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Typography Task 3A: Type Design & Communication

10/10/2021 - 29/10/2021 (Week 8 - Week 10)
Evaleez Voo Lian Yun / 0350275
Typography/ Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Typography Task 3A/ Type Design & Communication

Lectures

Typo Task 3A Typeface Construction

  1. Research Type Design (Can google or use Pinterest)
  2. Sketch 
  3. Identify references (Using the 10 given typefaces, try and find one that's the closest to it)
  4. Deconstruct references (~3 letters)

Illustrator to FontLab 5 & 7 Demo

  • You have to measure the height of your vectors (can use a box to get the pts
    • Cap height
    • Ascender height
    • X-height
    • Descender height
  • Process
    • File > Create Nnew 
    • File > Font info > Insert name > Regular > Adjust height for ascender, descender, etc
    • Open Illustrator > Drag ruler to the corner of the letter > Copy > Paste into FontLab 
    • Metrics > Adjust Kerning 
    • Export > Default Settings > Install 

Personal Notes
Fig 1.0 Week 8 Short Seshion Notes (15/10/21)

Instructions

Module Information Booklet

Visual Research

Kibat

Back in Week 1, while I was in a class with Dr. Charles on Design Principles, I remembered him talking about bringing in your own culture into your designs. I'm not sure why, but that stayed in my memory for a while. So, I decided to bring in my culture - Kadazandusun, into my typeface. 

Fig 1.1 Kibat Syllabary for Central Dusun (15/10/21)

To be honest, this was the only script I could find about my heritage online. My district is also too far from the main city (where the state museum is at) - Approx. 2hrs drive, so I could only rely on online resources. The typeface is a bit premature, even though there exists ascenders and descenders, but the way it's formed looks interesting. 

Numerals:

Fig 1.2 Kibat Numerals (15/10/21)

Sample Text:

Fig 1.3 Kibat Sample Text (15/10/21)

My Mom's Handwriting

Fig 1.4 Mom's Handwriting (15/10/21)

I always thought my mother's handwriting was really unique. It's both round and wide, which gives it a carefree feeling - the perfect representation for her personality (which I'm fortunately blessed with too).  Also, don't you think it's adorable? It looks so chubby (っ◔◡◔)っ ❤ Comment "Yes" if you agree.  

Idea Exploration and Description

Design 1

Fig 1.5 Design 1 Sketch (15/10/21)

I brought in the pointiness of the Kibat script into my sketch. I think the way I designed them makes them look like the words that couples who bring knives to dates would carve ( ͡╥ ͜ʖ ͡╥).

Design 2

Fig 1.6 Design 2 Sketch (15/10/21)

I found my mother's handwriting really adorable because of how round it is, so decided to add it to my design. 

Process (Week 8)

Design 1

Fig 1.7 Design 1 Process 1 (16/10/21)

After finalizing my sketch, I tried to digitize it in Adobe Illustrator. Firstly, I added lines to show the x height, ascender height, cap height, baseline and descender height as a guide for the typeface. I used the same design as Kibat on the letters especially in terms of the way the lines are slanted. 

Outcome:

Fig 1.8 Design 1 Week 8 Outcome (16/10/21)

Most of the design is insipred by the pointiness of Kibat script. For example, the b and p have pointed bowls. 

Design 2

Fig 1.9 Design 2 Process 1 (16/10/21)

At first I used a thinner vertical stroke on my typeface and kept the rounded corners of my sketch.

Fig 2.0 Design 2 Process 2 (16/10/21)

I accidentally made one of the strokes too thick and thought, "Eh, this isn't too bad ( ͡👁️ ͜ʖ ͡👁️)." I then tried to add it to the other letters to check if it looked good. 

Outcome:


Fig 2.1 Design 2 Week 8 Outcome (16/10/21)

I kept the thick lines (isn't it adorable ( ͡🔥 ͜ʖ ͡🔥) ). The corners were kept curved as well. 

Process (Week 9)

Design 1

Fig 2.2 Design 1 Process 2 (23/10/21)

With advice from Mr Vinod, I placed all my assets on the side so it's easier to maintain consistency

Fig 2.3 Design 1 Process 3 (23/10/21)

While doing the p, I wasn't really sure how to design it because it looked kinda weird at the start. I created another one with a fatter bowl. After sleeping it off, I didn't really like how it looks fatter when compared to the other letters (a, b, d, e, g). 

Fig 2.4 Design 1 Process 4 (23/10/21)

I remember Mr. Vinod stating that exclamation marks need to have a slightly bigger top than the bottom, so I stretched the orignal exclamation. In my opinion, the thickened part makes it looke more lively when compared to the original one. 

Fig 2.5 Design 1 Process 5 (23/10/21)

Final checks to make sure the components are all combined together, without any anchor points that are too close. I also adjusted the letters to make sure they all follow the baseline height perfectly. 

Fig 2.6 Design 1 Process 6 (23/10/21)

After finalizing the design in Adobe Illustrator, I started transferring the typeface into FontLab. It took some time to do the kerning mainly due to the descenders in the letters, g and y. 

Fig 2.7 Design 1 Process 7 (24/10/21)

I tested out some letter pairings to see how it would look and adjusted the kerning to suit the typeface. 

Fig 2.8 Design 1 Process 8 (24/10/21)

After finalizing the kerning, I exported the typeface and installed it in my device. With the new typeface, I created some posters to test the font. The layout was inspired by one of my coursemate's work from before. It caught my eye the moment they asked for feedback and I wanted to implement that design into my poster. I followed the angles in my typeface and created lines with the same angle. 

Fig 2.9 Design 1 Testing Layout (24/10/21)

With the help of a word generator, I created a mini scene with the typeface I created (I think I've been reading too many romance novels ಠ ‿ ͡ಠ ).

Final Outcome

Kaduki

Fig 3.0 Kaduki Final Oucome (28/10/21)

PDF:

I decided to name my typeface "Kaduki". Since it's inspired by the Kadazan Dusun Script created my Lesley Kibat, I took the first two letters of each name to create Ka-Du-Ki. I think it suits it quite well especially since the letter K has angles just like my typeface. It also sounds like one of my favourite Waacking dancer's name, Ibuki (っ＾▿＾)💨.

Layout


Fig 3.1 Kaduki Final Oucome Layout (28/10/21)

PDF:

Google Drive Link:

Feedback

Week 8

General Feedback

  • Use guidelines when designing the typeface, i.e x-height, ascender height, descender height, ascender height, etc. 
  • Overshoots need to breach the baseline a bit.

Week 9

General Feedback

  • Use grid for consistency
  • Exclamation mark
    • Dot needs to be bigger than the vertical stroke
    • The top part needs to be slightly bigger

Specific Feedback

  • Can use a in your b & d
  • The a could be used as reference to create the e

Reflection

Week 8

On week 8, we didn't have a normal class because of independent week. Mr Vinod provided a short seshion on Friday at 10am for an hour to give feedback on our progress. My sketches weren't finished yet, so I didn't present anything and only took in info from others. 

Week 9

I was honoured that Mr Vinod liked my culture and my idea of using our script as inspiration to create my typeface. I realized getting inspiration from scripts is good but I should also think of ways to innovate it. This hit me when I saw Mr Vinod trying to create the letter e. I realized I tried to stick to the original design so much that it ended up looking weird, when I could've just used a simpler way to create it. 

Further Reading

Letterforms: Typeface Design From Past to Future

Fig 3.2 Book Cover (12/10/21)
Source: Taylor's Library

Shape, Mass and Space

Fig 3.3 Shapes, Mass and Space (12/10/21)

  • Rectangular forms look bigger than other shapes because all their sides are clearly defined.

  • Circular forms appear smaller because the eye can’t fix on a specific location on its continuous curve.

  • The diagonal sides of the triangle pull the eyes away from the form’s apex, causing it to appear shorter than the square
  • In the second group, the sizes of the triangle and circle have been adjusted to make the three forms appear as if it has the same size.

Line Identity and Perceived Weight

Fig 3.4 Line Identity and Perceived Weight (12/10/21)

  • The horizontal stroke appears heavier than the verticalone. This is because of our perception

    of horizontal forms as related to the horizon of the Earth—and are affected by the force of gravity.

  • In the second group, the stroke has been lightened in weight so that it appears to be

    the same as the vertical

Optical Effects of Stroke Interaction

Fig 3.5 Optical Effects of Stroke Interaction (14/10/21)

  • Vertical strokes tend to appear shorter than horizontal ones.

  • In comparison to a horizontal stroke with the same length, a diagonal

    stroke will look shorter, especially if its terminals are sheared to match the horizontal.

  • Effect is greater if the diagonal’s terminal edges are perpendicular to theangle of the stroke.

  • In the second group, the lengths of the diagonals are extended to look equal to the horizontal and vertical stroke.

References

Timothy Samara (2018) Letterforms : Typeface Design From Past to Future. Minneapolis: Rockport Publishers. Available at: https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.taylors.edu.my/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1847154&site=eds-live&scope=site (Accessed: 28 October 2021).

Thank you for reading!
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