Advanced Typography - Exercise and Lecture

Advanced Typography - Exercises

26.09.2019

Joseph (0332260)

Advanced Typography

Exercises 

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LECTURE

(26.09.19)

This is the start of what I can say a very stressful course to go through again but no worries its not Taylor's University or any University if it's not hard. For our first week, we start the course by being introduced to the MIB (Module Information Booklet). We were explained by Mr. Vinod what are the assignments going to be like and what are the projects going to be like. After that, we continued on by making presentations and explaining the lecture to the lecturers. We learned about the 8 Typographical Systems, we have :" Axial, Radial, Dilatational, Random, Grid, Modular, Transitional, and Bilateral. These are the slides of presentation that each of our group makes.

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INSTRUCTIONS

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EXERCISE


Week 2 (02.09.2019)

For our first exercise, we were asked to make 2 art designs based on the presentation that we did for the first week. The first week we covered the 8 typographic systems which we need to create 2 designs for each typographic design. These are my designs.

Fig 1.1 Axial Design

Fig 1.2 Radial Design

Fig 1.3 Dilatational Design

Fig 1.4 Grid Design

Fig 1.5 Random Design

Fig 1.6 Bilateral Design

Fig 1.7 Modular Design

Fig 1.8 Transitional Design

PDF version :

Most of the designs in here, mostly use Futura typeface. It's my favourite typeface, so I used it all the time. Its probably a bad thing to do because I need to learn and practice using other typeface. There should be feedback by now but I haven't had the time because I have a lot in my plate.

(09.09.2019) - (09.16.2019) Week 3 - Week 4 : Public Holiday

Although its a public holiday, we needed to have class or else we'll be missing out on a lot of work. For week 3, we were suppose to do our work on Type and Play Part 1. The exercise was to find an image source that contains at least 5 raw letters that we have to refine later on. For my image source, it was an entrance of a resort in Batam with a lot of architecture geometry. I figured with that it would be a lot simpler. This is the picture below :

Fig 2.1 Picture on the left represents the original, middle represents the traced version with the picture, right one represents the trace only.

After we found our letters, we have to trace based on the picture we find and refine it. For my letters, I found M,N,X,V,A, below you'll see the letters that has been extracted by the image.

Fig 2.2 Extracted Letters

After extracting the letters and asking for feedback from Mr. Vinod, he mentioned that the characteristics from the geometry is that there's something holding the structure together and that is the joints. He advised that I should add that in which was the joints, at first I couldn't quite envision the advise that he was giving but eventually I drew a few sketches to have sort of like a guide or reference of what he was saying, with the sketches in hand and in mind. I've come up with a the refinement that Mr. Vinod was talking about.

Fig 2.3 Refined Letters (First Refinement)

Fig 2.4 Refined Letters (Second Refinement)

So I showed this to Mr. Vinod and Mr. Shamsul, both of them said that I'm missing a key element towards the text, which is the gap between the joint and the beam of the letters. I understood the feedback however I couldn't quite visualize how it would look like, luckily Mr. Vinod and Mr. Shamsul suggested some of ideas of how it would look like. So I continued refining it.

Fig 2.5 Refined Letters ( Third Refinement )

This was the third refinement that I made. When I made this it felt that it looked good, almost felt like this is the final refinement. However it felt imbalance in between letters, when I looked at it again and asked for some feedback from my friends. All of them mentioned that the width of the beam of the letter A was not the same with the other letters, and the letter V, A, and X although maintaining the same X-height as the other 2 letters (M and N) it did exceed the baseline. With a clear design that I was going for, I refined the letters again to make the final form of the refinement.

Fig 2.6 Refined Letters (Final Refinement)

This is the final version of the refinement, I created a baseline and an X-height for it to have the same height. This one was the final refinement for me. I made the letters with the same thickness as the letter M, I followed the characteristics of each other's letters to make it easier for me. For example, the letter A is the upside down version of the letter V, and the letter is sort of the middle part of the letter M.

Although I do I have to say that the letter X gave me the most problems, specifically looking for the perfect spread of the X. The first attempt of the X was felt a bit too wide, although the same spread distance as the bottom part of the letter A. The second try was too narrow as it didn't felt and look like it was inconsistent with the other letters.

Fig 2.7 Wide X (First Attempt)

Fig 2.8 Narrow X (Second Attempt)

With the two X that I tried to refined, I thought of a way for it to work and the solution for it to me was to combine the wide X and the narrow X and look for the gap between the wide one and the narrow one, I figured if one is too wide and the other one is too narrow then why not just look for the gap in between those two X's. So this is my third X for refinement (that sounded wrong in my head).

Fig 2.9 Balanced X (Final Attempt)

In all honesty, I still feel that the X could be better and be improve. Due to the other subjects that I'm worried about, I didn't bother to do a fix to the perfect X. So I just left it like that and thought that it looked good. Now I present to the readers the individual final form of the letters.

Fig 3.0 Refined M

Fig 3.1 Refined N

Fig 3.2 Refined V

Fig 3.3 Refined A

Fig 3.4 Refined X

Fig 3.5 Refined Letters (Final Attempt)

PDF version :

Week 4

For week 4, we're starting to do our work for type and play part 2 : which is similar, the exercise requires us to find an image source and come up with a phrase to implement it in the image source. At first I chose a picture of a badminton player, however there was no good pictures so I changed into the picture of ballet dancer below is the phrase and implementation of the work. Due to the small file size of the picture, I cannot show the picture of the badminton player.

Fig 3.6 Type and Play 2

Obviously, I didn't know what I was doing. I was doing this 4 am in the morning and it was 4 hours left to Advanced Typography class. The aim was to set out a type of movement towards the ballet dancer with the words. Although I achieve that through the placement of the letters, it still wasn't wow or good enough, I showed this to Mr. Vinod and Mr. Shamsul, I told them that I wasn't happy or proud of the work. They also said that they wouldn't be proud of this either. In the end, they gave me some advice on what to work on and what I can improve on. So eventually, I gave up on this picture and search for a new one, and I found this picture of alleyway that had some sort of a neon light vibe to it.

Fig 3.7 Alley way Picture

With an alleyway like this, I wanted to create the vibe of being lost and scared in alleyway. So I chose the phrase lost at night, I wanted the letters to sort of hide and wander around. So I thought about placing them around and sort of creating this movement of going further away from the "cameraman" or the person that's looking at the picture. So this is what I did.

Fig 3.8 Type and Play (Final Attempt)

The word "night" in the picture is colored blue and then slowly turning to white is because I wanted to emit that feeling of light shining through the letters, that's why for the letter N,I its still holds a strong blue because its shined by the blue light and it turns to white as we progress.

PDF version :

Feedback 

Week 3

Mr.Vinod and Mr. Shamsul said that I need to include the joints of the structure to maintain the letters characteristics in the trace. Week 5 Mr. Vinod and Mr. Shamsul mentioned that I'm missing some key elements of the letters that I extracted from the picture, which is the connectors of the joints and he asked me to add them. Mr. Vinod and Mr. Shamsul suggested a few ideas for the typeface.

-For type and play part 2, I told Mr. Vinod that I wasn't proud of the work that I was doing. Mr. Vinod suggested that I should play around with the particles of the picture and implement that into the typeface. Experience Week 1 A little bit nervous starting the semester, thanks to how I heard people are struggling. Week 2 I was shocked that we had a 3-week public holiday, but you know what it's Mr. Vinod so we need to have class or else we fall behind. Week 3 I struggled a lot with the overwhelming time pressure from other subjects like Research Dissertation but pulled through with some days with no sleep. Week 4 Doing the type and play 2 was annoyingly frustrating. Week 5 I felt a little bit better, but still struggling with the time pressure. Reflections Week 2 - Week 5 The time pressure was one of the worries and struggles that I had during this semester, balancing dissertation and advanced typography was obviously not an easy task. However, it didn't stop me from trying to produce the work. My biggest struggle and my biggest fear was the type and play 2, for some reason, it was hard for me to visualize the kind of work, and it was also hard for me to keep up with the creativity that other students have. Sometimes I question myself whether I can be good enough for the rest of the course or module. Well if I made it this far, I guess I'll just have to see and find out.