Typography 1

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Wei-Te Shyu Prof. EunSun Lee Fall 2013 M.S. Communications Design Pratt Institute

Typography 1 Neighborhoods of Type

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Composition

- Letterforms

- Words

- Text / Graphic Elements

- Texture

- Image

07 09 13 17 21 27

Editorial Layout

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Book Cover Design

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Summary

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Different typefaces have their unique personalities and styles and reflect moods differently. By exploring different neighborhoods of New York City, I was able to learn the characteristics of each neighborhood and what effects each typeface of the signs gives to the neighborhood. Once we master the practice of observing the details of each typeface, we will be able to apply it to the designs of our work and make our designs speak for themselves without unnecessary decorations.

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Neighborhoods of Type The neighborhoods of New York are diverse and rich with character. This characterc can be seen in the buildings, the shops and restaurants, the public space and the people who make the neighborhood what it is. Take time to explore four neighborhoods (or do research to get a feel for the character of each): Times Square, Central Park, Soho and Williamsburg (Brooklyn). Make note of your observations about the mood, pulse, visual attributes and overall impressions you get of each area.

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Times Square

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Central Park

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Soho

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Williamsburg

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Composition In this project, the goal is to learn how to organize different levels of information starting with three basic alphabets. Each week, one or more elements will be added to the composition to make it more complex, and it is very iimportant to maintain its harmony in terms of hierarchy, balance, focus and structure by playing with the scale, contrast, rhythm and figure-ground relationship to keep the eyes moving and the compostion interesting.

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Concepts of Composition Scale Size Balance Tension / Harmony Contrast Context Meaning Focus Form Format Structure Grid Direction Rhythm

Movement Color Tone Depth Positive / Negative Foreground / Background Detail Texture Smooth / Rough Computer / Hand Alters definition Drama Mystery / Surprise

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Letterforms Pick three letters from the alphabet and set them in a combination of upper or lower cases from the assigned typefaces. Be selective in chooseing letterforms and typefaces that work well together and give you variety and contrast. Using size, scale, spatial relationships, bleeds and positioning to arrange them in the given space to achieve harmony and show the beauty of each selected letter.

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Q

Baskerville

j Garamond

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Helvetica

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Words Keep the three letters chosen from the last assignment and add three words.

They can be anvvy words that do not have any meaning or association with each other. Set each word in a combination of upper and lower cases from the assigned typefaces. In choosing the words, do not think about the meanings.

Choose nonsense words and do not try to illustrate the words since the assignment is purely about visual forms.

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Q

Baskerville

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Garamond

M

Helvetica

OBSERVATION Futura

paradise Century

Scandal Garamond

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ER VA TIO S

n a c

pa ra di

l a d

Text/Graphic Elements Start with the same three letters and three words in the previous assignments and add some text (one paragraph, about 3 sentences, 4-6 lines) and a graphic element. Set the paragraph in one of the typefaces from the previously approved typefaces. You may adjust the type size, line spacing, letterspacing and column width. The text should be readable in at least some of the compositions and other compositions may feature unreadable text. Include graphic element: lines, circles, triangles or squares in any size or configuration and they can be solid or outlined.

It is acceptable to eliminate one of the single letters and/or one of the single words.

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Q

OBSERVATION

j

paradise

Baskerville

Futura

Garamond

Century

M

Scandal

Helvetica

Garamond OS X Mavericks, the first of Apple’s post-big cat OS updates, is named for one of the nicest spots on Earth. Mavericks is a surf beach in California, and the operating system that takes its name definitely represents a new wave in Mac software, even though it isn’t a drastic change from OS X 10.8.

Garamond

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se adi par

Texture Positive/negative is the relationship between figure and ground, either white elements on black background or black elements on white background. Texture is the ability to render type in ways other than just hard edge black and white.

Combining hand effects, machined effects, computer effects and/or accidental effects allows you to define type in unusual and unique ways-Challenging you to see differently. Start with the elements used in the previous assignments and incorporate positive/negative and texture as a major component.

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Q

OBSERVATION

j

paradise

Baskerville

Futura

Garamond

Century

M

Scandal

Helvetica

Garamond

OS X Mavericks, the first of Apple’s post-big cat OS updates, is named for one of the nicest spots on Earth. Mavericks is a surf beach in California, and the operating system that takes its name definitely represents a new wave in Mac software, even though it isn’t a drastic change from OS X 10.8.

Garamond

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Sca

nd

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al

aradis

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Image Start with the same elements you used in the previous assignments, and include a carefully chosen photograph of your choice. For best results, the image should be simple and graphic (a basic object works best). Simple household objects such as tools, kitchen tools and desktop items are a good choice. Try to use the photograph differently each time, i.e. focal point, background, detailed, scaled up or down. I chose a alluminum water bottle that would reflect surroundings as straight strokes, which would go well with my sans-serif letter M.

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Q

OBSERVATION

j

paradise

Baskerville

Futura

Garamond

Century

M

Scandal

Helvetica

Garamond

OS X Mavericks, the first of Apple’s post-big cat OS updates, is named for one of the nicest spots on Earth. Mavericks is a surf beach in California, and the operating system that takes its name definitely represents a new wave in Mac software, even though it isn’t a drastic change from OS X 10.8.

Garamond

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30

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OBSERVATION

Editorial Layout Utilizing the concepts we learned from the composition assignment and applying them to the design of the editorial layout. In addition, the establishment of a grid is essential to be part of a spread design and it enhances hierarchy and adds precision, consistency and uniformity to the composition. The goal is to use a grid to control the text flow while adding enough variety and flexibility in the composition to engage the reader.

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In this assigned content, we have to design a spread based on the information given. We have to find the right solution for the head, subhead, body text, callout, side bar and images. The use of white space is also significant to give the readers a sense of balance in terms of the amount of text.

For the free topic spread design, I selected a news article about basketball, which discusses the rivalry between two teams in NBA by the coach of the San Antonio Spurs with a strong and impactful quote that creates tension. The choice of typeface for the quote and the arrangement of the photographs are the keys that attract readers to follow the flow and the emotion of the article.

Book Cover Design The goal of the project is to design a new book cover for a published book based on the story and the mood of the book every week. Each week, a challenge will be assigned such as using a certain typeface, hand drawn or applying a texture and we have to try to make it work so that it fits the style and mood of your chosen book. We also had to design at least three versions for a book cover design as a practice to experiment with different layouts and compositions.

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Hand drawn with a texture

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Using Helvetica

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Using Helvetica

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Using Bodoni

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No retrictions

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Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form.

- Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style

By mastering the knowledge of typography, one is able to tell a story without unnecessary ornamentation and the audience will be able to understand the emotion and the sentiment of the story without uncessary comprehension.

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