SILBIDO An Original Typeface Created by Shelby Parker—because everyone deserves to have a splash of creativity.
SILBIDO A typeface grounded in confidence in a world full of dynamic creativity.
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
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The Company
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The Problem
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Concept
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Research
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Development
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Evolution
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Letter Specimen
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Numbers and Punctuation
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Mockups
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Credits
CONCEPT
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Âż u n B LA N K ? Tami Frank is building a company to support her two girls as a single mom. She is the ultimate example of a single, hardworking mother. She will always put others first and sacrifice for those she loves. As a bilingual, she is able to reach out to a broader community. unBLANK has been a dream of hers for many years. Ms. Frank desires for this company to display a sense of creativity, passion, and integrity. Her company will stand out among the many other stock companies as she will provide a unique craft and excellence in her individual designs. The creativity that she will bring to the market will bring a new view to the craft world. The key difference behind unBLANK is that Ms. Frank will be partnering with an organization to give back to her community. Specifically, she desires to give back to battered women and orphanages. Engaging with her community is only a glimpse of the heart she has for people and the Lord.
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T H E PRO B L E M The problem with the other companies that provide a similar service arises in their stock branding and impersonal presence. These companies lack a sense of desire to explore and engage with customers. Appearance to get the job done is great, but there is a lack of opportunity to build a relationship that grants them insight into the who and why behind the design. The wordmarks of the following companies appear blocky or have a lack of creativity. There is only one chance for a first impression, so when the wordmark brings a unique design to the table, the customers will likely want to continue shopping with this brand. Appearances on the web are the ultimate goal to engaging and drawing customers to the business, and that is something these fail to do. There is no doubt these companies produce quality, but who wants quality without personality? unBLANK will stand out as a business with a personality and a desire to work individually with clients.
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C O N C E PT I N G The goal of this project was to design a typeface that embodies a sense of trust by appearing inviting, stable, and confident. This process began with a list of things that display or add to the feeling of confidence and stability. A firm foundation was the first goal of creating this new typeface. Building from the ground up, at least one of the legs needed to land on the baseline, while the other strokes could have added character. In collaborating with the owner of the company on her vision for the wordmark, Ms. Frank clearly valued a fluid movement, like calligraphy. However, there were some restrictions within this assignment to create a strict serif or sans-serif typeface rather than a lettering type. Exploration of the construction of calligraphy letters highlighted the difference in stroke weights as well as the flare at the end of a letter. The decision was made to incorporate differing stroke weights and key flare-outs.
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STABLE CONFIDENT INVITING
PRO C E S S
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RESEARCH Research began after communicating with the owner on her dreams for the company image. She had a strong connection with a calligraphy-like appearance. With reference from Jessica Hische’s book In Progress, choosing a writing utensil that best displayed the flow of the letters was my next goal. A pencil, a pen, and a highlighter were tested for the best results, but a highlighter best resembled the calligraphy feeling. While watching a lecture from an Art History class, a map was displayed that showed characters that resembled the highlighter flow of ink desired. After deciding on a highlighter, searching for an outstanding typeface that could bring inspiration in this process was key. Bembo encompassed the key factors that were desired. Using the highlighter to follow the strokes of Bembo, it was evident the letters had the end “swoosh” relating back to a calligraphic movement. Bembo could not be the only source of reference, so utilizing Suitcase Fusion, a typeface software, scrolling for the perfect characteristics for adopting to the new typeface was important. Laila Bold and Arima Madurai Extra Bold were the two typefaces that fit the description. 14
Bembo
Laila
Arima Madurai
DEVE LOPME NT Developing started with a blank screen on an iPad and no ideas on how to even begin this process. Procreate was a new discovery during the designing process, and now was the time to experiment with new software. Through multiple phone calls with a friend, learning this creative app was made a little easier. There were multiple stages of development, but the first stage was creating a blend of Laila and Arima Madurai. This process began with the first six letters that are the key to building a typeface, A, B, P, H, O, X. The transparency process to build letter forms while combining these two types was the ultimate tool in the development. After creating a full blend between these two typefaces, a new build of the characters was created, but they were not quite finished. Phase two created the final sketches between phase one’s creations and Bembo. This brought the form to a slimmer and more chic version. These were the final forms that were imported into Illustrator to vectorize.
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EVO L UT I O N O F MAJ U S C U L E S S K E T C H E S Consistency was difficult to accomplish throughout this entire process, but so was creating the right form. Several letters proved challenging and took a completely different appearance by the final designs. Featured here are the three phases of the O that were created. The first O is the final form of the sketch in Procreate. The second O resulted from adjusting the weight to appear complete with the full set, but as the creation evolved the O felt out of place. A stronger foundation was needed by flattening out the bottom of the O to maintain the stable and confident form of foundation. Many letter forms went through similar transformations as the M . Envisioning the final form of the letters was challenging, but through many phases of editing, the finished form was created.
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EVO L UT I O N O F MI N U S C U L E S S K E T C H E S With the minuscule sketches, transformation of each letter form came through a process of trial and error. Achieving uniformity among the final set of minuscules was essential although challenging during the various phases of development. Featured here are the three stages of the letter e. The first e was designed in Procreate which evolved into the other two forms in Illustrator. A slimmer stature with more negative space within the basin of the e was needed to visually connect other forms. The minuscules proved challenging as they lacked the large amount of negative space as the majuscules. Several other letters required similar developmental adjustments to complete the final complimentory designs.
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EVO L UT I O N O F MAJ U S C U L E S W E I G HT S Consistency within the form and the set is the main goal for a clean typeface, however this proved challenging. Even when the same stroke was copied and pasted to create multiple letter forms, the visual weights were unbalanced. It became evident that even if the weights were exactly equal in measurements, creating equal visual weights was more important. The M was a struggle in terms of weight. Due to the strong weights of the vertical strokes and the thin weights of the diagonal strokes, the M felt over-powering next to other letter forms. Many adjustments had to be made to create visual unity of weights. Though the M was not the only struggle, other letter forms went through multiple stages of weight adjustments in order to produce a balanced final set.
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EVO L UT I O N O F MI N U S C U L E S W E I G HT S While adjusting the weights for the majuscules was difficult, the minuscules proved even more challenging. Neglecting to work on the majuscules and the minuscules at the same time resulted in unbalanced weights when the two sets were placed side-by-side. Creating fifty-two letter forms that fit coherently into one family required many adjustments. The minuscules had a determined x-height and the weights needed to be lighter than the majuscules. With letters such as the lower case s, the middle strokes flooded the negative space; therefore, adjustments were required. With tighter spaces, lighter weights were necessary but much more difficult to create.
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SPECIMEN
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M AJ U S C U L E S
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m i n u s c u le s
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N U M E R A L S & C H A R AC T E R S
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TEST DRIVE
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