Univers Process

JESSICA LITTLE

GRDS 755 | TYPOGRAPHY II | SPRING 2011 PROFESSOR HENRY | THE PRINTED POSTER

THE PRINTED POSTER

Objective Design a printed poster in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop that will showcase a classical font or font family. If you use Photoshop, be sure to use design your poster in layers so that each piece can be imported separately into After Effects for use in your animated poster.

Your font poster should include: * the name of the chosen font used as a headline * the designer who created the font * the classification of typeface of the font (Old style, Transitional, etc.) * the date the font was created * special characteristics of the font * a brief paragraph about the font’s history * the entire alphabet written in the font in upper- and lowercase letters.

Process 1. Select a font or font family that you will advertise in a 14 inch x 20 inch poster.

The poster can be either horizontal or vertical.

2. Brainstorm on concepts for designing your

printed poster. Research types of fonts and

choose your font for the project. For this project

you may only use the one font family you have

chosen. This project should be designed in color

using typography, flat colors, and photography.

The type should be the star of the story and the

use of colors, photographs, etc., should support

the type’s message.

3. Begin sketching thumbnails (20) for your poster.

After choosing your best concepts, complete

thumbnails and color roughs and post for feed

back on the Discussion Board by Day 3 of

the unit at 11:59 p.m. US EST/EDT. After

receiving feedback, choose your strongest

design and begin creating the poster.

4. Remember that posters are a very unique

form of media. You want your poster to be

original and stand out from the rest of the group.

Use your research as you develop your poster

to find ways to treat the visual aspects of your

poster. Try to find something in the history of

your font that could become a concept for your poster.

5. Save your Photoshop or Illustrator file as a PDF

file and upload it via the Submission link by the

last day of the unit at 11:59 p.m. US EST/EDT.

Assignment Criteria * The concept for the poster should be welldesigned and original. * The color roughs should be tight and show

enough detail so that your peers can give

feedback on them. * The characteristics of the classical font should be

supported by the visual elements of the poster. * The typography, composition, colors, and

graphic elements should form a strong composi

tion and visual hierarchy that engages the viewer. * The content (text and image), form (shape,

color, typography), and message (specific

information about your font family) should be

clear to the viewer.

BRAINSTORMING

CONCEPT 1

Q

Franklin Gothic My natural choice following our last assignment is Franklin Gothic.

Typeface History A realist sans-serif typeface originated by Morris Fuller Benton (1872–1948) in 1902.

An extra-bold sans-serif type which can be distinguished from other sans serif typefaces, as it has a more traditional double-story g and a. Other main distinguishing characteristics are the tail of the Q and the ear of the g. The tail of the Q curls down from the bottom center of the letterform in the book weight and shifts slightly to the right in the bolder fonts. It was named in honor of a prolific American printer, Benjamin Franklin.

Toward the end of his life, he freed his slaves and became one of the most prominent abolitionists.

Franklin Gothic Concepts: Use the letter Q to emphasise the question of it’s origin, as well as highlight how the tail shifts to the right slightly in varying weights.

Benjamin Franklin also had questionable practices beyond his print style and makes me of tabloid posters, town-crier style.

Franklin was also a social entrepreneur. He was a primary abolitionist in his old age and worked to free many slaves.

Franklin was the inventor of the first library, one of his many social pay-it-forward initiatives. The poster could be a time-era appropriate book cover design, or include elements that hint to this, such as misregistration, printers marks, etc.

CONCEPT 2

NEUTRAFACE Neutraface Elegant typeface that is geometrically sound and inspired by utility in architecture.

Typeface History Although better known for his residential buildings, Richard Neutra’s commercial projects nevertheless resonate the same holistic ecology—unity with the surrounding landscape and uncompromising Functionalism. His attention to detail even extended to the selection of signage for his buildings. It is no wonder that Neutra specified lettering that was open and unobtrusive, the same characteristics which typified his progressive architecture. House Industries brings the same linear geometry to Neutraface without sacrificing an unmistakably warm and human feel. Christian Schwartz’ Neutraface is classic and refined.

Neutraface Concepts 1. Incorporate Neutra’s architecture through use of photography. The letters could define the structure of the layout, allowing only the negative space of the letters to let the image beneath show.

2. Architecture drawings, plans, measurements of the typeface letterforms could bring this poster to life.

Outlined letterforms also make sense considering the open architectural style of Richard Neutra.

4. In 1954, Neutra made another contribution to architectural history with his book Survival Through Design. This philosophical treatise outlined his attitude toward the discipline: “Design to contribute to survival of the race is more than design as...a lubrication of bigger and better trade.”

CONCEPT 3

Out West Ed Fella (born 1938) is an artist, educator and graphic designer whose work has had an important influence on contemporary typography. His 1993 contribution was OutWest.

Typeface History I took my inspiration from Ed Fella’s OutWest typeface that he created with a 15 degree ellipse template Outwest Concepts 1. Ed Fella incorporates illustration, typography and photography in most works. I would use a fisheye photography to depict the west. This image would serve as the background for a type specimen poster.

2. Taco-truck Outwest poster. Compose a scene where fresh typography is served 24/7, in the most picturesque western setting.

3. This typeface was created using a cylinder grid.

This feature could be made more obvious with illustrative elements that highlight this feature in the lettering, perhaps with color and line.

CONCEPT 4

UNIVERS

Univers Is the name of a realist sans-serif typeface designed

by Adrian Frutiger in 1954.

Typeface History Univers is one of a group of neo-grotesque sans-serif typefaces, all released in 1957, that includes Folio and Neue Haas Grotesk (later renamed Helvetica).

These three faces are sometimes confused with each other, because each is based on the 1898 typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk. These typefaces figure prominently in the Swiss Style of graphic design.

Different weights and variations within the type family are designated by the use of numbers rather than names, a system since adopted by Frutiger for other type designs. Frutiger envisioned a large family with multiple widths and weights that maintained a unified design idiom. However, the actual typeface names within Univers family include both number and letter suffixes.

The Frutiger numbering system Adrian Frutiger designed his unique classification system to eliminate naming and specifying confusion. It was first used with Univers, and was adopted for use in the Frutiger, Avenir, and Neue Helvetica typeface families.

The number used in a font is a concatenation of two numbers. The first set defines weight, while the second defines width and position.

FINAL CONCEPT SKETCH

Univers Concepts 1. Highlight the numbering system utilized in this type family by Frutiger by using a giant grid-, plotting the coordinates of each typeface.

FINAL CONCEPT SKETCH

Univers Concepts 1. Highlight the numbering system utilized in this type family by Frutiger by using a giant grid-, plotting the coordinates of each typeface.

FINAL CONCEPT SKETCH

Univers Concepts 2. Science inspired solar system poster that utilizes the numbering system and grid plots to identify each typeface in the Univers family.

I am considering typographic weights and spacing of lines to convey the order behind the numeric naming system. The lower third could be used to explain further.

FINAL CONCEPT SKETCH

Univers Concepts 3. Frutiger’s Univers - Use color and graphics to explain the number system conceived by Frutiger for this typeface.

Use spacey graphics. One example would be to use those such as moon-cycle diagrams to indicate the weight for that given coordinate/typeface #.

FINAL CONCEPT SKETCH

Univers Concepts 3. Frutiger’s Univers - Use color and graphics to explain the number system conceived by Frutiger for this typeface.

Use spacey graphics. One example would be to use those such as moon-cycle diagrams to indicate the weight for that given coordinate/typeface #.

B A C K T O D R AW I N G

Univers Concepts Although I felt my last poster could work, I wasn’t fully satisfied with the conceptual depth and lack of clarity.

I decided to revisit the drawing board.

COLOR ROUGHS

Bold Condensed Thin Ultra Condensed

ADRIAN FRUTIGER

WEIGHTS

ULTRA LIGHT

THIN

Condensed

Ultra Condensed

MAY 24, 1928 UNTERSEEN

LIGHT

ROMAN

Extended

Light Condensed

Bold Extended

Light

9

WIDTHS

Light Ultra Condensed

Extra Black

Extra Black Extended

9

WIDTHS

BOLD

19 57

44

FACES

Roman

44

WEIGHTS

UNI VERS 9

Bold

Black Extended

UNICOND–EXT VERS 9:

TYPE DESIGNER

Black

ADRIAN FRUTIGER

19:57 YEAR

FACES

EXTRA BLACK

BLACK

BLACK

ULTRA

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890!@#$%^&*()_+ FRUTIGER’S NUMERIC SYSTEM Number

1

Weight Width and position

Ultra Extended

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Ultra Light

Thin

Light

Roman

Medium

Bold

Heavy

Black

Extra Black

Ultra Extended

Extended

Extended

Normal

Oblique Condensed

Oblique

Oblique

Condensed

Ultra

Oblique

Condensed

Uses of Univers Fonts

Univers font typeface was designed in 1954 by Adrian Frutiger and it was originally released and conceived in 1957 by Peignot and Deberny and in 1972 its type library was acquired by Haas. Basically Univers is a like a group of three typefaces which includes the Univers fonts, the Neue Haas Grotesk which was later renames as Helvetica and Folio. All the three typefaces are based on Akzidenz-Grotesk typeface of 1898 and this makes each of them to be confused for another. To differentiate the three typefaces, its designer Frutiger decided to use numbers instead of names.

Univers is well known for its legibility and clear lines and this has led to a number of national and multinational companies and organizations using it. Univers fonts were largely used in the 1960s to 1970s. Currently, a modified version of this font is being used by the Swiss international Airlines, Deutsche bank, Munich Re group (also uses a modified version) as well as all over the world for signage. Between 1986 and 2004, General Electric Company also used Univers. San Francisco BART, Montreal Metro, numerous Toronto transit stations, Walt Disney World and Frankfurt airport also made use of the Univers typeface.

STORYBOARD SKETCHES

Univers Animated Poster Concept Due to the fact that the Univers family of typefaces has consistently been used in wayfinding and metro transport across the globe, my concept focuses on this aspect, as well as the unique numeric ID system as a naming device.

In both my Type I and Type II classes at SCAD-Atlanta with Barry Roseman, we were only allowed to use the Univers family, and all we designed were flight itineraries. Perhaps this is another reason I’m drawn back to this typeface and the role it plays in airports, metro systems and wayfinding.

My goal with this project is to use both visual and auditory cues reminiscent of travel, airports and subway systems.

This framework will allow me to define visually the numeric system in place with this typeface and will remain relevant to the typeface history and uses.

STORYBOARD SKETCHES

STORYBOARD SKETCHES