Advanced Typography - Task2: Wordmark and Collateral
Advanced Typography - Wordmark and Collateral
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Why Do We Design New Typefaces?
According to Xavier Dupré (2007) and his self-designed typeface Malaga, there are several reasons for creating new typefaces:
- Improving Legibility: Typeface design carries a social responsibility; therefore, designers must continuously improve readability and legibility.
- Artistic Expression: Typeface design is also a form of artistic expression.
1. Adrian Frutiger – Frutiger
The typeface was designed through extensive testing, including viewing text in blurred conditions, to ensure that it remained recognizable in low-light environments and during high-speed movement.
2, Adrian Frutiger – Univers
Univers features a systematic design with consistent widths and weights across the typeface family, creating clarity, order, and visual consistency.
3, Matthew Carter – Verdana
With the growth of the Internet and digital devices, Verdana was designed to maintain excellent legibility even at very small sizes on screens. It was also designed so that characters such as the lowercase “i” and “j” and the uppercase “I” can be easily distinguished.
4. Matthew Carter – Bell Centennial
Bell Centennial was designed specifically for use in telephone directories. It was developed as an improvement upon the earlier Bell Gothic typeface to enhance readability in very small print sizes.
5. Edward Johnston – Johnston Sans / Underground Letter
The London Underground commissioned calligrapher Edward Johnston to create a new typeface for its signs and posters.
The resulting design, known as Underground Letter, was created specifically for the London Underground's signage and promotional materials. Its simple and unified appearance helped establish a clear and recognizable visual identity.
Basic Typeface Design Process
1. Research
- Study the history, structure, and technical aspects of typefaces.
- Define the purpose of the typeface, conduct analysis, and understand its context and intended use.
2. Sketching
- Create preliminary sketches of the typeface using either traditional (analog) or digital methods, depending on the designer’s preferred workflow.
3. Digitization
- Professional software such as FontLab and Glyphs App is commonly used to digitize typefaces.
- During this stage, it is important not only to refine the overall letterforms but also to adjust the counterforms (the internal and surrounding spaces within letters), as they greatly affect readability and legibility.
4. Testing
- Evaluate the typeface for readability and visual clarity.
- Make refinements and corrections based on the testing results.
5. Deployment
- Release the typeface for practical use.
- Identify and fix issues that may not have appeared during the prototyping and testing stages.
Typeface Construction
Roman Capital :
The construction grid for Roman Capitals is based on a square. Within the square, a circle is placed so that it touches all four sides, providing a geometric foundation for letter construction.
Classification According to Form and Construction :
Rather than designing letters randomly, type designers group characters according to their structural similarities. For example, letters composed primarily of straight lines (such as I, H, and E) are developed together, while letters containing curved forms (such as O, C, and Q) are grouped separately. This approach helps maintain consistency throughout the typeface.
Visual Correction :
One of the most important considerations in typeface design is optical correction. Curved letters are often extended slightly beyond the baseline, cap height, or x-height, a technique known as overshoot, to ensure they appear visually equal in size to straight-edged letters.
Visual correction is also necessary when determining the spacing between letters. To maintain visual consistency across the typeface, fitting and spacing adjustments are essential parts of the design process.
Letter Study :
Letter study involves examining the detailed construction, proportions, balance, and refined adjustments within letterforms. Through this process, designers gain a deeper understanding of how individual design elements contribute to the overall effectiveness and readability of a typeface.
Carl Dair added two more principles, Texture and Direction, to the
concept of contrast in typography.
The purpose is “to make the
design work effectively, communicate meaning clearly and without
misunderstanding, and make it stand out in an engaging way.”
Seven Types of Contrast
Contrast in size creates a focal point that attracts the reader’s attention.
The most common use of size contrast is making titles or headings noticeably larger than the body text.
This helps readers organise information and naturally guides their visual attention through the content.
Weight refers to the effect of making bold type stand out when it is placed among lighter type of the same style.
By combining various elements, it is also possible to create a specific area of visual emphasis.
• Contrast of Form
Contrast of form refers to the difference created between a capital letter and its lowercase equivalent, or between a roman typeface and its italic variant.
• Contrast of Structure
Contrast of structure refers to the contrast created by the differences in letterforms between different types of typefaces.
It involves combining typefaces with different structural characteristics.
• Contrast of Texture
Contrast of texture is created by combining the contrasts of size, weight, form, and structure, and applying them to a block of text on a page.
It is an important element for creating a sense of depth and expressing visual texture.
• Contrast of Colour
In colour contrast, a second colour is often less visually emphatic than plain black on white.
Therefore, it is important to consider which elements need to be emphasised and to carefully pay attention to the tonal values of the colours used.
• Contrast of Direction
Contrast of direction refers to the contrast created through differences between vertical and horizontal directions, as well as the angles in between.
Form
Form refers to the overall appearance and impression of the elements that make up a typographic composition.
It is an important element that creates visual impact and influences the viewer’s first impression.
The word “Typography” originates from the Greek words “typos” (form/shape) and “graphis” (writing), meaning “to write according to form.”
The roles of typography:
- To represent a concept.
- To express that concept through a visual form.
The interaction between meaning and form creates a balanced harmony in both functionality and expression, allowing designers to create effective and meaningful designs.
Gestalt is a German word meaning “the way something is arranged or put together.”
Gestalt Psychology is a field of psychology that attempts to understand the principles behind the human ability to acquire and maintain meaningful perceptions.
Gestalt psychologists believed that it is important to look at the whole experience rather than breaking down thoughts and behaviours into separate elements.
Therefore, in design (especially typographic layouts), the components and elements that make up a design are evaluated based on their overall visual form.
Perceptual Organisation / Groupings
In Gestalt psychology, several principles of perception have been proposed to explain how humans organise visual information and recognise it as a unified whole.
Humans tend to perceive elements with similar visual characteristics, such as shape, colour, size, or texture, as belonging to the same group.
2. Law of Proximity
Humans tend to perceive elements that are placed close together as a related group.
3. Law of Closure
The human brain tends to complete incomplete shapes or missing information by filling in the gaps, allowing us to perceive them as complete forms.
4. Law of Continuation
Humans tend to perceive lines or shapes as following a natural flow or direction, even when they are interrupted.
The eye naturally moves along smooth and continuous paths.
5. Law of Symmetry
Humans tend to perceive elements arranged symmetrically as stable, balanced, and unified forms.
6. Law of Simplicity (Law of Prägnanz)
Humans tend to understand things as simple and organised forms rather than complex shapes or information.
This principle is also known as “Good Form”, which suggests that people perceive visual information in the simplest and most stable way possible.
3. PROCESS WORK
It is important to combine color palettes in a way that strong colors create effective contrast.
I will mainly use three brown tones and add a muted navy color, then introduce a bright green as an accent to create contrast.
Furthermore, the logo mark can be combined and expanded into various design applications, including:
- Logo mark designs
- Merchandise and items featuring the logo mark and wordmark
- Instagram posts
Revised design : Final Design
4. FEEDBACK
Week8
General Feedback
・Explanation regarding Task 3
・Final feedback on Task 2
Specific Feedback
・I was told to hurry because my progress is falling behind schedule.
Week7
General Feedback
・Proceed with the approved direction.
Specific Feedback
・Adjust the spacing between "h" and "i".
・Adjust "u" to make it look like "y".
Week6
General Feedback
・Continue refining the design.
Specific Feedback
・No specific feedback
Week5:
General Feedback
・Avoid choosing only trendy designs.
・Simple and contrasting designs are better.
・Select and create fonts that match the mood board.
Specific Feedback
・Ensure consistency between the text and the mood board.
I found Task 2A particularly challenging. I created an artwork based on my own name, but it was difficult to maintain a consistent balance while ensuring that the design remained readable. Therefore, I experimented with different ideas and made many adjustments and refinements throughout the process.
In Task 2B, I developed the artwork created in Illustrator into a logo mark and applied the mark and artwork onto merchandise, such as cups and bags, using Photoshop. The process of image editing and colour adjustment was also challenging because it required careful attention to detail.
Overall, this project focused mainly on applying the knowledge and skills I had gained throughout the course. Although it was a challenging task with many difficulties and opportunities for exploration, I learned a lot from the process and gained valuable experience.
Through KPIT, I learned about the importance of balance, contrast, and simplicity in design.
The consistency in the overall atmosphere and visual style creates a sense of balance, while the use of contrast helps clearly highlight the important elements that need attention.
Additionally, by avoiding excessive decoration, the design remains clean and simple without visual imbalance. This makes the design easier to view, understand, and communicate effectively.
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