TYPOGRAPHY|TASK3:EXERCISES
Ⅱ3 (Week 9-Week 12)
Il Hu Yao Ping,0376768I Typography
Il Task 3: Exercises.Typographic Exploration and Communication
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Lectures
II. Instructions
III. Process Work
IV. Feedback
V. Reflection
VI. Further Reading
LECTURES:
no lecture
INSTRUCTIONS
TASK:
The overall task of this chapter is to design fonts. We first make a draft and
then Mr. Max selects one of them for AI editing, and finally designs it into a
font poster
1.material: A4 Graph paper + 3 marker pens
2.Select a preferred font from the 10 fonts provided. Using the following
letters H,o,g,b, do a detail dissection of the letters (see attached) in Adobe
Illustrator (artboard size: 1000pt x 1000pt).
3.Sketch the following letters HOGB / hogb
Fig. 2. 7 Sketches of H, O, G, B
(Highlighted Green: Approved and Chosen)
This is my draft. According to Max's request, I designed 9 fonts, including
uppercase and lowercase.
Fig. 3. Lowercase Letters of Sketch #1
Write the following letters and punctuations: o l e d s n c h t i g , .
! # in that style, and then attempt digitising your chosen letterforms
in Adobe Illustrator. Before doing this please view typeface construction:
vid. tutorial 1 and this: vid. tutorial 2
Tools: Cut, width, shape builder, pen and brush
Windows: Pathfinder, Align, Stroke,
Actions:
1. Menu > Object > Path > Outline Stroke
2. Menu > Object > Compound Path > Make
Fig. 7. Digitalising My Sketches in Illustrator
Measurements:
Ascender: 350 pt
Cap Height: 400pt
X-height: 450pt
Descender:749 pt
I put the font into AI and adjusted it repeatedly according to the teacher's
requirements. This is what it looks like. I drew the reference line and
aligned it.
FontLab
After finalising the design of my typeface on Illustrator, I began the
process of developing and exporting my font using FontLab.
Fig. 8. Screenshot of Digitalised Letter and Symbols Transferred into FontLab
Final Outcome:
Fig. 15. Screenshot of FontLab Side Bearings
Fig. Final JPEG White Poster
Fig. Final PDF A4 Black Poster
FEEDBACK:
Week 9:
General: Mr Max gave us a session to sketch out our designs and thought us
how to design symmetrically.
Specific: Mr Max already approved a few designs with the flat nib pen. Now
I just have to finish the rest.
Week 10:
General: Mr Max showed us the steps to perform evaluation on a typeface.
Specific: Mr Max picked one of my early designs to be digitized because
the rest of the designs were more suited for handwriting. I can finish up
the remaining work.
Week 11:
General: Mr Max gave us the time to finalize digitization and
sketches.
Specific: My digitization is already approved but Mr Max gave some
pointers to make the design more symmetric and consistent by ensuring that
spacing in the letters and their size are even. I can start the font lab
importing now.
Week12:
General: More consultation and sketch approval. Mr Max also taught us the
process of importing the fonts into font lab.
Specific: Mr Max approved everything. With a few technical adjustments,
and the typeface is good for submission.
REFLECTION:
Experience :
This last task was quite challenging for me. This is my very first
time making my own typface from scketches. Hoever, I really enjoyed because
we are free to make up our own type creativity. I was having some challenges
while digitising, I practice and at last would able to bring out a
satisfying outcome.
Observation :
Throughout this task, I get several findings through observing at
various of typefaces. For instant, in some typefaces, the ascender is higher
than caps height. Other than that, I could see my peers work, everyone has
their own uniqueness and styles, we are able to share thoughts too.
Findings :
I think the most difficult part is settle on one idea/sketch. How are
we to make the letters to look as one family. I have learned new insight
while developing the typface itself. While constructing each letters one by
one, I notice that little things matters, such as the same widht of every
strokes to make it look as a family. Lastly, feedback from Mr.Max play a
very crucial role for my typeface development.
FURTHER READING
Computer Typography Basics by David Creamer in 2003 is a book
detailing the basic information and knowledge of typography and their
differences. This book helped me understand lectures and typography
better, helping me get a better grasp of the terms and identify distinct
features in common fonts.
A snippet that caught my attention is the explanation of Serif and
Sans Serif fonts. Sans Serif fonts are "without serifs", and have an even
stroke weight. Serifs on the other hand are small strokes that hang off
the end of the letters. It also details the different fonts available with
Serif and Sans Serif.
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