AMANDA HONG PROF OKUMURA DES115 – 2015
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MINIMAL LETTERFORMS TYPE HIERARCHY STUDIES PAUL RAND BOOK DESIGN
3
MINIMAL LETTERFORMS DRAFTS
In this assignment, I was able to explore the small details of different typefaces. Tracing the individual letters over and creating these combinations (right) forced me to look at parts of the letters that I hadn’t noticed before, such as the various types of terminals and serifs. Although I am typically drawn to sans serifs in my day-to-day designs, I enjoyed working with italicized serifs in this project. The curvatures and graceful terminals made for a lot of possibilities, and I was able to work outside my comfort zone with those particular letter forms.
4
These 3 layouts were my three favorites out of my drafts. I decided to use many of the different fonts instead of sticking to just one, and I appreciated how each differing font and layout had its own feel. With Friz Quadrata Bold, there was a heftiness and solidity that came with the boldest weight that I used. This solidity created a very heavy and sturdy form. With Helvetica Neue Light Italics, I was able to create a
very sharp and clean form using its angular and thin lines. This form took on a very interesting shape that reminded me of glyphs and nature logos. With Bodoni Italics, the differing weights in the lines and angled base letters were both fun and unique to me. The end product had a very elegant look that was balanced diagonally with the serifs and italic slant.
5
MINIMAL LETTERFORMS FINAL
The final product was composed of the Bodoni Italic letters: x, f, q, k This composition ended up being my favorite once I reversed it out onto black. The white space between the boxes helped the connectivity of the letters, and the italic flow between f, q, and k created a consistent diagonal eye line. On the right are four other drafts created in Illustrator: 1. Helvetica Neue Light Italic: x, k, y, w 2. Bodoni Italic: x, f, q, k 3. Bodoni Book: T, R, Q, G
6
1
2
3
3
7
TYPE HIERARCHY STUDIES DRAFTS
In the drafts of the Type Hierarchy study assignment, we began by cutting and pasting type onto tracing paper. This was more tedious and challenging for me, as I have always been more used to (and definitely spoiled by) the luxury of
8
digital craft in Illustrator and InDesign. However, having to cut each type line out and manually position them onto a piece of paper helped me appreciate the work behind layouting and the ease that digital programs have blessed us with.
My layouts began as angular and aligned, with very little variation in shape and directionality. I eventually experimented more with using diagonals and slants, which were more difficult to align, but offered much more interest. I found that the ones where I rotated the text blocks to a slight degree had more personality and were more fun to look at, whereas the
very aligned and blocky layouts were more straightforward and minimal. I personally work in very simple and blocked layouts, because I find them to be easiest to understand and most attractive looking. This assignment showed me that adding a little diversity to the angles can still support the minimalist look.
9
TYPE HIERARCHY STUDIES FINAL I enjoyed using rules the most in the final stages of this assignment. I have an affinity for thin stroked boxes, because I feel it frames the content well and helps create a visual grouping for the information.
3A
10
1A: 15pt Univers 45 1B: 15 pt Univers 45 & 65 2A: 15 pt + 9pt Univers 45 & 65 2B: 15 pt + 9pt Univers 45/46 & 65/66 3A: Set 2B + Rules 3B: Univers any size, weight & rule
3B
1A
1B
2A
2B
11
PAUL RAND BOOK DRAFTS The Paul Rand book was a great opportunity for me to practice with large scale layout projects. I decided on a diagonal theme to
12
challenge myself, and also because I felt it embodied the playful, forward theme of Paul Rand’s book and style.
I played around with the angle of the diagonal, and I found that the harsher diagonals were very difficult to align text to and overall had lower readability. Standardizing the angle of each element was also a challenge, but it made me pay more attention to the details. I had the direction of each page change so that it
would be more interesting to read, and I experimented with overlaying the images inside and between the diagonal bar design elements. I used my current favorite, the San Francisco typeface, exclusively through the book, because I feel it has a rounded but still modern and Sans Serif look.
13
PAUL RAND BOOK DRAFTS
I had a lot of fun designing the cover for this book. The main design element was the diagonal bar that I used through the book, so I experimented with different widths and opacities of the slanted bar along with a mix of Italic, Bold, and Regular weights of the
14
San Francisco typeface. I also played with the colors a lot, because while I am usually a fan of gray scale and monochromatic color palates, I felt that the playful element of the book had to be represented by the color as well.
In the end, I narrowed it down to a few drafts that used the diagonal bar to compliment the Italicized word “Design�. I also decided on some version of blue or teal for the
final color choice. I chose to use the Italic weights for many of the words because I felt that it matched the rest of the theme well, and added a forward action feel to all of the text.
15
PAUL RAND BOOK FINAL The cover design has three diagonal bars at descending opacities of 100%, 60%, and 20%. The back cover has the same bars
16
but mirrored, so they align at the top and bottom of the book.
I chose a bright blue and used it throughout the final book. For many of the layouts, I found that half a spread was enough for the content, so I combined many sections into double spreads to save space. I also used many of the images twice in the spread,
once at full opacity and again as a 20% background design element. The overall theme includes the diagonal, the image overlays, and the geometric division of text and graphic elements.
17