Typography 101 – Introduction

Week 1 – w/c 11/11/19

For my Field module, where you do project in different discipline, I chose to do ‘Typography 101’, a module based on graphic and editorial design.  Doing this module I hope to gain the skills and literacy in various design programs, such as InDesign.

Introduction to Typography

For the first lecture we learnt about the features of text and elements which make up letters.  Along with this we talked about several categories of fonts, such as Geometric, Humanist and Old Style, each having its own characteristics.

Font Spacing Exercise

In order for us to become aware of how important spacing between characters is, and for us to get used to drawing out letter forms with the correct spacing, we were given a short task of drawing out our name in one of the fonts provided.  We also were given a word to cut into individual letters and remake with equal spacing between them.

Group Font Spacing Exercise

Later on we did a similar activity as before, however this time we were in groups and had larger letters which we had to place on a wall, this was more challenging as we weren’t able to draw a line to ensure the letters were level.

Parts of Letters

Here we were given a sheet of six letters and had to replicate a part of each one on a bigger scale using two pieces of coloured paper, one the backing and one for the form itself.  We were able to be a creative as we liked in disguising which letter we were making part of.  After we had created a part of each letter we then organised them into a large rectangle on a wall, creating a sort of art piece as well as seeing new shapes, where parts of the letter forms joined up.  This was also a useful tool see which combinations complemented each other well and which did not.

Introduction to InDesign

Having a short tutorial on how to use InDesign was helpful as I had not used this adobe program before, also I was able to see the advantages this software has over others, such as the ability to use grid systems.

Editorial Layouts

Later on in the week we started to look at editorial layouts for magazines and book publications, we experimented with layouts and the positioning of text in relation to images with grid systems in a physical form.  When doing this we produced a Zine, which we were later tasked with creating in a digital format on InDesign.

InDesign Zine

Once I had made a rough plan of my Zine in a physical form I then went onto InDesign and then replicated my layouts whilst tidying up and making small changes to my design.