TYPE DESIGN AND EXPLORATION

TYPOGRAPHY TASK 3: TYPE DESIGN AND EXPLORATION
18/10/2023 - 29/11/2023 / WEEK 8 - WEEK 14
DAVIES ANNIKA ANGELA / 0362108
BACHELORS OF DESIGN (HONOURS) IN CREATIVE MEDIA

LECTURES

Refer to task 1

INSTRUCTIONS

In this project, we are expected to leverage the knowledge and skills gained from exercises, lectures, and personal readings, as well as my experience with various software programs. The primary goal is to apply this synthesis to one of three distinct tasks:

1) Create a Purposeful Font:

Develop a font intended to address a larger problem or contribute to a solution in your area of interest (e.g., graphic design, animation, new media).
The final deliverable should be a complete generated font (.ttf) with practical applications.
Enhance an Existing Letterform:

2) Improve an existing letterform within your field of interest.

Identify areas for improvement and explore solutions or combinations to enhance the letterform or lettering.
The ultimate output is a complete generated font (.ttf) with practical applications.

3) Engage in an innovative and unique experiment, possibly involving 3-dimensional elements, digital augmentation, edibility, unusual concepts, typographic music videos, or fine art.

The final result of the experiment is flexible and will be determined by your creative vision.
Throughout these tasks, let the knowledge you've acquired guide your decisions, ensuring an effective execution of your final project. The emphasis is on the practical application of your skills, culminating in tangible outcomes such as a complete generated font with relevant applications or an experimental project with a defined and creative end result.

I decided to go with the 2nd option of improving an existing font, so I chose the font that I produced in semester 1: Task 3.

Fig 1.1 Project proposal 18/10/2023 (week 8)

I decided to try out each idea and see which one could possibly work the best.

PROGRESS

IDEA #2

Fig 1.2 hexagonal grid experiment 27/10/2023 ( week 9)

I tried experiment with the hexagonal font and I did not like the outcome of the letters so I abandoned this idea.

IDEA #1

Fig 1.3 developing letters 30/10/2023 ( week 10)

Fig 1.4 reducing thickness of stroke and rounding letter forms 30/10/2023 ( week 10)

I tried rounding the letter forms to make it look more modern like and I did liked the letterforms but I found that Art deco fonts are not really rounded but have some sharp corners and I decided to go with that.

Mr Vinod then told me hat they were inconsistencies in my font and told me to first figure out how the uppercase "O" and lowercase "o" look then develop my letter forms from that. I used the pen tool and had the stroke width to 50pt.

Fig 1.5 Oo of Gatsby awks 3/11/2023 ( week 10)

After I finalised how the "Oo" looks I started building my font.

I put guidelines to ensure my font is consistent in width and Height.

Fig 1.6 guidelines 5/11/2023 ( week 10)

I chose to have a short x-height to reflect Art Deco Architecture: as Art deco design draws inspiration from architecture, and many buildings from the period have tall, sleek proportions. A font with a small x-height can reflect this architectural influence, creating a harmonious connection between typography and design elements as well as showing vintage Authenticity as the typography of the 1920s, which is the era of "The Great Gatsby," often featured fonts with smaller x-heights, using a small x-height can add authenticity to the design, making it feel true to the period which is what I wanted.

MAKING LETTER FORMS FROM "Oo

Fig 1.7 developing lowercase "a" 5/11/2023 ( week 10)

I decided to use half the O to create the "a". I chose to create a single-storey lower-case rather that a double-storey a because art deco design often favors simplicity and clean lines. A single-storey "a" has a more streamlined and geometric appearance, which aligns with the elegant and refined aesthetic of art deco.

Fig 1.8 types of lowercase "a"s 6/11/2023 ( week 11)

Fig 1.9 developing uppercase "B" from uppercase "O" 6/11/2023 ( week 11)

I used the uppercase O for the top part of the B and half the circle of the lowercase "o" for the bottom half I also had top part of the "B" pass the stem of the letterform to add to bring out the sense of Art Deco.

Fig 2.0 developing uppercase "G" 6/11/2023 ( week 11)

I used the uppercase "O" to create the uppercase "G"

Fig 2.1 developing uppercase "U" 6/11/2023 ( week 11)

DEVELOPING THE NUMBERS

I used party at gatsby's as a reference font to develop my numbers.

Fig 2.2 developing numbers 8/11/2023 ( week 11)

DEVELOPING PUNCTUATIONS

Fig 2.3 developing ampersand from '8' 9/11/2023 ( week 11)

Fig 2.4 outline of punctuations 9/11/2023 ( week 11)

Fig 2. 5 punctuations 10/11/2023 ( week 11)

FULL FONT

Fig 2.6 Uppercase and lowercase 11/11/2023 (week 11)

Fig 2.7 uppercase and lowercase 12/11/2023 ( week 11)

IMPORTING INTO FONTLAB

Fig 2.8 discrepancies when importing font on mac 14/11/2023 ( week 12)

I started to notice some imperfections in some of the letterforms and fixed them in font lab.

Fig 2.9 I started kerning the letterforms individually 16/11/2023 ( week 12)

I do not know why I chose to do this as it took so long I realised I could just use set the kerning to the side bearings which I set to 40 for every letter and then fixed the kerning when I typed out the letters.

Fig 3.0 "A" and "B" ligature 16/11/2023 ( week 12)

For some of the letters I wanted them to be ligatures.

Fig 3.1 kerning of G and R 16/11/2023 ( week 12)

For "G" and "R" I wanted the stem to be parellel with the extension of the "R"

Fig 3.2 kerning the lowercase letter forms 16/11/2023 ( week 12)

I then typed random letters on my laptop and saw where there could be awkward kerning and fixed that.

Fig 3.3 view of font imported 17/11/2023 ( week 12)

NAMING MY FONT

The name "Gatsby Awks" reflects my font design journey, evolving from my first attempt. Inspired by "The Great Gatsby," it combines sophistication with a contemporary twist, showcasing a personal and creative progression

FONT PREVEIW

Fig 3.4 font preview 18/11/2023 (week 12)

FONT PRESENTATION AND APPLICATION

For the presentation I wanted to use elements that were popular in the 1920s such as headbands worn on the forehead. Wine glasses and their rounded cars such as the rouge vehicles that gained popularity when Henry Ford began his career in revolutionizing the automobile industry.

MOOD BOARD

Fig 3.5 moodboard 20/11/2023 ( week 13)

I then began my Font presentation for my first presentation I wanted to use a quote from the great Gatsby book to showcase my uppercase letterforms.

I wanted a colour palette that would have an art deco feel to them so I chose art deco colours.

Art Deco Colors: Black and gold

These colors were commonly used in Art Deco design, reflecting luxury and sophistication.

Bold, geometric patterns with contrasting colors like black, white, and red were also prevalent

I used an ai image generator called gencraft to generate an image of a girl in the 1920s and I liked the outcome I proceeded to remove the background of the image and use it in my presentation for uppercase letterforms.

Fig 3.6 removal of background in photoshop. 20/11/2023 ( week 13)

Fig 3.7 font presentation of uppercase letterforms 20/11/2023 ( week 13)

I added a slight grain to the image to give it more of a vintage look as well as image tracing the photo on 16 colours to make the image look like a painting.

I then wanted to showcase my numbers using one of the rouge cars. I used the gencraft for this and I wanted a red car so I put 1920s rouge red car as my prompt and it generated this image below

Fig 3.8 ai generated image of rouge vehicle 21/11/2023 ( week 13)

I image traced the photo and removed some of the background and placed the numbers above the car.

Fig 3.9 font presentation of numbers 22/11/2023 ( week 13)

I had the numbers in black at first then Mr Vinod advised that I make them white to make them stand out in the picture.

I wanted to present the "Oo" as this is the foundation I used to build my font.

Fig 4.0 presentation of "Oo"22/11/2023 ( week 13)

I used an art eco pattern I found on FreePik and placed it as a background and made the opacity 33% so that the main focal point is the "Oo"

Fig 4.1 presentation of punctuation and lowercase 23/11/2023 ( week 13)

I wanted to incorporate a wine glass as there is a famous meme of Learnado Dicaprio holding a wine glass from his role in the Great Gatsby and so I thought it would be a fun addition.

FONT APPLICATION

I decided to use the font in a
book - The Great Gatsby
Jazz album cover
Costume party invitation
Beginning of the movie "The Great Gatsby" (2013)

Fig 4.2 design for book design 23/11/2023 ( week 13)

I used the ai genrator to find a picture of a ballroom and image trace it.

Fig 4.3 font book cover application 24/11/2023 ( week 13)

Fig 4.4 font application :Invitation card 25/11/2023 ( week 13)

I found a template on canva for art deco invitation cards and used my font in the card.

I then designed a Jazz album cover as it became popular in the 1920s so I thought it would be a good fit. I proceeded to show it in a music player.

Fig 4.5 Font application : Jazz album cover 25/11/2023 ( week 13)

For my final application I used capcut to add my text to the beginning of the movie as well as adding text animations such as "roll out" to give the tape rolling effect since in the 1920s they used cassette players in that era.

Fig 4.6 screenshot of editing process in cap cut 25/11/2023 ( week 13)

FINAL PRESENTATION AND APPLICATION

PRESENTATION

Fig 4.7 Presenation poster 28/11/2023 ( week 13)

Fig 4.8 Numbers presentation 28/11/2023 ( week 13)

Fig 4.9 "Oo" presentation 28/11/2023 ( week 13)

Fig 5.0 Lowercase presentation 28/11/2023 ( week 13)

Fig 5.1 Punctuation characters 28/11/2023 ( week 13)

APPLICATION

Fig 5.2 Costume party invitation application 28/11/2023 ( week 13)

Fig 5.3 Book application 28/11/2023 ( week 13)

Fig 5.4 album cover application 28/11/2023 ( week 13)

Fig 5.5 movie introduction application 28/11/2023 ( week 13)

FINAL PDF SUBMISSION

Link to download font:Font download

Fig 5.6 PDF compilation of font presentation and application 28/11/2023 ( week 13)

FEEDBACK

Week 8: Independent Learning Week:

Week 9:
Specific feedback: Prioritize finding a clear purpose for the font.
Advice: Simultaneous development of uppercase and lowercase is crucial for consistency.

Week 10:
Specific feedback: Ensure font consistency and define a singular purpose.
Insight: Reiterate the importance of having a unified purpose for the font.

Week 11:
Specific feedback: Modify the dot on the 'i' and 'j' to a circular shape.
Tip: Continuation of feedback theme for consistency, suggesting circular dots for visual harmony.

Week 12:
Specific feedback: Run and export the font.
Note: Progress to practical aspects of font development, focusing on execution and exportation.

Week 13:
Specific feedback: Adjust numbers to white with a subtle shadow for visibility.
Refine 'i,' 'j,' and 't' to align with other letter thickness.
make sure the graphical elements do not over power the font presentation

REFLECTION

Experience:

Engaging in this task proved to be highly intriguing, highlighting the significance of thorough research in stimulating creative ideas. However, challenges arose during the font import stage, where scaling down lowercase letterforms became a tedious, frustrating, and time-consuming endeavor.

Observation:

The process revealed intricate systems and details integral to font design, spanning from width to overhang, demanding meticulous attention to maintain consistency. The observation underscored the complexity of font creation, emphasizing the need for precision in various design elements.

Findings:

Planning each stage and studying past student work emerged as valuable strategies. Developing key characters like O, A, H, and N early in the process provided a foundational framework for the entire font, establishing essential strokes. A critical realization was the font's communicative aspect, emphasizing the importance of ensuring the design effectively conveys its intended message

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DAVIES ANNIKA ANGELA (0362108)