ADVANCED TYPOGRAPHY - PROJECT 1

on

30/09/19 - 00/10/19 (Week 6 - Week 7)
Piyaphon Inthavong (0337589)
Advanced Typography
Project 1

LECTURE NOTES

Week 6:
September 30th, 2019

 Environmental grids
Abstracting a series of lines and shapes from a physical site (location, scenery, buildings…) as a guideline for the placement of typography.

 Alternative methods
Offer compositional options beyond traditional grids. The un equally divisions allows intuition and experimentation. Improvised methods use type alignment edges, points and elements as an alignment to form grids. They rely on their structure to achieve balance.

 Manifesto
Beliefs that influences decisions in life, society and communication. The people reveals and explain what they have done, their guiding points of view in their actions.

 Ways to come up with ideas
Mind Maps
Have conversations (partner needs to have chemistry, unselfish; People who trigger ideas)
Breaking down the words using synonyms

 Looking for Ideas
Make new input to take different roads. Go through many ideas because even if you have landed on the perfect one, in the beginning, you will never know until you tire yourself out with several ideas.

 Mind map techniques
1. Breakdown the keywords
2. Come up with many visual ideas (draw the ideas quickly, don’t just write)
3. Merge the two ideas, draw sketches

Week 7:
October 7th, 2019

 Static Typography is a form of still typography which stays in one place without moving. This is the most traditional form of typography. The 2 types of static typography are: print typography, screen typography.

 Kinetic typography is the art of moving type, an application of motion design that tell stories, evoke emotions and catches our attention. The 2 types of kinetic typography are: motion typography and fluid typography (transform into a non-typographic form, shapes, other words)

 Why do people choose kinetic typography?
Eye catching, grab emotion, deliver the info in a short amount of time.

 Types of Morphing kinetic typography
Morphing (most common type of kinetic typography)
Morphing geometric (emphasize and create atmosphere)
Complex morphing

 Accelerated typo animation: dazzling visual effect, convey quick story

 Environmental typography employs architectural elements such as colors, patterns, masterial, themes to tell physical space and story in the design.

 3d typography is often produced by using 3d editing softwares such as Maya, Photoshop and Illustrator. It is not necessarily easy to read but it's a fun design trend that is worth giving a try.

 Virtual reality (VR) is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. VR uses the virtual world, and no real life surface.

 Augmented reality (AR) is a type of interactive, reality-based display environment which uses computer generated display, sound, type to enhance the user's real-world experience.

The lectures are summarized from the slide below:

    INSTRUCTIONS


    EXERCISES

    Week 6:
    September 30th, 2019

     As we were quickly briefed through the instructions and objectives of project 1 last week, I start up the project with research about The Troublemakers Manifesto. I began by breaking down to understand the word "Troublemakers" in design; What did they do? What makes them a troublemaker? Are they doing it for a better cause? What symbols represent them? And so on the list of questions continue. The picture below shows the first mindmap I drew to try to get the most ideas out of my mind:
    Figure 6.1. Mind map and sketches on Project 1.

     By going through the mindmap I drew quickly, I decided that the anonymous mask would make a great example of troublemakers in this world primarily because they hide their identity. The Guy Faux mask is initially worn in an attempt for an assassination back then, but is popular in today's world as the "anonymous" mask. The common examples would be hackers, gangsters and sometimes street artists. These people cause trouble, they break rules, but the main question is: what are their main intentions? Are they doing it for the better cause? 
    Figure 6.2. The first attempt on "The Troublemakers" key artwork.
    Figure 6.3. Progressions and variations of the key artword of the first attempt.
    Week 7:
    October 7th, 2019

     The Anonymous mask idea is quickly rejected by Mr. Vinod mainly because I was overly influenced by the common thoughts of society. Everyone thinks about the anonymous mask, that is the reason why.
    Figure 7.1. Free thoughts on The Troublemakers Manifesto.

     I quickly restarted and moved back to the ideation process, that is the step of absorbing ideas and drawing mind maps. I then free my mind and allow all my personal opinions on The Troublemakers Manifesto to flow down to the notebook.
    Figure 7.2. Breaking down the word Troublemakers.
    Figure 7.3. Breaking down to how I see design.

     Going through all the ideas, I decided to dig deep into the two topics: broken glasses, and puppets. Quick sketches such as the following marked the beginning on the digitization process on Adobe Illustrator.
    Figure 7.4. Sketches on the broken glasses and the puppets.
    Figure 7.5. Adding ideas to the previous sketch.

     Going through references and inspiration from the Internet was the next step towards creating the artwork I wanted. I first start digitizing the Broken Glasses idea with the following description:

    Broken glasses are almost impossible to fix, that is the reason why people don’t care much about such kind of trouble. In relation to designers, their job is to solve problems, and in this context it means picking up the broken glasses and mend what is impossible. The context is not conveyed in the literal sense of picking up actual broken glasses. Although in a literal matter, troublemakers cause trouble, they upset others, complicate situations, and break things; That is the birth of this idea.
    Figure 7.6. Process on creating the broken glass effect.
    Figure 7.7a. Outcome A.
    Figure 7.7b. Outcome B.

    I then start working on the next idea which is the Puppets. The initial description behind the idea is as the following:
    Designers are often under the control of society, it is the pressure and fear of being judged that prevents them from taking the big leap in their life. However, despite the events they have to go through, it is always possible to detach from others thought and start new.
    The letters that falls from the string represents freedom, to break free from the spell that’s always been planted inside them. To not be scared of becoming different by challenging the norm, even if it means to cause some trouble. That is what the manifesto is about.

    Figure 7.8. The process on drawing and tracing the puppet type inspired by the Internet.
    Figure 7.9a. First attempt A.
    Figure 7.9b. First Attempt B.

     After showing the first attempt too many of my peers, lots were not too pleased about the design; It was too simple, it lacks design elements and rather unattractive visuals. Unhappy about the results, I started making several layouts and variations according to the feedback I received during the day.
    Figure 7.10. Variations of ideas and layouts on the puppet artwork.

     The following are the work progression of the key artwork:
    Figure 7.11. Reworked version 2. A border was added to frame the puppets and so to emphasize on the letter "r" falling out or escaping the "safe zone." Drop shadow was added to the borders to improve its look for the dimension.
    Figure 7.11. Reworked version 2; I introduced contrast to the design by differentiating the stroke width of the normal letters and the ones falling.
    Figure 7.12. Version 3, an attempt to incorporate colors and a bar on top to hold the puppet strings.
    Figure 7.13. Version 4, increased more stroke width to emphasize the falling puppets and stronger contrast to increase its visual appearance.
    Figure 7.12. Reworked version 5.

    Embedded PDF for the final key artwork of project 1


    FEEDBACK

    Week 6:
    September 30th, 2019

     Specific feedback
    The representation of the Guy Fawkes Mask signifies the title “troublemakers” very well as people commonly used it to challenge the norm in general, although the image has been overused. The design is influenced by the examples from the previous work of the seniors; Try to work on an original idea as a key artwork. The idea of using unrealistic figures to represent people who are different from others may work because they are the outcast from the crowds. Ideas should represent context that has no relation to the western world; The idea should be local. Avoid heavily overused symbols such as the light bulb as seen in everyday posters.
    Week 7:
    October 7th, 2019

     Specific feedback
    Use solid colors for the type and forget the shadow. Since there is tension on the puppet strings, the lines must be drawn straight, not curved. Draw the snap effect to the broken lines; Snap more lines, more of them is breaking free not just one. Remove the borders around the puppets, they are distracting. Write manifesto the same way troublemaker is written, maintain the style so that “design colloquium” can be written with a normal typeface.

    REFLECTION

    Experiences

    Week 6: Today has been the most stressful class of Advance Typography by far. I knew from the very beginning that a proper research and lots of critical thinking are essential for projects such as the Troublemakers Manifesto.

     Week 7: We all felt exhausted from the workload of different subjects, I felt demotivated as my ideas get rejected a little by little but I was able to continue by reminding myself that I have more to offer.

    Observation

    Week 6: Class today felt tense, almost hundreds of ideas were rejected in a single session of the class, everyone was dissatisfied with their work. Most people had the same idea of using masks to presents the Troublemakers since it is the most obvious solution.

     Week 7: It felt overwhelming while going through all the ideas, and not digging deep to any of the written ones. After feeling lost and not knowing how to proceed, I realize I had to take a break and to approach recycled thoughts in new ways.

    Findings

    Week 6: After a while of feeling demotivated, Mr. Vinod stood up to the class and explained his experiences in which he went through and was similar to ours. I found out instantly the mistakes that everyone have been making which was taking "the same road" to find a solution. I learned new ways to plan, such as the breaking down keywords, make a quick mind map, discuss with people who have chemistry with us, people who are willing to help, and lastly merge all ideas together in a sketch.

     Week 7: I learned to stop being too overly attached to my old ideas despite the amount of time I spent for them. It was to learn to let go and start looking for new inspiration. After letting go of thoughts that keep replaying in my mind for several days, I made attempts to approach the problems in a new way. The result leads me to a more original idea of my own. It was not easy at first, but clinging to one idea only prevents exploration.

    FURTHER READING

    Thinking with type, book by Ellen Lupton

     This critical guide about type is written in a friendly manner which curves are practical and descriptive advice in many aspects of typography. After eating a few chapters, these are the things I find interesting personally and relevant to my project in type layout. I like the analogy where the author describes combining type as making a salad. The rule is to start with a small number of elements that represent different colors, tastes, and textures. Contrasts are key, not harmony; Look for emphatic differences rather than mushy transitions. Give the different type a role to play. When mixing typefaces on the same line, the design usually adjusts the point size to align the x-heights. However, when placing typefaces on separate lines, info the contrasts in scale, style, and weight. Mix big, light type with small, dark type for a criss-cross of contrast in flavors and textures.

     Typefaces or font? a type of face is the design of the letterforms, where a font is the delivery mechanism. in digital systems, the typeface is the visual design, while the font is the software that allows you to install, access, and output the design.

     Character or glyphs? only a symbol with a unique function is considered a character, while a glyph is a specific expression of a given character.

     Roman or roman? the Roman Empire is a proper noun and thus is capitalized, but in roman letterforms such as the italic ones is written in lowercase form.


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