September 26 - October 27 / Week 1 - Week 5
Sheren Princessa Davon / 0362134
Typography / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Task 1
LECTURES
Lecture 1: Typo_0_Introduction
Typography
--> the act of creating letters, geometrical shapes used to create letters/typefaces
- oxford dictionary: style and appearance of printer matter
- style, composition, arrangement of letters/numbers/symbols
- could also be animated (gifs, movie titles)
- affects the listeners mood (ex. bad textbook layouts may discourage a student's learning experience)
found in:
- visible in website designs, good websites have good typography
- visible in app designs
- signage design (in signs, does it help navigate)
- bottle labels, books, posters
- logos
Typography has evolved over 500 years. From calligraphy > lettering > typography
Calligraphy: writing style
Lettering: drawing the letters out
Font: the individual font or weight within a typeface (ie. georgia bold, georgia regular)
Typeface: the entire family of fonts/weights that share similar characteristics/styles (ie. georgia, arial, times new roman)
Lecture 2: Typo_1_Development
Phoenician to Roman
- writing meant scratching into wet clay with sharpened sticks/carving stone with a chisel
Semitic people wrote from right to left.
Boustrophedon: style of writing created by the Greek, where they write from right to left and also left to right. For example in the figure below:
| Boustrophedon |
- Etruscan carvers painted letterforms before inscribing them, but the strokes varied and there were changes in their weight from horizontal to vertical.
Hand script (3rd to 10th century)
Square capitals
- Can be seen on roman monuments
- They used reed pens which created different weight of the strokes
- With serifs to finish the end strokes
- With serifs to finish the end strokes
- Used in the 4th or 5th century
- Compressed versions of square capitals
- Allows more words to be written on a sheet of parchment
- Required less time to write
- However harder to read since they are more compressed
- Used in the late 3rd to mid 4th century
Roman Cursive
- Cursive were used more commonly for every-day transactions
- Was created due to fast writing, thus lowercase and uppercase letters were formed
- Unlike square and rustic capitals, which were used for important documents because they are more time-consuming
Uncials
- The Uncials incorporated some aspects of Roman Cursive, more specifically A, D, E, H, M, U, and Q
- They are simply small letters that are more readable at small sizes than rustic capitals
- Marks the beginning of lowercase letterforms 2000 years after the Phoenician alphabet (C. 500)
- The first unifier of Europe, Charlemagne entrusted Alcuin of York, Abbot of St Martin of Tours to issue an edict to standardize all ecclesiastical text
- The monks rewrote the texts using both majuscules (uppercase), miniscule, capitalization, and punctuation
- It set the standard for calligraphy for a century
- A variation upon Alcuin's script letterform popularized after the dissolution Charlemagne's empire
textura
- A condense strongly vertical letterform
- Used in northern Europe
rotunda
- A rounder more open hand letterform
- Used in southern Europe
- Created the first printing machine, mostly Blackletter for northern Europe
- He invented the mechanism to present information without the need to handwrite (printing)
- Turning point in western printing
| Bible created by Guttenberg |
Many typefaces were created and digitized afterwards, below is a brief timeline.
Timeline of typefaces created and digitized throughout the years
|
Type Classifications
- Typeforms and classification developed due to technology, commercial needs and aesthetic.
- 147 Oldstyle (eg. Garamond, Bembo, Calson, Dante)
- Complimented by straight forms
- 1550 Script (eg. Kuenstler Script, Mistral, Snell Roundhand)
- 1900 Sans Serif (Helvetica, Futura, Gill Sans)
- 1900 Serif/San Serif (eg. Rotis, Scala, Stone) incorporate both Serif and Sans Serif
| Sans Serif |
- 1900 Serif/San Serif (eg. Rotis, Scala, Stone) incorporate both Serif and Sans Serif
| Serif/Sans Serif |
Lecture 3: Typo_3_Text_P1
Kerning: the automatic adjustment of space between letters
Letter spacing: add space between letters
![]() |
| Kerning example |
Tracking
- the addition & removal of space in a word/sentence, usually in paragraphs
normal tracking: easy to read, usually in large amounts of text
tight tracking & loose tracking: reducing the recognizability of the patterns which these words form, harder to read when used in large amounts of text
| Normal tracking, tight tracking & loose tracking |
Usually uppercase letters are usually letterspaced, unlike lowercase letters that require the counterform created by these letter spacings in order for them to be easily readable. Thus, why designers are not encouraged to letterspace lowercase letters.
As can be seen in the example above, the one on the right is easier to read as its in its normal tracking.
Text Formatting
Flush left
- format that most closely mirrors the way we write (from left to right)
- each line starts at the same point but ends whenever the last word on the line ends
- spaces between words are consistent
gray value: text on white page
ragged right: jagged end point on the right side of a flushed left text
- symmetry upon text w equal weight to both ends of a line
- creates a pictorial quality to the text
- sometimes difficult to read cause it has different starting points
- emphasizes on the end of a line instead of the start
- a bit harder to read because it starts in the opposite way we read
- but it's useful to indicate specific captions for a specific picture
- it is like centering however the starting and ending point of the text is the same
- it's achieved by expanding/reducing spaces between the words
- due to these spaces, "rivers" of white space may be produced (try to avoid this as much as possible)
- hyphens can be used to prevent these
- different typefaces suit different themes/moods
- typefaces with a high x-height/heavy stroke produces a darker mass on a page
- unlike those with smaller x-heights/lighter stroke
- these differences in color is fundamental to producing a good formatted text
| Anatomy of a typeface |
| Different serif typefaces |
| Different sans serif typefaces |
Different typefaces have different levels of gray value resulting in different levels of readability, but it is also subjective.
Leading and line length
The goal in setting type text is to allow easy and prolonged reading
3 things to decide when formatting text:
Type size
- text should be large enough to be read at arms length
Leading: space between adjacent lines of a typeface
- type that is set too loosely creates striped patterns that distract the reader from the material
- usually 2-2.5 larger than point size text
| Examples of different leadings |
- rule of thumb: keep the line length between 55-65 characters (per line)
Type Specimen Book
- sheet/book that shows samples of typefaces in various sizes to provide an accurate reference for type, type size, type leading, type line length, etc.
- text should create a field that can occupy a page/screen
- ideally, text should have a middle gray value
It's useful to enlarge type to 400% to get a clear sense of the relationship between descenders on one line and ascenders on the line below.
If your type is meant to be printed, it will be different than judging it on a screen beforehand, thus it's better to print it out.
Lecture 4: Typo_3_Text P2
Indicating Paragraphs
- pilcrow (¶): symbol avail in most typefaces, used to indicate paragraphs
leading: space between 2 sentences
line spacing: baseline of ascender to descender
- standard indentation: an indent in the first line, typically same as the point size/line spacing
| Difference of leading and line spacing |
- standard indentation: an indent in the first line, typically same as the point size/line spacing
widow: short line of type left alone at the end of a column of text
orphan: a short line of type left alone at the start of a new column
(Try to avoid these as best as possible, by reducing column length, rebreak line endings, etc)
Highlighting Text
Different way to highlight certain text in a large body of text
| Left: Italicizing the text, Right: Bolding the text |
| Left: Bold and changing typefaces, Right: use a different color |
Note: Suggested colors to use in highlighted text are black, cyan, magenta
When using a sans serif & serif typeface, make sure to reduce the point size (by 0.5 usually) of the sans serif typefaces generally look larger.
| Different point sizes in typefaces |
Numbers generally follow the capital letters format, to make the numbers not stick out too much, we can reduce the point size numbers.
Another way to highlight text is by adding a box to the text:
Adding typographic elements (bullet points, quotation marks):
| Left: has no indent, Right: has indent |
Adding typographic elements (bullet points, quotation marks):
| Left: has no indent, Right: has indent |
Headlines within Text
A Head: indicates a clear break between topics within a section
| Examples of B Head |
C Head: Sub-sub category within B Head
| Examples of C Heads |
| Examples of different Heads |
Cross Alignment
- making sure two bodies of text with different properties still look cohesive and aligned
Describing Letterforms
- Baseline: imaginary line at the base of the letterforms
- Median: imaginary line defining the x-height of letterform
- X-height: height in any typeface of the lowercase 'x'
- Stroke: any line that defines the basic letterform
- Apex/Vertex: the point created by joining two diagonal stems
- Arm: short strokes off the stem of the letterform (horizontal: E, F, L) (upward: K, Y)
- Ascender: portion of the stem of a lowercase letterform above the median
- Barb: half-serif finish on some curved stroke
- Beak: half-serif finish on the same horizontal arms
- Bowl: rounded form that describes a counter
- Bracket: transition between serif and the stem
- Stroke: any line that defines the basic letterform
- Apex/Vertex: the point created by joining two diagonal stems
- Arm: short strokes off the stem of the letterform (horizontal: E, F, L) (upward: K, Y)
- Ascender: portion of the stem of a lowercase letterform above the median
- Barb: half-serif finish on some curved stroke
- Beak: half-serif finish on the same horizontal arms
- Bowl: rounded form that describes a counter
- Bracket: transition between serif and the stem
- Cross Bar: horizontal stroke in a letterform that joins two stems together
- Cross Stroke: horizontal stroke in a letterform that joins two stems together
- Crotch: interior space where two strokes meet
- Descender: the portion of the stem of a lowercase letterform that projects below the baseline
- Ear: the store extending out from the main stem or body of the letterform
- Em/en: originally referring to the width of an uppercase M, and em is now the distance equal to the size of the typeface; an en is half the size of an em
- Finial: the rounded non-serif terminal to a stroke
- Leg: short stroke off the stem of the letterform (at the bottom: L; inclined downward: K, R)
- Ligature: the character formed by the combination of two or more letterforms
- Link: the stroke that connects the bowl and the loop of a lowercase G
- Loop: bowl created in the descender of the lowercase G (in some typefaces)
- Cross Stroke: horizontal stroke in a letterform that joins two stems together
- Crotch: interior space where two strokes meet
- Descender: the portion of the stem of a lowercase letterform that projects below the baseline
- Ear: the store extending out from the main stem or body of the letterform
- Em/en: originally referring to the width of an uppercase M, and em is now the distance equal to the size of the typeface; an en is half the size of an em
- Finial: the rounded non-serif terminal to a stroke
- Leg: short stroke off the stem of the letterform (at the bottom: L; inclined downward: K, R)
- Ligature: the character formed by the combination of two or more letterforms
- Link: the stroke that connects the bowl and the loop of a lowercase G
- Loop: bowl created in the descender of the lowercase G (in some typefaces)
- Serif: right-angled or oblique foot at the end of the stroke
- Shoulder: the curved stroke that is not part of a bowl
- Spine: the curved stem of the S
- Spur: extension that articulated the junction of the curved and rectilinear stroke
- Stem: vertical or oblique stroke
- Stress: the orientation of the letterform, indicated by the thin stroke in round forms
- Swash: flourish that extends the stroke of the letterform
- Tail: the curved diagonal stroke at the finish of certain letterforms
- Terminal: the self-contained finish of a store without a serif, it may be flat, flared, acute, grave, concave, convex or rounded as a ball or a teardrop (see finial)
- Shoulder: the curved stroke that is not part of a bowl
- Spine: the curved stem of the S
- Spur: extension that articulated the junction of the curved and rectilinear stroke
- Stem: vertical or oblique stroke
- Stress: the orientation of the letterform, indicated by the thin stroke in round forms
- Swash: flourish that extends the stroke of the letterform
- Tail: the curved diagonal stroke at the finish of certain letterforms
- Terminal: the self-contained finish of a store without a serif, it may be flat, flared, acute, grave, concave, convex or rounded as a ball or a teardrop (see finial)
The Font
- Uppercase and Lowercase
- Small Capitals: uppercase letter forms that are the same x-height of the typeface
| Small capitals vs Capitals |
| Uppercase numerals |
- Lowercase Numerals/ Old Style Figures/Text Figures: numerals that are set to the x-height with ascenders & descenders
| Lowercase numerals |
- Punctuation, miscellaneous characters: changes from typeface to typeface
| Punctuation, miscellaneous characters |
| Ornaments |
Describing Typefaces
- Roman: derived from inscriptions of Roman monuments
- Italics/Oblique: Italics are for serif typefaces, Oblique usually for sans serif typefaces
- Boldface: Thicker stroke than roman, can also be called semibold, medium, black, extra bold
- Light: Lighter stroke than roman
- Condense: Compressed/condensed version of roman
- Extended: Extended version of roman
Lecture 6: Typo_2_Basic
Understanding Letterforms
Uppercase letters tend to suggest symmetry, but not all of them are.
Eg. Baskerville "A" vs Univers "A"
Each individual letterform is unique, even in similar sans-serif fonts such as Helvetica and Univers.
Eg. the lowercase "a" has different stems in the way they finish off the letter.
X-height of the letters should be the same, specifically in curved strokes such as "s" as they tend to cross the median line
| Lowercase letters maintaining its x-height |
Counterform (counters): the space that forms when letters are joined together to make words
- this is just as important as it helps in the readability of the text
| Example of forms and counterforms |
- white space: form
- black space: counterform
- the best way to examine the forms and counterforms is by examining them in detail
- also helpful to take note when designing letterforms
| Forms and counterforms of Helvetica and Baskerville |
Contrast
Contrast is one of the principles in design found in typography
- contrasts of small + organic / large + machined / small + dark / etc
- different types of contrast can be found:
Different Mediums
Typography used to only refer to printing on paper, but now it can be both print and screen use.
Type for Print
Most commonly used typefaces for print: Caslon, Garamond, Baskerville
- versatile
- easy to digest
- serif fonts
- Typefaces used on web are usually modified to enhance readability
- taller x-height
- wider letterforms
- heavier and thin strokes in serif fonts
- Typefaces designed for screen: Georgia and Verdana
Hyperlink
- Word/phrase/image that allows user to click on it and redirects them to a new document/section
- usually blue and underlined by default
- when cursor is moved over it, the arrow should change to the small hand pointing at the link
Font size for Screen
- 16-pixel text; same size as text printed in a book/magazine
- This size is accounted for reading distance
- In print/books/novels/etc, they're usually 10-12 points
Web Safe Fonts
- Each device has their own pre-installed font selection based on its OS
- Windows, MacOS, Google, Android, they all have their own selection
- A certain font might not be compatible with a certain operating system, causing a website too look ugly/unorganized
Web safe fonts
- appear across all OS, small collection of fonts that overlap from Windows to Mac to Google
- fonts include: Open Sans, Lato, Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Courier New, Verdana, Georgia, Palatino, Garamond
Pixel Differences Between Devices
- Screens on our devices are different (phone, laptop, tablet, TV, etc.)
- thus the text differs in proportion too, cause they have different sized pixels
- 100 pixels on a laptop is different from 100 pixels on a big 60 inch HDTV
- There are even variations on a single device (Samsung, Iphone, etc.)
Static Vs Motion
Static
- Has minimal characteristics in expressing words however still dynamic
- No matter the different purposes (informational, promotional, aspirational, etc.), the level of impression and impact on the audience is related to the emotional connection with them
- Temporal media offers typography the chance to "dramatize" type, to make them more kinetic or fluid
- For example in film title credits
- Motion typography can be animation, motion graphics
- Usually overlaid on music videos and ads, set in motion to the rhythm of a song/soundtrack
- Helps set the mood/establish the vibe of a brand
INSTRUCTIONS
Task 1: Exercise 1 - Text Expression
For Exercise 1, we were given 6 words and we were required to make text expressions for 4 of them. The words that were given are Chaos, Spring, Dive, Bounce, Float, Crush. First we sketch out some designs, making sure not to use too many graphical elements.
1. Sketches
The words I have chosen for this exercise are Crush, Chaos, Dive, and Bounce.
Crush - I used the letters of the word to somehow crush each other.
Chaos - I tried to capture the word "chaos" in the boxes using ripples, disarranging the letters in the word, using different sizes of letters.
Dive - I tilted the letters in an angle to make it seem that the letters are diving.
Bounce - For #1 I made the word "bounce" look like it was bouncing while in #3 I manipulated the letter "o" to bounce around the walls of the square.
2. Digitization
Then, I started to digitize my sketches using Adobe Illustrator. I created a few digitization sketches with the original sketches I made on paper. I tried out different fonts and typefaces and also mixed and matched them.
Bounce
| Fig 1.4 Bounce Digitization Drafts - Week 2 (07/10/23) At first I used the font Bodoni MT Italic however I thought that it didn't really match the meaning of the word since it is a serif font. Then I replaced the typeface with Futura Std Bold Condensed and I liked it better. I also used ITC Garamond Std Ultra Condensed for the other sketch I had but I decided to stick with the draft #2. |
Dive
For this word I mostly used sans serif fonts, Futura Std Heavy, Univers LT Std 55 Roman, as well as a serif font ITC Garamond Std Book Condensed Italic for contrast.
For all the drafts, I rotated the letter "i" to make it seem like a person.
For draft #1 and #2 I made it seem like the letter were diving in.
For draft #3, #4 and #5 I made it seem as if the "i" was diving into the "v".
Crush
| Fig. 1.6 Crush Digitization Drafts - Week 2 (07/10/23) I incorporated the same idea for all drafts; the letters crushing the other letters in the word "crush". For draft #1 and #6 I used only Univers LT Std 65 Bold and Univers LT Std 63 Bold Extended), making the "C" and "R" crushing the letters "u" "s" "h". For draft #4 and #5 I used Futura Std Light Condensed as well to give the effect of the condensed letters being crushed by the more extended letters. For draft #2 I used a combination of Universe LT Std 73 Black Extended and Janson Text LT Std 56 Italic. Chaos |
At first I used purely sans serif fonts (Univers LT Std 75 Black, Univers LT Std 65 Bold) in different sizes and positions. I scattered the letters in order to give it the "chaotic look" however I didn't really like it. Then in draft #4 and #5 I tried changing some of the typefaces such as Univers LT Std 75 Black, and Bodoni MT Bold Italic. In draft #5 I changed the letter "h" to Bodoni MT Poster Compressed and flipped the letter "s" horizontally to give it the final look.
After consulting with Ms. Hsin, we decided on the final type expressions for each letter.
Final Task 1 - Exercise 1: Type Expression
![]() |
| Fig 1.8 Final Text Expression - JPEG (Week 3: 10/10/23) |
Fig. 1.9 Final Text Expression - PDF (Week 3: 10/10/23)
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jdtulv__ozKQZ6UA6CbhF1gPhHG6JDtQ/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>
3. Animation
Next, we had to choose 1 out of the 4 words to animate. We were instructed to watch the tutorial by Mr. Vinod where he showed us how to animate the chosen word with Illustrator and Photoshop. The word I chose was "bounce" since I already had quite a motion-type design for the text expression.
Below is the first animation I came up with, however I felt like the end was too choppy as the "o" suddenly cuts back into the frame.
Fig. 1.20 First Attempt of Text Animation - Week 3 (15/10/23)
I wanted to make the animated look like it looped so I remastered it by adding another frame at the end which resulted in the final animation of the word "bounce".
Fig. 1.21 Final Text Animation GIF - Week 3 (15/10/23)
Task 1: Exercise 2 - Text Formatting
For Exercise 2, we were supposed to format a block of text with a picture of our choice.
Kerning and Tracking Practice
Before we started Exercise 2, we practiced kerning and tracking with our names with the different typefaces provided.
| Fig 2.1 Kerning and Tracking Exercise - Week 4 (16/10/23) |
Layout Exercise
Then, we could finally start the layout formatting exercise. With the text given along with a picture of our choice, we were able to experiment different layouts on our own. I came up with 4 different layouts below.
![]() |
| Fig 2.2 Layouts - Week 4 (16/10/23) |
For layout #1 and #2 I decided to keep a symmetrical approach, however I thought it looked too plain and a bit boring. Then, I decided to experiment more, resulting in layout #3 and #4. I also changed the image I used for the last two, which I liked more than my first attempts.
I finally selected option #4 for my final result. Then I noticed that some of the paragraph lines have not so great of a ragging, I went ahead and adjusted the kerning and tracking myself for those lines.
![]() |
| Fig 2.5 Final Text Formatting (without grids) - JPEG, Week 5 (25/10/23) |
![]() |
| Fig 2.6 Final Text Formatting (with grids) - JPEG, Week 5 (25/10/23) |
Font/s: ITC Garamond Std Ultra Italic
Type Size/s: 45 pt (headline), 33 pt (byline)
Leading: 43 pt (headline), 35 pt (byline)
Paragraph spacing: -
BODY
Font/s: Univers LT Std 55 Roman
Type Size/s: 9 pt (body text), 8 pt (caption)
Leading: 11 pt (body text), 10 pt (caption)
Paragraph spacing: 11 pt (body text)
Characters per-line: 59 characters
Alignment: Left-aligned
Font/s: Univers LT Std 55 Roman
Type Size/s: 9 pt (body text), 8 pt (caption)
Leading: 11 pt (body text), 10 pt (caption)
Paragraph spacing: 11 pt (body text)
Characters per-line: 59 characters
Alignment: Left-aligned
Margins: 15 mm (top and bottom), 12,7mm (left and right)
Columns: 2
Gutter: 4,233 mm
Gutter: 4,233 mm
Fig. 2.7 Final Text Formatting (Without grids) - PDF, Week 5 (25/10/23)
Fig. 2.7 Final Text Formatting (With grids) - PDF, Week 5 (25/10/23)
FEEDBACK
Week 1
General Feedback:
- label sketches (option 1, 2, etc.)
- further reading & reflection every week
- individual sketches
- base the sketches on the typefaces
Week 2
General feedback:
- for the labels add the week & date
- start writing reflections
REFLECTIONS
Experience
Typography class is very interesting, I got to learn about the history behind fonts, typefaces, techniques in a good type expression. The first assignment was also quite fun, I got to experiment different words and I got feedback from Ms. Hsin. Her feedback, it being general or specific, helped me improve my design.
Observations
I got to see my classmates' works and it really inspired me. I found that even though our works are quite different, the feedback given to them could also be implemented on my work.
Findings
I found that design is very versatile and many people can have different interpretation of a word, for example in our type expression exercise, people utilized both meanings of "spring", as in the season and also the verb.
FURTHER READING
![]() |
| The Vignelli Canon by Massimo Vignelli |
This book follows some basic typographic principles that may be useful for designers, especially beginners like me.
There are 3 design aspects that are important to Massimo Vignelli, Semantic, Syntactic, and Pragmatic.
Semantics
Semantics are the basic essential component of a designer's process. In design, semantics means an understanding to the subject in all aspects, making sure that the true meaning of the design is communicated properly. A good design always has purpose behind each element, otherwise the design will be senseless.
Syntactics
"God is in the details." This phrase encapsulates the essence of syntax, the proper use of grammar, construction of phrases and language used in design. It can also include the structure, the grid, the typefaces, the text, headlines, illustration, etc. used in the overall design. Each element must portray an accurate representation of the subject/text being presented. Syntactic consistency is an important essential in graphic design.
Pragmatics
If a design we think are semantically correct and syntactically consistent but no one understands the final result, the design is now pointless. Clarity must be present in a good design, in a way that is elegant yet not too complicated.









Comments
Post a Comment