Typography - Task 1: Exercises

04.04.2023 - 09.05.2023 / Week 01 - Week 06
Ilhan Rayan bin Khairul Anwar / 0361205
Typography / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Task 1 - Exercises

---

LECTURES

Week 1: Development

Development / Timeline

• Due to the materials that were available at the time, uppercase forms are a combination of straight lines and circles.
• The Phoenicians were the main root of the Early Arabic and Modern Latin alphabet as well as writing from right to left.

Figure 1.1: Phoenician Alphabet's Evolution, Week 4 (25/4/23)

• The Greeks created a style called Boustrophedon (how the ox ploughs) where the lines of text reading would alternate from right to left and left to right. The orientation of the letters also change.
• Etruscan & Roman carvers painted their letterforms before inscribing them onto the marble. 
• Serifs were created because of this
• Because of the strokes that they developed from the tools they used, they created the modern letterforms.
• Roman letters developed over 900 years, from Phoenician to Greek to Roman.

Figure 1.2: Phoenician to Roman Alphabet, Week 4 (25/4/23)

• Square Capitals were created through the use of slanted tools, which created thick and thin strokes.
• The pen would be held at 60°
• Rustic Capitals are compressed versions of Square Capitals that were easier and faster to write, at the cost of it becoming harder to read.
• The pen would be held at 30°
• Square and Rustic Capitals were reserved for important documents whereas everyday transactions were written in cursive hand so it'd be simplified for speed.
• This is the start of lowercase forms.
•  Uncials are smaller letters that combine different elements early upper and lowercase letter forms.
• Uncials are easier to read than Rustic Capitals
• Uncial is latin for 1/12th
• Half-Uncials were the formal beginnings of lowercase letterforms, 2000 years after the Phoenician alphabet's origin.
• Charlemagne issued an order to standardise all Christian texts under one letterform to prevent misinformation, mistranslation and division of beliefs. 
• Monks then rewrote texts using uppercase, lowercase, capitalisation and punctuation to create a standard for English calligraphy.
• After Charlemagne's empire collapsed, different regions created their own variations of the script.
• This was inevitable due to human nature.
• Gutenberg invented the modern day printing press through brass matrixes that could be mixed and matched. He produced books more efficiently and faster than a monk / scribe could.

Figure 1.3: Evolution and Creation of different Fonts, Week 4 (25/4/23)

Type Classifications

• 1450 Blackletter: The earliest printing type based on hand-copying styles in northern Europe.
• 1475 Oldstyle: Based on lowercase forms used by Italian scholars and uppercase forms from the Romans.
• 1500 Italic: Contemporary Italian handwriting. Condensed and close-set. Was originally it's own typeface but became complementary to Roman forms and then all typefaces after the 16th Century.
• 1550 Script: An attempt to replicate engraved calligraphic forms. Better used for short applications. More decorative than practical.
• 1750 Transitional: A refinement of the oldstyle forms through advancements in printing. Thick and thin relationships were exaggerated & brackets were lightened.
• 1775 Modern: A further rationalisation of oldstyle forms. Serifs became unbracketed. Contrasts between thick and thin were extreme.
• 1875 Square Serif / Slab Serif: Heavily bracketed serifs. Created for heavy type in commercial printing. The brackets were dropped.
• 1900 Sans Serif: Removed serifs completely. Was introduced in 1816 but did not have wide-spread use until the 20th century.
• 1990 Serif / Sans Serif: A recent development. Includes both Serif and Sans Serif alphabets.

Figure 1.4: Type Classifications, Week 4 (25/4/23)

Week 2: Basic

Describing Letterforms

Knowing a letterform's components can make it easier to identify specific typefaces.

• Baseline: The imaginary visual base of the letterform.
• Median: The imaginary line defining the x-height of letterforms.
• X-Height: The height of the lowercase letter "X"
• Stroke: Any line that defines the basic letterform.
• Aperture: The partially enclosed space in certain letters.
• Apex / Vertex: The point created by two connecting diagonal stems. (Apex is above, Vertex is below)
• Arm: Short strokes off of a stem of the letterform.
• Ascender: The part of a lowercase form's stem that goes above the median.
• Barb: The half-serif finish on some curved strokes.
• Beak: The half-serif finish on some horizontal strokes.
• Bowl: The rounded form of a counter (the circular area in b, d, p, q). The bowl can be open or closed.
• Bracket: The transition between serif and stem.
• Cross Bar: The horizontal stroke that connects two stems together. (A, H)
• Cross Stroke: The horizontal stroke that joins two stems together. (f, t)
• Crotch: The interior space where two strokes meet.
• Descender: The part of a lowercase form's stem that goes below the baseline.
• Ear: A stroke that extends out of the main stem or body of a letterform.
• Em: The distance of a typeface. The gap between words and the length of long dashes.
• En: Half the size of Em.
• Finial: The rounded non-serif terminal to a stroke.
• Leg: Short strokes off of the stem of the letterform. Either at the bottom (L) or inclined downwards (K, R)
• Ligature: A character formed by the combination of two or more letterforms.
• Link: The stroke that connects the bowl and loop of the lowercase letter "g."
• Loop: The bowl created in the descender of the lowercase letter "g." Only appears in some typefaces.
• Serif: The right-angled or oblique foot at the end of the stroke.
• Shoulder: The curved stroke not part of the bowl.
• Spine: The curved stem of the letter "S."
• Spur: The extension at the junction of a curved and rectilinear stroke.
• Stem: The significant vertical or oblique stroke in a letter.
• Stress: The orientation of a letterform indicated by a thin stroke in round forms.
• Swash: A flourish that extends the stroke of a letterform. More decorative and stylish than practical.
• Tail: The curved diagonal stroke at the finish of certain letterforms. 
• Terminal: The self-contained finish of a stroke without a serif. 

The Font

A full font of a typeface contains much more than the 26 letters, numerals and punctuation marks.

• Uppercase: Capital letters, including certain accented vowels, Ç, Ñ, Æ (AE), and Œ (OE)
• Lowercase: The same characters as the uppercase letters but smaller.
• Small Capitals: Uppercase letterforms drawn in the x-height. Found in Serif fonts. 
• Uppercase Numerals: Numerals that have the same height as uppercase letters.
• Lowercase Numerals: Numerals set to the x-height and have ascenders & descenders.
• Italic: A curved / angled version of a typeface. Found in almost every font.
• Punctuation & Miscellaneous: Other elements in a typeface not found within the English alphabet (the 26 letters)
• Ornaments: Used as flourishes and decorations in invitations or certificates. 

Describing Typefaces

• Roman: Letterforms derived from the inscriptions from Roman monuments.
• Book: A slightly lighter stroked variant of Roman.
• Italic: Named after 15th century Italian handwriting.
• Oblique: An italicised typeface based on the Roman form of typeface.
• Boldface: Thicker strokes than the Roman form
• Other names for this include Semibold, Medium, Black, Extra Bold, Super, or Poster.
• Light: A lighter stroke than the Roman form.
• Condense: A compressed version of the Roman form.
• Extended: A stretched version of the Roman form.

Figure 2.1: Describing Typefaces, Week 4 (25/4/23)

The Ten Typefaces

These Ten Typefaces represent 500 years of type design. They were made to represent easy readability and an appropriate expression of contemporary aesthetics. We are only allowed to use these typefaces. The differences between each typeface is what makes them unique. As we study these typefaces, we'll eventually find one or two that suits our tastes and style.

Figure 2.2: The Ten Type Families, Week 4 (25/4/23)

Week 3: Text (Part 1)

Tracking: Kerning and Letterspacing

• Kerning: The automatic adjustment of the space between letters.
• Kerning is subject to certain conditions. You wouldn't kern every single word in a large body of text as that would take forever. If you were creating a headline that either takes up a lot of space or has space around it, you would want to kern it there.

Figure 3.1: With and Without Kerning, Week 4 (25/4/23)

• Letterspacing: To add space between letters.
• Letterspacing would be used for uppercase letters in a headline to give it more breathing room.
• The more letterspacing you add to a body of text, the readability of that text reduces.
• Tracking: The addition and/or removal of space in a word or a sentence.
• Normal Tracking: A good amount of space between each letter
• Loose Tracking: Too much space between each letter
• Tight Tracking: Too little space between each letter

Figure 3.2: Types of Tracking, Week 4 (25/4/23)

It is largely accepted by designers to letterspace uppercase letters, however when it comes to lowercase letters there is a strong opposition to it. This is due to the fact that uppercase letters were designed to be able to stand on their own whereas lowercase letters "require counterform created between letters to maintain the line of reading."

Counterforms are the black spaces between the white letterforms. When you add letterspacing you break the counterform which reduces the readability of the particular word or sentence.

Figure 3.3: Counterforms, Week 4 (25/4/23)

Formatting Text

It is important to note that legibility of a text is the most importance aspect and the number one priority. If the reader focuses on the type first before the text, it is considered interference and should be changed.

• Flush Left: The most natural way to format text as it mimics the asymmetrical experience of handwriting. Each line starts at the same point on the left but ends differently on the right depending on the last word.
• Ragged Right: The rougher opposite end of Flush Left that isn't aligned properly with each line, creating the jagged effect. 
• Centred: Creates symmetry with the body of text, creating equal weight and value on both ends of the line. Transforms text into shapes, creating a picture-like effect without the use of imagery. It is important to amend line breaks as to not created jagged shapes. Centred text should be used sparingly for small amount of texts.
• Flush Right: The reverse of Flush Left as it emphasis on the end of a line as opposed to the start. It is often harder to read as it is more unnatural. It can be useful in certain situations but overall isn't recommended.
• Ragged Left: Creates the ragged effect on the left which causes the body of text to become harder to read due to the nonlinear spacing.
• Justified: Similar to the centred format, however there is a heavy emphasis on the symmetrical shape of the text. It is achieved by expanding or reducing the spaces between words and sometimes between letters. This gaps can create "vertical rivers" of white space between the text that should be watched out for.

Figure 3.4: Different Types of Formatting & Typeface, Week 4 (25/4/23)

Texture

Different typefaces suit different messages. It is important to know which typeface is best suited for the specific situation. Typefaces with generous x-height and heavy stroke width produces a darker mass on the page as opposed the smaller x-height and/or lighter strokes. Sensitivity is fundamental in understanding how to create a successful layout.

Figure 3.5: Different Typefaces & Grey Values, Week 4 (25/4/23)

Leading and Line Length

The main goal in setting text type is to allow for easy, prolonged reading.

• Type Size: Text Type should be large enough to read at arms length.
• Leading: Tight text results in the reader losing their place. Loose text creates patterns that distract the reader from the text.
• Line Length: Shorter lines require less reading and vice versa. 55-65 Characters is the recommended line length. Line lengths that are too short or too long impair reading.

Week 4: Text (Part 2)

Indicating Paragraphs

• Pilcrow: An older glyph found in most typefaces used in medieval manuscripts. Seldom used today.
• Line Spacing: A space separating bodies of texts that has the same pt size as the line space.
• Leading: The thin space in between two lines of text.

Figure 4.1: Line Spacing vs Leading, Week 4 (26/4/23)

• Cross Alignment: When two columns of texts parallel to each other are lined up.
• Indentation: When one line on the flush side of a body of text is pushed inwards. Typically the same size of the line spacing or point size of the text. Too much indentation creates ragging. Created to save space in newspapers.
• Extending: Where every line after the first line of text is indented forward. Creates an unusual design.

Widows & Orphans

Widows & Orphans are two gaffes that can occur that must be avoided at all costs.

• Widows: A short or singular line of text left alone at the end of a column.
• Orphans: A short or singular line of text left alone at the start of a new column.

Figure 4.2: Widows & Orphans in Text, Week 4 (26/4/23)

In justified text both widows and orphans are considering serious gaffes. But with flush left and flush right texts, they are a tiny bit forgiving towards widows. Orphans however are still unconscionable. The only solution for widows is to create a forced line break at a line ending so it becomes longer. Orphans require much more care and editing however as they cannot and must not appear.

Highlighting Text

Different ways to emphasise specific areas or parts of a text within a larger group. Some of the ways include:

• Italicising
• Bolding 
• Bolding + Font Change
• Colour Change (Only w/ Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)
• Background Colour Changing
• Bullet Points
• "Quotation Marks"
• Primes are used to abbreviate inches and feet
• Quotation marks are used for quoting

Figure 4.3: Primes (Left) vs Quotation Marks (Right), Week 4 (26/4/23)

Headline Within Text

Subdivisions within texts of a chapter that headline the smaller bodies.

• A-Heads: A clear break between the topics within a section with visible space separating each text.
• B-Heads: Subordinate to A Heads. Used to indicate new supporting arguments. They don't interrupt the text as much as A Heads. Usually placed directly above the paragraph.
• C-Heads: Less common. Subordinate to B Heads. Use to highlight specific facets within the text. Placed in the same line of text with the rest of the text, followed by an em space for visual separation.

Figure 4.4: Headlines Within Text, Week 4 (26/4/23)

Additionally, there is cross-alignment with headlining in which the headline takes up two line spaces when written next to the standard body of text.

Week 5: Understanding

Letters

• A designer takes meticulous care to create letterforms that are both internally harmonious, individually expressive and visually symmetrical.
• The complexity of each letterform can be demonstrated by examining the lowercase letterforms. Small details like how the stems finish or how the bowls meet the stems can quickly create differences between two similar looking letterforms.
• Curved strokes in lowercase letterforms (letters without a flat top like z) must go above the median or below the baseline in order to appear as the same size as the other vertical and horizontal strokes they're connected to.
• Counterform / Counter: The space between and within letters.

Figure 5.1: Counterforms, Week 5 (30/4/23)

• Contrasting is the most powerful dynamic in typography. Simple contrasts can create numerous variations.

Figure 5.2: Examples of Contrast, Week 5 (30/4/23)

Week 6: Screen & Print

In the past, typography was seen as living only when it was done on paper. Once a publication was edited, typeset and printed, it was done. Nothing would be changed after that. Good typography and readability were the result of skilled typesetters and designers. 

Typography in the modern day has permeated into many different platforms and can be done in many different ways, one of the main ones being through the screen. The use of typography on paper has lowered in recent years but it doesn't mean it's fully out of style. Modern day typography that is done online are subject to many unknown and fluctuating parameters, such as operating systems, system fonts, evolution of technological devices and screens and much more. 

Our experience with typography changes based on how the page is rendered since typesetting happens in a browser.

Print Type

• The best and most common typefaces used for print are Caslon, Garamond and Baskerville because of their elegant and intellectual characteristics as well as high readability when set at a small font size. 
• Very versatile, easy-to-digest, strong neutrality and classic which makes typesetting with it very easy.

Screen Type

• Intended and optimised for use on the web and is often modified to enhance readability and on-screen performance in a variety of digital environments.
• Can include a taller x-height, wider letterforms, more open counters, heavier or thinner strokes and serifs, reduced stroke contrast, as well as modified curves and angles for some designs.
• Open spacing is more important digitally, especially for typefaces with smaller sizes. These factors serve to improve character recognition and overall readability in non-print environments.
• Some examples include the web, e-books, mobile devices and so on
• Font Size for Screen: 16-pixel text on a screen is about the same size as text printed in a book or a magazine; this is accounting for reading distance. Because we read physical texts up close, they are typically set at between 10-12 points.
• Web Safe Fonts: Open Sans, Lato, Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Times, Courier New, Courier, Verdana, Georgia, Palatino, and Garamond.

Hyperactive Link / Hyperlinks

• Hyperlink is a word, phrase, or image that you can click and be transferred or jumped to a new document or a new section within the current document.
• Hyperlinks are found in almost every all web pages as they allow for the user to go from one place to another.
• Type hyperlinks are blue in colour and are underlined by default.
• When you move the curser over a hyperlink, the arrow / mouse should change to a small hand pointing at the link.

Static vs Motion

• Static: Minimal characteristics when expressing words. Traditional characteristics such as Bold or Italics offer only a fraction of the expressive potential of dynamic properties. Doesn't move that much.
• Motion: Offers typographers opportunities to "dramatise" type, for letterforms to become "fluid" and "kinetic." Good design is dynamic, irrespective of the platform. Developed to become more expressive and help establish tone and/or mood in associated content.

---

INSTRUCTIONS

Task 1: Exercise 1 - Type Expression

We were given seven words and we had to choose four of those words to express through sketches. Those seven words were Speed, Shatter, Melt, Blur, Dance, Throw, and Kill. 

Sketches

The four words that I selected to express were blur, kill, melt, and shatter. As I was instructed, I began by creating three sketches for each of the selected words. I used Procreate to create my first sketches as it allowed for me to go back and fix mistakes much more easily than sketching it out on paper.

Figure 6: Rough sketches, Week 2 (10/4/23)

For my blur designs, I based them off of three different ways text can become blurry. My second and third sketches for blur feel a bit similar to one-another as they both follow the same idea of the text become blurrier as it stretches outwards. I also feel that my first blur designs fits better with Speed as it looks like the word is going by quickly.

I would say that my kill designs are on the more basic side of expressiveness as the third design that I did feels too simple and generic compared to the other two. My first sketch for it was to design the word in the shape of a bullet as gun violence is one of the highest causes of death right now. For my second sketch, I wanted to use the two Ls at the end of the word to look like blades stabbing the lowercase "I" as it shares a similar resemblance to a human.

My melt designs are my worst ones in my opinion, all I did was distort the text to make it seem melted when there were other ways I could have done this better, such as using the pen tool to create a melting effect. I also did not know that distorting the type expressions isn't recommended for the assignment, however using it sparingly can still work.

For my shatter designs, I wanted to go after two styles of shattering effects to emulate in my type expression, glass breaking and cracking. I would say that for my first shatter sketch, I could have definitely separated the individual sections to make it seem more shattered rather than cut. My second sketch is more in line with the cracking effect but I definitely could have improved on it to make it more clear. My third sketch is the best one in my opinion as it resembles the physics of glass breaking as there is always one focal point that stretches outwards.

Digitisation

After week 2 when our lecturer gave feedback to all of our sketches, we then had to digitise one of the three sketches for each of the words we selected. It should be noted that for this assignment we had to use Adobe Illustrator to digitise our sketches, however my Adobe account was not activated at the time due to the ICT department being slow. So what I did instead was I used Procreate and used the features there to recreate the digitisation process. 

For my digitisation process, I decided to do each word one at a time by using what I considered to be the best sketches from each of my choices. The first word I decided to start with was Shatter as that one was my personal favourite.

Figure 7.1: Shatter Digitisation Planning, Week 3 (16/4/23)

With each of my digitisations, I usually added in the corresponding sketch so that the process would be easier for me as I could use it as a reference for which style I wanted to do. Using the knife tool, I traced out which areas I wanted to cut and dragged them to create the effect. My finalised digitisation of it is a lot more shattered in it's design as I felt that my original sketch was too weak with the effect and didn't encapsulate what I wanted. I also had to shrink certain parts that I cut out so that the shattered effect would be more prominent. I then moved onto blur as that one was also easy to do.

Figure 7.2: Blur Digitisation, Week 3 (16/4/23)

Figure 7.3: Altered Blur Digitisation, Week 3 (16/4/23)

I found this specific blur sketch to be the best candidate to digitise as it required very few additional graphical elements and distortion. Rather than having the text appear to the left of it, I chose to have it appear behind the text. Though in my updated design, I brought the text more closer to the centre and I also chose to lower the opacity of the primary blur text to make the text appear more blurred. The next sketch I digitised was Kill.

Figure 7.4: Kill Digitisation Planning, Week 3 (17/4/23)

I experimented with a few different fonts that I thought could be interesting to use for kill, such as ITC Garamond STD, ITC New Baskerville, and Serifa STD, but in the end I chose Futura STD as it was the most simplistic font and I could express the stabbing effect much more easily. My type expression for kill is also the only one out of the for that isn't fully capitalised as I need the letter "I" to be lowercase so it could represent the person being killed.

Figure 7.5: Kill Digitisation Planning, Week 3 (17/4/23)

While I was working my final digitised type expression for melt, I ended up altering the design for kill slightly by cutting out a small bit of the two "L"s to express the killing better. I also added small marks on the underside of the "I" as a little blood splatter, though we can't use any colour.

Figure 7.6: Melt Digitisation Attempt 1, Week 3 (17/4/23)

The melt seen in the figure above was my original attempt to express the word Melt, though my friend advised me against it was it was very poorly done and did not meet any of the criteria. So I ended up revising it and decided to add on the melty goop in my revised version using the pen tool. I also distorted the text slightly to increase the melted effect.

Final Type Expression

Figure 7.7: Finalised Type Expression, Week 3 (17/4/23)

Figure 7.8: Finalised Type Expression (PDF), Week 3 (17/4/23)

Animated Type Expression

For my animated type expression I decided to go with Shatter as I really liked the way my final type expression turned out for it so I wanted to try and animate it.

Figure 8.1: Animated Shatter Text, Week 4 (25/4/23)

Figure 8.2: Animated Shatter Frames, Week 4 (25/4/23)

Originally for my gif, I started with seven frames as that was how many I made, but upon watching the gif with my frames, I felt that it was too short, so I went back to illustrator and created two more frames to extend the length.

Figure 8.3: Animated Shatter Frames (2), Week 4 (25/4/23)

One of my main issues when it came to creating the shattered effect was remembering the direction for each individual section that I cut. Because of this, certain pieces moved a lot smoother than others which resulted in a slightly mixed shattered effect as seen with the "R" in Figure 3.1. Overall I did not feel satisfied with my work so I decided to redo the entire process but with a guideline to help me.

Figure 8.4: Shatter Guidelines, Week 4 (25/4/23)

As seen in Figure 3.4, I drew guiding arrows in pink so that I could better visualise which direction each of the segments would go.

FINAL Animated Type Expression

Figure 8.5: Final Shatter Animation, Week 4 (25/4/23)

Task 1: Exercise 2 - Text Formatting

For this assignment, we were given a one-page text about the Helvetica font and we had to create a formatted article for that text using Adobe InDesign.

Kerning and Tracking

I first started by kerning and tracking my name into Adobe InDesign using the 10 Typefaces we were provided. I did it once without kerning and once with kerning.

Figure 9.1: Without Kerning, Week 5 (30/4/23)

Figure 9.2: With Kerning, Week 5 (1/5/23)

Layouts

Having tested out and experimented with kerning and tracking as well as having watched the video tutorials we were provided, I began working on Text Formatting assignment using the text that was provided, which was about the Helvetica font and it's creation.

Figure 9.3: Text Formatting Process, Week 5 (2/5/23)

After experimenting with different styles, I came up with three different ones that I personally liked the most.

Figure 9.4: Three Text Formatting Layouts, Week 5 (2/5/23)

I had a feeling that we would be required to use the Helvetica font somewhere in the text formatting so I decided to use it only for the heading as the font didn't look as nice with the body text. To me it didn't feel refined enough so for the main body text I used ITC New Baskerville Std Roman because I personally enjoyed the way the serifs in that font looked. 

Out of the three, I decided to go with Layout #2 as it felt the most clean and concise when compared to the other two. For Layout #1 there was too much white space underneath the headline and the second column. For Layout #3 I tried to put an emphasis on the "Helvetica" aspect of the title but it ended up looking too tight.

Figure 9.5: Layout #2, Week 5 (2/5/23)

After making updates to the formatting and changing the image as it was not related to the text, I finalised my Text Formatting exercise.

FINAL Text Formatting Layout

HEAD

Font/s: Bembo Std (Bold)

Type Size/s: 31.5 pt

Leading: 10 pt

Paragraph spacing: 0

BODY

Font/s: ITC New Baskerville Std (Roman)

Type Size/s: 10.5 pt

Leading: 11 pt

Paragraph spacing: 10 pt

Characters per-line: 53

Alignment: Align Left

Margins: 12.7 mm top + left + right + bottom

Columns: 2

Gutter: 5 mm

Figure 9.6: Final Text Formatting Layout, Week 6 (7/5/23)

Figure 9.7: Final Text Formatting Layout (PDF), Week 6 (7/5/23)

Figure 9.8: Final Text Formatting Layout - Guidelines, Week 6 (7/5/23)

Figure 9.9: Final Text Formatting Layout - Guidelines (PDF), Week 6 (7/5/23)

---

FEEDBACK

Week 2

General Feedback: Don't include too many graphical design elements into the work as it conveys the idea of the word less. "Less is more." You shouldn't have three designs based off of one idea, but rather off of three ideas as some of the other sketches used one idea in three different ways. Distorting text counts as breaking the rules but using it sparingly can still count. It is okay to use inspiration from online sources, the execution just has to be different. Creating contrast can convey the word more effectively.

Specific Feedback: The sketches for melt are more bendy than melty. Having it start off normal but bend more as it goes down is okay. The "Kill" design for the top right is a good idea can be executed better. Experimentation with the fonts is recommended. Add a small graphical element to the design to convey the idea better (blood dripping?)

Week 3

General Feedback: By the fifth week, we are expected to have completed and caught up with the youtube lectures provided. We should always make sure to include dates with out images. It is better to have an off-white background for your ePortfolio. Always remember to include our process with our work. Remember to include which specific font type we're using for our type expressions. Adding two ideas to one expression can confuse the meaning.

Specific Feedback: No Specific Feedback

Week 4

General Feedback: Whenever you have a pronounced feature in the gif, you should have a pause of about a few seconds to emphasise on it. 25 Frames is enough for a one-second animation. Try to make sure every aspect has a defined movement plan.

Specific Feedback: Include a PDF file version of the final type expression underneath the JPEG file version. Double check to make sure that all the attached images are visible when opened up.

Week 5:

General Feedback: When you have text that is supposed to be read, the range in font size should range between 8 and 12, anything smaller degrades readability. Online it's 16 onwards. The image should be appropriate to the topic of the article. Just because the text is justified doesn't mean you don't have to worry about kerning and tracking. When changing text alignment, make sure that the kerning and tracking changes are reset. Too much space in a column between text is called a gutter. Everything we do in this class should be in black and white.

Specific Feedback: The photo that I used for the layouts was not relevant to the assignment.

---

REFLECTION

Experience

I would say that my overall experience with Task 1was interesting to say the least. I had never done this kind of work before so it was a unique experience to go through for the first time as I got to try my hand at the other Adobe applications that were available as I have only ever used Adobe Premiere Pro. I found exercise 1 to be more interesting and engaging that exercise 2 as we were able to more creatively express the words we were given despite our limitations. Exercise 2 wasn't the worst to say the least, however I do feel it could have been more engaging, it was enjoyable to come up with different layouts but that's all I can say about that.

Observations

Whenever we had our weekly facebook check-ins where we submit the work we've done, I found it interesting to see the different ideas people had come up with for their designs as it provided me with inspiration for how I could improve my own work. I personally like this system as it allows for me to get a better understanding of how far we're able to take our work and where limitations can arise. Along with that, I also get to learn from the mistakes of others.

Findings

I was surprised by how much technicality there is when it comes to typography and how much thought and care goes into making sure that the text works both visually and technically. I used to think very little of typography and believed that it was someone a lot more basic and uninteresting. I still think it's slightly uninteresting but less so as I have a new found respect for people who dedicate themselves to studying and working with typography.  I wouldn't say I love typography, but I have a respect for the craft.

---

FURTHER READINGS

Figure 10.1: Typographic Design: Form and Communication, Week 6 (8/5/23)

This was one of the books that Mr. Vinod recommended our class to use as to get a better understanding and grasp at typography outside of the lectures. I started going through the different chapters just to get a glimpse at what it provides and from what I've seen it expands upon the different lecture videos that were provided by including a lot more information and case studies. 

While I did not utilise this textbook during my work through Task 1, I do plan to use some of the information in this book and apply it to my later tasks as it provides numerous case studies as well as additional information that the lectures did not provide.