PR CESS BOOK JESSICA LAM
MINIMAL LETTERFORMS: DRAFTS OBJECTIVE: Study and understand the characteristics of one of six typefaces. Use Illustrator to create a composition of four different letters from the same typeface.
PROCESS: Using tracing paper to crop the letters at a magnified scale and study the letterforms, I first experimented with different typefaces, noticing small details in stroke widths and serifs. I also explored methods of creating connections between each form, focusing more on Gestalt principles of similarity, balance, and continuation. While it was difficult to retain the recognizability of the individual letterforms, it was also interesting to discover similarities and subtle differences that set each letter apart. I was drawn to the elegance and variation of stroke thickness in Garamond Italic Semibold, as well as the friendliness of Memphis.
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My first iterations turned out to be an initial exploration into the constraints and requirements of the assignment and I found that further iterations yielded more successful results. The three drafts shown below were my favorites for the interest created through balance and continuation, and further refined, as shown on the right.
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MINIMAL LETTERFORMS: FINAL
I chose this composition over the other, which used the letters p, x, n and s in the Memphis typeface, because I felt that the connection between each letterform was more natural. The chosen composition is also more balanced as a whole, and has more interest in the shapes of negative space.
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The final product was created with the letters K, B, S and Q from Garamond Italic Semibold. Reversing the color of the letterforms from black to white helped enhance the flow of letters from square to square. I connected the letterforms together as seamlessly as possible and ensured that there were paths for the eye to enter and exit the composition.
K B Q S
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TYPE HIERARCHY: DRAFTS OBJECTIVE: Work with a given text to create six different compositions in InDesign, each with a different set of constraints based on different weights and sizes of the Univers typeface. 1A: 15 pt. Univers 45 1B: 15 pt. Univers 45 and 65 2A: 9 pt. and 15pt. Univers 45 and 65 2B: 9 pt. and 15pt. Univers 45/46 and 65/66 3A: Constraints of 2B with rules 3B: Any size and weight with rules
Set 1A
PROCESS: For Set 1A and 1B, I was required to glue the text onto tracing paper after many iterations, forcing me to experience and appreciate the process of manual work in a field that is now very reliant on digital programs. My first dozen of compositions were simple and straightforward, but as I began to embrace Paul Rand’s concept of ‘play’, I started to experiment by creating different shapes with the body copy and incorporating movement and angles, while maintaining readability and clarity as my main priority.
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Set 1B
Set 2A
Set 3A
Set 2B
Set 3B
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Set 1A
Orientation and disorientation Visible Language
6 pm UC Davis 135 Walker Hall Thursday, December 3
Richard Saul Wurman Nicholas Felton Ruedi Baur
A lecture series exploring the relationship between form and content
I really enjoyed finding ways of establishing visual hierarchy, especially in 1A where only one weight and size of Univers was permitted, and again in 2A and 2B where I encountered the opposite problem of having options that could compete with the hierarchy. When creating set 3A and 3B, I struggled to use rules, often creating compositions where the rules pulled attention away from the body copy and consequently decided to focus more on visual interest created through the treatment of text with weights and sizes and minimal rules where they strengthened the work.
Lectu res a re
Tobias Frere-Jones Jonathan Hoefler Zuzana Licko
6 pm UC Davis 135 Walker Hall Thursday, December 10
More than just a love of letters
Stefan Sagmeister Andrew Blauvelt Marian Bantjes
Lectures are free and open to the public
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6 pm UC Davis Design Museum Thursday, December 17
Matter/anti-matter/does it matter?
Set 1B
Visible Language A lecture series exploring the relationship between form and content Lectures are free and open to the public
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Thursday, December 3 135 Walker Hall UC Davis 6 pm
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Richard Saul
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Thursday, December 3
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Set 3B
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PAUL RAND BOOK: DRAFTS OBJECTIVE: Work with given text and images and create a cohesive book in InDesign using shades of black, white, and one spot color. Page layouts must be founded on a grid system.
PROCESS: This project was my first exploration into page layouts and creating a larger scale, cohesive design. I began making drafts of the cover, acknowledging that it would be the introduction to the content and visual theme of the book, selecting a friendly light blue as my spot color.
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PAUL RAND
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PAUL RAND BOOK: FINAL Playing with transparency and creating new forms out of the overlapping shapes embodied Rand’s concept of play. Different weights of Avenir Next are used, also chosen for its welcoming and accessible presence. I chose to make the page headings lowercase to match the cover, and reinforce the concept of playfulness.
I enjoyed manipulating the body copy within the grid and finding different ways of organizing text in ways that presented information without being overwhelming. When the body copy appeared too rigid, I employed shapes in a light shade of the spot color to break up the page. I also tried to make spreads appear as one cohesive page rather than two individual pages to encourage a more fluid reading experience. This was achieved by placing images and blocks of color across the spread. The overall theme strives to be clean and friendly, reinforced through the use of transparency and a dynamic text arrangement.
PAUL RAND
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In comparison to most so-called systems of proportion, the Modulor is perhaps the least confining. The variations, as will be seen from this illustration, are practically inexhaustible (and this example utilizes only a very limited number of possibilities). This drawing is one of a limitless number of so-called Panel Exercises, played for pleasure or for some real application in order to discover a most satisfactory or beautiful configuration. If, however, the system should present difficulties which happen to run counter to one’s intuitive judgment, Le Corbusier himself provides the answer:
the modulor The Modulor is a system based on a mathematical key. Taking account of the human scale, it is a method of achieving harmony and order in a given work.
“I still reserve the right at any time to doubt the solutions furnished by the Modulor, keeping intact my freedom which must depend solely on my feelings rather than on my reason.’’11
In his book, The Modulor, Le Corbusier describes his invention as “a measuring tool [the proportions] based on the human body [6-foot man] and on mathematics [the golden section]. A man-with-armupraised provides, at the determining points of his occupation of space—foot, solar plexus, head, tips of fingers of the upraised arm— three intervals which give rise to a series of golden sections, called the Fibonacci series.”9 [1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc.] The Modulor is a discipline which offers endless variations and opportunities for play. Le Corbusier’s awareness of these potentialities is evident from the numerous references to the game and play in his book, such as “All this work on proportioning and measures is the outcome of a passion, disinterested and detached, an exercise, a game.” Further, he goes on to say, “for if you want to play modulor…”10
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japanese craftsmen The earth colors of Africa, the ice of the polar regions, the bamboo of Japan, are among the many challenging materials with which artists and artisans create their idols, their utensils, and their houses—all natural limitations which provide their own built-in disciplines which, in turn, contribute to the creative solution. Some years ago in Kyoto I was fortunate enough to witness a young Japanese craftsman make the chasen you see here. It is a whisk used in the tea ceremony and is cut from a single piece of bamboo with a simple tool resembling a penknife. Both the material and manufacturing process (about one-half hour) are the quintessence of discipline, simplicity and restraint. The invention of such an article could not possibly have been achieved by anyone lacking the ability to improvise and the patience to play with a specific material: to see the myriad possibilities and discover the ideal form.
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