Typography 101 Evaluation

I chose typography 101 as I wanted to get better at the various digital packages and get better at laying out my portfolio pages, so that they would look more professional and clearer. At the start of this project I had not used many Adobe Creative Cloud applications, as I had only used Illustrator and Photoshop, however during this field option I was able to learn how to do bits InDesign, such as setting up grid patterns in order to alight text, creating text warps, so text can surround an image.  These were all things which I had wished to learn as now I should be able to apply these to my subject area, whether it be creating a portfolio or creating a set of hero and benefits boards.

Being informed on different letter forms, features and elements of type has made me more aware of how the typeface that I choose can really make a significant difference to if a person reads my piece of my work or not and how they can interpret it.  Expressive type is another type form which I found interesting as you are able to express an emotion or accent purely through letter forms.

When producing work in the future I will try to consider the elements which I have learnt from this field module.  Working in a different discipline has shown me the different fundamental things in a different subject.  Also working with people from different subject areas, allow me to converse and find out what in their practice is seen as most important in terms of design, I was also able to see the different ways in which people go about solving and doing things.  I was able to see a wide variety of skills from each subject, as well as being informed on what some subjects do in their practice.

Studying this option showed me there are actually a lot more ways to do some things than you realise, as when I was designing, I started to forget about the manual processes, such a screen printing ect. and just focused on the digital aspect of this field choice.  When designing and creating in the future I will try to see how I can incorporate these more traditional processes, as they could be valuable for my skill set and may better my design work.

I would recommend this field option as it has helped me to broaden my understanding of layouts, type, visual language and impressions given off from a piece of text.

Week 5 – w/c – 9/12/19

Digital Piece – Box Net

This week I started to finalise my box net on Adobe Illustrator, here I started off with a basic set of shapes, then added the tabs and started adding colour.  I started to add some colour gradients aswell as I wanted the box graphics to look more than just 2D blocks of colour.

Digital Piece – Poster

For the poster I went onto InDesign and set up a page with grid systems, which allowed me to organise the page features, such as the text.  Here I wrote about the screwdriver itself and commented on it’s features and aesthetics.  I then drew round the screwdriver and wrapped the text around it, bringing the text closer to the image, making the words seem almost more valued/relevent.

Week 4 – w/c 2/12/19

Initial Net Idea

Originally I was just thinking of having a square/cube box, which would be pretty typical for a box of a power tool, until I spoke to one of the lecturers, who suggested and showed me some more complex nets, which were not all made up of right angles.

Idea Chosen to Take forward

I decided to go with the less traditional option of making a box with different angles.  Part of my decision for a having box with unusual angles came from looking at cardboard boxes that had been squished, kicked or damaged, as I wanted to implement this kind of style into my design.

Experimentation with Different Forms

Here I sketched several box shapes, which all had multiple different angles on and within them.

Choosing a Shape

I went and choose a shape which had a large cutoff corner at the base of it and as a result of this the top part of the box would slightly overhang.  Later I then decided that the top left corner could do with another angle on it and so I cut the corner off it.

Promotional Poster

After being shown how to wrap text around an image in InDesign, I wanted to somehow implement this into my own work within a poster as I feel that having text right up against an image, not only is aesthetically pleasing, but it causes the user/receiver to look at the image/product first (making it the focal point) and then read parts of the text.  I also wanted the poster to have the same colour scheme and a similar style to the box net.

Week 3 – w/c 25/11/19

Initial Idea Generation

After being given the brief, which was relatively broad, my initial thought was to go down a route related to how products are presented in packaging, since I am a Product Design student.  This area is something which in my subject we don’t fully delve into into, we do however make presentation boards and various diagrams to illustrate what a product is made up of but not specifically packaging, so I am going to design a form of packaging for a product, as I believe this will allow me to showcase my skills with digital apps and help me produce something for my portfolio.

Some products which I have previously designed and made, either in physical or digital form include, a portable gaming device, a set of ergonomically design cutlery and a brand aligned speaker.  These are all potential products which I could design packaging for, however I have decided that I am going to use my most recent subject product, an electric screwdriver to design a set of packaging for.

Week 2 – w/c 18/11/19

Postmodern Typography

To start this week off we were taught about Postmodern Typography, and how means of creating publications such as newspapers has changed significantly since the 1970s.  With the invention of the computer and development of design software, efficiency have improved significantly, and now it is a much less manual process, like most things than it previously was.  We also were informed about the rebellion against Sans serif typefaces, as designers wished to embrace creativity.

Expressive Typography

We were then tasked with creating two sets of expressive type in response after hearing an audio clip being played, the first, one being a clip of Steven Fry talking, the second of a reality TV star, both caused my typeface/font to have very different outcomes.

Expressive Typography Digital Poster

Towards the end of the week we had to create a poster on InDesign which incorporated expressive type.  So I chose to create a poster for a Design show, here I was able to link my work to my discipline by including some of my subject work in the design.  The poster also had to include at least two paragraphs of text, which was slightly difficult as I did not want to over crowd the poster and make it unable to be read quickly.

Breaking Down Posters

Finally we looked at other peoples posters and saw what worked well visually as communication tool and what didn’t work as well.

Briefing

For the next three (and final) weeks of this field module we had been set our final three week brief, ‘Develop an outcome or a series of outcomes that places typography at the forefront’ these outcomes could be related to our subject.

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.