Typography Task 3: Type Design and Communication

 

2/6/2025 - 14/6/2025 / Week7-Week13

Tan Tzu Yu / 0374460

Typography / Bachelor of Design (Honors)  in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Task 3 / Exercises

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LECTURES

Week 7 :There is no lecture on Week 7.

Week 8 :There is no lecture on Week 8.

Week 9 :There is no lecture on Week 9.

Week 10 :There is no lecture on Week 10.

Week 11 :There is no lecture on Week 11.

Week 12 :There is no lecture on Week 12.

Week 13 :There is no lecture on Week 13.

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INSTRUCTIONS

<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/13u4Hj8yCTn1FEtUg7HIglK3hqvbOSlEb/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

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Task 3  : Exercises - 

For Task 3 we are required to :

• Prepare materials like A4 Graph paper + 3 marker pens (your choice but must be 3.0 above) (flat tip, brush tip, round tip)

• Select a preferred font from the 10 fonts provided. Using the following letters H,o,g,b, do a detail dissection of the letters in Adobe Illustrator.Observations are required to be written in our eportfolio. 

• Sketch the following letters HOGB / hogb (in both lowercase and uppercase) using the 3 different pens. 

• Explore at least 3 different writing styles for each of the 3 pens. Note: don't draw your letters, write them.

Here are the dissection if the letters H,o,g,b we were assigned for this task. After some deep thoughts, I decided to work on Futura Std Book as my choice of typeface. During this process I got a better understanding of letter construction. Here are some of the things I have found out while dissecting the letters : 

• H : It is made of 2 straight vertical lines and 1 centered horizontal bar and all strokes are the same thickness, giving a clean and balanced look.

• o : It is nearly symmetrical, both horizontally and vertically, with slight adjustments to balance the optical weight.

• g : The bottom part of it is nearly a perfect semicircle while the upper part is made with geometrical circles.

• b : The rounded part is also again based on the geometric circles like other letters and the bowl of it is centered vertically.

Fig 1.0 : Dissection of letter H,o,g,b (Uploaded on 22/6/2025)

After the deconstruction the letters, we were asked to sketch out at least three typefaces we want to create based on the typeface we chose. I did few sketches with different kind of pens and showed to Mr. Vinod for approval. At first he told me to explore more as it was not good enough , then I came out with the sketch that became my final decision and Mr Vinod approved it.

Fig 1.1 : All of my sketches (Uploaded on 1/7/2025)

Fig 1.2 : Final Chosen Sketch (Uploaded on 1/7/2025)

Digitalising my design was not that hard as I only use pen tool to do it.However, the only problem was that I need to draw quite many times to reach the perfect shape. For my design, all the letters are designed in a square to unify the design, and circles and lines were used to help to make my design more balanced.

Fig 1.3 : Line and Outline of my Design (Uploaded on 1/7/2025)

Fig 1.4 : Final Outcome of my Typeface (Uploaded on 1/7/2025)

After digitizing all the letters in illustrator , we were asked to merge all paths into one path and import the characters to FontLab. In FontLab, we were required to key in the dimensions for the ascender, median, baseline and the descender. We were instructed to calculate the measurements from the base line by just drawing s rectangle.

Fig 1.5 : Measurements of my letters (Uploaded on 1/7/2025)

Fig 1.6 : Information of my typeface (Uploaded on 1/7/2025)

Fig 1.7 : Information of my typeface (Uploaded on 1/7/2025)

Fig 1.8 : Information of my typeface (Uploaded on 1/7/2025)

Fig1.9 : Screen Grab of FontLab process (side-bearings)(Uploaded on 11/7/2025)

Fig1.10 : Screen Grab of FontLab process (side-bearings)(Uploaded on 11/7/2025)

Fig 1.11 : Final Type construction( JPEG )

(Uploaded on 11/7/2025)

Fig 1.12 : Final Type construction (PDF)

(Uploaded on 11/7/2025)

Fig 1.13 : Final Poster Design (JPEG)(Uploaded on 11/7/2025)

Fig 1.14 : Final Poster Design (PDF)(Uploaded on 11/7/2025)

LINK TO DOWNLOAD MY FONT :

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_omVlsBAbmFjexZfkX-OZlmFELLlk331/view?usp=sharing

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FEEDBACK

Week 7

Specific Feedback : There is no feedbacks on Week 7 due to public holiday.

General Feedback : There is no feedbacks on Week 7 due to public holiday.

Week 8

Specific Feedback Explore more on different designs.

General Feedback : We should not draw the letters out , we must write it out and the direction of the pen should not change after started writing it.

Week 9

Specific Feedback :  Some designs of the letters look too similar, change some design of the similar letters to make some difference in it.

General Feedback : When it comes to designing letters of typefaces, we need to be careful of the axis of the letters, the axis of the letters must be lay correctly. Also,Letters must be standardise, it should not have some in italics and some just normal.

Week 10

Specific Feedback : We must always bear in mind that we should not draw the letters but write the letters.

General Feedback : Remember to watch all the videos that is uploaded on teams to be more clear about how should be work on the designing of typefaces.

Week 11

Specific Feedback : The designs of the typefaces looks okay and imteresting and if Fontlab7 not working just work on Fontlab 8

General Feedback : Do not activate(doubleclick) more than 15/16 letters or the FontLab Demo will break and you wont be able to complete the task.

Week 12

Specific Feedback : The size of the punctuations are too small, the size of the comma must be double the size of the full stop.

General Feedback : Remember to complete the e-portfolio and finish the poster by this week.

Week 13

Specific Feedback : The poster design looks good and there's no problem with it.

General Feedback : Ensure that all links and pictures are visible.

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REFLECTIONS

Week 7:

Experience : It was quite difficult to find a good marker that hits the requirement for this task, it was either that the tip size was too small or I can't find the size or the type of markers I want.

Observations : 

Findings : The flat tip marker is really difficult to use, I always need to redraw again and again when I was exploring with the flat tip marker.

Week 8:

Experience : As I was exploring typefaces with the flat tip marker, I struggled with the less flexibility it for curved or organic lines.

Observations : When it comes to exploring different typefaces, many of us tend to explore using the flat tip marker even though it is quite difficult to use.

Findings : In my opinion, I prefer using round tip marker to design a typeface as it is the easiest to be used and very easy to control, problems like inconsistent strokes does not exist. 

Week 9:

Experience : I was struggling with coming out with creative ideas in designing typefaces, as the ideas I have came out with were either too basic or were similar with other people's designs.

Observations : With the development of technology, the number of people who use paper and pen to design fonts has decreased. Everyone uses tablets to design, which causes difficulties like struggling using the markers in the right way .

Findings : When it comes to designing letters for typefaces, it is not just drawing it and digitalize it that easy, it requires detail work as there are many things we need to be careful at while designing it.

Week 10:

Experience : Digitalising my design of my typeface is not that difficult but in my own opinion the part that took me very long time was thinking about all kinds of design possibilities so that mine will stand out.

Observations : Many of my classmates did not able to follow the speed , even though it was already time of digitalizing the typefaces but many of them were either still brainstorming their ideas or don't even know what they should do.

Findings : I found that generating unique ideas takes more time than the actual digitalisation process.It made me realise the importance of early planning and clearer guidance during ideation to help everyone stay on track.

Week 11:

Experience : Fontlab was not that hard for me comparing to other applications, and by watching the tutorial video given by Mr Vinod, I am able to complete my work beyond time.

Observations : Although it is already the week for us to import our design into Fontlab, I still found out that many of my classmates are still in digitalizing stage, some did not even start with digitalizing.

Findings : Coming out with nice typefaces doesn't require all kinds of artistic or diverse designs , sometimes even just strokes can create nice typefaces.

Week 12:

Experience : I forgot to design the punctuations for my fonts, but I was able to finish designing and digitalizing it in class and show to Mr Vinod.

Observations : Most of out classmates managed to finish importing the font and start designing the poster on time.

Findings : Designing punctuation has lots of details to look after at, it is not just simply designing it in a random size and shape.

Week 13:

Experience : I kept having problems with exporting my type construction, it was either that it can't be exported or there's problem with the colour.

Observations : Eventhough it was already due, many of my classmates were still not done with their work.

Findings : I found out that we actually have more than enough time to finish our work and the extra time was for us to make sure that our work has no problems and for us to improvise our work.

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FURTHER READING

Jim Williams : Type Matters !

Fig ? : Type Matters by Jim Williams (Uploaded on 22/6/2025)

Type Matters! by Jim Williams is a book that is both practical and visually engaging that introduces the basics of typography in a clear and friendly way. Unlike other books, It’s not a heavy or overly technical read—it’s designed perfectly for people like typography beginners or people who may not know much about type but want to improve how their text looks and reads. This book helps you understand why typography is so important, no matter you are a student, designer or just someone that works with words.

The book is made up of short sections, each focusing on a specific aspect of type, like choosing the right font, using capital letters properly, aligning text correctly, managing line spacing, and understanding punctuation marks like dashes and quotation marks. What makes it easy to follow is that it gives side-by-side examples of “right” and “wrong” typography choices, so you can visually see the difference.

One of the key messages in the book is that typography is not just about making something look nice—it’s about making it readable, organized, and appropriate for its purpose. Williams encourages readers to pay attention to the small details that many people overlook, like kerning (the space between letters), font pairing, and using type that matches the tone of your content.

As you can see, the design of the book itself is clean and laid out beautifully, showing that the author is not only telling us what to do but he also practices what he preaches. He shows that what he wrote in the book are truly useful and also worth to be learned by.

Overall, Type Matters! is a reminder that even the smallest tweaks in typography can make a big difference. It’s about being thoughtful with type so your message is clear, professional, and visually effective.