338.01 Journal by Elena Aker by Elena Aker

T Y P E

J O U R N A L

T YPE 2 J O U R N A L Elena Aker ART 338

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Introduction Type 2 really let me hone my typography abilities this quarter as well as forcing me to become more comfortable with creating full layouts for a book or magazine. Although I realized throughout the course of this class that I need to pay more attention to detail when it comes to type, I feel that I am getting better about getting those little details just right. My favorite project was the Elements of Style. It was challenging working in a group but I was extremely happy with my groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s final product and I felt like I majorly contributed to the dramatic but minimalistic look of the final product. Overall, I used to really view typography as secondary to the visual elements of a design but now I realize its importance. From now on, I will push myself to treat type as equal to if not more important than the elements it is surrounded by.

WEEK 1

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Legibility Exercise Analysis

After doing the legibility exercise, I see why text meant for print and text meant for digital should not be treated in the same way. Text on-screen appears much larger and much more legible at a size that in print could be too small for clear reading. Besides the differences in type treatment between print and digital, every typeface is a little different and one point size, like 12 pt for example, can be applied to all typefaces for all body text. Each typeface will appear at slightly different sizes even if they are all at the same point size and some will have to be a size or two up or down to get the same clarity that is desired. Going along with that, another huge factor is the legibility is the kerning between letters. Every typeface will be different and therefore there is no magical, set amount of kerning that will work for body text, subtitles, or titles. There are many of factors the determine what the kerning for a certain treatment of type will be and therefore the designer must treat every instance as a unique snowflake.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes

Typography in Ten Minutes + Summary of key rules • Since theres more body text then anything else start every project by making the body text look good. • Line spacing should be 120–145% of the point size.

• Line length should be an average of 45–90 characters per line.

• A professional font gives you the benefit of a prof ess ional des igner’s skills witho ut having to hire one.

• Avoid goofy fonts, monospaced fonts, and system fonts, especially Times New Roman and Arial. • Don’t use multiple word spaces or other white-space characters in a row. • Use centered text sparingly.

• Use bold or italic as little as possible. • If you use justified text, also turn on hyphenation.

• Make sure apostrophes point downward. • Make sure foot and inch marks are straight, not curly.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes Foreword

• Type is visible language.

• Typography: the arrangement of pre fabricated elements on a page. • Idea lly, this arrangem ent vis ua li zes and thus rei nf orces the hie ra rc hy of the mess age.

• Good typography is measured by how well it reinforces the meaning of the text, not by some abstract scale of merit. • If your argument is easy to follow, it will be a winning one.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Class Notes Typographic Refinement: The Details

• Measuring system for type was invented by Johann Gutenberg around 1450.

• There were no standards for typographic measurement until Pierre Simon Fournier le Jeune introduced the point system in 1737. • There are 12 points in 1 pica and 6 picas in 1 inch.

• When choosing a point size consider: typeface proportions and weight, length of text, format for viewing, audience/ reader, context of text. • Screen vs. Print: Different consideration • Find a good workhorse typeface that has: good regular weight, robust proportions, at least one bold weight, an italic version, and is narrow enough to fit a lot in limited space. • Kern type at display sizes. • Letter-spacing matters.

• Know your dashes: Hyphen, En Dash, Em Dash

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Type Quotes: 1st ro

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

und of rough drafts

WEEK 2

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes Why Typography Matters

• Typography has consequences (Ex. Palm Beach County Butterfly ballot 2000 presidential election.)

• Being an effective typographer is more about good skills than good taste. • Typography is for the benefit of the reader, not the writer.

• Always be asking yourself: what does my reader want? Because your reader is quite different from you. • Most readers are looking for reasons to stop reading.

• Typography matters. The only question is whether you, as a writer, are going to neglect it. • Good typ ogr ap hy rei nf orces the meaning of the text.

• If you’re just starting out in typography, you will produce some ugly work. Don’t worry. If it’s ugly and effective, you’re making progress.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Type Quotes Feedback I was happy with the final outcome of this project and the background yellow printed out a little more orange but that worked out for the best. I got some mixed reviews from the critique. Some were not crazy about the title because of its more unconventional treatment. I learned to always remember to have hanging quotes. (Go to optical alignment. Check the box. Make sure the type size is set to the same as the font type size.)

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

T YPOG { RAPHY.

…what is it?

}

“Typography exists to honor content.” ROBERT BRI NGHURST The Elements of Typographic Style (1992)

“Typography has one plain duty before it and that is to convey information in writing. No argument or consideration can absolve typography from this duty. A printed work which cannot be read becomes a product without purpose.” EMIL RUDER Typographie (1967)

“The essence of the New Typography is clarity.” JAN TSCHICHOLD New Typography (1928 )

“Type and typography—what you do and how you do it—are both science and art.” JAMES FEL ICI The Complete Manual of Typography (2002)

“Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form.” ROBERT BRINGH U R ST The Elements of Typographic Style (1992)

Final Type Quotes Project

WEEK 3

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes Type Composition • A text is a sequence of characters. Every character is a tool. Your goal: to always use the right tool for the job.

• Curly quotes are the quotation marks used in good typography. There are four curly quote characters: the open ing single quote (‘), the closing single quote (’), the opening double quote (“), and the closing double quote (”). • One space after a period.

• The question mark is underused.

• The exclamation point is overused.

• In a printed document, don’t underline. Ever. It’s ugly and it makes text harder to read.

• Monospaced fonts were invented to meet the requirements of typewriters. Compared to proportional fonts, mono spaced fonts are harder to read.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

• Bold or italic—always think of them as mutually exclusive. That is the first rule.

• All-caps text—meaning text with all the letters capitalized—is best used sparingly. • In print, the optimal point size for body text is 10–12 point. On the web, the optimal size is 15–25 pixels. • CSS Set the letter-spacing property in the range 0.05–0.12em (an em is 100% of the font size, so this is equivalent to 5–12%).

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes Text Formatting

• Text formatting includes everything that affects the appearance of the char acters on the page—not only fonts, but also point size, bold or italic styles, small caps, letter-spacing, and kerning. • In a printed document, don’t underline. Ever. It’s ugly and it makes text harder to read. • When picking fonts distinctive is fine. Goofy is not.

• Bold or italic—always think of them as mutually exclusive. That is the first rule.

• All-caps text—meaning text with all the letters capitalized—is best used sparingly.

• In print, the optimal point size for body text is 10–12 point. On the web, the optimal size is 15–25 pixels. • Mixing fonts is like mixing patt erned shirts and ties—there aren’t immutable rules. Some people have a knack for it; some don’t.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Class Notes • 99.9% of the time body text in a document will be black. • Turn off any typefaces that you never use or SHOULD never use (eg. Arial, Papyrus, Comic Sans). • Often you do not need to deal with subscripts. • Franklin Gothic. Check it out! • Design Factors to Consider

• Content: How long is the text? What is it about? • Audience: What age? What is their demographic? • Format/Content: Will it be readable? What size is the page/screen?

• When you buy a font, you purchase a license and you want to read it carefully to know when you can and cannot use it.

• Where to find fonts: Lost Type, League of Movable Type, Font Squirrel (free for commercial use), Fontspring, My Fonts, etc. • FontExplorer X Pro + Suitcase Fusion 6

• Activate and deactivate fonts as you use them.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

A Dialogue Sketches

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Class Notes Analysis

• 99.9% of the time body text in a document will be black. • Turn off any typefaces that you never use or SHOULD never use (eg. Arial, Papyrus, Comic Sans). • Often you do not need to deal with subscripts. • Franklin Gothic. Check it out! • Design Factors to Consider

• Content: How long is the text? What is it about? • Audience: What age? What is their demographic?

• Format/Content: Will it be readable? What size is the page/screen?

• When you buy a font, you purchase a license and you want to read it carefully to know when you can and cannot use it.

• Where to find fonts: Lost Type, League of Movable Type, Font Squirrel (free for commercial use), Fontspring, My Fonts, etc. • FontExplorer X Pro + Suitcase Fusion 6 • Activate and deactivate fonts as you use them.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Project 2: A Dialogue So far for my diptych project I picked out a theme of the hero’s journey to enlightenment, or salvation, to influence my design solution. I decided to photograph a male’s head as a profile silhouette with bright light shining behind the head. The use of the labyrinth design throughout reflects the text’s content.

Beginning of class (Thursday January 25, 2017)

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

WEEK 4

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes Page Layout

• Page layout is about the positioning and relat ions hip of text and other elem ents on the page.

• most of the docum ents a writer prints will be on standard printer paper. And on the web, your reader essentially chooses the size. • Don’t accept the defaults. You can do better.

• Whole paragraphs should never be centered. Centering makes paragraphs difficult to read because both edges of the paragraph are uneven. • Justified text is spaced so the left and right sides of the text block both have a straight edge. It is better.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Final Project 2

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

2: A Dialogue

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Final Project 2: A Dialogue For my final version of the Diptych Dialogue project I chose to forgo using the labyrinth design that I originally had on my rough draft and instead used hand lettering and conform to the shape of man’s head in the photo. I also decided to use one large pull quote and use the color pallet from the interview to differentiate between the two speakers in the interview. Some feedback I got in the critique was that the small hand lettered “The” and “and” in the title was too small in contrast to the rest of the title text. Some people were not fond of the giant pull quote or the fact that I switched up the colors in the pull quote to emphasize. I think I would rethink the title page hand lettering if I went back but I personally really like the pull quote.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Typesetting in InDesign: Tools and Techniques • Control and customize your typography by using styles. • General Settings: Shows a overview of the style settings and if the style was based on an existing style.

• Basic Character Formats: Basic text formatting: font, font style, size, leading, kerning, tracking and case. • Tabs: Shows all tabs and leaders (a character that fills the negative space before the tab).

• Justification: Customizes justified type spacing.

• Basic Character Formats: Basic text formatting: font, font style, size, kerning, tracking and case. Leading is inherited from the paragraph style. • “Impress your friends. Use styles.”

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes

Family Planning, or How Type Families Work

• In 1737, Pierre Simon Fournier published a table of graded sizes of printing types.

• Early on, typographers used only a single weight of type set in different sizes to show the hierarchical differences between content. • The idea of varying the weight of a single typeface probably happened in the mid-19th century. • From the early 20th century it became standard practice to include several weights of a typeface.

• In the later part of the 20th century, the work of Adrian Frutiger uniquely shifted attention from the design of a single typeface to the design of a complete typeface system, seeing the design of a type family as a continuous space defined by two axes; width and weight. • In 1977, Donald Knuth conceived a programming language that he called Metafont.

• Metafont describes an imaginary ‘pen’ that creates the stroke paths for constructing letter forms.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

â&#x20AC;˘ Noordzij (teacher at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague) describes three ways of producing typefaces: translation, expansion and rotation, each referring to different processes and the resulting stylistic differences between various groups of typefaces. â&#x20AC;˘ Kalliculator is not a typeface but a tool that makes typefaces based on predefined set of parameters. User can input a line drawing, and it simulates either broad nib or pointed pen (or anything in between), controls the weight and contrast, applies the same parameters to all the glyphs in the database, and finally generates the font file. â&#x20AC;˘ Each style of the type family must be recognizably different in order to remain functional. Yet each style must adhere to common principles governing the consistency of the type family.

WEEK 5

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Elements of Style: First Draft

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Elements of Style: Second Draft

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes

Using Layout Grids Effectively • Examples of vertical grid layouts: 1 column vertical grid, 2 column vertical grid, 3 column vertical grid

• Examples of basic landscape layout grids: 1 column landscape grid, 2 column landscape grid, 3 column landscape grid, 4 column landscape grid • Always use a layout grid for your design projects. No exceptions.

• Without a layout grid, graphic elements will not properly work together. • Any high-quality design project, campaign or identity/branding system needs a strong, tested and perfected layout grid system to make it possible to split the work to many designers at one time, so that they all produce the same quality end result with consistency and visual harmony. • It’s important, as you create your layout grid, that you pay special attention when choosing the type of binding to compensate for the gutter.

• This rule is used by professional photographers the world over. The rule of thirds works by splitting an image

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

into thirds, so you end up with 9 equal sections, then simply place your main subject where the lines intersect.

â&#x20AC;˘ The Golden Spiral is based on the Golden Ratio while the Fibonacci Spiral is a spiral based on the Fibonacci Sequence. Both are very similar, and can be used as a compositional tool. â&#x20AC;˘ The Golden Ratio is also known as the divine proportion.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes

Typographica Mea Culpa, Unethical Downloading • Designers tend to respect one another’s intellectual property lines and do not as a rule engage in extreme larceny. And yet we have a skewed sense of entitlement when it comes to type. • All font software is protected by copyright and some typeface designs are protected by patents, which provides foundries with legal recourse.

• Ignorance is no excuse. Type vendors have gone to great lengths and expense to publicize these issues, yet designers have either not heard or ignored them for reasons that are endemic to unrealistic notions of entitlement. • Forget about legality, without adherence to the fundamental principal, we place our colleagues in financial jeopardy and we become much less ethical in the bargain.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes

My Type Design Philosophy • You cannot be a good type designer if you are not a book typographer. I am not talking here about display types but about text types. • Numerous combinations of sans serif and serif have been used without any idea of style or knowledge of history.

• From an aesthetic point of view some combinations produce a severe headache (Garamond with Univers, Bodoni with Gill Sans). • The very first sans serif typeface to be used for printing was published around 1816 by the William Caslon iv English typefoundry. • In 1957 Univers, Helvetica and numerous look-alikes were published as a sort of reaction to pre-war geo-metric faces like Futura.

• Mixing serif with sans only makes sense when the seriffed typeface and the sans are designed from the same basis, or even from the same skeleton. • The last 15 years have in a way been revolutionary for the sans serifs.

WEEK 6

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes A View of Latin Typography in Relationship to the World

• Even today, typography as a discipline continues to be plagued by a Euro-centric bias. • Most of the existing typographic classification systems also apply exclusively to Latin type.

• Most contemporary digital type foundries such as Monotype call these fonts “Non-Latin”. • The term “Roman” is customarily used to describe serif typefaces of the early Italian Renaissance period. More recently, the term has also come to denote the upright style of typefaces, as opposed to the word “Italic”, which refers to cursive typefaces inspired by

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

the handwriting of Italian humanists.

• Recent changes in technology such as the introduction of the Unicode system and OpenType font format have inspired type designers to consider the previously overlooked “non-Latin” typography.

• While we might think that most of the possibilities of Latin type have been explored, traditions of typography from Greece, the Middle East, India and elsewhere can help us to rediscover how we understand Latin type today.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Elements of Style The final version of Elements of Style incorporated my cover and title page design and Marion Beachamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interior layout design. The three together varied in color using red, yellow, and blue but everything else was the same in its layout. Overall, I got positive feedback for the final version of the EOS booklet. People really liked the numbers on the cover bleeding over to the back cover.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Elements of Style: Final Version

WEEK 7

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes

Lava — Voice of a Magazine • Peter Bilak discusses in this article the process he went through developing a typeface for a new magazine called Works That Work. • The typeface was called Lava.

• The difficulties that came with this project included the fact that the magazine would be produced in print, PDF, eBook, and online form.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes

The First Thing I Ever Designed: Elana Schlenker and Gratuitous Type Magazine • Magazines have become key portfolio pieces for young designers, the perfect medium for showcasing a range of skills. • Schlenker started writing Gratutious Type to build her resume.

• She started it after feeling that the U.S. lacked a graphic design-focused magazine with a more international perspective and aesthetic.

• The magazine made it possible to steal artists’ secrets under the guise of gathering information for my publication. • She allowed the magazine’s design to evolve with each issue, to change up typefaces, the grid, and other graphic elements.

• the magazine had a tremendous impact on her career. It helped her get a full-time position in publishing, and has also led to some great client projects. • Issue no. 1 taught me how important it is to trust in yourself and your abilities.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Zine Sketches

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

WEEK 8

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Grid Analysis Assignment

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes

Eric Gill got it wrong; a re-evaluation of Gill Sans

• Gill Sans is the Helvetica of England; ubiquitous, utilitarian and yet also quite specific in its ability to point to our notions of time and place. • But the problem with Gill Sans is that it is too flawed. • Edward Johnston’s sans serif lettering for the London Underground in 1916 was the inspiration for Gill Sans.

• I contend that the majority of character shapes in Gill Sans are actually worse than in Johnston’s. • One of the abiding eccentricities of Gill Sans is that its range of weights appears darker and less evenly distributed than any comparable face (even Futura is better moderated in this respect). • Monotype released the Eric Gill Series including Gill Sans Nova (a long-awaited update by George Ryan) in November 2015 with an exhibition in London’s Brick Lane at the Truman Brewery.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

In-class Lecture

Typography on Screen

Things to consider when choosing a type for the screen: • Type contrast—higher contrast useful in small amounts or as headlines. (Ex. Bodoni)

• X-height—When choosing a typeface for text, a high x-height is ideal.

• Character Distinction—Differentiating between different characters is essential for on screen legibility.

• Special Characters—Strive to use typefaces that support different types of numbers, correct punctuation,and special characters.

• Finding Alternatives—Classic typefaces are sometimes so overused that they begin to look like generic defaults. • Look for Harmony— Find typefaces with inherent visual relationships in their structure. • Use a Family— Some typefaces have both serif and sans serif version, which are built on the same structure.

• Build Outward— Then try something different.

WEEK 9

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Zine Progress • So far I have put all the text for the articles in a file in InDesign and have started the process of figuring out what the overall deisgn concept will be. • I think I want to use a lot of color and uses similar type treatment to tie the different spreads together.

• Right now I am experimenting with some Illustrator drawings (shown to the left) that I want to incorporate throughout the zine. • I have also officially decided to name my zine “Rukus”.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes

7 Striking Design Pairings We Didn’t Expect to See in Graphic: 500 Designs that Matter

• Page spreads that create surprising juxtapositions of designs from various places in the world and points in time.

• Shown here are seven of the favorites, striking for the tone they strike, despite the decades that divide their original creation dates:

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes

An Idea of a Typeface

• Total neutrality is impossible.

• Neutral typeface explores how the absence of stylistic associations can help the reader to engage with the content of a text.

• “I found neutrality to be an elusive, ambiguous quality” • He looked into the Conceptual Art movement of the 1960s, which emphasized the purity of the idea-asartwork over its materialization.

• Neutrality can be regarded as an auxiliary construction that lets us describe things and events that appear free of connotations to a specific social and cultural group at a specific point in time. • “One great advantage of being both a graphic designer and type designer is that your work in one discipline feeds back into your work in the other.” • What is new about this new Neutral typeface? Everything.

• A typeface is both a tool for designing, and a tool for reading. The fewer distracting details there are, the clearer the text becomes.

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Reading Notes

A Typeface Designed to Revive the Endangered Cherokee Language

•

• •

In the summer of 2011, two representatives from the Language Technology Office of the Cherokee Nation attended a type conference to issue a plea for new digital Cherokee typefaces. Designer Mark Jamra took on the challenge of designing the font.

Jamra studied the Cherokee syllabary developed between 1809–1824, along with 180 years from Cherokee Nation.

• He named the typeface “Phoreus Cherokee”. •

Phoreus is the ancient Greek word for bearer or carrier.

• This serif face is a harmonious mix of closed and open shapes, straight strokes, and playful curves. The ornate historic Cherokee glyphs have been opened up and simplified for legibility.

• Phoreus’ clear, simple shapes are well suited to the very young readers needed to keep the language alive.

WEEK 1

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Zine Final Critique My final zine came out very nicely and I am extremely happy with how it turned out. In the end I think I came up with a diverse set of well-designed spreads for each article that were unique but also had enough in common that they would easily have been identifiable as being from the same magazine. I ended up doing a lot of full page spreads for the title pages and I am happy with them and used a mix of images and illustrator graphics. My Primary Color pallet: I used this palette to create diversity in the layouts while also tyeing them together with such a recognizable palette. Words I would use to describe my project: Vibrant, Dramatic and Bold. The big lettering and contrasting colors I used for many of the title pages to get the reader interested in the article. Also, the red bar is a theme throughout the zine to tie the articles together and empahsize important content. The only place this is not true is on the cover which I used to contrast. I also broke up the text periodically use big pull quotes that live within the center of two columns of text. Initially I had 14 pt Avenir but changed that to 16 pt (20pt leading).

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

My feedback from the critique was mostly positive. Charmaine pointed out a few typographical errors that I had missed but for the most part I think it was a rather successful project.

Edits From Presentation • Dr. Bronners book title

• optical alignment quotes • add date to cover

• Brian Singer ellipsis

• add credits to article at the end of each article • Make interactive buttons for TOC

Type 2 Journal // Elena Aker

Typefaces used: Avenir, Bodoni MT Designed by: Elena Aker ART 338 taught by: Charmaine Martinez 2017