CODY MINDLING
TYPOGRAPHY II JOURNAL READINGS * WORKS * NOTES
CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY, SAN LUIS OBISPO DEPARTMENT OF ART & DESIGN * WINTER 2017
INTRODUCTION Welcome to my journal, which chronicles my experience in Art 388, Type II. Inside you will find 10 weeks of readings, assignments, and thoughts. This is not, however, a text book or reference manual. Even if it were, there is no substitute for months of work, self-evaluation, and honest critique. Typography is not a subject which came easily to me. Nor did I find it particularly satisfying to chip away at a block of text until it was a polished and attractive example of beautiful typography. I’ll call it minutia. As design students, we’re all here because of the “fight against ugliness” or some version of that expression. This should be my thing! In the beginning, it was not. It was a grind. But as I tried different experiments and burned through print outs, my work improved. The time between lifeless text document and approachable words on paper decreased. Good duce work blog
typography: I’d know it if I saw it, but I couldn’t proit myself— and I didn’t know why. It took 10+ weeks of to get comfortable with the subject. No text book or post could help that.
And there's still more work to do. Cody Mindling
It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement address, 2005
“Words have meaning, —Paula Scher
, type has spirit.�
pg. 6
Foot and inch marks are straight, not curly
Introduced to the course
Ellipses on iOS
READ
WORKED
• Course syllabus
• Quiz 1 - Basic Typograp
• Butterick’s Practical Typography: Typography in Ten Minutes, Summary of Key Rules, and Forward
• Assignment 1: Typesetti of Typography
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• Legibility Exercise
pg. 7
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Proper line length, 10pt. Source Code Pro
I completely missed the legibility exercise.
phy Knowledge
ing: Rules and Principles
NOTED • The av er age line length should be 45–90 char ac ters (including spaces). • Line length can be measured by 2–3 lower-case alphabets. • Ellipses have their own glyph. They are not three periods. Ellipses are also available on iPhone (hold down period to reveal). • Foot and inch marks are straight, not curly. • Smart quotes look like 6s and 9s.
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2000 Palm Beach County Butterfly Ballot
Hanging Chad
READ
WORKED
• The Crystal Goblet by Beatrice Warde
• Project 1: Type quotes
• Butterick’s Practical Typography: Why Typography Matters
• Quiz 2
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“Cooper Black was always meant to be a novelty typeface, but unlike other pre-war novelty faces, it continues to be used in the same way it was intended: as a friendly advertising headliner. The connotations may be a bit different now, but Oswald Cooper created something that serves its purpose well after it was created. The same thing that can be claimed by Garamond, Bodoni, and Jenson.” —Stephen Coles Cooper Black Book page 179
Ink to White Space.
“All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just Manual. the Design. lettering, excites ordering there heart aspage every the page the has ofespecially his Legal 285 typography retina. man never 78 space Chronicle Profession isDoes been aand symbol ismore this in aBooks, massive distributing with mean of demand his Typography San typography own paradox: Francisco, for his time.” the typographic Florida sort isThe 2014 the ofNew Bar new typography Copyright material Journal. Typography, illustration?” Paul and Nov2012, thatsymbols, Rand 1995, grabs Graphic Vol. 1947 Page thehe 86 Design: reader’s 77 is Issue able...” A9,attention User’s p54. Thoughts “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just Manual. the Design. lettering, excites ordering there heart asthe page every the page the has of especially his Legal 285 typography retina. man never 78 space Chronicle Profession is Does been aspace and symbol ismore this in aaBooks, massive distributing with mean of demand his Typography San typography own paradox: Francisco, for his time.” the typographic Florida sort isThe 2014 the ofNew Bar new typography Copyright material Journal. Typography, illustration?” Paul and Nov2012, thatsymbols, Rand 1995, grabs Graphic Vol. 1947 Page the he 86 Design: reader’s 77 is Issue able...” A 9, attention User’s p54. Thoughts “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just Manual. Design. lettering, excites ordering there heart as page every the page the has of especially his Legal 285 typography retina. man never Chronicle Profession been and symbol more this in aTypography Books, massive distributing with mean of demand his Typography San typography own paradox: Francisco, for his time.” the typographic Florida sort is The 2014 the of New Bar new typography Copyright material Journal. Typography, illustration?” Paul and Nov2012, that symbols, Rand 1995, grabs Graphic Vol. 1947 Page the he 86 Design: reader’s 77 is Issue able...” A9, attention User’s p54. Thoughts “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just Manual. the Design. lettering, “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just excites Manual. ordering there heart the as Design. lettering, excites page ordering every the there heart page as the has of page especially his every Legal 285 the typography page retina. the man never has of 78 especially space his Legal 285 typography retina. Chronicle man Profession never 78 is space Does been a78 Chronicle and is symbol is Does been ais more this and in aDoes symbol Books, is massive distributing with more this mean in of ais demand Books, massive distributing with his mean San of demand typography own paradox: his Typography San Francisco, for typography his own paradox: time.” Francisco, the for typographic his Florida time.” sort the isThe typographic 2014 Florida the sort of is The New Bar 2014 new the typography Copyright of material New Journal. Bar Typography, new typography illustration?” Copyright material Journal. Typography, illustration?” Paul and Nov2012, that Paul and Nov2012, symbols, Rand 1995, that grabs Graphic symbols, Rand 1995, Vol. grabs 1947 Page Graphic the he Vol. 86 1947 Design: Page reader’s the 77 is Issue he 86 Design: able...” reader’s 77 is Issue A 9, able...” attention User’s p54. A Thoughts 9,attention User’s p54. Thoughts “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just Manual. the Design. lettering, excites ordering there heart as page every the page the has of especially his Legal 285 typography retina. man never 78 space Chronicle Profession is been aProfession and symbol this in aBooks, massive distributing with of demand his Typography San typography own paradox: Francisco, for his time.” the typographic Florida sort is The 2014 the of New Bar new typography Copyright material Journal. Typography, illustration?” Paul and Nov2012, that symbols, Rand 1995, grabs Graphic Vol. 1947 Page the he 86 Design: reader’s 77 is Issue able...” A 9, attention User’s p54. Thoughts “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just Manual. the Design. lettering, “...in on Advancing At “...just excites ordering there heart the as Design. page ordering every the heart page as the has of especially his every Legal 285 the typography page retina. man never of 78 space his Legal typography Chronicle man Profession 78 is space Does been aDoes Chronicle and Profession is symbol is ais more this and in amore symbol Books, is massive distributing with mean in of amean demand Books, massive distributing with his Typography San of typography own paradox: his Typography San Francisco, for his own paradox: time.” Francisco, the typographic his Florida time.” sort isThe typographic 2014 Florida the of New Bar 2014 new typography Copyright material New Journal. Bar Typography, illustration?” Copyright material Journal. Typography, Paul and Nov2012, that Paul and Nov2012, symbols, Rand 1995, grabs Graphic symbols, Rand 1995, Vol. 1947 Page the he Vol. 86 1947 Design: Page reader’s 77 is Issue he 86 able...” 77 is Issue A9, able...” attention User’s p54. Thoughts 9,attention p54. Thoughts “All “...yet and Manual. lettering, excites there page the has especially 285 retina. never Does been more this mean demand typography for the sort isThe the of new typography illustration?” that grabs Graphic the Design: reader’s A User’s “...just “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At Manual. the Design. lettering, excites ordering there heart as page every the page the has of especially his Legal 285 typography retina. man never 78 space Chronicle Profession is Does been a and symbol more this in Books, massive distributing with mean of demand his Typography San typography own paradox: Francisco, for his time.” the typographic Florida sort is The 2014 the of New Bar new typography Copyright material Journal. Typography, illustration?” Paul and Nov2012, that symbols, Rand 1995, grabs Graphic Vol. 1947 Page the he 86 Design: reader’s 77 is Issue able...” A 9, attention User’s p54. Thoughts “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just Manual. the Design. lettering, excites ordering there heart as page every the page the has of especially his Legal 285 typography retina. man never 78 space Chronicle Profession is Does been a and symbol is more this in a Books, massive distributing with mean of demand his Typography San typography own paradox: Francisco, for his time.” the typographic Florida sort is The 2014 the of New Bar new typography Copyright material Journal. Typography, illustration?” Paul and Nov2012, that symbols, Rand 1995, grabs Graphic Vol. 1947 Page the he 86 Design: reader’s 77 is Issue able...” A9,attention User’s p54. Thoughts “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just Manual. the Design. lettering, excites ordering there heart as page every the page the has of especially his Legal 285 typography retina. man never 78 space Chronicle Profession isChronicle Does been aand symbol issymbol more this in aBooks, massive distributing with mean of demand his Typography San typography own paradox: Francisco, for his time.” the typographic Florida sort is The 2014 the of New Bar new typography Copyright material Journal. Typography, illustration?” Paul and Nov2012, that symbols, Rand 1995, grabs Graphic Vol. 1947 Page the he 86 Design: reader’s 77 is Issue able...” A9,attention User’s p54. Thoughts “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just Manual. the Design. lettering, excites ordering there heart as page every the page the has of especially his Legal 285 typography retina. man never 78 space Profession is Does been asymbol and is more this in amassive Books, massive distributing with mean of demand his Typography San typography own paradox: Francisco, for his time.” the typographic Florida sort is The 2014 the of New Bar new typography Copyright material Journal. Typography, illustration?” Paul and Nov2012, that symbols, Rand 1995, grabs Graphic Vol. 1947 Page the he 86 Design: reader’s 77 is Issue able...” AUser’s 9, attention User’s p54. Thoughts “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just Manual. the Design. lettering, excites ordering there heart as page every the page the has of especially his Legal 285 typography retina. man never 78 space Chronicle Profession is Does been a and is more this in a Books, distributing with mean of demand his Typography San typography own paradox: Francisco, for his time.” the typographic Florida sort is The 2014 the of New Bar new typography Copyright material Journal. Typography, illustration?” Paul and Nov2012, that symbols, Rand 1995, grabs Graphic Vol. 1947 Page the he 86 Design: reader’s 77 is Issue able...” A 9, attention p54. Thoughts “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just Manual. the Design. lettering, excites ordering there heart as every the page the has of especially his Legal 285 typography retina. man never 78 space Chronicle Profession isisDoes been aaand symbol isismore this in ain Books, massive distributing with mean of demand his Typography San typography own paradox: Francisco, for his time.” the typographic Florida sort isThe 2014 the ofNew Bar new typography Copyright material Journal. Typography, illustration?” Paul and Nov2012, that symbols, Rand 1995, grabs Graphic Vol. 1947 Page the he 86 Design: reader’s 77 is Issue able...” A9,attention User’s Thoughts “All “...yet and “...in on Advancing At “...just Manual. the Design. lettering, excites ordering there heart aspage page every the page the has of especially his Legal 285 typography retina. man never 78 space Chronicle Profession Does been and symbol more this aBooks, massive distributing with mean of demand his Typography San typography own paradox: Francisco, for his time.” the typographic Florida sort is The 2014 the of New Bar new typography Copyright material Journal. Typography, illustration?” Paul and Nov2012, that symbols, Rand 1995, grabs Graphic Vol. 1947 Page the he 86 Design: reader’s 77 is Issue able...” A 9,p54. attention User’s p54. Thoughts
“Words have meaning, type has spirit.”
“At the heart of typography is a massive paradox: the hallmark of good typography is that it should go unnoticed, yet there has never been more demand for the sort of typography that grabs the reader’s atttention and excites the retina. Does this mean typography is the new illustration?” —Adrian Shaugnessy Graphic Design: A User’s Manual. page 285
— Paula Scher “…type, is first and foremost an expression of its own time.” — Jan Tschichold
“...in ordering his space and in distributing his typographic material and symbols, he is able to predetermine, to a certain point, the eye movements of the spectator.” —Paul Rand Thoughts on Design. page 78 Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2014 Copyright Paul Rand 1947
“…the hallmark of good typography is that it should go unnoticed.” — Adrian Shaughnessy
“…to predetermine, to a certain point, the eye movements of the spectator.” — Paul Rand
“Factors that affect the speed of reading include the type and size of the font, the width of the line, and the ratio of ink to white space on the page.” —Suzanne Suarez Hurley Advancing the Legal Profession with Typography Florida Bar Journal. Nov2012, Vol. 86 Issue 9, p54.
“Factors that affect the speed of reading include the type and size of the font, the width of the line, and the ratio of ink to white space on the page.” — Suzanne Suarez Hurley
“All lettering, especially type, is first and foremost an expression of its own time, just as every man is a symbol of his own time.” —Jan Tschichold The New Typography Page 77.
Scher: Graphic Design: A User’s Manual. 2009. Page 287.
Tschichold: The New Typography. 1928. Page 77.
Shaughnessy: Graphic Design: A User’s Manual. 2009. Page 285. Rand: Thoughts on Design. 2014. Page 78.
Hurley: Advancing the Legal Profession with Typography. Florida Bar Journal. 2012, Vol. 86 Issue 9, Page 54.
Project 1, beginning
Project 1, final product
NOTED • Typography helps conserve reader attention. • The most mundane design commission possible, a one-color government job, still deserves the highest level of attention to detail and consideration to the user. • Typography is a ratio of in to white space. • Paragraph styles
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THE VI
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IEWER.
pg. 12
’ ‘ These lists are trash. I've been against them since forever. See below.
Interrobangs are cool Matt Chase
That feeling when Butterick denounces absurd headings Billy Madison / Universal Pictures
READ
WORKED
• The Crystal Goblet by Beatrice Warde
• Project 2: A Dialogue
• Butterick’s Practical Typography: Hierarchical Headings, Font Alternatives
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pg. 13
’09 ‘06
GO ’CUSE GO ‘CUSE
If it looks like a 9, you’re doing fine.
If it looks like a 6 you’ve got to fix.
Learning! Courtesy of the author
NOTED • Confirmed: Those lists with Roman numerals and letters are garbage. • Interrobangs are cool. • Whitespace marks exist. Those can come in handy. • [Brackets] {Braces} (Parentheses) • I like monospaced typefaces. Happy to see there are contemporary, well designed ones out there. • Trull's Law of apostrophes wk.
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“Cut out all these e An exclamation point your own joke.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald
exclamation points‌ t is like laughing at
pg. 16
Project 2, assets
Project 2, final product
READ
WORKED
• Family planning, or how type families work by Peter Biľak
• Project 2: A Dialogue
• Butterick’s Practical Typography: Page Layout
• Critique: Project 2
• Introduced to Project 3: • Begin work on EoS • Quiz 3
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3: Elements of Style
pg. 17
NOTED • Space between paragraphs: roughly half the leading. • I love large type families. Note to future wealthy self: buy some. • Re: naming large type families: Initial number = weight, second number = width. System created by Adrian Frutiger. • Character styles: styling within the Paragraph style. • Em dash and spacing: The Chicago Manual of Style says no, The AP Stylebook says yes. wk.
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pg. 18
EoS cover
EoS first page. Using Vista Sans and Adobe Garamond Pro
READ
WORKED
• “Using Layout Grids Effectively” from Designers Insights
• First comp of EoS bookl
• “Typographica Mea Culpa, Unethical Downloading” by Steven Heller • “My Type Design Philosophy” by Martin Majoor
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• Turned in final draft of
• Begin work on team vers
pg. 19
On the way to great book design Wayne’s World 2 / Paramount Pictures
let
NOTED
f EoS
• I was looking at the third print out of my EoS booklet, upside-down, 7 feet away— and realized that my margins were too small.
sion of EoS
• 12 pt. body copy is just a guideline • Learned lots about paragraph styles • MARGINS! • This is awful tasting medicine, but it’s just what the patient needs.
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MARG
2
GINS.
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pg. 22
Individual Elements of Style
Elements of Style with
READ
WORKED
• “A View of Latin Typography in Relationship to the World” by Peter Biľak
• Team version of EoS
• Introduced to zine proj
• Final critique - team v
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pg. 23
Thanks again!
h Nicole and Anh-Thu
ject
version EoS
NOTED • Learned lots about tables, margins, and paragraph styles. • Learned lots about flowing copy. • Thank you Nicole and Anh-Thu!
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God bless Colby Print
January 2017 was great for period
READ
WORKED
• “Lava — Voice of a Magazine” by Peter Biľak
• Zine project
• “The First Thing I Ever Designed: Elana Schlenker and Gratuitous Type Magazine” by Madeleine Morley
• Moodboards for zine
• Finalized content for zi • Edited down article to
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dicals
Moodboards for zine
NOTED • I love Colby Print. • Stoked to work in RGB for next two projects.
ine fit zine
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Zine spread experimentation
READ
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• “Beauty and Ugliness in Type design” by Peter Biľak
• Zine project
• “Eric Gill got it wrong; a re-evaluation of Gill Sans” by Ben Archer • “Why Typography Matters — Especially At The Oscars” by Benjamin Bannister
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• Created 7 different sam
pg. 27
Zine production is laborious Portlandia / IFC
mple spreads for zine
NOTED • 12 or 16 column grid is common. • Body text – higher weight, lower contrast, high x-height (but if it’s too tall, there’s less room for other distinct characteristics). • In his Manuale Tipografico of 1818, Bodoni laid down the four principles of type design “from which all beauty would seem to proceed”, namely: regularity, clarity, good taste, and charm. • Designed for screen by Matthew Carter & Microsoft – Georgia, Verdana. Good but ubiquitous. Good place to start wk.
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“Shit, I’ve got all t I need to use them e —Anonymous
RE:
When you’re decorating a cake, and you pipe in a good looking flower, so you feel compelled to put flowers all over the cake. If you've got a hot typographic or design element, don't think that you need to use it everywhere.
these cool flowers. everywhere!�
pg. 30
Final zine title spread
Final zine article spread
READ
WORKED
• “7 Striking Design Pairings We Didn’t Expect to See in Graphic: 500 Designs that Matter” by Perrin Drumm
• Put all content into zi
• “An Idea of a typeface” by Kai Bernau
• Mini critique for zine
• “A Typeface Designed to Revive the Endangered Cherokee Language” by Angela Riechers
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• Refined zine layout to
pg. 31
Experimental spreads are so over! Portlandia / IFC
Ed Ruscha, Pay Nothing Until April, 2003
NOTED
ine 1, 2, 3 columns project
• Goal: consistency without predictability. • I used too many different layouts in my zine, and it was disorienting to read. • I like flat-footed type. • Modifying photos - okay. Modifying artwork probably not. If both exist together in your design, it’s probably best to leave them alone.
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pg. 32
An argument against safe typography
The One Inside by Sam Shepard
Zine cover a
READ
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• The first page of The One Inside by Sam Shepard. Realized I have no time to give anything my full attention. Shelved it for spring or summer break.
• Pre-crit for zine proje
• Last winter's Journals • Watched this video from Business Insider, “Why you should use an ugly font like Comic Sans”
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• Final critique for zine
pg. 33
and back cover
NOTED ct project
• Returning to the project description helps. • It pays to be prepared. • I enjoy this genre and there is a lot more to learn from it's history.
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IT AINT SPLIT IT’S JUST
3 pg. 35
TTIN’ HAIRS, CORRECT.
◌ ☺ ☑
A NOTE ABO
Futura Std by Paul Renner, Source Code Pro by Pa
☑ ☕*
OUT THE TYPE
, Bauersche Giesserei, 1927 aul Hunt, Adobe, 2012
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