Typography Project 3 - Type Design & Communication ( Font Design )
-November 18, 2023
8/11/2023-13/12/2023 ( Week7 -Week12 )
Li Jingbu / 0367209
Typography / Bachelor of design Honors In Creative Media
Project 3: Type Design & Communication ( Font Design )
INSTRUCTIONS
Project 3 - Type Design & Communication (Font Design)
1.Research
Font Styles: script, and text fonts only come in the "plain" version, even if they appear bold or italic after styling has been applied. To make the issue more confus-ing, some fonts only come in plain and italic versions; plain and bold versions; or plain, italic, and bold (but no bold italic) versions.
In programs, which have been around for awhile-such as Microsoft Word, QuarkXPress, PageMaker, and FrameMaker—the software does not know if a font has a bold or italic version, and will let the user make whatever style formatting he or she wishes. Whether the font styling actually exists (and will print) is another matter. The only way to be sure that a font has the correct variation is to use the font weights from the font menu, and not from the style menu or the "B" and "I" buttons on the format ruler.
Newer programs, such as InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop, allow only the styles that are currently installed on the computer. So, if a bold version of a font is not currently installed (whether it exists or not), it is not available as a font style selection
Font Families:
The term "font families" refers to fonts of the same design, but with a difference in weight from one font to another. As previously mentioned, many fonts only come in one weight—plain. However, many body-copy fonts are available in:
• plain (or Roman),
• italic (usually a Serif font) or oblique (usually a Sans Serif font),
• bold, and
• bold italic or bold oblique.
A number of these fonts have additional weights to provide the designer an even greater choice. Also, each one of the weights may have an italic or oblique version.
Some popular fonts may even have matching condensed and extended versions, too.
Some of the weights, in order from the lightest to heaviest, include:
• Extra Light, Ultra Light, or Extra Thin
• Thin or Light
• Roman or Book
• Medium or Regular
• Demi-Bold or Semi-Bold
• Bold
• Heavy, Extra Bold, Black or Super Bold
The term "font families" refers to fonts of the same design, but with a difference in weight from one font to another. As previously mentioned, many fonts only come in one weight—plain. However, many body-copy fonts are available in:
• plain (or Roman),
• italic (usually a Serif font) or oblique (usually a Sans Serif font),
• bold, and
• bold italic or bold oblique.
A number of these fonts have additional weights to provide the designer an even greater choice. Also, each one of the weights may have an italic or oblique version.
Some popular fonts may even have matching condensed and extended versions, too.
Some of the weights, in order from the lightest to heaviest, include:
• Extra Light, Ultra Light, or Extra Thin
• Thin or Light
• Roman or Book
• Medium or Regular
• Demi-Bold or Semi-Bold
• Bold
• Heavy, Extra Bold, Black or Super Bold
2.Deconstruction of letterforms
I choose Bembo STD font to analyze the four letters H o g b. For H, The strokes on both sides are thicker, and the cross in the middle is thin. For o, It's not symmetrical but it has some slant, and it also varies in thickness. For g, It is full of art, and the writing is complex. For b, It also expresses the effect in terms of inconsistencies in thickness.
3.Sketch
The first one is a blue rounded nib, and I use different writing styles to change the strokes of the letters, some thick, some thin.
The second one is a black pointed nib, which I try to use to write personalized fonts.
Combined with my research results, I think the characters with inconsistent thickness will be more artistic, so I tried this method in the third kind of red broad edge pen tip.
After listening to my teacher's instructions, I began to write OLEDSNCHTIG,.！# in my favourite font! , and sought the teacher's opinion, who thought it was generally okay, but the variation in thickness needed to be smoother, and I made an attempt to.
4.Digital Exploration
I started using my favourite fonts to digitise them on adobe illustrator.On the first attempt, the letter turns were very stiff and not smooth enough, and the gaps between the letters were not even enough, so they didn't look good and were different sizes and not coordinated enough
The second time around I made more subtle adjustments to make the letters as smooth as possible, and the inconsistency in size was also improved.
In week 10 I showed my teacher my font and she thought it still needed to be adjusted for spacing and that the letter S was too thin underneath and the G and T were too thin overall, I made the adjustments
In week twelve I started making fonts in fontlab, after importing them I changed the spacing of the letters as well as the size to look more coordinated.
Final Font Design Link and Image:https://drive.google.com/file/d/170kdp0xh9I0blFklGsHrmSdnfYYFb6xD/view?usp=share_link
FINAL FONT SPINE(JPEG)
FINAL FONT SPINE(PDF)
FINAL POSTER(JPEG)
FEEDBACK
WEEK8
Generally Feedback:I learnt how to write differently with different thicknesses of pens.
Special Feedback:This week I've been experimenting with three different colours of marker pens of different thicknesses and have analysed four letters, which has given me initial ideas for constructing my own typeface.
WEEK9
Generally Feedback:The drafts of the fonts were improved with the help of the teacher.
Special Feedback:Fonts should be handled more carefully, e.g. the transformation of letter thicknesses should be smoother rather than very rigid.
WEEK10
Generally Feedback:Font digitisation should first use the pen tool to create the basic path, adjusted to the appropriate width and then outline the stroke for fine-tuning.
Special Feedback:My teacher instructed me that I should make the thick and thin transformations of the digitised letters smoother, and that sharp turns would make the font look bad.
WEEK11
Generally Feedback:Every little detail in digitisation deserves attention, otherwise it may spoil the harmony of the whole.
Special Feedback:After the teacher's guidance I added as much detail as possible to the font, modifying the size, spacing and thickness of the font.
WEEK12
Generally Feedback:Started trying to export fonts and modify spacing in fontlab.
Special Feedback:Letter T should not be spaced too far apart or they will look weird overall.
REFLECTION
Experience:
After a few weeks of typography, I realised its importance, and although the back and forth revisions were sometimes tedious, overall I got a lot out of it. I also realised that even small details can make a huge difference in the overall picture. We must pay attention to the details and not let the small details affect the big picture.
Observations:
In typeface design, by comparing different versions up and down, you can see the progress or deficiency of the new design, so it is very important to observe more, and sometimes you can refer to some good examples to make your design more interesting.
Findings:
I realised how difficult it is to design great fonts and learnt that it is important to make fonts aesthetically pleasing by understanding the nuances of different letters.
FURTHER READING
Deciding what size to use can be easier with an understanding of the things that affect readability. The most crucial factor is the x-height of the lowercase letters and their relationship to the uppercase and ascender letters.
The relationship between the uppercase/ascender letters and the x-height depends solely on the design of the font. Fonts with a large x-height, or "tall" lower case char-acters, are easier to read than fonts with small x-height characters. Another critical factor between different fonts is the depth of the descenders and their shape.
The relationship between the uppercase/ascender letters and the x-height depends solely on the design of the font. Fonts with a large x-height, or "tall" lower case char-acters, are easier to read than fonts with small x-height characters. Another critical factor between different fonts is the depth of the descenders and their shape.
Many programs allow the user to create a pseudo-condensed or pseudo-extended font by horizontally squeezing or stretching a font. This distorts the original design of the font. If possible, the user should select the true condensed or extended font or alter the design so it does not require the fake font.
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