TYPOGRAPHY - ASSIGNMENT 1

08/05/18 - 22/05/18 (Week 07 - 09)

Isaac Lee (0330747)

Typography
Assignment 1

LECTURE

08/05/18 (Week 07)

We have to understand the meaning behind the texts and try to express the texts in the expression.
Kerning refers to the automatic adjustment of space between the letters and is often mistakenly referred to as 'letterspacing'. Letterspacing means to add space between the letters. Tracking is the addition and removal of space in a word or a sentence.

Kerning: reduce spacing between letters

Letterspacing: increase spacing between letters

Tracking: both reducing and increasing spaces between letters

Typography has 2 very important things: readability and legibility. When we read, we see patterns instead of types.

4 types of text formats:

• Flush left: Aligns text to the left margin.
• Centered: Text is aligned to neither the left nor right margin, there is an even gap on each side of each line. (Tip: Never use this format for more than 6-7 lines of text)
• Flush right: The exact opposite of flush left. (Example: Arabic writings)
• Justified: Text is aligned along the left margin, and letter- and word-spacing is adjusted so that the text falls flush with both margins.

Designers tend to set type one way or another depending upon several factors, personal preference, prevailing culture and the need to express play important roles. Typographer's first job is to have a clear, appropriate presentation of the author's message. When the type attracts too much attention to itself before the messages, then the value of it is null.

Different typefaces convey different messages, a good typographer needs to know which typeface to use at the right moment.

Leading and Line length:

• Type size: Text type should be large enough to be read easily at arm’s length
• Leading: Text that is set too tightly encourages vertical eye movement which will cause the reader to lose their place. Then, type that is set too loosely creates striped patterns that distract the reader from the message.
• Line length: Shorter lines require less leading; and vice versa. A good tip is to keep line length between 35-65 characters. Long line texts should be avoided.

15/05/18 (Week 08) - Notes

Indicating paragraphs

First example, we see the ‘pilcrow’, a holdover from medieval manuscripts seldom use today

This passage displays ‘line spacing’ (leading*) between the paragraphs. Hence, if the line space is 12pt, then the paragraph space is 12pt. this ensures cross-alignment across columns of text.

Leading is like jelly betwixt the bread of a typographic sandwich. Line spacing is equal to one layer of jelly plus one slice of bread. If you have 48pt line of type with 12pt leading, you line spacing is 60pt.

The example here displays the standard indentation. Typically, here the indent is the same size of the line spacing or the same as the point size of your text.

The method of extended paragraphs below creates unusually wide columns of text. Despite these problems, there can be strong compositional or functional reasons for choosing it.

2 unpardonable gaffes: widows & orphans

Widow: short line of type left alone at the end of a column of a text

Orphan: short line of type

Highlight text by using italics, bold, different fonts, color coding, and placing a field of color behind the text.

A head indicates a clear break between the topics within a section

B head is subordinate to A heads. B heads indicate a new supporting topic within the A head

A head: Headings
B head: Subhead
C head: Sub-subhead

Cross aligning headlines and captions with text type reinforces the architectural sense of the page – the structure – while articulating the complimentary vertical rhythms.

INSTRUCTIONS




ASSIGNMENT

(Week 07 - 08)

For this assignment, we had to use Adobe InDesign. We were required to make a booklet about Mr. Babadook. The size of the book should be 200mm by 200mm, and the number of pages must be divisible by 4. The first page in InDesign will have the title of the book and beside it is a caption: Typeset in [name of the typeface] by [your name].

Below here is my first attempt of design the Babadook book.

1.1 Front cover

1.2 2nd and 3rd page

1.3 4th and 5th page

1.4 6th and 7th page

1.5 Back cover

After Mr. Vinod told the class to redo the whole thing because it wasn't what he asked for, we all changed ours and here is my 2nd attempt in designing the book.

2.1 Front cover

2.2 1st and 2nd page

2.3 4th and 5th page

2.4 6th and 7th page

2.5 Back cover

Below here is the printed version of the Babadook book

3.1 Front cover

3.2 2nd and 3rd page

3.3 4th and 5th page

3.4 6th and 7th page

3.5 Back cover

FEEDBACK

Week 07: Mr. Vinod said that my Type Expression for 'DARK' is okay.

Week 08: I told Mr. Vinod that maybe there are still a lot of room for improvement for my Babadook book as I was not really satisfied with it.



REFLECTIONS

Experience:

Week 07: This week we were thought how to use Adobe InDesign which I find it got pretty used to after using it for a while.

Week 08: Everyone already designed their Babadook book. But suddenly, Mr. Vinod told us to redo the whole book again as it is not what he asked for.



Observations:

Week 07: The first thing I thought of when I first use InDesign was that; it looked like Photoshop and Illustrator had a baby, and I don't find it appealing.

Week 08: I find it a bit annoying, for me, to follow the grids/guidelines. It's just so 'OCD'. But it's good I guess, just to make the work look neat.



Findings:

Week 07: It's so hard finding other ways to express the passages in the book.

Week 08: I just find that some people felt stress/annoyed when trying to come up with new ways of doing the book.



FURTHER READING

08/05/18 (Week 07)

Type Style Finder: The Busy Designer’s Guide to Choosing Type by Timothy Samara.

Color exhibits a number of spatial properties in addition to its psychological aspects and thus has a profound effect on composition and legibility when applied to type. Cool colors appear to recede, whereas warm colors appear to advance, but red appears to sit statically at a middle depth within space. A color appears darker the less there is of it. A large rectangle and a narrow line of the same color, for example, will appear to have different values if set against a white background: the color in the rectangle will appear lighter than it does in the line, because the line is surrounded by much brighter white space. A designer must pay careful attention to the relative values of colors and their effect on legibility, especially in instances in which a colored background interacts with colored type. As their values approach each other, the contrast between type and background diminishes, and the type becomes less legible. It is important to maintain considerable contrast between the type color and the background color so that the type remains visible.

The application of color to a typographic composition has an immediate effect on hierarchy. The intrinsic value relationships of typographic color in a hierarchy may be exaggerated, and therefore clarified, through the application of chromatic color. For example, if information at the top of a hierarchy is set in a deep, vibrant orange-red, while the secondary is set in cool grey, the two levels of the hierarchy will be visually separated to a much greater degree. The application of color to the ground within a composition can further enhance the hierarchy. Type in one color, set on a field of another color, will either join closely with the field or separate from it aggressively, depending on the relationship between the two colors. If the colors of type and background are related, the two elements will occupy a similar spatial depth. If they are complementary, they will be forced apart. Color may also be used to link related informational components within a hierarchy. In an event poster, for example, all the information related to the time and place of the event may be assigned a particular color, related to that assigned to the title of the event, but contrasting supporting text. The color relationship of the title and location components creates a meaningful link for the viewer.

CITATION

Samara, T. (2006). Type Style Finder: The Busy Designer’s Guide to Choosing Type. Massachusetts: Rockport Publishers.