Martha Coleman
problem research concept development specimens application citations
For this project, my main goal was to create a more readable header typeface for the company asics tiger while maintaining the fluid and open form of their current style.
The main problem with the typeface of asics tiger is that the forms are hard to read. They also do not reflect the prestige that the asics company has reached as a global brand.
Many of the letter forms are too close together and give the typeface a cramped appearance, making it difficult to read.
Because I was using the brand asics tiger as my inspiration, I began my research with the history of the company and its brand idenity.
After researching the evolution of the company, I started to research the brand merchandise of their current typeface and observe what elements I could keep, and what elements needed improvement.
The research phase of my project was very simple because the asics company had only re-branded once and mostly used their original typeface logo for all of their designs and branding.
My goal was to create a typeface using the sports company asics tiger as an inspiration. I wanted to create forms that were fluid and friendly in appearance, while also maintaining equal weight and very straight lines to create a more elite look.
After researching the asics company and its brand identity, I stumbled across a very lovely organic flowing typeface that resembled the flowing appearance of the current asics typeface but was more legible. This typeface became a spring board as inspiration for my first sketches.
I wanted to incorporate a round, open appearance, while creating a more professional, organic letter form. The Dose company successfully incorporated those elements and were very helpful in providing an example of what I wanted to accomplish with the Sano typeface.
After concluding my research and drawing inspiration from some other typefaces, I started to draw rough drafts of what I wanted my typeface to look like.
The first letter I sketched was the letter ‘A’. It started out as more angular form but was not acomplishing my goal of creating a more fluid letterform. After seeing my minuscule ‘h’, Professor Speaker suggested I use the shape of the ‘h’ to create a more organic looking majuscule ‘A’. I was able to take that advice and transform the entire characteristic of the form.
What defines Sano is its mono-linear and rounded characteristics. The lines go from very straight to a sudden curvature with equal thickness which creates a fluid, organic look while increasing the legibility. After solving the problem with the majuscule ‘A’, I was able to take that rounded form and apply it to the entire alphabet of my typeface. Above just a few of the letterforms that are based off of the ‘A’.
cover page: https://unsplash.com problem page: https://unsplash.com onitsuka tiger images: http://www.onitsukatiger.com/us/en-us/ asics images: http://www.asicstiger.com/us/en-us/ juice ad images: https://dosejuice.com development page: https://unsplash.com concept page: https://unsplash.com