options:

• Keep stroke and colors, place color elements.
• Import original position: prefer AI vector format.
• Keep position if available (Keep artwork size).
• Pasting contour to another element preserves appearance

A4 Black & White Poster

Final Poster (JPG)

Final Poster (PDF)

FEEDBACK

Week 8: Summary of my lecture

Sketching should be consistent.

Week 9: Summary of my lecture

Ensure that every letters are having consistency.

Week 10:Summary of my lecture

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Week 11:Summary of my lecture

Final digitalize work need redo because the out come is too graphic

Week 12: Summary of my lecture

Need adjust the word become more consistency and the heigh should be match with other

REFLECTIONS

Experience

Reflecting on my overall experience, I must admit that this task proved to be the most challenging compared to our previous assignments. Designing a font for the first time was a novel and unexpectedly tough endeavor, demanding a blend of patience, precision, and consistency throughout the implementation process. While sketching the font posed its own set of challenges, digitizing it added an extra layer of complexity. Fortunately, Mr. Vinod's guidance and teaching played a crucial role in navigating this intricate task.

Repeatedly watching his lecture videos and studying the work of others helped me gain a better understanding of the nuances involved in constructing letters. One key lesson was the importance of maintaining consistency in width and strokes across all letters without unnecessary adjustments during the construction phase.

Despite the initial difficulties, I found great satisfaction in the process, especially in the realization of bringing our own font to life using Fontlab 7. Witnessing the transformation from concept to reality, I was pleased with the final outcome, making the challenges and efforts worthwhile.

Observations

I'm thankful for the opportunity to delve into this lesson, where we learned the techniques for constructing aesthetically pleasing and creative letters. While I admittedly felt a bit stressed during the process, it was a valuable experience that provided insight into the intricacies of letter design and the dedication required by designers.

This task allowed me to comprehend the inner workings of letters and appreciate the hard work and effort invested by designers. Through this, I gained a new skill in constructing readable and legible fonts. Additionally, I successfully designed a font with consistent characteristics, grounded in thorough research and analysis. Overall, it was a challenging yet rewarding journey of skill development and creative exploration.

 

Findings

I observed that constructing small letters presented a greater challenge compared to capital letters, mainly due to the intricacies of handling more curved areas. This task demanded thorough research before delving into the actual work. Conducting research played a crucial role in broadening our perspective and knowledge, enabling us to approach the construction of unique letters with a more informed and creative mindset.