NISSIN
CUP NOODLES
Lamina Soba
Table of Contents
The Problem
4
Research
8
Development
14
Finished Specimen
24
Mock-ups
32
The Problem
When this project was assigned for making our own typeface, my mind went to wanting to be able to create a design and typeface for ramen or a ramen shop. However, with closer investigation I saw that the issue was right in front of me all along in the form of a cup. The type on this brand by Nissin looks as if it is a typeface that does not suit the Japanese origins of Cup Noodles. The main issues are the close proximity of the letter-forms and curves that these letters would share. For the concept of this typeface traditional Japanese calligraphy would be the base that the finished product would be made from. This would bring back the traditional feel of brush calligraphy writing while also having structure. My three adjectives used to base my typeface off of was comforting, trustworthy, and structured.
6
Research
To be able to understand the Cup Noodles design of the present, there needed to be some look into the past of Nissin’s design for their ramen. Looking back on the companies first package there showed a more simple usage of design compared to its recent counterpart. The simple sans-serif type of the chicken flavor with the Japanese letter-forms was an interesting discovery to see in just how the original Cup Noodles design looked. This helped the choosing of the pairing typeface that would go along with Lamina Soba down the road.
10
To pull this typeface back to Japanese calligraphy qualities, Procreate allowed me to practice the feel of Japanese calligraphy with the program’s brush tools. This type was going to have script qualities with the base of it resembling traditional Japanese calligraphy. So there needed to be a pairing typeface so the original would not look like it was too much on its own being based on a heavier script. The typeface chosen to pair with this needed to be a clean sans serif. The one chosen for the job was SK-Modernist.
12
SK-MODERNIST
Development
By practicing Japanese calligraphy there was already a sense of what this typeface needed to look like, the hard part was practicing drawing type to get there. When starting off with the “A” the brush pen already did a lot of the work to find out how these strokes needed to look like. These stroke show up in places like the bottom of the “R” and even the end of the minuscule “m”. This script stroke had a lot of experimentation to make sure it was cleaned up to go with the adjective of structure.
16
Seeing that the majiscule letter-forms looked a little squished to fit compared to some other majiscules there needed to be a change. The decision was made to raise the shape of the stroke on the top of certain characters above the cap height. This is demonstrated above with the letter-forms “E” and “A”.
18
Each section of letter-forms are lined up with the similarities they share with other letter-forms. The first group of “E”, “P”, and “L” all show the serif at the top of the letter-form and how the P loops back around to tuck right under the middle part of the “E” and still look uniform. The next group have the forms that share diagonals, this shows off more of the stroked feel of a brush with “K”, “P”, and “X”.
20
The “N”, “U”, and “H” all share a similar width. There is a visible place you would be able to see the diagonal bar go through if there was a connecting serif. Then the “G”, “C”, and “O” all share line weights while also sharing the same general shape.
This demonstrates the process of breaking down the Japanese calligraphy into a simple form with giving it structure while retaining its character.
22
Finished Specimen
AB C DE F G H IJ K L M N OP Q RST U V W XYZ
a b c de fg hij k lm n o p qrs tu v w xy z
AB C DE F G H IJ K L M N OP Q RST U V W XYZ
a b c de fg hij k lm n o p qrs tu v w xy z
1 2 3 4 5 67 8 9 0
1 2 3 4 5 67 8 9 0
Test Drives
Works Cited http://kabegami10.com/105593/%E3%83%81%E3%82%AD%E3%83%B3%E3%83%A9 %E3%83%BC%E3%83%A1%E3%83%B3%E3%83%91%E3%83%83%E3%82%B1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%87%E3%82%B6%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3.html page 10 & 33. http://shout.sg/supersized-nissin-cup-noodles-now-available-in-fairprice-with-flavours-tomyam-seafood-and-japanese-cheese-curry/ page 6. https://deskgram.net/explore/tags/greatdealssg page 6. Photo by Charles Unssplash https://unsplash.com/photos/EuQIPivdVKA page 9.