MODULAR FONT
Abigail Miles | VISC 202
CONTENTS NOTES & RESEARCH LET TER HISTORY NOTES DIGITAL RENDERS DIGITAL VARIATIONS ADDITIONAL LE T TERS FINAL MODULAR FONT CONSTRUCTION TOOL KIT SIZE TESTING ANIMATION
PROJECT
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION
OVERVIEW
Creating a modular font based on grids,
Overall, this project allowed me
g u i d es a n d s h a p es. Th e p ro cess wa s
to l e a r n a l o t a b o u t t h e p ro ce s s o f
outlined by creating 25 sketches then
making modular fonts as well as the
put into digital renders. These renders
construction and precision that goes
were transformed into variations, then
into formatting the type face. I really
additional letters were added.
enjoyed pairing the modular font with imagery and colors.
When the final font was picked, then came construction, tool kits, size
The hardest part for me was creating
testing and GIF animations to wrap up
the GIF animations and illustrating the
the project.
font construction in a conceptual and visually attractive way.
Fuctionalism of the Grid, Type Designers and History of the Latin Alphabet
FUNCTIONALISM AND THE GRID The Dutch movement or mode of
or Swiss style. Switzerland hold
operation, that in the 1960s became
functionalist graphic design that
known as functionalism. Research was
had been able to transcend its initial
c a r r i e d o u t b y p re - wa r p i o n e e r s o f
experimental phase and development
functionalist graphic communication.
into a visual language.
Fo r m o re t h a n a d e c a d e a f te r 1 94 5 Dutch graphic designers ignored this
Designers: Karl Gerstner, Joef Muller-
modernist heritage.
B ro c k m a n a n d M a x B i l l p ro p o s e d a reductive and unadorned graphic design
The teachings of Schuitema, Kiljan and
that aimed for objectivity and efficiency.
Zwart were the leading figures of the pre-war movement.
Swiss design managed to obtain m a x i m u m a e s t h e t i c a ffe c te d by t h e
Besides the 1950s in Holland did not
simplest means: black and white
provide an ideal climate for innovation.
p h o t o g ra p h y, u n j u s t i f i e d , b l o c k s o f
But in the 1960s the climate changed in
sanserif text, white space , in grid as a
design.
guiding principle. Towards the end of the 1950s The Swiss school gave birth to
The Nieuwe Zakelijkheid was a
Helvetica. Swiss typography became the
democratic and functionalist approach
international style when its principles
to building which started in 1920 but
were adopted in the United States.
remained after the war. This was more appealing to the younger generation of designers. Their
main
influence
was
the
international style of graphic design which is also referred to Swiss design
BENNO WISSING Benno Wissing trained as a painter at the Art
va r i a t i o n s w i t h i n m o d u l a r fo r m s, so t h a t
Academy in Rotterdam. He became a member
mutual relationships, interconnection,
of the Liga Nieuw Beelden or League of the
clustering and related industrial production
New Image which advocated the integration
would not need a follow up. This idea could
of architecture, art and design.
be seen in architecture industrial design and graphic design.
Fro m 1 949 to 1 96 6 , Wi ss i n g wo r ke d a s a d es i g n e r a s t h e Boy m a n s Va n Be u n i n g e n
Ahoy Was not the first modular font based
Museum. He let the typography speak in his
alphabet produced in total design. They used
posters.
a grid purely for functional considerations. M o d u l a r st r u c t u r i n g i n g r i d s re m a i n e d a
From the outset his approach to structuring
trademark for total designs output of fonts
information was very systematic, he used
in products.
an underlying grid. He also seemed to have designed his own letterforms : an arrow faced
Wi m C ro u we l ’s n i c k n a m e wa s t h e syste m
based on ovals and circles , 2 tone lettering
g e n e ra l , h e a l s o h a s t h e m o s t c o m p l ex
co n s t r u c te d w i t h t r i a n g l e s a n d s q u a re s .
attitude towards rationalizing and
All decisions are made for pragmatic not
structuring design.
ideological reasons.
He became involved in creation of the first multi-disciplinary large scale design studio in the Netherlands. Its name was Association fo r tota l d es i g n . H i s pa r t n e rs we re Fr i so Kramer and Wim Crouwel.
If there were to be variations on the final products of their work they searched for
WIM CROUWEL Was from Groningen which is known for
filtering out inconsistencies. The thing
on a 4 by 7 grid. The main elements
its down-to-earth mentality and ethic of
that fascinates him about functionalism
were rectangles and quarter circles.
hard work
is its spirituality. The guiding principle is that in a certain sense design
The Fernhout typeface referred to the
He occasionally worked for Dick Elffers
must order things , it should provide
way in which fernhout painted. He used
w h o wa s o n e of t h e m ost s u ccessf u l
clarity. Typefaces our the bricks of any
a little flat brush which he painted short
graphic designers in post-war Holland
typographical solution. Modernist and
re c ta n g u l a r st ro kes o n e n ex t to t h e
typography in the 1950s found it hard to
other.
He ditched the modernism design and
try to get ahold of typefaces which had
m oved to a m o re pa i nte r l y a p p roa c h
the neutrality they wanted.
and this is where he found swiss style design.
Once he entered the realm of corporate design with total design, his type design
The Amsterdam type foundry had
to o k a d i f fe re n t c o u rs e. H e n e e d e d
a virtual monopoly in the printing
o r i g i n a l l e t te r fo r m s w h e n t h i n k i n g
He had shock of recognition with swiss
world and the only firm with San serif
a b o u t co r p o ra te i d e nt i t i es a n d T M S.
d es i g n . i t wa s a p e rso n a l i nte r n a l
typeface with modernist aspirations.
He occasionally took a fundamentalist
paradox.
There was a little or limited distribution
approach to the logotype by setting it
in the Netherlands because Amsterdam
to Helvetica capitals and he had done
type foundry controlled the market.
t h i s w i t h t h e l o g o i t s e l f . Sy m b o l i c
He was influenced by Calvinism, a brand o f P ro t e s t a n t i s m . H e wa s b o t h e re d
pictograms were often created in the
too much by it. Being consistent with
As early as 1957, letterforms appeared
g e o m e t r i c s ty l e w i t h o n e i d e n t i t i e s
oneself was always a principle which I
i n C ro u we l ’s d e s i g n s . T h ey we re
immediately with the period. This
held in extremely high regard.
s i m p l i f i e d l e tte rs, co n st r u c te d f ro m
promoted to re induce more legible and
squares triangles and circles which were
playful trademarks and logo types.
T h e re i s l i t t l e d o u b t t h a t h e i s t h e
se g m e nte d . M ost of t h ese ty p efa ces
single most influential graphic designer
remained incomplete. They were also
L o g o t y p e s s p e l l i n g o u t t h e b ra n d ’s
in the post war Holland. He tended to
meant for a single occasion and only
name were often hand drawn. Stylized
present himself as a straightforward
needed specific characters for a name
re n d e r i n g of h a n d w r i t i n g wa s w i t h a
embodiment of post war modernism ,
or title. The word OLANDA was designed
broad nibbed pen.
I n t h e f o u r t h y e a r o f Ty p e D e s i g n ,
find a solution with a in a conventional
t y p e fa c e a n d a l s o h a d t h e i d e a o f
Crouwel had made national headlines
structure of characters.
the monospace characters form both
w i t h a ty p e fa ce h e d eve l o p e d fo r a
horizontal and vertical lines. This was
p e rs o n a l p ro j e c t . T h e n ew a l p h a b e t
Because of the new alphabet , in
m a d e v i s i b l e by t h e re g u l a r p a tte r n
wa s c rea te d i n 1 967 i n t h e se r i es of
1967 total design had gotten a lot of
of pink dots on an orange background.
square format goodwill publications. It
newspaper coverage. his peers thought
What could have been a straightforward
contain a proposal for a new typeface
h e we nt to o fa r a n d wa s u n rea l i st i c .
modernist construction between a
it was suited to the composing system
Gerard Unger Began researching the
remarkable typeface through a simple
u s i n g t h e CAT H O D E - RAY tu b e. t h e
co r re l a t i o n b etwe e n l ette r fo r m s a n d
b u t b r i l l i a n t i nv e n t i o n . A c o m p l e t e
publication of the new alphabet was a
technology published in a counter
corporate alphabet was developed from
sign of the times. The graphic world had
p ro p os a l . H e p ro p ose d c rea t i n g n ew
the principles used and FODOR logotype
seen a fast transition from the world of
letterforms that fit the demands of new
which was in an admirable hybrid.
metal type to that a photo typesetting.
technology but we’re firmly rooted in
From mechanics to type reduction at
tradition.
the speed of light. He wanted to create
In 1974 Crouwel was invited by the Italian manufacturers to design an alphabet for
new letterforms that were better suited
In 2001, Evert Bloemsma Reevaluated
electric typewriters. He was interested
for new developments.
the new alphabet in the light of
i n t y p e w r i t e r t y p o g r a p h y. H e w a s
subsequent developments.
convinced that typewriters demanded
T h e n e w a l p h a b e t wa s d ra w n o n a
a totally different kind of letter design
variable grid of the minimum of five by
He continued experimenting with
than typesetting and had expressed his
9 units : the basic form of these units
grid based letterforms. He became
annoyance with IBM released a system
was a square but the system allowed
interested in crystallography and saw
with variable widths which made type
for horizontal and vertical scaling. all
parallels between crystal structures and
w r i t i n g l o o k l i ke p r i n te d m a tte r. H e
the variables were to be presented in
the often on dot patterns generated by
proposes an mono sanserif for three
a 5 number code. His letterforms had
the early computer technology.
w i d t h s ca l l e d P O L I T E N E . I t wa s a
devised were equally unconventional
rectangle form with 45 degree corners
the typeface was a single alphabet with
He created a typeface for the FODOR
a nd ha d subt le typographic features
no capitals and it was rectangular and
museum, he had conceived a basic
such as rounded corners and terminals
had it 45 degrees shared corners. Half
design in two colors to save money on
set at slight angles.
the characters were recognizable and
ty p e s e tt i n g . Th e b l a c k tex t wa s s e t
half were unfamiliar. He didn’t want any
o n a n e l e c t r i c ty p ew r i te r a n d i t h a d
cluttering of vertical stems and did not
a c o n t e m p o ra r y l o o k o f t h e s q u a re
Notes and Quizzes | Parts 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6
LET TER HISTORY BY LYNNE YUN
Part One
THE EARLY WRIT TEN SCRIPTS P ro to - w r i t i n g s a m p l es : re p rese n t i n g
No distinguishment between lower and
Half-uncial: merge of rustics or capitals,
l i m i te d n u m b e r o f c o n c e p t s , wa s n’ t
upper case.
ascenders from the new roman cursive.
standardized
More of ascenders and descenders. G re e k a rc h a i c a l p h a b et wa s p u t i nto
Tr u e Wr i t i n g : ca n h ave a n i n d i v i d u a l
a b ro n ze ta b l et. A wa x ta b l et wa s a
Insular half-uncial: wedge serifs, book
rewrite and understand the writing.
common was to write on.
of kells is written In this writing. Capital
Alphabetic script: Writing: can reconstruct the message
sentence break. Greek language becomes more modern and Roman- carved in stone and meant
Merovingian: hard to read, lots of
Ka nya fo r m - 3 0 0 0 b c , w r i te w i t h a
to be around for a long time. large and
variation.
stylist. Alphabetic proto syntaic script
visible if it was in public- if the type was smaller there were quadrata because it
Hard for regional scripts to be read by
Eg y p t i a n h i e ra t i c sc r i p t- fo r m s t h a t
was written with a different tool- more
other regions. Charlemagne- reformat
they were using for writing. Content
thick and thin.
and clarify standardized handwriting:
determines how you should write
Carolingian was born.
it. Is more casual and simple that
Roman Rustics: high-waisted and
hieroglyphic.
condensed nature. Loss of word spacing.
A sce n d e rs a n d d esce n d e rs wo u l d b e t h e s a m e s p a c e. W h a t i n s p i re s t h e
Rosetta stone: monumental stone that
Old Roman Cursive: 77 CE, harder
a l l o w e d a c r y p t o g ra p h e r t o d e c o d e
to rea d , w h a t p e o p l e we re u s i n g fo r
Eg y pt i a n w r i t i n g . Fro m h i e ro g l y p h i c,
everyday documents.
hieratic to Greek writing. Uncial script: come from capitals, The Phoenician alphabet: merchant and
unicase format. Has interword spacing
trading people, modified and adapted
but not punctuations. Using a larger
what they needed to use the most. This
letter to start paragraphs.
lead to the Greek Capitals
Renaissance writing.
Part Two
THE LATER WRIT TEN SCRIPTS Gothic meanings that it looks barbaric-
42 line bible: first printed book.
Th e re wa s n o a tt r i b u t i o n b efo re t h e
qualities of the middle ages and could
Re n a i ssa n ce - Re n a i ssa n ce h a d m a ny
have been influenced by Islamic ar t.
Rotunda: close to Carolingian- dark and
G o t h i c a rc h e s (a l m o n d s h a p e d ) a n d
dense as well as rounder forms
co m p a re to g o t h i c a rc h e s i n g o t h i c letters.
wealthy people and rulers. Humanistic Cursive: is slanted, turns
Batarde: more of a black letter style.
into italic. Bartolomeo includes many
Book of hours is one example of batarde.
different styles of text in one document.
P ro to - G o t h i c : co m p re s s e d , s t ra i g h t ,
Did humanistic cursive turn into italics
thick forms, (may have to save paper
Gothic
in
or c ha ncer y scr ipt? Tur n into italics
and material so writing was condensed).
correspondence- common form of
because of speed or it changed to
writing, for documents- not to be
simplify.
Te x t u s P r e s c i s s u s : c l e a n s q u a r e ,
cursive:
used
a
lot
preserved.
baseline- everything is very flat. Very expensive style of writing. Textus Quadratus: Gutenberg tried to
Chancery script meaning italic: Arrigi Leonhard Wagner, 1507- invented after the printing press. But still handwritten
Formal chancery: have to go back and
pieces and type occur. Fractor font.
form points rather than leaving them
model his type after this. Diagonal end. Little fast and cheap style of writing.
like regular chancery/italics. H u m a n i st/ Re n a i ss a n ce : g o t h i c b l a c k letter is rejected. Discover the
Regular people didn’t own type.
Ca ro l i n g i a n m a n u sc r i p t. M o d e l t h e i r hands after this type.
Te x t u s S e m i - Q u a d r a t u s : n o t a s elaborate.
Poggio Bracciolini creates manuscript schools which translate to lots of text
Th e i nve n t i o n of t h e p r i n t i n g p ress-
a n d h ow we w r i te tex t. Ba se d off of
demand of books and printing increases
handwritten and straight text.
d r a m a t i c a l l y. M o r e p e o p l e b e c a m e literate.
Part Four
THE EARLY T YPES
Early types
different sizes. Manutius and Griffo are
that capital italics should slope. Using
Phaistos disc: using stamps into the
big names in type design. Griffo was
o l d ty p e sty l e d es i g n s w i t h st ra i g h t
clay- similar to letter punches and coins.
m o re we l l - k n ow n b e c a u s e t h i s ty p e
crossbar on the “e”. Old style is also
Rem ovab le ty p e. J i k j i : 1 377: Ch i n ese
was shown in books. Aldine refers to
c a l l e d G a ra l d a f t e r G a ra m o n d . Wa s
symbols in the form of removeable type.
the books- Old style and the cross bar
k n ow n fo r h i s G re e k ty p e fa ces. Fo r
Gutenberg: gold smith- logical in the
in the “e” is flat. Humanistic cursive:
type series- called Grecs du Roi. This
fact that he created the first printer.
italic types are based on sanvitos types.
was based on the King’s librarian and
There was not a standardized way of
1 5 0 0 ’s i s w h e n i ta l i c ty p e e m e rg e s.
was based off of handwriting. Lots of
printing and making a book. Needed to
Italic was used for compression of type,
ligatures- joins, flexibilities. Italic is
create a lot of the supplies of printing.
fit more type on one page as well as
usually based off of Granjon rather than
Kamp: bible look.
make the books smaller which makes
G a ra m o n d - u se d i ta l i cs fo r re l i g i o u s
l e s s m a t e r i a l s . A r r i g h i wa s w r i t i n g
books.
A lot more open and inspired by
the first italic manual- used a lot of
rotunda. O has straight pen logic and
l i g a tu res of l ette rs t h a t we re j o i n e d
Plantin was a Renaissance book printer.
more compressed. Most popular type
together like a “t” and “a” but this was
Used and created a lot of gothic cursive
than textura. Wagner: first known type
difficult because the letters needed to
type. Leiden Afdrucksel: estate sale-
of fractor: very dense and similarities
be carved.
was second best printer after plantin.
to last type.
Importing national writing and
William Calson- first and most
Venice was important to transforming
c a l l i g ra p hy i n to ty p e. Yo l a n d e : wa s
celebrated type founded. Before him
t y p e. H o w t o e m u l a t e f ro m w r i t i n g
one of the only women to as a printer.
the English relied on Dutch types to
type like calligraphy Roman typefaces-
G r a n j o n ’s i m p a c t o n k i n g - u s e f o r
print Established the British value of
N i c o l a s J e n s o n’s b o o k t y p e. C a l l e d
long periods of time Garamond: many
aesthetic. Calson’s types were used for
humanist because it had a sloped “e”.
different variations and details.
the declaration of independence for the
Ratdolt: German printer, was located
Designed his type based on griffo. It
united states. Ironic.
in Venice. Known for oldest type spec
re p l a ces g r i ffo e n t i re l y. A re n’ t h ave
or specimen known- had all cut type in
many italics in Garamond because they
Roman du Roi means the Kings Roman
different sizes: optimizing designs with
weren’t as impressive. Made the idea
and refers to the sun king .
Early German Types
Early Italian types
Early French Types
Early Dutch Types
Early English Types
Modern Roman Type
Part Five
19TH AND 20TH CENTURY T YPES 19th century:
American Wood Type book shows charts
Akzidenz Grotesk: popular in Germany.
Fa t fa ces a n d exa g g e ra te d fo nts a re
and different diagrams of styles and
Come from different foundry that he
created. Slab serif also is born. Created
what is possible.
bought. Swiss designers were using it a
on a wood plate or cut.
lot. See a lot of decoration in type
F i g g i n s : A n t i q u e b u t i s a n Eg y p t i a n
Hildegard Henning and Elizabeth Colwell
fo nt. F i rst sa n se r i f i s i n t h e Ca s l o n
Early 20th century
we re s o m e o f t h e f i rs t wo m e n ty p e
Egyptian book. San serifs were seen in
Juxtaposition from the decorated type.
designers. Colwell was one of the only
the archaic Greek alphabet on a bronze
well-known type designers.
tablet. Figgins was the first to use the
William Morris- establishes Kelmscott
term san serif.
Press. Inspired by medieval manuscripts.
J o h n s to n wa s c re a te d a n d i co n i c i n
Wa s a m e d i eva l i s t . D e s i g n s a l o t of
Lo n d o n c rea te d i n 1 9 1 6 . Ta k i n g o n a
San serifs were u’ed for headlines- body
elaborate type and design pages. Known
commercial endeavor. Similar to Roman
text was never set in san serif.
for golden type, Troy type and Chaucer
capitals in modern forms.
type. Cursive type became popular but it was
Bayer is a part of the Bauhaus
hard to obtain and achieve because it
Updike- founds printing press, inspired
movement. Influenced by geometry and
was hard to get letters to connect.
by Morris. Elaborate pages and type.
logic.
Clarendon also called ionic type. Ionic
G o u d y- m a d e 1 36 fo n t s i n 36 ye a rs.
Renner created Futura.
type is a slab serif but there is a soft
Roman types, gothic types,
bracketing transition to serif.
Gill sans- made after Johnston typeface. The Rise of Sans Serifs
Caslon which is called the reverse
Weren’t seen as a serious type. Not in a
Kock created Kabel and was inspired by
contrast- contrast in the verticals, they
place of art and elaborate type. Caslon-
Morris.
a re f l i p p e d f ro m o r i g i n a l /t ra d i t i o n a l
first was for an academic work, latin.
forms.
Part Six
MODERN T YPES AND INFLUENCES Revival of the Sans Serif
Rudolf Larisch created artistic writing.
Creating font families- Frutiger created t h e U n i v e rs s e r i e s a n d l o t s o f fo n t
Rudolf Kock: father of modern
families.
calligraphy as well as Johnston. He used many different materials for style. Was
Max Mideinger created Helvetica and
very religious so he dedicated a lot of
called it Neue Haas Grotesk originally.
his work to God. Also created Neuland
Very heavily marketed and there is a
so he could use a gothic typeface which
movie about it.
wa s a l so Ro m a n - s h ow n i n Th e L i o n King and Jurassic Park posters. Shows
Herman Zapf creates Palatino (name
something that is exotic or foreign.
from past Renaissance designer) created a banknote. Used in humanist
Fa i r b a n k c re a te d Be m b o - w h i c h wa s
design. humanist sans serif. She learned
modeled after arrighi’s handwriting.
how to punch cut metal type (Gudrun Zapf) and used it in her book binding.
Herman zapf created the Pen and Graver
Later created Diotmia.
book:
Revival of Calligraphy and influential
Krimpen was inspired by Johnston.
figures William Morris from the Arts and Crafts movement- created Horace. Johnston created a Foundational hand. Allows people to learn calligraphy and bring back lost hand and process.
Digital and Hand Drawn Sketches of Modular Fonts
Top Sketches | Now to digital renders
Digital Variations of Favorite Sketches
Font One
Font One: “H” & “N”
Font Two
Font Two: “H” & “N”
Font Three
Font Three: “H” & “N”
Font Four
Font Four: “H” & “N”
Digital Variations of Digital Renders
Font One: Variations
Font Two: Variations
Font Three: Variations
Creating Additional Lettters From Favorite Renders
Font One: Additional Letters
Font Two: Additional Letters | Variation One & Two
Choosing the Final Modular Font
WHY? I p i c ke d t h i s fo n t d u e to t h e a p p re c i a t i o n o f a n g l e s a n d s t ra i g h t l i n e s c re a t i n g i n te re s t i n g a n d re c t a n g u l a r c o u n te r fo r m s .
DESCRIBE Angled Linear Geometric S t r u c t u re d Va r i a n c e
TONE & DISPLAY Tra n s p o r t a t i o n Signage Diagonal Movement We i g h t U n i fo r m
ORIGINAL
REFINED
ABCDEFGHIJ KLMNOPQRST UVWXYZ abcdefghijklmno pqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 .,!?&[]()-‘“;:/\
ALL QUESTIONS ASKED, BY FIVE WATCHED EXPERTS AMAZE THE JUDGE. all questions asked by five watched; experts amaze the judge?
How It Was Built
Creating a Display and Theme for the Modular Font
Picking a Secondary Font
Patterns
Testing Sizes for Behance and Presentations
“Box Car” Size Test
TRANSPORTATION 20
TRANSPORTATION 40
TRANSPORTATION 80
TRANSPORTATIO 100
Secondary Font Size Test
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Al ternate Go thic NO 3
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BA SARO
GIN
BILO
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Creating Animations To Highlight Contruction & Theme of Modular Font
Stacking GIF: Frame By Frame
Full Alphabet GIF: Frame By Frame
Railroad Crossing GIF: Frame By Frame