Level 3 WGHS VISUAL ARTS 2011 ART DESIGN Typography An Introduction to Type Type Design Since the first recordings of letterforms the concept of the typographic form has evolved into a seemingly endless variety of designs. Type design variations fall within specific categories. Typeface The basic category of type design is the typeface: the specific letterform design of an alphabet, including the serif shape, x-height, length of ascenders and descenders, variation of stroke weight, and any other characteristics that differentiate it from any other design. Each typeface is known by a name, such as Helvetica, Bodoni, and Times Roman, and there may be several interpretations of a typeface such as Century Schoolbook, New Century Schoolbook, and Century Oldstyle. The term typeface, as with much contemporary type terminology, originates with movable type, blocks of wood or metal containing a relief image of a character on one surface, called the face. Typefaces are character sets based on distinct design characteristics. Typestyle A typeface usually includes several design variations called styles. The available number of typestyles, which varies among typefaces, is based on the following visual characteristics: Standard type styles Character angle. The fundamental typestyles are Roman, the standard vertical style, and italic, which is angled. Italic typestyles are cursive, unique letterform variations based on handwriting, or oblique, angled versions of the Roman style. Cursive italics are usually limited to serif designs.
Serif typefaces have true cursive italic styles with re-designed characters. Sans serif typefaces have oblique italic styles in which the Roman characters are angled Character weight. Most typefaces contain bold and bold italic typestyles which are much heavier in stroke weight than the Roman. Many typefaces offer a broader range of weights in addition to Roman, including light and medium (or book) and in addition to bold, including semibold (or demibold), extrabold (or heavy), and black. Extended styles based on weight Character width. Some typefaces include typestyles with character widths which are narrower than roman, called condensed, and wider, called extended. These typestyles generally include accompanying weight variations. Styles included in the Gill Sans family. Font A collection of all the characters of a typeface in one size and one style is called a font. This includes caps and lowercase, numerals, punctuation marks, and any special characters contained in the typeface, such as symbols or ligatures. The precise meaning of the term font is changing with the times. Originally, a font was a collection of pieces of wood or metal type. They were a specific size and, therefore, could only print one size character. Modern typesetting technology can reproduce almost any size character from one digital font. Therefore, the terms font and typeface, while distinct from one another, are often used interchangeably.
Type Family The complete assembly of all the sizes and styles of a typeface forms a type family, bearing the name of its typeface. For example, all the styles and sizes of Helvetica form the Helvetica family. A type family may contain many variations (in fact, the Helvetica family currently contains more than 60 typefaces and styles), but will always retain a strong visual continuity because all of the variations are based on common design characteristics. This allows the designer to present some visual variety on a page while maintaining a strong unified appearance. The Univers family was designed with an extended range of 21 styles. The concept of the type family is explored to fullest extent by Sumner Stone in his unique family of typefaces, designed in the 1980s for the contemporary designer using personal computer technology. The Stone family not only contains typeface variations based on strong design characteristics, but includes complete groups of styles in three different typeface categories. Stone Serif is a traditional thick and thin serif face, Stone Sans is a contemporary uniform strike sans serif face, and Stone Informal is a graceful, contemporary rounded serif typeface. The Stone family was designed, in part to address the new user of typography, that is, the desktop publisher who produces typeset documents without an extensive background in typography and/or design. The Stone family, while running the gamut in typestyle variations, has a strong visual consistency based on common typographic design characteristics. Thus one can more safely combine many different typefaces and styles without worrying about visually incompatible images. The Stone family was designed with 3 typefaces and 18 typestyles. Type anatomy Characters The basic typographic element is called a character, which is any individual letter, numeral, or punctuation mark. The capital letters are called caps, or uppercase characters. Small letters are called lowercase characters. Numbers are called numerals or figures.
Modern, or lining numerals are cap height. Oldstyle numerals have ascenders and descenders. Special characters Pi characters are special characters used for: Math signs Punctuation marks Accented characters Reference marks Character components Typographic characters have basic component parts. The easiest way to differentiate characteristics of type designs is by comparing the structure of these components. The following terms identify some of the components referred to in the next chapter. Ascender The lowercase character stroke which extends above the x-height. Bar The horizontal stroke on the characters A, H, T, e, f, t. Baseline The imaginary horizontal line to which the body, or main component, of characters are aligned. Bowl The curved stroke which surrounds a counter. Bracket A curved line connecting the serif to the stroke. Contrast The amount of variation in between thick and thin strokes.
Minimum contrast Extreme contrast Counter The empty space inside the body stroke. Descender. The lowercase character stroke which extends below the baseline. Loop The bottom part of the lowercase roman g. Sans serif From the French, meaning without serif. A typeface which has no serifs. Sans serif typefaces are typically uniform in stroke width. Serif Tapered corners on the ends of the main stroke. Serifs originated with the chiselled guides made by ancient stonecutters as they lettered monuments. Some serif designs may also be traced back to characteristics of hand calligraphy. Note that serif type is typically thick and thin in stroke weight. Shoulder The part of a curved stroke coming from the stem. Stem A stroke which is vertical or diagonal. Terminal The end of a stroke which does not terminate in a serif. X-height The height of the body, minus ascenders and descenders, which is equal to the height of the lowercase x. Avant Garde Melior Goudy Oldstyle X-heights vary among typefaces in the same point size and strongly effect readability of text blocks.
TASK 1: Practical Investigation a) Word compositions reflecting meaning (2 periods) Choose one or two words to do with your topic. You are to design the word to visually express its meaning. Use Futura Bold typeface. You may vary the size, spacing, placement and orientation of the letters. You may repeat, omit, slice, block or overlap words or letters. You may execute your project by tracing letters, cutting and pasting photocopied letters, using a computer or any combination of these methods. Consider the entire space of the square. Do not use shadows or distortion. b) Expressive typography illustrating a quotation or slogan (3 periods) Choose a quotation from the list below or use a descriptive slogan to do with your topic (check with SIM first). A4. Stick to one typeface only. Experiment using different type weights and sizes, along with colour and rotation to enhance the meaning of the quote. Raindrops keep falling on my head Lightning crashes, an old mother dies Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes When the wind blows the cradle will rock Dust from a distant sun will shower over everyone Disarm you with a smile From far away for far too long
TASK 2: Corporate Identity & Logo Development Brief: Design a logo for your topic. It must accurately represent your organisation and appeal to your target market. Your logo must be eye-catching and easy to understand. Make sure your poster has a message and that it comes across to the viewer clearly. Size: It must work at various sizes - from small business card to giant billboard. Colour: Keep colours to a minimum, 2-4 To feature: The name of your campaign, issue or event. It should include a symbol. Creating a logo is an extensive design project and you will need a list of criteria to keep in mind. Your objectives are: Establishing an image for the company or event Expressing the personality or spirit of the company or event Creating a logo that is flexible enough to work in a variety of applications Creating a logo immediately identified with the company or event Inventing a company name The name should be appropriate for the company s product or service The name should communicate the client s spirit or personality The name should be memorable and creative. That is; edgy, fresh, sweet, clever, colourful, or whatever makes sense for the product or service Think about using a metaphor Brainstorm all words and things related to the product or service. Categorise the brainstorming list. Choose one in each category. Write three or four variations. Logo Suggestions The following is a list of criteria, a test by which you can judge your work. Your objectives are: To design clear and legible type To create a distinctive look for your company/organisation/event To differentiate the product or service, or organisation from the competition To create a logo that is appropriate To express the product or service, or organisation s spirit or personality To create a design with graphic impact To create a design that is consistent with the principles of balance and unity To create good positive and negative shape relationships To design a memorable logo To design a logo that works well in both black and white reproduction and colour To produce a logo that reproduces well when reduced and enlarged Research: Using design books and websites, select and scan 15 logos that you like and consider to be really well designed. Using typographical and graphic image terms, describe why they are effective. Select another 5 logos that are either relevant or similar to your folio topic. Complete a logo analysis for your favourite 3 logos. Discuss typeface, colour, symbol, hierarchy, visual impact, focal point Concepts: Make a sketch in the style of each of the 20 collected logos, using your own logo wording and imagery. See how many other ideas you can generate yourself taking inspiration from other designs in books. (The more ideas, the better the outcome.)
Analysing your ideas Consider the range of ideas you have generated. Which ideas could work as a logo? Which ideas have potential? Fill 1 x A3 page trying out some ideas, using a range of media and techniques that are appropriate to your design models. Make sure to highlight ideas that you have rejected, and explain why. Development: Select your best 4 concepts and try to improve them. Move around elements testing composition and trying different typefaces. Annotate every sketch justifying your decisions. You can try combining elements from different concepts. Create digital versions of these sketches to develop. Clarifying your ideas You should be developing at least 3 ideas. Your logo must reflect the values of your company/issue and therefore be informative to the viewer. Work with simplifying your drawing into positive and negative forms. The spacing of the letters is very important. Stick to a simple typeface but do something interesting with the shapes of the letters. At this point you should be identifying which idea is the best to develop to a final. Final: Discuss your final logo with SIM and make any adjustments/improvements. Scan your concept & any development sketches and sharpen/blacken up for printing and sticking on your board. Congratulations, you are now ready for your third brief!