Studio Brief 3 Development

Studio Brief 3 Development

I have finally developed my typeface into its final form. I took the advice from the critique and applied it to the typeface and made it much better. My idea is to take the geometric shapes and edges from the sans serif type, Futura and combine it with the messy typeface Fraktur, with its disproportionate ascenders and descenders. I thought that if I added some rules to the creation of the typeface it would have a consistent look throughout out the whole type. The rules were to not use any horizontal lines and that all the angles had to be between 40 and 60 degrees. I applied this to all the letter forms and it worked perfectly. However some of the letter forms turned out quite similar or unclear meaning I had to work a little harder on some of them.

Here are the letters 'O', 'S' and 'Z'. The problem with the 'O' is that it is not on the angles that I specified deeming it un-worthy for the typeface. So I recreated it to match the rest of the type and now it fits in perfectly. The problem with the 'S' and 'Z' is that they look way too similar as well so what I did was recreate the 'Z' into that almost 'N' shape as that design is very similar to the Fraktur one. I also thickened the weight of the 'S' to give it more of an individual look for that letter.

This is my final typeface in all of its glory with the improved letters and all the correct angles. 

Studio Brief 3 Critique

Studio Brief 3 Critique 

Today I participated in a group crit and received some positive and negative feedback about my ideas. One of the first points I received was about my 'un-defiled' typeface idea. I was told that it was a bit too vague and that I need to relate it more to and object or typeface instead of just creating the shapes off my own back. I was advised to maybe take some kids toys and play with them to create the shapes from them. It had to have a specific link to a shape so I could play with building blocks, lego or even connect four.

With the Fraktur/Futura idea I was advised to make all the shapes point in the same direction or angle so there was more of a trend there. I had included some horizontal shapes there which didn't really fit at all. Maybe I could also use less shapes to make it slightly more simplified. This was my best idea however and I will further develop this one specifically to perfection. Other ideas shared around were to for instance refine the typefaces a bit further and make them a little bit cleaner and more professional.

Typeface Design

Typeface Design

My reference word is intemerate, so I began my first idea with refining and simplifying an already clean font. I chose Bodoni because I felt like there was much to play with in this typeface. I decided to stick to two rules in creating this typeface which would help keep a similar theme throughout. My rules were to use straight lines and have at least one full colour block in the type. If you look at this here and Bodoni you should be able to notice the similarities.

This second idea was inspired by the innocence of the the word. Word like undefiled and pure can relate to it and when I thought of that it remind me of children and innocence. To fit with that theme I decided to use big block shapes that were easily translatable. These kind of blocks remind me of the things kids use to learn how to spell or count.

Here are two different ideas in the next image. The first one is based upon the old Nazi font Fraktur, which was so hard to read they swapped it for Futura when creating their propaganda and posters. I decided to try and mix the fonts together to be able to create a readable Fraktur. I found this one the most challenging however if it works I reckon it'll be great.

The second one was similar to the first idea but a slight alteration in the fact it isn't going to be big bold shaped but thin and subtle lines. This will hopefully show a lot of elegance and relate to the pureness of the word. I'll try and use thin strokes and a light weight and mix it with large serifs to achieve the look I want.

This final idea is my attempt to represent innocence again. Once again using a light weight I have used large lines and small shapes to create this certain style. I feel like this is probably the most basic idea however that may be the point so it could be my potential final design. 

Studio Brief 3 Ideas

Studio Brief 3 Ideas

Today I was given a new brief which was to create a hole typeface which was related to my given word 'intemerate'. This defines as pure, clean and undefiled. I think this is quite a good word because straight away i can think of things to do relating to clean typefaces, sans serif or even very elegant serifs. We did a little group task to gain feedback from others on what I could do with my word.

I received some of the basic feedback like try a plain font with sans serif, try and make it really bold or really light. I think both ways will make it relevant to the word. One suggestion was to have the descenders drop down really low like a waterfall and have the rest of the type stay put. Another idea was to not include some of the typeface and have aspects of the letter that would still easily translate as that letter. One of my most popular ideas was to take a messy font and purify it. This could be done in many ways and approached from different forms.

I decided to take some of these ideas on boards and see what I could create. I used some basic fonts like Futura and Helvetica which were to go to fonts in this case. Playing with these will be a big part in this project I reckon, playing with the weight and kerning and seeing what comes out of it. I also had a look at some logos that represent pure things like Evian and tried doing their typeface and drawing it y hand to see what I could create. Repetition would probably help me alter the actual typeface into my own. Another thing I did was looked at typefaces that were known for being pure. For instance the controversial typeface Fraktur used by the nazi party which was later disbanded and switched to Futura instead given the fact it was easier to read. In my head Fraktur was once known as a pure font by the nazi's but not anymore. Maybe I could change it back into a pure font. I could try this with several unclear fonts however like curls mt or comic sans. 

Studio Brief 2 Crit

Studio Brief 2 Crit

I found most of my feedback was generally quite positive which I was very happy with. The percentage grade people gave me seemed to vary between 50-59% and 60-69% nothing below that. A lot of people picked up on the face of my good research and the relation back to the artist and his work. There was even a mention of my final design "actually looking like a structure" which was not the intention but it totally works for me. I had some good feedback stating my variation in each idea and they all had separate themes and different meanings which was well translated. Another positive I liked was how they remarked an "interesting style" throughout the work which was what I was going for. I created the logo into a repeat pattern also, which I was sceptical at first as that was not its true intention but once again it really worked well and could be put into several great contexts.

On the negative side, everyone picked up on my poor print quality which equals an overall poor presentation. This is something that is easily fixable and if I had the time would have corrected straight away. This has cost me some brownie points but it is also a learning curb for me to pay more attention to these finer details next time. Another thing people seemed to pick up on was my "sloppy writing". This is something I need to work on generally as in future it will definitely let me down. I need to learn how to use real terms and better descriptive techniques. One more thing that I could rally improve on is adding colour. In my feedback several people stated about how adding colour and this would really help add more context and give the whole thing a bit of life.

To summarise there are several positives which I am happy with and quite a few negatives that I can improve on. Some of them are silly mistakes that I just to to fix by paying more attention, proof reading and taking more care with my work. I'll also put the effort in and print in colour to give that extra professional edge.

Kerning

Kerning

Kerning is the spacing in between the letters in a word and it is a lot more important that some may think. Back in the Renaissance, Da Vinci used geometric shapes to outline the correlation of the perfect human form. This technique was further developed and used by fine artists to define features in letterforms, such as where serifs and wars go, how high and low the ascenders and descenders are and also the distance in the kerning. Artists like Johann Neudorffer helped constructed his alphabet using grids like that.

Kerning and the whole positioning of the type forms is very important, especially in today's world with logos and such flying around all of the place. I carried out an experiment to display how important it really is to have the kerning correct and what it can translate to others if the letters are placed randomly.

This first example displays a very formal way to present the word here. The kerning isn't too far apart and the whole word is very straight and within the guidelines. For instance this would be a good logo design for something quite formal such as a supermarket or a funeral director.

This second one is quite similar to the previous one, still using quite sensible a kerning however, one of the letters is reversed giving the whole type a slightly more informal look then before. In context, this could be used as a logo for a fancy business or even an IT related business to be specific. It wouldn't just have to be used for businesses though, it could also be used for luxury fashion for instance. I say luxury fashion instead of just and normal fashion as is still carries a formal aspect while being slightly unique and individual compared to just a normal word written down.

This final one is very messy and had little thought into the process of the letter placement. The whole form does not follow any guidelines and the kerning is all over the place. This is not necessarily a bad thing though as this could perfectly be used as a logo for a children's television show or for a nursery for instance. I say this because the whole thing gives quite a playful feel almost like a child has arranged these letters. So it may seem very informal, which it is to a certain extent, but in the context of something that would appeal to children this is as formal as it gets.

Logotype Crit

Logotype Crit

Key Ideas:

1) Try and take two contrasting fonts like Garamond and Helvetica then mixing them together to create some kind of type form or shape. It could be in English, Chinese or maybe even a mixture of the two. This will open my mind to other medias and hopefully inspire new ideas.

2) Look into street art and graffiti. This will promote a hole new style for me to try and. This will relate back to Weiwei's 'smashing a dynasty urn' because before he dropped it he graffiti'd all over it completely breaking the rules. Maybe I could mix that with some Chinese calligraphy.

3) Take the broken vases and plates from before and turn them into a logotype. I could try arranging them into an obvious type or maybe a more subtle one. I could maybe even play with the negative space in between them.

4) Take the 6 Vignelli typefaces and give a mood/explanation for what each one represents. Give reason to why I chose the one I did.

The problem with my current Ideas are that they lack a little context. Personally I find that the context and ideas are there but they're just incredibly hard to explain. I also need to up my game with the physical outcome and add more attention to detail.

Ai Weiwei research

Ai Weiwei research

I have decided to research Ai Weiwei as my topic for the logotype brief. The reason I chose him was because of his ideas towards freedom of speech and how he calls attention to human rights violations. I find it inspiring how he translates these things through his art, meaning they're not just another picture on the wall but made for a real reason. He's managed to get himself into trouble numerous times for his actions such as being under house arrest, being beaten by police and having his studio bull-dozed. The reason he got into trouble for expressing freedom of speech was because China is a country where free speech is not recognised as a right. With all of his anarchistic pieces of work, such as 'smashing a dynasty urn', I feel like I could really branch out and almost do whatever I wanted with this logotype given the fact Weiwei's work is usually quite daring. I could try breaking items in different ways like tearing, smashing and snapping them and rearranging them into letter forms. I could also translate Ai Weiwei's name into the Chinese version and mess with that. Take the English version apart and arrange it into the Chinese form.

The Vignelli Canon

The Vignelli Canon


Today I read The Vignelli Canon and learnt about his form of design and the way he conducts it. I found it very interesting and agreed with a lot of the things he had to say and will definitely take them an board. Some of the platforms he crossed were typefaces and fonts, page layouts, paper sizes and colours. One thing I did really like and could relate to was the way he approached what some people would think to be meaningless work. “Stripes and swash of colour splashed across pages for no reason whatsoever. Well, they are either meaningless or incredibly vulgar or criminal when done on purpose.” To me this means you could turn anything into something great be it a mistake or not which brings a sense of play into work and not worrying about mistakes. He also talks about how design should “stand by itself in all its clarity” and “stand by itself, without excuses, explanation or apologies.” I guess this means when’s you have created a final product or design of some form it should instantly be clear what it is and make sense to the customer instantaneously without question. This is something I think I could learn from personally. Another thing he states is about using primary colours and shapes as their “formal values are timeless”. To me this means keeping designs simple is the best solution for a successful design and referring back to before, it would make the design more clear and easier to understand. He always relates back to simplicity in many forms for instance white space too saying that sometimes the white space is even more important then the black of the letter said in some cases. This can be used in the context of magazine and book layouts. He talks a lot about grids as well, displaying different forms of layouts and where the type would go or the logo and so on so forth. Finally, my favourite part of the book was when he talked about what typefaces to use in certain contexts and how many different typefaces should be used within a single design. “Out of thousands of typefaces, all we need are a few basic ones” This is extremely useful for me as it will help me in my future endeavours decide what typefaces to use and also how to position them on the page. Hopefully this information will turn me into a better designer and help me persistently produce clear work which is easily translated to others.

Studio Brief 2

Studio Brief 2

Studio brief 2 has set me with the task of rebranding my chosen artist or exhibition from the YSP and producing five logotypes for it. We have to create it using only type and have a narrow base of the Vignelli typefaces. Something I might find difficult with this one is perhaps straying too far away from an actual english type form as my artist is Ai Weiwei I had the idea of using a lot of Chinese calligraphy. I think that this will possibly help me in away giving me more things to play with and produce even more work, expanding my creative vision. To begin I reckon I am going to have to create some calligraphy and research Chinese letter forms. See how they're created and what materials they use. I do quite like the designs on the Chinese new year lamps, how they're round and the design follows the shape. Maybe I could confine all of my ideas inside of a circle.

YSP

YSP

We visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to have a look at all the different artists sculptures set up there. We took photos for research purposes and created collages based on our favourite ones. After going around the whole park we chose our favourite exhibition and artist. Mine was Ai Weiwei and his animal heads sculpture because of the history behind them and also how well executed the sculptures were. We had to create three letter forms from the chosen sculpture or artist and the one I chose too was a little difficult as it did not exactly relate to that sculpture but another piece of work by Weiwei. I based the letter forms of his 'Dropping a Dynasty Urn' piece as I felt like I had more opportunities to play with this. In this piece he takes a really old and valuable Chinese urn and smashes it on the ground so that's exactly what we did but the cheaper version. Once we had done so we re-arranged the shards into our chosen word and photographed it and also made a full alphabet from those shards. We used the word Zodiac given its relation to the sculpture park. Those heads were symbols for the zodiac signs Scorpio, Virgo, Leo, Cancer and so on and so forth. For the third letter form I decided to look into Chinese calligraphy and created an animated GIF out of it. I transformed the style of the Chinese calligraphy but put it into English and wrote the word Zodiac and it also had the plates smashed appearing over the top of it as well the link it all together. The way I like to think of it is the smashed plates are a modern version of his sculpture and the calligraphy is an old fashioned tradition best known for by the Chinese. At the exhibition, some of the sculptured heads were traditional ones and some were modern re-makes given that they all could not be found and that is how we made the difficult link between his work and ours.

Ligature Brief

Ligature Brief

In the ligature brief, I had to turn one single emoji into a piece of ligature. We got to choose any emoji we wanted for instance 'LOL', 'OMG' and so on. Our group ended up choosing the phrase 'Mr & Mrs' which was definitely a challenge compared to some of the other options out there however that meant that if we managed to turn it into a clear piece of ligature it would work very well. We researched the 6 Vignelli typefaces and ended up choosing 'century expanded' as we thought it had the most class and fitted perfectly with the phrase. For instance if Mr & Mrs was put into context it would usually be in a formal situtation such as marriage related documents, banking details and so on. This font features serifs and elegance making it quite a formal font compared to say helvetiva or futura. Through all the experimentation we conducted we ended up deciding to envolve the whole surname into the ligature, stating that the whole surname translated as Mr & Mrs instead of having one tiny little symbol.