Proc e ss M a nua l
流程書
Pei y i Ch en DES 1 1 5 L ett e rfo rm s a nd T y po grap h y
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Tabl e of C o nt e nt s Minimal Let t er for ms Type Hier achy St udies P aul Rand Book Redesign
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M i n i ma l Le t t e r f o r m s
Project Summary Examine the visual characteristics of a specific typeface by placing them in four squares in a way that is visually interesting (e.g. the interaction between negative and positive space, shapes and position of the types) and minimal yet recognizable.
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M i n i ma l Le t t e r f o r m s | P relimiary S k etc h es
I started off sketching letterforms on 1-inch squares to explore the the form of different typefaces as well as the general direction of the project.
For the second iteration, I picked out the ones that look visually intersting and refined them, sketching them on 2-inch squares.
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M i n i ma l Le t t e r f o r m s | Trac in g P roc es s
I decided to focus on Bodoni because I liked the sharp contrast between strokes and rounded terminals, which creates a combination of straight and rounded geometric shape. Here’s some of the laser printout of letters that I liked, which were used for tracing.
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M i n i ma l Le t t e r f o r m s | D igital Layou t
These two are my favorites as it has both rounded elements and straight strokes. All letter somehow connect with each other.
These do not work quite as well. Though I really like how the G and J connect with each other, they do not connect with the rest of the letters.
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M i n i ma l Le t t e r f o r m s | R efin e
I thought the e, i, and g worked really well together. I experimented with different letters to fill the bottom left square.
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M i n i ma l Le t t e r f o r m s | F in al
e
I am pretty satisfied with my final product as it incorporates many shapes like circles, straight strokes, curvy strokes. I like how the curvy lines interact with the straight strokes diagonally. The white space in the upper right square gives the whole piece some room as it is crowded else where. I learned that each typeface has its own characteristics. Fell in love with typefaces after this project!
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Type H i e r a c hy St udi es
Project Summary Organize a given set of information on a 10x10 page in a way that shows type hierachy, in other words, we try to make the reader have very little trouble finding information. The typeface has to be Univers. There is a total of 6 pieces, and each piece has its own weight, size, and element contraint.
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Type H i e r a c hy St udi es | Cu ttin g an d Pas tin g
Before laying out text digitally, we first out each lines on the printouts and paste on to a 10x10 tracing paper with grids. I had some trouble coming up with creative layouts. Luckily, the intructor and TA gave me some ideas about what would look good, for example, putting the text at an angle, use wide leading to seperate information, create a visual direction, etc.
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Type H i e r a c hy St udi es | Cu ttin g an d Pas tin g
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Type H i e r a c hy St udi es | S k etc h es an d Mark u p
According to my sketches, I created some layouts digitally. Then I showed them to my instructor and TA for critiques nad comments. The two examples shown here are not the best: The V shape is too odd. The titles in the centered type one are easy to be misread because they are aligned horizontally with the other information
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Type H i e r a c hy St udi es | S k etc h es an d Mark u p
I modified these according to the weight/size/element constraint and created the final products.
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Type H i e r a c hy St udi es | F in al S et 1
Visible Language
Visible Language
A lecture series exploring the relationship between form and content
A lecture series exploring the relationship between form and content
UC Davis
Orientation and disorientation Ruedi Baur Nicholas Felton Richard Saul Wurman
Orientation and disorientation Ruedi Baur Nicholas Felton
Thursday, December 3 6 pm
Richard Saul Wurman
6 pm 135 Walker Hall UC Davis
135 Walker Hall
UC Davis
More than just a love of letters Zuzana Licko Jonathan Hoefler Tobias Frere-Jones Thursday, December 10
More than just a love of letters Zuzana Licko Jonathan Hoefler Tobias Frere-Jones
6 pm
Thursday, December 10 6 pm 135 Walker Hall UC Davis
135 Walker Hall
Matter/anti-matter/does it matter?
Matter/anti-matter/does it matter? Stefan Sagmeister Andrew Blauvelt Marian Bantjes UC Davis
Thursday, December 3
Stefan Sagmeister Andrew Blauvelt Marian Bantjes
Thursday, December 17
Thursday, December 17 7 pm Design Museum UC Davis
7 pm Design Museum
Lectures are free and open to the public Lectures are free and open to the public
1A / Univers 45 / 15pt
1B / Univers 45 & 65 / 15pt
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Ty p e H i e r a c hy St udi e s | F in al S et 2
A
Vi sib lec le L an tu g re se uag rie e se xp lor
A lectur e
ing
Orientation and disorientation Richard Saul Wurman Nicholas Felton Ruedi Baur
th
e
re
series
explorin
Or ien tat ion
lat
ion
Thursday, December 3 6 pm
sh
ip
be
tw ee
135 Walker Hall
n
UC Davis
fo r
m
an
d
More than just a love of letters
co
nt
en
t
Ma tte r/a nti
Jonathan Hoefler
Le c
tu r
es
ar
e
fre
e
an
d
Thursday, December 10 6 pm
en
to
e
Andrew Blauvelt
pu
bli
c
mb y, De ce
lke r Ha ll
pm er 3 6
UC Da vis
r? es it ma tte
Zuzana Licko Jonathan Hoefler Tobias Frere-Jones
of let ter s jus t a lov e Mo re tha n Stefan Sagmeister Andrew Blauvelt Marian Bantjes
Th urs da 13 5 Wa
mb y, De ce
lke r Ha ll
pm er 10 6
UC Da vis
Marian Bantjes
Th urs da De sig n
mb y, De ce
Mu se um
pm er 17 7
UC Da vis
Thursday, December 17 7 pm Design Museum UC Davis
Lectures
2A / Univers 45 & 65 / 15pt + 9pt
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Th urs da 13 5 Wa
UC Davis
Stefan Sagmeister
th
ion
Ruedi Baur Nicholas Felton Richard Saul Wurman
135 Walker Hall
Matter/anti-matter/does it matter?
op
V is ib le La n g u pbet wee ag e n form and co ntent
tat an d dis ori en
-m att er/ do
Zuzana Licko
Tobias Frere-Jones
g the re lations hi
are free
and open
e public
to th
2B / Univers 45/46 & 65/66 / 15pt + 9pt
Type H i e r a c hy St udi es | F in al S et 2
t
VISIBLE LANGUAGE
con
ten
Orientation and disorientation
and
Ruedi Baur
Thursday, December 3 6 pm
fo r m
Nicholas Felton
135 Walker Hall UC Davis
Visible Language
More than just a love of letters Zuzana Licko
Thursday, December 10 6 pm
Jonathan Hoefler
A lecture series exploring the relationship between form and content
135 Walker Hall UC Davis
Tobias Frere-Jones
Lectures are free and open to the public
A le c
tu r e
ser
ie s
ex p
lo r in
g th e
r e la
t io n
s h ip
bet
we
en
Richard Saul Wurman
Matter/anti-matter/does it matter? Stefan Sagmeister Andrew Blauvelt
Thursday, December 17 7 pm Design Museum UC Davis
Marian Bantjes Lectures are free and open to the public
Thursday, December 3
Thursday, December 10
Thursday, December 17
ORIENTATION AND DISORIENTATION
MORE THAN JUST A LOVE OF LETTERS
MATTER/ANTI-MATTER/ DOES IT MATTER?
Ruedi Baur Nicholas Felton Richard Saul Wurman
Zuzana Licko Jonathan Hoefler Tobias Frere-Jones
Stefan Sagmeister Andrew Blauvelt Marian Bantjes
6 pm
3A / based on 2A / add rules
135 Walker Hall
UC Davis
6 pm
135 Walker Hall
UC Davis
7 pm
Design Museum
UC Davis
3B / Univers Any size, weight, & rule
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Pau l Ra nd B o o k R e des ign
Project Summary Using the text and images supplied, develop and utilize a grid system in the layout of a book. It can be any size greater than 8x8, smaller than 11x17.
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Pau l Ra nd B o o k R e des ign | Layou t S k etc h es
I started off sketching a couple possible layouts and tried to set the approximate page number. My idea was to use simple color bars to catch attention and have the bars move around to top, bottom, and side to create more movement. The grid will contain two columns.
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Pau l Ra nd B o o k R e des ign | Cover S k etc h es
This version just has color blocks, bold types, and CMY overlay type for the word “PLAY.”
This version was inspired by the lights overlaying on each other, but the shapes of the “light” were too hard to make a nice composition.
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Pau l Ra nd B o o k R e des ign | Cover D es ign s
DESIGN AND THE
PAUL RAND
PLAY INSTINCT
Y DESIGN and the PL A INSTINCT
PAUL RAND
DESIGN
AND THE
PL AY
INSTINCT
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Pau l Ra nd B o o k R e des ign | F in al Cover D es ig n
DESIGN P L AY PL AY AND THE
PEIYI CHEN DES 115 SUMMER 2016
INSTINCT
The final version of the cover combines the two previous designs: bold type and bright color. I also wanted to set the theme as overlay, less saturated, CMYK color, as the vivid colors incoporate the playful elements.
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Pau l Ra nd B o o k R e des ign | Con ten t
that if, in the statement of a problem, undue emphasis is placed on freedom and self-expression, the result is apt to be an indifferent student and a meaningless solution. Conversely, a problem with defined limits, with an implied or stated discipline (system of rules) that in turn is conducive to the instinct of play, will most likely yield an interested student and, very often, a meaningful and novel solution.
“I DEMAND OF ART,” SAYS LE CORBUSIER,
“THE ROLE OF THE CHALLENGER…OF PLAY AND INTERPLAY, PLAY BEING THE VERY MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT.”1
Color blocks overlaying creates secondary colors: orange, purple, green
The absence in art of a well-formulated and systematized body of literature makes the problem of teaching a perplexing one. The subject is further complicated by the elusive and personal nature of art. Granted that a student’s ultimate success will depend largely on his natural talents, the problem still remains: how best to arouse his curiosity, hold his attention, and engage his creative faculties. Through trial and error, I have found that the solution to this enigma rests, to a large extent, on two factors: the kind of problem chosen for study, and the way in which it is posed. I believe
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PICASSO Here, for example, one sees a restrained use of the brush and one flat color. The drawing of the child’s face, the ornament and the lettering are all one. Lettering is not used as a complement to the drawing, but as an integral part of the drawing. It serves as both a garland and a verbal image—a visual pun. What emerges is a kind of game itself, revealing the ingenuity and playfulness of the artist, his ability to deal with problems in the simplest, most direct, and meaningful manner.
ONE CANNOT UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF
RESTRAINT PLAYFULNESS PICASSO’S AND
IN ALMOST ANY PHASE OF WORK.
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Similarly, this ability to do much with little— to find a bull’s head in a bicycle seat and handle bars—is another aspect of Picasso’s wizardry, his humor, his childlike spontaneity, his skill as a punster and ability to improvise and invent with limited, often surprising means.
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Pau l Ra nd B o o k R e des ign | Con ten t
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
“... IT FULFILLS
THE HUMAN URGE TO SOLVE THE UNKNOWN...
TANGRAM
”
The crossword puzzle is a variation on the acrostic, a word game that has been around since Roman times. There have been many reasons given for the popularity of the game. One is that it fulfills the human urge to solve the unknown, another that it is orderly, a third that it represents, according to the puzzle editor of the New York Times, “a mental stimulation… and exercise in spelling and vocabulary building.”6 But the play in such a game is limited to finding the exact word to fit a specific number of squares in a vertical and horizontal pattern. It allows for little imagination and no invention or aesthetic judgment, qualities to be found in abundance, for example, in the simple children’s game, the Tangram.
The Tangram is an ingenious little Chinese toy in which a square is divided into this configuration. It consists of seven pieces, called tans: five triangles, one square, and one rhombus. The rules are quite simple: rearrange to make any kind of figure or pattern.
Here is one possibility. Many design problems can be posed with this game in mind, the main principle to be learned being that of economy of means—making the most of the least. Further, the game helps to sharpen the powers of observation through the discovery of resemblances between geometric and natural forms. It helps the student to abstract: to see a triangle, for example, as a face, a tree, an eye, a nose, depending on the context in which the pieces are arranged. Such observation is essential in the study of visual symbols.
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“
We find other variations of the geometric plan in Japanese architecture, modern painting, and in Byzantine masons’ marks, such as the seal [at right]. This seal “employs a mathematical key as its design basis. The thick lines represent the mark, the thin lines represent the ground lattice which allows an infinite number of combinations.’’12 The geometric scheme is the discipline in which the designer works. Designs stemming from such a scheme are limited only by his imagination.
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The kind of grid employed by Japanese architects in their traditional houses combines the virtues of determining the size of various rooms in the house, floors, walls, furniture, etc., and creating the style and appearance of the house.
The Tatami, a straw mat approximately 3 by 6 feet and 2 inches thick, is the module or standard from which the plan of the house grows. Edward S. Morse, in his book, Japanese Homes, describes the mat system as follows: “The architect invariably plans his rooms to accommodate a certain number of mats; and since these mats have a definite size, any indication on the plan of the number of mats a room is to contain gives at once its dimensions also. The mats are laid in the following numbers: two, three, four-and-one-half, six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, and so on.’’13 This illustration shows the “plan” of a four-and-one-half mat room. Once the outer dimensions of the house are determined, the mats, together with the Japanese system of sliding doors, give complete flexibility in the arrangement and number of rooms. A perfect example of form and function, of discipline and play.
TATAMI (FLOOR MATS)
MASONS’ MARKS
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White text on blue and pink color blocks
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Pau l Ra nd B o o k R e des ign | Con ten t
CUBIST COLLAGES
MATISSE
Black text on yellow blocks
Similarly, the early Cubist collages, in which cut paper played an important part, are products of strict rules, limited materials: newspaper mounted on a surface, with the addition of a few charcoal or pencil lines, usually in black and white and sometimes with tan or brown or similarly muted colors. These elements were juggled until they satisfied the artist’s eye. The playfulness and humor in the production of some of these compositions in no way detracts from the end result of a serious work of art.
It is inconceivable to consider Matisse’s compositions with cut paper without; in some way, linking them to the play element—the joy of working with simple colors and the fun of “cutting paper dolls.” But the greatest satisfaction, perhaps, is derived from creating a work of art with ordinary scissors and some colored paper— with so simple means, such satisfying ends.
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HOKUSAI’S DRAWING
This drawing is reproduced from the first volume of Hokusai’s Rapid Lessons in Abbreviated Drawing (Riakougwa Hayashinan, 1812). In the book Hokusai shows how he uses geometric shapes as a guide in drawing certain birds. This exercise may be compared to the Tangram in that both use geometric means. The Tangram, however, uses geometry as an end in itself—to indicate or symbolize natural forms—whereas Hokusai uses it as a clue or guide to illustrate them. In the artist’s own words, his system “concerns the manner of making designs with the aid of a ruler or compass, and those who work in this manner will understand the proportion of things.”
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S u mmer 2016