Typography Task 3: Type Design and Communication

24/5/2023 - 29/6/2023 / Week 8 - Week 13
Ng Zheng Kai / 0359424
Typography / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Task 3A: Type Design and Communication

LECTURES

All lectures 1 to 6 completed in Task 1: Exercise 1 & 2

INSTRUCTIONS

For task 3A, we are to design the letters a e t k g r i y m p n

The purpose of this project is for us to learn how to create a good typeface, with subtlety, character, presence, legibility and readability in mind. Upon completion of the font, we were to create a poster displaying our created font. Software: Adobe Illustrator, Fontlab 7.

Task 3: Type Design and Communication

Research on type design

Figure 1.1 Anatomy of Typography

Type design has to adhere to the typography guidelines such as baseline, median, ascender and descender, as well as typography basics pictured in Fig. 1.1 above. While creating our sketches we should be aware of these.

Baseline- The line where all characters sit.

Median- The height of lowercase letters without ascenders.

Ascender- The upward part of the letterform that extends above the x-height and usually above the cap height.

Descender- The downward vertical stroke that extends below the baseline.

Sketches

The first part of the assignment requires 5 different writing tools, writing horizontal, vertical, diagonal , circular lines, and the letters AOTMX using 5 different ways.

The tools I had chosen are: cotton bud, highlighter, Calligraphy pen 1.0, water based brush sign pen and Fine Line 1.2.

Figure 1.2 All five tools

After that, the next part requires us to write down the letters "a e t k g r i y m p n", using the same 5 tools with the selected way.

Figure 1.3 All 5 tools in selected ways

Based on the feedback given by Mr Vinod, he suggested that I use the #4 water based brush sign pen, but he also told to be aware of the letters, as they need to be sitting on the baseline. Afterwards, I proceeded to use the water based brush sign pen to practice writing the same letters in my chosen style.

Figure 1.4 Practice

Digitalization

After satisfied with the outcome of my sketch, I used Adobe Illustrator to digitalize my sketch.

First, I had to create a 1000pt x 1000pt layout. After that, I had to create a guidelines ascender line, cap line, mean line, base line, and descender line, as instructed by Mr Vinod.

Figure 1.5 Guidelines

After finished setting up the guidelines, I proceeded to created a custom brush stroke that is similar to my sketch.

Figure 1.6 Custom made brush stroke

Then, I proceeded to create my initial digital design of my typeface using the custom brush stroke that I created.

Figure 1.7 Initial designs

After creating my initial design, Mr Vinod pointed out that the angle of my strokes are inconsistent, so he advised me to use the pen tool to draw out a straight line, and use the shape tool to draw a circle, then apply my custom brush on them. He also instructed us to create the symbols " . , ! # ".

Figure 1.8 Lines and circular shapes

I then used these lines and shapes to recreate my letters, in order to produce a more consistent angle and thickness.

Figure 1.9 Comparison between unrefined (top) and refined (bottom) letters

Figure 1.10 Final design

Developing the final font in Fontlab 7

After finishing my design in Adobe Illustrator, Mr. Vinod instructed us to develop our final font in Fontlab 7. I made sure to fill in the correct font information (ascender, descender, x-height) in the "Font Info" tab before pasting the letters from Illustrator.

Figure 1.11 Setting up font information

Figure 1.12 Importing letters

After importing the letters from Illustrator to Fontlab 7, I made sure that both my sidebearings are 50, as instructed in the video.

Figure 1.13 Setting all bearings to 50

Then, I began adjusting the kerning of to allow proper spacing between the letters.

Figure 1.14 all letters and symbols used

After adjusting the kernings for all the letters, I exported the font and installed it in my laptop.

Poster Design

I used ChatGPT to let it come up with a sentence using the letters " a, e, t, k, g, r, i, y, m, p, n"

Figure 1.15 Using ChatGPT as reference for making a sentence

Although ChatGPT used other letters apart from the ones I gave, it still gave me some ideas and inspiration in creating my poster.

By using some sentences made by ChatGPT, I came up with my own sentence and made the poster.

Figure 1.16 Poster Design

Final Outcome

Font download link

Figure 1.17 Task 3: Type Design and Communication "Natcore" in JPEG

Figure 1.18 Screen grab of "New Metrics Window: with sentence

Figure 1.19 Poster Design in JPEG

Figure 1.20 Poster Design with Background in JPEG

Figure 1.21 Poster Design in PDF

Figure 1.22 Poster Design with Background in PDF

Font preview:

FEEDBACK

Week 8

General Feedback: Independent learning week

Specific Feedback: Mr Vinod prefered the writing using the water based brush sign pen, but my letter's descenders need to be sitting on the baseline.

Week 10

Specific Feedback: make more refinements on the letters.

Week 11

Specific Feedback: Use shapes and pen tool to draw, then press the selection and press brush that I created. Use cut tool to remove excess areas.

REFLECTION

Experience

In task 3, we get to create our own typeface from scratch. I think it was a fun experience as I felt joyful when I first typed a sentence using the typeface that I made.

Observations

When designing a typeface, I discovered that we must make sure that the typeface is consistent as each letter needs to have the same stroke, angle and thickness.

Findings

In the process of creating my own typeface, I found that creating a typeface requires paying close attention to details like ascenders, descenders, x-height, median, baseline, kerning, etc.

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Ng Zheng Kai (0359424)