Typographic Exploration
Michael Lau
ARCHY OF —TYPO GRAPHY Principles Of Art And Design
HIER— ARCHY OF —TYPO GRAPHY
— HIER ARCHY OF —TYPO GRAPHY
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Go i n g back t o Basi cs
INTRO
Going Back to Basics
Despite going through four years of design school and earning a Bachelors of Design for Communication Design, I still found my design skills and knowledge to be lacking when compared to my peers. I realized my foundation in design was weak because my designs never looked quite “right” or felt a bit “off”. In order to build a stronger foundation in design, I knew I had go back to the basics; to build a stronger foundation in typography.
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On my journey to improve my typography skills, I came across a designer named, Milka Broukhim, who had over 15 years of experience in teaching design. I was captivated by Milka’s teaching from a series of typography critique videos produced by The Futur. Inspired and entertained by her gentle, expressive and quirky energy, I decided to reach out to Milka for mentorship.
Upon completion of the book, I now have a better understanding of producing ideas and designing typographic compositions conventionally and unconventionally. I have become more confident in manipulating type in deliberate ways to affect the aesthetics, readability and legibility, and the hierarchy of the information.
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This book contains the fruits of my labor from a seven week course with Milka. Each week, I was committed to rigorous typography exercises which I had to use Helvetica to design covers for a fictional magazine with a given copy of type and set of parameters. The exercises allowed me to practice the principles and elements of design by manipulating type with the consideration of white space, texture, depth, size, scale, focal point, movement and etc...
TABLE OF CONTENTS
00 03 06
INTRO Page 07
Going back to basics
WEEK 3 Page 35
Two Sizes One Weight
WEEK 6 Page 71
Experimental Typography
01 04 07
WEEK 1 Page 11
One Size One Weight
WEEK 4 Page 47
Three Sizes Three Weights
WEEK 7 Page 83
Colour Typography
02 05 08
WEEK 2 Page 23
One Size Two Weights
WEEK 5 Page 59
Any Sizes Any Weights with Rules + Shapes
PROCESS Page 95
Sketches + Concepts + Inspirations
On e S i ze On e Wei g h t
WEEK ONE
One Size One Weight
I had always been overly reliant on designing with multiple weights, sizes, and typefaces. The constraint of one size one weight made me feel like I was bounded by shackles of the type police and lost all my creative freedom. 13
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However not all freedom was lost, contrarily, the constraint of one size and one weight freed me from the distraction of choices and taught me to become more attentive to my type treatment and placement. Contrast of size could still be created by grouping type together; Size of the groups can range from more, less to least. Meanwhile, the contrast between light and dark can be created by adjusting the letter spacing; Tight spacing create dark textures and wide letter spacing create light textures. Generous white space helps to bring attention to the elements that you want the viewer to focus on and provides space for the viewer’s eyes to navigate around your composition.
On e S i ze Tw o Wei g h t s
WEEK TWO
One Size Two Weights As excited as I was to use bold weights, I had to remind myself about the lessons that I Iearned from week one.
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The option of two weights allowed me to experiment with the contrast between dark, medium to light textures; I could highlight the first read with dark, second read with medium, third read in light and vice versa. Otherwise, my approach for this week was similar to week one, except I learned to use weights sparingly; contrast and focal point would be lost if one type of weight was overused. For example, if the focal point was highlighted in bold, but half of the other information were in bold, the focal point wouldn’t be able to stand out.
Tw o S i ze s On e Wei g h t
WEEK THREE
Two Sizes One Weight In exchange for weights, I got to manipulate size.
The challenge was to balance the difference in scale between big and small elements. I learned elements couldn’t be too big or else there wouldn’t be enough white space for the viewer’s eyes to navigate around the composition. Meanwhile, if the difference in size between small and big elements were too similar then there wouldn’t be enough contrast.
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Initially, I felt like I lost the ability to create contrast with light and dark textures, but I quickly realized, I could achieve the same results if I just made elements big or small enough for them to appear different from each other.
T h re e S i ze s T h ree Wei g h t s
WEEK FOUR
Three Sizes Three Weights I was opened to more options, yet it felt more difficult to decide what weights and sizes to use. I was overwhelmed by the variety of sizes and weights that I had in my disposal.
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The challenge was to prevent myself from getting distracted by my variety of options. I had to remind myself about the basic principles that I learned from the previous weeks; What is the first, second, and third read? Is the focal point getting overshadowed? Is the information confusing to read? In the end, I had a better grasp at prioritizing information by organizing them into 3 sizes (small, medium, big) and 3 weights (light, medium, dark).
A n y S i zes + Wei g h t s w i t h Ru l es + S h apes
WEEK FIVE
Any Sizes + Weights with Rules + Shapes The challenge was to design with an additional set of tools that I was unfamiliar with.
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I had to be intentional and methodical with where to place the rules or shapes. I learned the purpose of lines and shapes is to reinforce structure, order, or bring focus to the type, not to distract it. Rules and shapes don’t have to be black and could be reversed; White space could be used to highlight information or white type could bleed into the white space to create interesting and dynamic compositions.
Expe r i m e n t al Typo g r aph y
WEEK SIX
Experimental Typography
An exercise where I had to break out of my comfort zone and work away from the computer. I got to “break” conventional rules of typography and got real hands on with the process of expressing type; I ripped and shredded, I dipped and frozen, I magnified and distorted, I destroyed and repaired m compositions. Regardless of “breaking the rules”, I learned the basic principles of typography still applied. I still had to make sure that the designs I was distorting had solid hierarchy or else it would still be flawed typography.
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In the end, it was an exercise that taught me the joy and benefits of working with analog and digital typography.
C o l o u r Typo g r aph y
WEEK SEVEN
Colour Typography
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This exercise gave me a quick introduction on color theory. It was challenging to select the right group of colour that would work together in harmony. I learned to select colour for my designs by understanding how colour compliment each other on the colour wheel. Keeping the ratio of colour to 1:2:7 in mind, I experimented with monochromatic, complementary, or even triadic colour schemes to create a hirearchy of information with arrangements of tints or shades of colour.
S k e t c h es + C o n cept s + In spi r at i o n s
PROCESS
Sketches + Concepts + Inspirations 97
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The following chapter contains sketches and the rest of my compositions from the weekly typography exercises. Besides the assignment I had done with Milka, I have also included exercises from my self-studies with the The Futur’s typography course. In terms of concepts for experimental typography, they are displayed in a step-by-step process; the images show how the compositions were developed and evolved overtime. Lastly, there’s a section that covers inspirations that I found on the internet and used as study materials.
S k e t c h e s + C o n cept s + In spi r a t i o n s
Previous Works A compilation of my previous exercises from my self-studies with the Typography 101 course on The Futur. Similar rules apply to the assignment with same text and parameters to work with. The format for the compositions are in 13.55 cm x 20.32 cm.
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S k e t c h e s + C o n cept s + In spi r a t i o n s
Inspirations “Good artists copy; great artists steal.” —Picasso
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The following section contains a compilation of works from master designers like Josef Müller-Brockmann, Wolfgang Weingart, Massimo Vignelli, Emil Ruder to professional designers that I discovered on the internet. I gathered these works every week as a source of inspirations and studying materials; I would learn from the references by analyzing, breaking down, replicating and remixing them.
Closing Thoughts I would like to give special thanks to my mentor, Milka Broukhim, who taught me the fundamentals of typography and gave me the encouragement I needed to restore my confidence as a designer. I also want to thank my dear friend, Alick Yeung, a talented designer, for providing me critical feedback to this project. Lastly, I would like to thank The Futur for providing an educational platform for designers to learn how to improve their design and creative business skills.
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Typographic Exploration
Michael Lau
Principles Of Art And Design
