type2 Deric Shindledecker Winter 2016
[ journal]
designed by Deric Shindledecker cover artworks by Tobias Saul typfaces used Univers ITC Cheltenham Edmon Sans
introduction What follows is a journal that compiles summaries of coursework, lectures, assigned readings, project critiques, and their respective commentaries over the ten week period of Typography 2, Spring 2016. While some of the entries may seem brief, the impact that the material has had on me is not. My first typography class intimidated me. The details that accompany type seemed like a lot to handle at first, and I grew timid in exploring it at first. The rules of type felt overwhelming. However, over the past ten weeks my attitudes towards typography have changed. There was a lot of repeated material in this course, but this time around I seemed welcomed to it, rather than bound to it. As a natural illustrator, my interests have usually gravitated towards graphics, rather than type, but now I’m growing to appreciate typography as forms themselves, rather than just fonts in a program. Typography 2 has given me the tools to grow stronger as a designer, both in the classroom and in my own time. My work reflects this progress, especially in terms of creative process; over the quarter, my capabilities have grown from producing one spread to over thirty in a given time frame. This journal is not only for future factual reference, but is also self-inspiring— testimate to my ability to take on projects of such scale.
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WEEK ONE
the 8th of january
Type in Ten Minutes, Typographic Refinement: The Details, Legibility Exercise
Type in Ten Minutes
readings from Butterick’s Practical Typography
Key Points Body Text In print, the most comfortable rang is 10–12 point. On the web, the range is 15–25 pixels.
Line Spaci ng is the vertical distance between lines. It should be 120–145% of the point size.
Line Length should be an average of 45–90 characters per line (use your word-count function) or 2–3 lowercase alphabets.
Font Choice The easie st and most visible improvement you can make to your typography is to use a professional font.
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Typographic Refinement: The Details lecture
Point Size American measuring system picas & points
12 pts = 1 pica
6 picas = 1 inch
1 inch = 72 pts
Written as 1p6 (1 pica + 6 points)
How To Choose a Point Size? Consider typeface proportions and weight length of text format ( printed, on- screen, or both) audience/reader content of text
How to Choose a Good “Workhorse� Typeface? Workhorse qualities
good regular weight robust proportions at least 1 bold weight italic legible numerals economy of space
Legibility Exercise in-class exercise
The purpose of this exercise was to examine how changes in point size, leading, and typeface selection impact legibility. The same block of text was set with various combinations of point size and leading. Type 2 | 2016
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Legibility Exercise (cont.) in-class exercise
Serif
Sans Serif
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication —“one cannot not communicate”— puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received.
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication — “one cannot not communicate”— puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received.
BEMBO STD, 9/13
FRUTIGER LT STD, 9/13
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication —“one cannot not communicate”— puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. BEMBO STD, 9/12
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication — “one cannot not communicate”— puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. FRUTIGER LT STD, 9/12
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration
Without typography, one could argue, messages will
would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communica-
still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate
tion —“one cannot not communicate”— puts it very succinctly.
rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data,
If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient,
some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s
you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how
first axiom of communication — “one cannot not com-
your message may be received.
municate”— puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider
BEMBO STD, 9/14
the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received.
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be
FRUTIGER LT STD, 9/14
legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communica-
Without typography, one could argue, messages will
tion —“one cannot not communicate”— puts it very succinctly.
still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate
If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient,
rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data,
you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how
some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s
your message may be received.
first axiom of communication — “one cannot not com-
BEMBO STD, 9/15
municate”— puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul
your message may be received. FRUTIGER LT STD, 9/15
Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication —“one cannot not communicate”— puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. BEMBO STD, 8/13
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication — “one cannot not communicate”— puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication —“one cannot not communicate”— puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. BEMBO STD, 10/13
message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. FRUTIGER LT STD, 8/13
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication — “one cannot not communicate”— puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. FRUTIGER LT STD, 10/13
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Deric Shindledecker
WEEK TWO
the 13th
of january Why Typography Matters: The Butterfly Ballot
Why Typography Matters reading & lecture
Key Points Bad typography can have negative consequences. For example, the “butterfly ballot” used in elections for Palm Beach County, Florida was poorly designed, due to its back-and-forth style of reading, and thus made voting correctly difficult for some voters. The in class discussion focused on dissecting the flaws within the butterfly ballot’s original design (top), and also critiquing aspects of the new and improved design(bottom)—what worked and didn’t work. (See reverse side) Just as bad typography can have negative consequences, good typography can have positive consequences. Good type can help you engage readers, guide them, and ultimately persuade them. Type 2 | 2016
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The Butterfly Ballot (cont.) reading & lecture
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WEEK TWO
the 15th
of january Final Crit: Project 1, Project 2 Introduced
Final Critique: Project 1
typesetting: rules and principles of typography
Critique Notes Needs to be as easy and as inviting to read as possible Look for a regular, book, or medium weight Watch for too short of line length Title needs strength/visual weight Author’s name needs to be prominent Don’t emphasize unimportant words Awkward Negative Space is bad.
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Final Critique: Project 1 (cont.) typesetting: rules and principles of typography
type tips Typography Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Using Type in Graphic Design, Pg. 9
The Elements of Typographic Style, Pg. 11
thoughts from the experts
Timothy Samara “Typography is a perfect balance between shapes, images, and significations.”
Robert Bringhurst “Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form.”
Butterick’s Practical Typography
Matthew Butterick
“Bad typography can distract your readerand undermine your message.” 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People, Pg. 42
Susan M. Weinschenk, Ph.D. “Make sure your content is worth reading. In the end, it all boils down to whether or not the text on the page is of interest to your audience.”
Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students, Pg. 219
Ellen Lupton “No job is too small. A graphic designer can set out to change the world one business card at a time—as long as it is the business card of a really interesting person.”
Introduction: Project 2 diaglogue project
Project 2: A Dialogue is introduced. The main goal of this next project is to be able to effectively establish two voices with typography in an interview between Bill Moyers and John Campbell. Typeface studies and sketches due next class, Wednesday the 20th.
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WEEK THREE
the 20th
of january
Project 2: Types Studies, Work Day
Project 2: A Dialogue type studies
BILL MOYERS JOSEPH CAMPBELL BILL MOYERS JOSEPH CAMPBELL
A Talk With Myth Master
A Talk With Myth Master
Joseph Campbell A Talk With Myth Master
Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
A Talk With Myth Master
Joseph Campbell
BILL
MOYERS
BILL MOYERS: JOSEPH CAMPBELL:
A Talk With Myth Master
A Talk With Myth Master
Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
JOSEPH CAMPBELL
MOYERS
A Talk With Myth Master
Joseph Campbell
Why are there so many stories of the hero in mythology?
MOYERS
CAMPBELL Because that’s what’s worth Why are there so many stories of the hero in mythology? writing about. Why are there so many stories of the hero in mythology?
MOYERS
Why are there so many stories of the hero in mythology?
MOYERS
Why are there so many stories of the hero in mythology?
MOYERS
CAMPBELL Because that’s what’s worth writing about. CAMPBELL Because that’s what’s worth writing about. CAMPBELL
Because that’s what’s worth writing about.
MOYERS
CAMPBELL
Because that’s what’s worth writing about.
JOSEPH CAMPBELL
CAMPBELL
Because that’s what’s worth writing about.
CAMPBELL
Because that’s what’s worth writing about.
BILL
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WEEK THREE
the 22nd of january
Choosing Typefaces, Understanding Fonts, Project 2: Comps
Choosing & Understanding Typefaces lecture
Choosing Fonts Technical Factors Full Character Set Foreign accent characters and glyphs Multiple weights and styles Small Caps Format WebFont versions
Understanding Fonts When you buy a font, you purchase a license (use is granted as outlined in the license).
Need to ask Can I use in commercial work? 12
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How much does this cost? Can I use online, or just in print?
Project 2: A Dialogue comps
First draft of Project 2: A Dialogue. Comments larger images larger title larger heading elements need more interaction needs speaker names
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WEEK THREE
the 27th of january
Final Crit: Project 2, Project 3 Introduced
Final Critique: Project 2 a dialogue
Dialogue project critiqued. Project 3: The Elements of Style group project introduced. Plans for paragraph and character styles due by next class.
Common Issues leading
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line length reading order rags and hyphenation too dense
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WEEK FOUR
the 29th of january
Typesetting in Design, Revised Dialogue Project, Elements of Style
Typesetting in Design lecture
Paragraph Styles Most styles in a document will be Paragraph Styles
Controls Paragraph level attributes (leading, indents, tabs, rules, hyphenation)
General Settings Advanced Character Formats Paragraph Rules Keep Options Hyphenation Span Columns Drop Caps & Nested Styles Export Tagging 16
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Character Styles Styling Text withing Paragraphs (bold text, italic text, run-in subheads, bullets)
Similar Options as Paragraph Styles, but fewer
Revisions
project 2: a dialogue Revisions were allowed after Tuesday’s critique of Project 2: A Dialogue. Revisions were looked at and briefly critiqued, and turned in at the end of class.
Elements of Style work day
After the lecture, today was a work day to continue laying out our individual Elements of Style booklets.
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WEEK FIVE
the 3rd of february
Understanding Grids, Elements of Style Comps
First Comps
project 3: the elements of style First version of individual The Elements of Style booklets due at beginning of class.
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THE ELEMENTS OF ST YLE
Form the possessive singular of nouns with ’s
Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write, Charles’s friend
[ SECTION I: ELEMENTARY RULES OF USAGE ]
Burns’s poems
the witch’s malice
This is the usage of the United States Government Printing Office and of the Oxford University Press. Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus’, and such forms as for conscience’ sake, for righteousness’ sake. But such forms as Achilles’ heel, Moses’ laws, Isis’ temple are commonly replaced by the heel of Achilles
the laws of Moses
the temple of Isis
WILLIAM STRU NK , JR . NEW YORK 1918
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The pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and oneself have no apostrophe.
Type 2 | 2016
2 In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last 4
The Elements of Style
WEEK FIVE
the 5th of february
The Elements of Style: Part 1 Critique
Critique: Project 3 EOS (individual sections)
1 Form the possessive singular of nouns with ’s
Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write,
TH E E L E M E NT S of S T Y L E
Charles’s friend Burns’s poems the witch’s malice
This is the usage of the United States Government Printing Office and of the Oxford University Press. Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus’, and such forms as for conscience’ sake, for righteousness’ sake. But such forms as Achilles’ heel, Moses’ laws, Isis’ temple are commonly replaced by the heel of Achilles the laws of Moses the temple of Isis
The pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and oneself have no apostrophe.
[ SECTION I ]
ELEMENTARY RULES of USAGE 4
The Elements of Style
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WEEK SIX
the 10th of february
A View of Latin Typography […], Elements of Style Groups
A View of Latin Typography […] readings from article by Peter Bil’ak
This article was about the Westernization of our views regarding typography. It discussed how, as Americans, we incorrectly accredit Gutenberg as the creator of the modern printing, however, it was in fact created in China some 400 years earlier. We need to “de-Euro” our ideas about type, as there are dozens of other languages that need font making.
Group Assignments project 3: the elements of style
Today, we were also put into our group assignments for the EOS project. We worked with our groups during class in order to prepare the final group booklets by Friday.
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WEEK SIX
the 12th of february
Final Crit: EOS Project 4 Introduced
Final Crit: Project 3 EOS group sections
William Strunk, Jr.
THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE ยง 01 / Elementary Rules of Usage
INTRODUCTION This book is intended for use in English courses in which the practice of composition is combined with the study of literature. It aims to give in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style. It aims to lighten the task of instructor and student by concentrating attention (in Chapters II and III) on a few essentials, the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated. The numbers of the sections may be used as references in correcting manuscript. The book covers only a small portion of the field of English style, but the experience of its writer has been that once past the essentials, students profit most by individual instruction based on the problems of their own work, and that each instructor has his own body of theory, which he prefers to that offered by any textbook.
New York 1918
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Final Crit: Project 3 (cont.) EOS group sections
01
ONE
Form the possessive singular of nouns with ’s
Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write, Charles’s friend Burns’s poems
ELEMENTARY
the witch’s malice
RULES OF USAGE
This is the usage of the United States Government Printing Office and of the Oxford University Press. Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus’, and such forms as for conscience’ sake, for righteousness’ sake. But such forms as Achilles’ heel, Moses’ laws, Isis’ temple are commonly replaced by the heel of Achilles the laws of Moses the temple of Isis
The pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and oneself have no apostrophe.
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6 The Elements of Style
WEEK SEVEN
the 17th
of february
Zine Planning
Brainstorming project 4: type zine
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WEEK EIGHT
the 26th of february
Finalize Zine Content Finalize Grid Plan
Finalize Content project 4: type zine
This week, all content for Project 4: Type Zine was finalized, allowing us to start creating a book map layout for next week. While we have been experimenting with grid thus far, the book map will be a basic layout that includes images as well. This is used to help get an idea of how many spread will ultimately be needed in the final zine.
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Final Art 338.03 Zine Content Everyday Type: ● Why HandLettering is Making a Comeback ○ Erica ● The Revival of America’s Handpainted Sign Industry ○ Justin ● Tats and Type ○ Mike History/Culture: ● Five Typographers ○ Katie ● Harir: Reducing Noise in Arabic Script, found, original ○ Kaitlin, Julie ● The evolution of the ampersand/&, found ○ Monike ● Type in Film found ○ Doug, Deric ● [optional] Olympic Games typography 1996–2014, found ○ Dylan Resources: ● Top 5 Type Instagrams or Blogs to follow [use one or the other] ● Designers with goto fonts found ○ Rachel ● Free fonts that don’t suck found ○ Shania Entertainment/Fun Stuff/Offbeat/Activities/Extras/Interactive/Feed: ●
[optional] Type quiz, what typeface are you?, original ○ Michelle
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WEEK NINE
the 4th of march
Type Zine
First Full Layout project 4: type zine
This week we worked on filling in the type zine with all final content, now that all final content has been uploaded. Once doing so, we continued to play with images and text throughout, being careful not to get caught up on one or two specific spreads. I struggled with this throughout the entire project. Several times I found myself spending too much time on the most developed spreads, while tending to forget about all other, less interesting spreads.
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WEEK TEN
the 9th of march
Type Zine Preliminary Critique
Preliminary Critique project 4: type zine
This was the class before the deadline for Project 4: Type Zine, and we held a preliminary critique. I was nervous to have my work displayed on-screen at this point, because there were still a handful of spreads that I had not laid out yet and I felt very behind. However, I was not the only one, and I was reassured by comments on my bold headlines and nicely legible body text. While I oftentimes consider not attending critiques whenever I feel too far behind, I always appreciate it when I force myself to go in the end, as getting feedback on any piece of my work in progress is incredibly helpful (and even more so when I can get inspiration from peers).
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WEEK TEN
the 11th of march
Final Critique: Type Zine
Final Critique: Project 4 type zine
Today was finally the critique of the dreaded type zine. In all honesty, the project was not that bad. It was just unlike any other project that I’ve encountered recently in terms of the amount of content. Ultimately, I am pleased with my type mag. The first couple of spreads are a little undeveloped in my opinion, but this is because I worked on these last. I’ve also learned to never work back to front while bookmaking, because it became a huge pain in my ass. I coined the magazine ‘the poor man’s type mag’ because I felt like that ultimately summed up what I was trying to accomplish: clean, simple, and reliable in terms of readability (and also its free).
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MARCH 2016
THE POOR MAN’S
TYPE MAG
No. 1 TODAY’S TOP 5 TYPE IN FILM TATTOO TYPE FREE FONTS THAT DONT SUCK
& OTHER STUFF cover art by Craig Ward
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Final Critique: Project 4 (cont.) type zine
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR What is typography? Why does it matter? How does it impact our lives?
The Merriam-Webster definition of “typography” is: “the work of producing printed pages from written material” or “the style, arrangement, or appearance of printed letters on a page.” How those letters, words, and sentences are styled and arranged affects how they are perceived. Good typography clarifies content, establishes hierarchy, and presents information in a manner that makes it easier to read, and, therefore, to understand. Typography is also intertwined with our daily lives—we encounter type in everything from the products we buy, the signage around us, the books we read, the news we consume, and the directions we follow. Typography can be beautiful, functional, persuasive, and inviting. It can also fail, especially when there is a disconnect between how the type looks and what the text says. This debut issue of Oblique Magazine was conceptualized and created by students in Art 338: Typography II at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo during winter quarter 2016. Students selected all topics included in this issue and the content ranges from the current hand-lettering revival, to lettering in tattoos, to the challenges of creating an Arabic script font, to type in popular film posters. The eclectic nature of this content reflects the diverse interests of the students in the class and the many ways in which we encounter typography in the everyday.
Charmaine Martinez March 2016 2
OBLIQUE MAGAZINE
INK
a collection of type in tattoos
Photo Accredited to LETTERROOM
MARCH 2016
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52
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OBLIQUE MAGAZINE
DESIGNERS WITH
GO-TO’S
BY
ADAM WELCH
Chip Kidd ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR,
Knopf
Blender 2003 TYPEFACE FROM GESTALTEN
I’ve been using it a lot over the past few years (and yes, I bought the license to it before doing so) because it has a classic sans-serif presence that feels fresh, due to almost undetectable quirks in the characters that have curved edges.
the professionals
MARCH 2016
53
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