Aesthetically Fly: Digital Typeface Design by John Corrigan

AESTHETICALLY

fly DIGITAL TYPEFACE DESIGN

Alexa Wellock Leah VanWettering Sean Rueter Jay Miles Katherine Forslund Katy Verbrugge Samantha Abramczyk Allison Crosbie Shanna Knueppel Sara Koller Nate Mallow Daniel Thiede Mitchell Pantzke Melissa Pfingsten Mikala Dale

University of Wisconsin-Stout Menomonie,WI

Aesthetically Fly; Digital Typeface Design

Published by School of Art and Design | Department of Design 324 Applied Arts Building University of Wisconsin-Stout Menomonie, WI 54751-0790 Visit our website at www.uwstout.edu © 2012 University of Wisconsin–Stout All rights reserved Printed, bound in U.S.A. 14 13 12 11 4 3 2 1 No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher or its authors, except in the context of reviews. Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions. 20120120

Typography and Design

ART_256–001 #1182 WINTERM 2012 01.03.2012 – 01.20.2012 AESTHETICALLY FLY February 10—16, 2012 Applied Arts 209 Student Gallery Facilitated By John P. Corrigan

Student Typefaces

Print Specs

2x40, Award Cirque, Bean Pole, Black Rage, Bloated, Bright Lights, Calvin, Chad Clean, Chad Field, Chad Square Clean, Chad Square, Chad Square Stencil, Chad Stencil, Chain Link Default, Chain Link, Chroma, Cirque Characters, Cirque!, Cloud, CNCD, Divide, Graffiti, Fiddle Stix, Fine Line, George, Holey Moly, Igantor, INDI 5, InterNate Alt., InterNate Regular, InterNate Upper & Lower Set, Isolate Psyche, Jail Bird, King, Light Plaid, Linked 2, Nomadic Rambler, Plaid, Pixilated, Quartz, Quick Response, Rachella, Rage, rose, Rush, Seahorse, Shitty Nineties, Slabotuer, Slenderley Blocked, Smudged, Solid Plaid, Stair Stepper, Stinger, Tight Squeeze, Treads 3, TRON, Tron, Tumbleweeds, Virgo

Printer: Blurb.com Paper: Premium Binding: Perfect Cover: Soft Cover Size: 8.5” x 11” Standard Portrait

PAGE Introduction

Samantha Abramczyk

Allison Crosbie

Mikala Dale

Katherine Forslund

Shanna Knueppel

Sara Koller

Nate Mallow

Jay Miles

Mitchell Pantzke

Melissa Pfingsten

Sean Rueter

108

Daniel Thiede

118

Leah VanWettering

128

Katy Verbrugge

138

Alexa Wellock

148

Syllabi and Course Materials

158

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INTRO exhibition dates FEBRUARY 10 - 16 2012 APPLIED ARTS

209 STUDENT GALLERY UNIVERSITY OFWISCONSIN STOUT MENOMONIEI WI

this studio workshop explores various aspects of font design and development for creative and expressive ends. STUDIO WILL EMPHASIZE A CONCEPTUAL APPROACH TO THE DESIGN OF MODULAR TYPEFACES, FROM AN IDEATION PROCESS ROOTED IN HAND-LETTERING TO DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT USING FONTSTRUCT, A WEB-BASED FONT CREATION APPLICATION.

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Both the typographic systems and experimental typefaces presented in this publication are the direct results produced from a dedicated group of student designers from the University of Wisconsin – Stout. The work was conducted during a three week special topics studio class in January 2012. Students responded to three projects; examining the creative expression of type design. The Digital Type Design Studio was created to study the systematic methodology of typeface design. The collection of artists and designers looked at the unique history of expressive, experimental and modular typefaces in efforts to inform the design process. Students were taxed with a series of projects designed to push each of them as designers and form makers. Each project built upon one another, with each new request, the bit-depth increased allowing for more intricate design possibilities and uniquely personal design solutions. Customized letterforms are a frequently used tool which many contemporary designers use as a dynamic form of expression. Restricted systems and predefined forms are an appropriate and approachable method for building letters. Type designs began with conceptual drawings examining the experimental creation of modular letterforms. The entire type lab will be creating a digital typeface through the unique web based font creation software FontStruct. The FonStruct palette uses a dynamic library of geometric modules to build letterforms. The program provides an alphabetic matrix that produces downloadable TrueType font suitcases used in Mac or Windows applications. Creating display typefaces and using display typefaces [which you have created] are two very distinct skill sets. Over the past twenty years graphic designers have had the ability to create digital typefaces. The uniqueness of display type both requires and necessitates the ability to be used. Designers are often able to wield their own creations, but too often designs are not created for their expanded usage. Conceptually based typefaces and lettering projects are specific to their intended purpose. They exude the design principles shared by the overall project objective. For this studio, type concepts were required to be used in context. A typeface that falls in the woods, and no one is there to implement it, remains a set of unused letterforms. Each typeface created by students was required to be implemented. Students were strongly encouraged to formulate typographic concepts prior to their design

process and digital construction. Typefaces that were created in a specific string, or letter by letter often lacked continuity and did not function as a working typeface. On occasion, well conceived and conceptually dynamic type designs did not function or hold together as letterforms. Several highly conceptual typographic systems were explored. Often recognizable letterforms were abandoned for illustrative glyphs, dingbats, word sets or typographic flourishes. The strengths of creating illustrative forms in a typographic program is their key-stroke availability and the ability to make adjustments in line. Simple alterations such as scale, color, and repetition reveal their inherent flexibility. At the potential expense of legibility and practicality, students were encouraged to investigate conceptual form and alternate character sets. Overwhelmingly students embraced the strong geometric building blocks unique to the FonStruct tool set, resulting in the direct inspiration for geometric patterning. Students explored both the novelty and flexibility with the geometric “blocks.” The more unique concepts abandoned conventional letterforms creating alternate character sets and flexible systematic elements of design. Inherent to each design was the expression of a highly articulated visual aesthetic. Students were encouraged to use the three week studio for exploration; expanding the limits and restrictions of FontStruct, and expanding the designers perception of what letterforms, typography, and type design could represent.

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Samantha Abramczyk

C LOUD

DUCK

STENCILED CURLED

S I AY D TO Y A D R U to O Y

spread wings

and

SO A R DIGIT AL T YPEFA CE DESI G N

T H R O U G H

S D U O L C

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NEVER

LET THE FEAR OF STRIKING OUT

KEEPYOU

FROM PLAYING

THE GAME

A U G 4TH

& 5TH

BASE BALL

TRYOUTS

DUCK K

K C

C U D

K C

U D

K C

U D

DUCK DUCK K C DUCK U

K C

U D DIGIT AL T YPEFA CE DESI G N

GOOSE

DUCK

DUCK DUCK

DUCK

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DUCK

S.C. STENCILED CURLED

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ABCDEFGHI JKLMNOPQR STUVWXYZ abcdefghi jklmnopqr stuvwxyz .,;:”!?[]()~@` #$%^&*-+=

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WORLD’S LARGEST CRISTIANI BROS.

CIRCUS CINCINNATI NORWOOD WATER WARKS PARK

20 JUNE 21 SAT&SUN

Z f 3 9 “,* e ‘ ?7

y / & 1

(

V # LJ ^

8 Ad

< < G

X 5W

H D

K P

S Q % `

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{ @ RC 16

! _ 2 = O +

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DIGIT AL T YPEFA CE DESI G N

TRON

GOOGLE IMAGES

ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 .,_?!

ABCDEF GHIJKL MNOPQRS TUVWXYZ

LE I

Q GOO

MAG

GLE

IMAG

BLOAT BLOATED BLOATED

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ABCDE FGHIJ KLMNO PQRST UVWX YZ

C IR

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JOHN CORRIGAN

E U

“Cirque du Fleakshow”

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ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz q 1234567890 .,”’?!@_*#$&() +-/:;<=>{\}^{|}~

edcba

GETTY IMAGES

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AWARD CIRQUE

ABCDEF GHIJKL MNOPQ RST z d 3 UV k w WX v YZ

a ab abc abcd abcde abcde abcde

3 w v

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Flea Key

Lowercase “Award Circus”

abcde fgh i klmn j op q rs tuvwxyz

A Pattern, Brainiac, Chick, Dwarf, Elephant, Facial Hair Frenchman, Grandpa, Hedgehog, Invisible Ice-Cream Man, Juggler, Koala, Lion, Monkey, Ninja, Octo-arms, Porcupine, Quadruple size “Q”, Ringleader, Seal, Tall Man, Unicycle, Misfit #1, Walrus, Misfit #2, RX conjoined twins, Misfit #3, Misfit #4

abcde “Cirque Characters” “a”-”o”

JOHN CORRIGAN

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gh ij f klmno

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VIRGO GEORGE SHITTY NINETIES FINE LINE

]]]]] [[[[[

virgo VIRGO DIGIT AL T YPEFA CE DESI G N

??????? !!!!!!!

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K k

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ABCDEF GHIJKL MNOPQ RSTUV WXYZ

abcdef ghijkl mnopq rstuv wxyz

GIVE ME A COLD BEER -GEORGE ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

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ABCDE FGHIJK LMNOP QRSTU VWYZ

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NINETEEN NINETY ONE

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(BRICK IMAGE: www.humboldtrelief.com) www.psdgraphics.com

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Possible Use on a Poster

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Shanna Knueppel Brick By Brick

~ Rush ~ Tight Squeeze

BRICK BY BRICK

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ABCDEFGHI JKLMNOPQ RSTUVWXYZ .,‘“?!:; http://perfecthue.com/project/snow_falling_2

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MISSING SOMEONE ISN’T ABOUT HOW LONG ITS BEEN SINCE YOU’VE SEEN THEM LAST OR THE AMOUNT OF TIME SINCE YOU’VE TALKED, IT’S ABOUT THE VERY MOMENT WHEN YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING AND YOU WISH THEY WERE RIGHT THERE WITH YOU.

RuSh

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ABCDEFG HIJKLMNO PQRSTUV WXYZ aHiMNOQTUvWy http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynoGallDetailasp?photoID=6536723&catID=28270

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HALF OUR LIFE IS SPENT TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE TIME WE HAVE RUSHED THROUGH LIFE TRYING TO SAVE WiLL ROGERS

Tight Squeeze ABCDEFGHI JKLMNOPQR STUVWXYZ DIGIT AL T YPEFA CE DESI G N

abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789

. , “ ” ‘ ’ ” ’ ? ! @ _*#$ % & ( ) +-/:;<=>[]\^`{|} http://gawker.com/5658407/this-tunnel-goes-down-down-to-the-devil

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Tight Squeeze 12 pt

Tight Squeeze 14 pt

Tight Squeeze 18 pt

Tight Squeeze 24 pt

Tight Squeeze 30 pt

Tight Squeeze 36 pt

Tight Squeeze 48 pt

Tight Squeeze 60pt

Tight Squeeze 72 pt

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never never never give up

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/LINKED\ /treads\ /LINKED\ /treads\ /LINKED\ /treads\ /LINKED\ /treads\ /treads\ /LINKED\ /treads\ /LINKED\ /treads\ /LINKED\ /treads\ /LINKED\ SARA KOLLER

/LINKED\ /ABCDE FGHIJK LMNOPQ RSTUVW XYZ\ /12345 67890\

/\.^, *!|? ~"'“ ”‘’( ){}[ ]+-: ;=`_%

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/**WE ARE **\ /**ETERNALLY \ /*LINKED NOT \ /JUST TO EACH \ /**OTHER BUT*\ /***OUR ***\ /*ENVIRONMENT^\ /HERBIE HANCOCK\

/LINKED\

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HOW TO MAKE LETTER COMBINATIONS

WANT

PRESS

WANT

PRESS

LINK /LINK LINK\ LINK. LINK^ LINK, LINK LINK* LINK! LINK| LINK? LINK~ LINK" LINK' LINK“ LINK”

LETTERS WITH NO ATTACHMENTS

LINK‘ LINK’ LINK( LINK) LINK{ LINK} LINK[ LINK] LINK+ LINKLINK: LINK; LINK= LINK` LINK_ LINK%

LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK

SOLIDUS REVERSE SOLIDUS FULL STOP CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT COMMA SPACE ASTERISK EXCLAMATION MARK VERTICAL LINE QUESTION MARK TILDE QUOTATION MARK LEFT DOUBLE APOSTROPHE QUOTATION MARK RIGHT DOUBLE

QUOTATION MARK

RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK LEFT PARENTHESIS RIGHT PARENTHESIS LEFT CURLY BRACKET RIGHT CURLY BRACKET LEFT SQUARE BRACKET RIGHT SQUARE BRACKET PLUS SIGN MINUS SIGN COLON SEMICOLON EQUALS SIGN GRAVE ACCENT LOW LINE PERCENT SIGN

/treads\ /abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz\ /12345 67890\

/\.&> <#!|? ~"'“ ”‘’( ){}[ ]+-: ;=`%

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/beauty><like<ice><\ /#our footing does \ /#betray; who can \ /tread sure on the \ /#smooth> slippery \ /way: pleased with \ /#the surface> we \ /glide swiftly on> \ /and see the dangers\ /that we cannot shun. /john<dryden\

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/treads\

HOW TO MAKE LETTER COMBINATIONS

WANT

PRESS

WANT

PRESS

tread /tread tread\ tread. tread$ tread% tread< tread# tread! tread| tread? tread~ tread" tread' tread“ tread”

LETTERS WITH NO ATTACHMENTS

tread‘ tread’ tread( tread) tread{ tread} tread[ tread] tread+ treadtread: tread; tread= tread` tread%

LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK

SOLIDUS REVERSE SOLIDUS FULL STOP DOLLAR SIGN PERCENT SIGN SPACE NUMBER SIGN EXCLAMATION MARK VERTICAL LINE QUESTION MARK TILDE QUOTATION MARK APOSTROPHE QUOTATION MARK LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK RIGHT DOUBLE

/LINKED 12 PTS. /treads 12 pts.

/LINKED 14 PTS. /treads 14 pts.

/LINKED 18 PTS. /treads 18 pts.

/LINKED 24 PTS. /treads 24 pts.

/LINKED 30 PTS. /treads 30 pts.

/LINKED 36 PTS. /treads 36 pts.

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/LINKED 48 PTS. /treads 48 pts.

/LINKED 60 PTS. /treads 60 pts.

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STINGER DIGIT AL T YPEFA CE DESI G N

ABCDEF GHIJKLM NOPQRS TUVWXYZ

THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG.

abcdef ghijklm nopqrstu vwxyz

the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

STINGER

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Stinger is a typeface with a character set of upper and lower case. Using rounded shapes with varying thickness Stingerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s serifs are ended quickly to create that sharp end. Much to parallel sharp ends found on wild animals giving Stinger its namesake. These points are further extrapolated in the use of the void within each letter.

ChAINlinK

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ABCDE FGHIJ KLMNOP QRSTU WXYZ abcde fGhij klmnop qrstu vwxyz

THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

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Chainlink is a paired set of capitals that furthers the concept of modular design and patterning by being a typset composed of only one shape. Beyond that each letter overlaps with eachother in sequential order. however with the preset patterning of every other letter would not Overlap . this was resolved by creating a secondary set within the lowercase with a modified pattern. thus allowing OVErLap in any situation .

INTERNATE

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ABCDEF GHIJKL MNOPQR STUVW XYZ abcdef ghijkl m nopq Rstuv wxyz

THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG. the quick brown fox jum ps over the lazy dog.

12334

!@#$%^&*() _+-={}[]| \:;”’<>,. ?/

56890

INTERNATE REGULAR

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ABCDE FGHIJKLM NOPQRST UVWXYZ abcdefghij klmnopqrst uvwxyz

THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG.

12334 56890

!@#$%^&*()_+-={}[]| \:;”’<>,.?/

the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Internate is a typeface family based upon an existing project. Pushing the concepts of legibility and the letterform itself by establishing a set of criteria to follow. The most notable being that the entire typeface family utilizes the same set of premade forms. As part of the rules for INTERNATE, each letterform MUST use each piece ATLEAST once. Capitals being able to use one of the pieces an unlimited amount of times in addition to using all of the parts. Lower case may use a part only one additional time. Further more, the only shape that may be manipulated is the vertical rectangle. DIGIT AL T YPEFA CE DESI G N

INTERNATE REGULAR, however, is a typeface made purely to examine how the letterform would interact with itself with no restrictions on the usage of the parts and pieces.

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CHAD type

//////////////////////////////////// ////////////////////////////////////

the 600(six-hundred) rulebetween refers to the inverse relationship the focal length of the lens and the duration of the exposure. the shorter the focal length of the lens, the longer the exposure can be without producing trails. //////////////////////////////////// / / x=FOCAL / LENGTH / / y=EXPOSURE / TIME / / / ////////////////////////////////////

xXy=600

depending onexposure availible equipment, the highest time youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be able to achieve without a cable release will be 30(thiry) seconds.

//////////////////////////////////// / / x=FOCAL / LENGTH / / y=EXPOSURE / TIME / / / ////////////////////////////////////

xXy=600

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with an exposure duration of 30 seconds, the optimal focal length will be 20MM.

//////////////////////////////////// ////////////////////////////////////

WEEK

JAY_MILES

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TWO BY FORTY

’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ The human ey se s with the same A wide angle lens, which wil DIGIT AL T YPEFA CE DESI G N

angle of view as a 50m lens on us al y have a focal ength les 35m film. The area of an image than 24m , wil distort an image. that a lens can capture dep nds on the focal ength of the lens.

WEEK

A N G L E O F V I E W ’’’’’’’’’’’’’ JAY_MILES

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cncd

PHOTO_BY_NOELLE_HEINRICY

pix C c ELS UPPERCASE

lowercase

picture elements

======================================================================================= ======================================================================================= Pixels make up the area of a digital display, as well as image sensors. A megapixel, which can be abbreviated as (MP) , consists of 1 MILLION pixels. In digital photography, a megapixel refers to the number of elements that a sensor contains rather than its display or the resolution of the images it produces. ====================================================================================== Pixels are not the smallest component of a digital image. In displays, a pixel can be broken down into subpixels, which can be manipulated to produce more accurate images. Not only can pixels be broken down into subpixels, pixels aren’t always square. They can also be circles or lines. ======================================================================================= ======================================================================================= DIGIT AL T YPEFA CE DESI G N

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789,./;’[]\-=!@#$%^&*()_+<>?:”{}| abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

WEEK

JAY_MILES

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QUICK RESPONSE

abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxyz nopqrstuvwxy wxy 0 0123456789~ 9~ ,./; []\-=

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WEEK

JAY_MILES

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SLEND SLEND

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Student Typefaces

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The

second type face I created shared re-

ally NO similarities to the first font, and that was the goal. I wanted to create a real bold structured font with some valuable detail. Tho font I created resembled pop culture graffiti so that is why I named it

GRAFFITI.

Plus it carried a

real 80â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like vibe so it only made sense to re-create a mock 80â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vinyl cover.

Throughout

my design career I have been real inspired with companies like Volcom, Bur-

ton, and Billabong. Something all three of these companies share is a real creative way of advertising their merchandise. Whether it be clothing, extreme sport items, or magazine ads. No matter what circumstance they always seem to catch any viewers eye due to the color selection and overall layout. The ad below is for a made up ski company I created. The name of the company is

JING,

and I went with a real winter vibe approach.

Another

font design I came up with revolved around power. I wanted to create a font that sug-

gested a bold, structured, and geometric interface. considering its called

KING within

When

KING.

the sports world.

designing a type face,

I feel like one of the hardest concepts is deciding whther you want to design a play font for self grattitude, or a font to play off an image, or be used with an image. The first font I designed was strictly for its font like structure and intended to have no images implied with it. However, due to its bubbly like features, and rounded serifs I felt like the aqua man had some relation. Therefore I used him as a poster boy to portray my

SLENDERLY BLOCKED

font.

The font name suggests the almighty as well

For the ad, I wanted to use a very stereotypical media portrayed

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THREE WEEKS IN PARADISE A collection of the works created in Digital Typeface Design

Winterm 2012

Developed by:

MELISSA PFINGSTEN Graphic Design

DAY ONE

Get acquainted with this new fangled type design program and make something cool. Grid size 10 x 10. By the end of the week create a set of characters. Dubbed “Sheet Metal”

A ABCDEFGHJKLM NOPQRSTVWXYZ

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100

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101

FRACTICAL

Name given to font number two. Challenge: To make a font using a bigger bit-depth. Fractical is taller and narrower than the first typeface created. It explored the combination of a bold display face with fading halftones along the serifs. Total time - FIVE DAYS

A A IS

ABCDEFGHIJLM NOPQRSTVWXY

FOR ABDUCTION

The final font designed with this program is not really a font at all, but rather a set of 26 words exemplifying the possibilities of halftones within Fontstruct. Each word begins with the corresponding letter of the alphabet; A-Z in all itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s glory. Total time - TEN DAYS

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BGE

HOQ

102

I P

N Q X T V C J

I P

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103

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D K

104

R U L

DY MZ AESTHETICALLY FLY

105

W S

I THINK IT’S RATHER DIFFICuLT TO CREATE A NEW TYPEFACE DESIGN, OR FOR THAT MATTER, TO CREATE A NEW ANYTHING THAT’S IN EVERYDAY uSE. A NEW PIECE OF MUSIC WOULD PARALLEL THE CREATION OF A NEW TYPEFACE FOR EXAMPLE, THE NOTES OF MuSIC DON’T CHANGE, AND THE LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET DON’T CHANGE, EITHER. IT’S A MATTER OF HOW THEY’ ARE PuT TOGETHER. THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATuRE MuST BE THAT ITS NEWNESS HAS A REFLECTION ALL ITS OWN AND FITS INTO THE PATTERN OF TODAY’S GENERATION OF GRAPHIC DESIGNERS. THE NEW CREATION MuST HAVE SOMETHING IN ITS CHARACTER THAT MAKES THE POTENTIAL uSER SIT uP AND TAKE NOTICE. THESE TYPOGRAPHIC TRAITS COuLD CREATE A POPuLAR DEMAND

BuT WE MuST ALSO CONSIDER THAT THIS POPuLARITY MAY ONLY BE TEMPORARY.

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106

PERSONALLY I DON’T THINK THERE’S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT.

I KNOW WE ALL FEEL OuR DESIGNS WILL LAST FOREVER, BuT SOME THINGS LIKE MuSIC DON’T LAST EITHER. IT’S LIKE “HERE TODAY AND FORGOTTEN TOMORROW.”

ANYWAY, YOu AND I CAN BE SuRE OF ONE THING

THE NUMBER OF TYPEFACES WILL SURELY INCREASE -ED BENGUIAT, AS qUoTED IN U&LC

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107

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108

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109

DIGITAL TYPEFACE DESIGN FONTSTRUCTED IN

fontstruct

SLABO TUER

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!@#$%^&()_ -+=[]:;"',.?

111

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112

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THIS EXPERIMENTAL TYPEFACE IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD. THIS EXPERIMENTAL TYPEFACE IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD.

113

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114

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115

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116

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117

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118

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119

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120

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NOMADIC RAMBLER

121

ABCDE FGHIJ KLMNO PQRST UVWXYZ NOMADIC RAMBLER - 112 pt

A C A C A C A C A C A C A C A

ABABABABABAB E E E CDCDCDCDCDCD ABABABABABAB G CDCDCDCDCDCD ABABABABABAB E E CDCDCDCDCDCD E E E G ABABABABABAB CDCDCDCDCDCD G E E ABABABABABAB E CDCDCDCDCDCD E E E ABABABABABAB G CDCDCDCDCDCD ABABABABABAB G CDCDCDCDCDCD E F E ABABABABABAB AESTHETICALLY FLY

Tumbleweeds - 72pt

123

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124

ABCDE ISOLATE PSYCHE 62 pt

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FGHIJ ISOLATE PSYCHE 62 pt

125

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126

KLMNO ISOLATE PSYCHE 62 pt

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127

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128

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m r

129

B bright lights

HOLEYMOLY

smudged a collection of typefaces by Leah VanWettering

xA s

O O O O O

HOLEYMOLY ABCDEFGHIJKLM NOPQRSTUVWXYZ

0123456789 .,'?!

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S 130

M Y

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131

P MESSAGE C

PILE DRILL ED

E L E P H A N T SMASHING UNREAD SYMBOL

O O O O O

ooooo

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question: how can you push the medium of fontstruct? what creates a unique “letterform”? how much does an “a” have to resemble a letter ‘a’? what is unexpected, contemporary or ‘new fangled’? can you develop a new media, process, technique, or unique approach to fontstruct? Studio objectives • Apply type and lettering principles to the creation of typographic letterforms. • Develop critical thinking skills related to contemporary uses of digital font creation. • Understanding conventional structures within traditional letterforms • Encourage typographers to create strong design concepts off-line, and confidently transfer their ideas into digital solutions • Develop concepts for using the “kit of parts” or designated modules to create innovative letterforms • Understand FontStruct toolsets [blocks] to actualize their type designs • Apply intermediate digital techniques developing letterforms within the restrictions offered by FontStruct • Develop concepts to promote and use their type creations in an innovative way

Typeface Design FontStruct and other applications allow designers to create functional fonts that work seemlessly with standard software programs such as InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. The first step in designing a typeface is to define a basic concept. Will the letters be serif or sans serif? Will they be modular or organic? Will you construct them geometrically or base them on handwriting? Will you use them for display or for text? Will you work with historic source material or invent the characters more or less from scratch? The next step is to create drawings. Some designers start with pencil before working digitally, while others build their letterforms directly with font development software. Producing a complete typeface is an enormous task. However, for people with a knack for drawing letterforms, the process is hugely rewarding.

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SQUARE: 10-x-10 12:12 9

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CIRCLE: 9-x-9

GRID: 1.0” UNITS: 6

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Develop two concepts for fonts whose forms relate to both a 10-x-10 grid of squares and a 9-x-9 grid of circles (template sheet provided.) Each unit in the grid must be either “on” or “off.” You have no curves or true diagonals. Start by tracing or pencilling on the dot sheets provided or graph paper before starting work on the computer. Represent the letters A, B, C, P, Q, R, H, and M in capitals only. Consider proportion, weight, and structural features such as height of cross bars, how elements end, how to accommodate curves and diagonals within the grid of squares, etc. You may need to create several variations to each of the letterforms to get a well defined series of shapes. Give each your typefaces a name. Export all Illustrator files as a PDF.

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PROJECT: 2 INCREASED BIT DEPTH Develop a concept which examines an increased bit depth to create and develop your letterforms. A larger bit depth allows the possibility for greater detail. The increased detail allows the possibility for illustrative line work, the creation of a half tone, or complex patterning. Process: 1. Begin your concepts on grid paper; use a larger drawing tool if necessary. 2. Draw a large stroke that cover multiple units. Refine each letterform as needed. 3. Translate your refined sketch to FontStruct. Refine, embellish and alter letterforms strokes, blocks/units. Refine each letterform as needed. 4. Use the extra bit depth to create minute details that may be unseen at low resolutions, or may present themselves with larger applications 5. Examine the potential of: a) b) c) d) e) f)

Large brush strokes Half-tones or bit map photography Textures Images Illustrations Patterns

Methodology • Letterforms must contain a minimum of 30 — 50 units (either width or height) (for example: a bit ratio of 30:50, 25:50, 50:50) • You must create a minimum of 26 characters/letterforms (you may create more if you wish) You do not need to create a full alphabet or series of letterforms.

Project Two Amendments The current project brief is being altered to accommodate many of our needs and requests. Plan on presenting a 4—6 letter (in length) word with the larger bit depth letterform concepts. Your word MAY NOT use repeating letterforms. NO: toto, tutu, onto, or BOGO If your concept allows more letterforms; by all means continue. I suggest you examine a concept or method that allows you to create more diverse letterforms more quickly. Look at broader concepts such as half-tone or patterning.

KLAVIKA (Process Type Foundry) BASIC ALPHABET (FontStruct Character Set) ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 .,""''""?!@_*#$%&()+=-/:;<=>[\]^`{|}~ HHDHOHODOO Control String

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I think it’s rather difficult to create a new typeface design, or for that matter, to create a new anything that’s in everyday use. A new piece of music would parallel the creation of a new typeface. For example, the notes of music don’t change, and the letters of the alpha-bet don’t change, either. It’s a matter of how they’re put together. The most important feature must be that its newness has a reflection all its own and fits into the pattern of today’s generation of graphic designers. The new creation must have something in its character that makes the potential user sit up and take notice. These typographic traits

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Develop a concept for a typeface or type family of your creation. The single restriction is that it must be a full typeface using every character that FontStruct offers. (See above character set) Process: 1. Begin your concepts on grid paper; use a larger drawing tool if necessary. 2. Translate your refined sketches to FontStruct.

Methodology • Create a typeface and/or type family • Examine both UPPER and lowercase character sets • Consider how you may use the typeface in the future • Examine the potential audience and how they may use, or abuse it. • Make your typeface an expression of you and your personal design sensibilities Artifact 1. Digital Typeface/Family

3. Refine, embellish and alter letterforms strokes, blocks/units.

2. JPEG file used as example file FontStruct.

4. Create a full character set; A–Z, a–z, 1–0, and a full punctuation set

3. Expansive and inclusive typeface promotional piece; utilizing the full demo text sampling provided. (PDF Files) File: 12_UWS_DTD_FULL_demo_text.rtf (on R2•D2)

5. Examine the potential of: a) Brush strokes b) Half-tones or bit-maps c) Modular Letterform using a limited set of repeated design elements d) Dingbats e) Icons f) Kit-of-Parts g) Patterning

4. Exhibition Materials (Date TBD) • Exhibition Poster • Postcard • Exhibition Graphics • Window Display • Exhibition Catalog (specifics TBD) • DTD Type Foundry Bog (?) Digital samples, downloads, link to FontStruct, designer bios.

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Bibliography Lupton, Ellen. Thinking With Type, Second Edition. New York, Princeton Architectural Press. 2009. Willen, Bruce and Strals, Nolen. Lettering & Type: Creating Letters and Designing Typefaces. New York, Princeton Architectural Press. 2009. Rivers, Charlotte. Hand Made Type Workshop: Tips, tools & techniques for creating custom typography Cincinnati, OH, HOW Books. 2011. Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style. Carter, Rob. Typographic Design: Form and Communication, 4th edition. www.fontstruct.com

Posted Interview http://fontstruct.com/news/2011/02/12/ interview-with-uwe/

FontStruct is a free online font-building tool, devised and developed for FontShop International by Rob Meek. The heart of FontStruct is the FontStructor, a web-application that lets anyone quickly and easily build fonts using basic geometric shapes in a grid

Lupton, Ellen. Thinking with Type. Rüder, Emil. Typography As Communication and Form. Rüder, Emil. Typography: a manual of design.

UWE “Communicating with Words” module at The University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. Module lead by Gabriel Solomons and John Paul Dowling.

— just like tiles or bricks. Fonts created

Spiekerman, Erik, and E.M. Ginger. Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works. Weingart, Wolfgang. Typography. Heller, Stephen; Ed. The Education of a Typographer. Müller-Brockmann, Josef. Grid Systems In Graphic Design.

with the FontStructor are called FontStructions. They can be downloaded as TrueType fonts and used in Mac or

Elam, Kimberly. Grid Systems.

Windows applications.

Drucker, Johanna. The Visible Word: Experimental Typography And Modern Art, 1909-1923.

More than a tool, FontStruct is a vibrant online type-design community.

Heller, Steven and Philip B. Meggs, eds. Texts On Type: Critical Writings On Typography.

Type-design enthusiasts from all over the world use the FontStructor to

Lupton, Ellen. Mixing Messages: Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture.

experiment with letter shapes and to design fonts, and who give each other comments online on the FontStruct

Armstrong, Hellen. Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field. Princeton Architectural Press, New York, NY. 2009.

website. They are the FontStructors, the soul of FontStruct. For non-FontStructors, FontStruct is a

Lupton, Ellen; Jennifer Cole Phillips. Graphic Design: The New Basics.

source of fresh fonts available under flexible, liberal CreativeCommons

Heller, Stephen; Ed. The Education of a Graphic Designer, 2nd Edition.

licenses.

Kit-of-parts Theory refers to the study and application of object-oriented building techniques, where building components are pre-designed / pre-engineered / pre-fabricated for inclusion in joint-based (linear element), panelbased (planar element), module-based (solid element), and deployable (time element) construction systems. —Wikipedia

Leslie, Jeremy; Blackwell, Lewis. Issues: New Magazine Design. Ginko Press. 2000.

DIGITAL TYPEFACE DESIGN