Typography - Task 3: Type Design & Communication
Nicole Ng Ying Yan 0382412
GCD60104 Typography
Task 3: Type Design & Communication
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3.5 B&W Poster
Hence, I sketched the chosen sketches digitally with grids on
ibisPaint X to standardise the baseline and x-height of the
letters, and to compare which design has more potential for
development.
< Design #4 Sketch - Before & After Refinement>
Mr. Max recommended to add blank spaces between the lines to make the design more distinctive. He approved the revised version and said I could proceed with sketching the other letters.
< Design #6 Sketch - Before & After Refinement>
It is important to make sure the angles of the loops and strokes are the
same, so I made adjustments to almost all the letters. After getting
approval from Mr. Max, he said I can move on to digitalisation in AI.
For side bearing adjustments, I followed the side bearing guide
provided by Mr. Vinod. Then, I did extra kerning for certain letters (particularly letter "e")
according to the structure of my letters.
I created a few versions of the B&W poster with minimal layout differences and different shades of white background. In the end, Mr. Max preferred the 3rd one as it is clear and simple to read.
Typographic design is a complex human activity, requiring a broad background for informed practice. This chapter explores the basic language of typography. Letterforms, the fundamental components of all typographic communications, are carefully examined. Nomenclature, measurement, and the nature of typographic font and family are presented.
1.0 LECTURES
Refer HERE to see all lecture notes.
2.0 INSTRUCTIONS
3.0 PROCESS WORK
3.1 Research
<Deconstruction Exercise - Universe LT Std, 55 Roman>
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I went on Pinterest and Xiaohongshu to search for inspiration, I mainly
focused on blackletter or any geometrically shaped type designs and also
explored other designs that are more retro styled.
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| Figure 3.1.1 Inspiration from Pinterest & Xiaohongshu (Week 8, 9/6/25) |
3.2 Ideation
Mr. Max instructed us to sketch out the letters — a,t,g,b first and get
his approval before sketching the other letters. I tried sketching the
letters on a blank paper first to explore different styles, not thinking about the alignment and grids for now. When designing the
letters, I kept in mind about Mr. Vinod's advice: We should not draw the letters but write the letters.
After showing Mr. Max, he preferred the
middle right (4th) and bottom right (6th) sketches as
the other sketches may be too generic and common.
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Design #4 has more consistency and clear readability, but can be refined to
add more character to the design as it looks too common. Design #6 has a more interesting style but harder to maintain the
consistency of the design for different letters.
Brushes used:
- Design #4 - Marker brush (10.0 px thickness)
- Design #6 - Pen (Fade) (25.0 px thickness)
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Mr. Max recommended to add blank spaces between the lines to make the design more distinctive. He approved the revised version and said I could proceed with sketching the other letters.
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After seeing my complete digital sketch for all the letters, Mr. Max said
I need to redraw the letters p, b, & d to maintain the same angle of
lines as a & e.
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In Week 10, after completing the sketch for Design #4, Mr Max suggested to
sketch all letters for Design #6 to compare which design is better. Hence,
I redid everything using Design #6.
After seeing my Design #6 draft for the other letters, we decided to
proceed with Design #6 as it is more unique compared to Design #4.
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3.3 Digitalisation
I used Pen Tool strokes to create my letters in AI at
70 pt standard for all letters. For punctuation, I
referred to the
punctuation guide
shared by Mr. Vinod.
After showing Mr. Max my digitalisation, he approved all the
letters and no changes were required.
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Measurements:
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| Figure 3.3.2 Design #6 Measurements (Week 11, 3/7/25) |
Before transferring the letters to FontLab, I had to turn
my strokes into shapes in AI for the letters to actually
appear as they are in FontLab.
(Object > Expand)
| Figure 3.3.3 Expanding strokes into shapes (Week 11, 3/7/25) |
3.4 FontLab
During the process of digitisation on FontLab, I began by
filling up the measurement settings (family dimension) and
preferences to set up guidelines when importing each letter.
| Figure 3.4 Measurement settings & preferences (Week 12, 7/7/25) |
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<Side Bearing & Kerning Measurements>
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3.5 B&W Poster
| Figure 3.5 Different layouts of B&W poster (Week 13, 14/7/25) |
3.6 Final Outcome
<Final Type Outcome — Dobbie Regular>
Dobbie Typeface Download - Click
HERE
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| Figure 3.6.1 Dobbie Regular Final Type Construction (PDF) (Week 12, 7/7/25) |
<Final B&W Poster Outcome>
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| Figure 3.6.3 Final B&W Poster (PDF) (Week 13, 14/7/25) |
3.7 Font Tester
Try typing characters from the set — a e p y i t g d m o b . , ! #
4.0 FEEDBACK
Week 8
General feedback: Today's class was an introduction to Task 3. Mr Max let us
use the time to find inspiration and sketch our typeface designs
for the letters a,t,g,b first, then get feedback from him once
done.
Specific feedback: I showed him some of my sketch designs, 3 of them were
shortlisted but 2 of them are still considered as more common
designs, so only 1 of them was more to Mr Max's preference.
Week 9
General feedback: Mr
Max showed us how to do letter deconstruction and how to
digitalise our handwritten designs into Illustrator, he also
had a consultation session for our alphabet designs.
Specific feedback: I showed Mr Max new sketch designs, the 1st sketch design
from last week and one of the new sketch designs were
shortlisted. But ultimately Design #4 was chosen as the
final as it has more consistency but can be refined. Mr. Max
found Design #6 interesting but the curves of the letters
were inconsistent when compared with each other, and if I
want to proceed with it it'll be harder to maintain the
consistency of the design. He provided feedback on how I can refine Design #4, and
I can start to sketch out other letters other than a,t,g,b.
Week 10
General feedback: Today's class focuses on consultation for Task 3 only.
Specific feedback: Mr. Max approved the all sketches for Design #4 and said I
can proceed with digitalisation. However after a long
discussion with him, I decided to redo all my sketches using
Design #6 and compare again.
Week 11
General feedback: Consultation for Task 3.
Specific feedback: I showed my completed sketch for Design #6 and it got chosen
instead of Design #. The sketches for Deisgn #6 are all
approved and I can start digitalising now.
Week 12
General feedback: Today we proceeded with calculating x-height,
ascender, and descender of the typefaces, transferring
them into FontLab, and adjusting the side bearings
of each typeface using the guide provided.
Specific feedback: As my typeface only uses outline strokes, Mr. Max said
I had to expand them into shapes before I can
transfer the typefaces into FontLab. After transferring
them into FontLab, Mr. Max taught me how to do extra
kerning for certain letters without changing the
side bearing numbers. He was quite satisfied with
the results and said I can proceed with designing
the poster.
Week 13
General feedback: Consultation for Task 3.
Specific feedback: I showed my a few versions of my B&W poster to Mr. Max and he approved one of the designs. I just need to complete my e-portfolio and do my final compilation of all tasks.
Week 14
General feedback: Final consultation for Task 4.
Specific feedback: All tasks and blogs have been approved by Mr. Max.
5.0 REFLECTION
Experience
Overall, I had fun completing this task as it allows us to express our individual styles by creating our own typefaces. By sketching on paper first helped me to be more mindful of the details, such as maintaining the sizing of the type structure. Although it took a lot of trial and error when designing the typeface, I was quite happy and satisfied after seeing the final outcome which makes me eager to improve my typography.
Observations
I observed that careful attention to detail is necessary when designing a typeface. Slight adjustments to stroke width, curvature, and spacing can have significant impacts on the typeface's overall appearance and feel. I also noticed the challenge of maintaining consistency in terms of characterisation. It is important to ensure that the style and proportions of each letter balances and harmonises those of the others. I also came to see how important readability is. A typeface should be clear and readable in different contexts and at different sizes, which influenced by design choices.
Findings
Throughout this task, I got a deeper understanding of typography principles, such as x-height, ascenders, descenders, and kerning, is essential in typeface design. I discovered that creating a typeface is a form of creative expression, allowing me to express a specific mood or style through type. Besides that, I also developed some technical skills in using design software and understanding font file formats and their applications. Furthermore, I also learned the value of feedback and its importance in helping me to improve my work. I was able to enhance my design by getting insightful feedback from lecturers and my fellow peers.
6.0 FURTHER READING
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Figure 6.0 Typographic Design: Form and Communication, Rob Carter et al. (2015) |
Typographic design is a complex human activity, requiring a broad background for informed practice. This chapter explores the basic language of typography. Letterforms, the fundamental components of all typographic communications, are carefully examined. Nomenclature, measurement, and the nature of typographic font and family are presented.
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Figure 6.1 The Anatomy of Typography |
Figure 6.2 Proportions of the letterforms
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