Thursday, September 27, 2007

Typography: Good Type/Bad Type


Assignment: [with my comments in red]

You are going to be making a series of two posters (possibly three, but more on that later).You will be picking one classic typeface and one not so classic typeface (more of a font, really) blindly. Remember how we talked about the differences between a typeface and a font at the beginning of the semester? [no. i guess i'll have to do some research.]

Purpose: To familiarize self with typeface history, work more with Illustrator, explore various printing solutions, research typeface uses and poster design history. Another main objective: realize the difference between a typeface and a font and how you can produce something well designed with a not so well designed font.

Part One: Type Selection
You are the proud owner of two faces. These faces will be yours for the duration of this assignment. It is your responsibility to do applicable research with respect to your faces, such as who designed it, when it was designed, specific applications for the face (was it designed for a medicine bottle, road signs, specific document or product?). Know its historical and modern uses. You are to report back to the class in a brief presentation covering your findings. [hmm...I guess I get to pick my own fonts.]

Your good type is going to have a large family of fonts to choose from. You may use all of them. Your bad font will only have one font choice. Your are stuck with this and must utilize it to produce a skilled, elegant poster. You may, however, choose one other helper face to use for body copy or other secondary information when creating the bad font poster.

Part Two: Poster Exercise
You are to design a poster introducing each good type and bad face to an audience that has never heard (or knows very little) about them. The poster should highlight type flexibility, history etc. Use the alphabet (you may use its numbers and special characters) and some clever copy to relay your concept about each face. You may use illustrations that you create, but hold back. I don't want this poster to be too image heavy. Check with me before you start.

Make both of your final posters the same size. The size must be 11x17 or larger.

Due Dates:
Thursday, September 27th::intro assignment, research on typefaces, thumbnail sketches for both posters [whoa. that's today. i didn't get this assignment until today. good thing i'm not actually in the class.]

Thursday, October 4th::Meet with me to look at progress and ideas. Have at least 10 well rendered ideas for each poster. Presentation on typefaces-later upload progress to flickr.

Tuesday, October 9th::small group crit on posters. upload your posters to flickr.

Thursday, October 11th:: have all progress uploaded to flickr, pre-crit on PRINT OUTS of both posters and if any time is left over then use it to work!

Tuesday, October 14th:: both posters due

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Type 1: Logotype

Assignment: Homework
Homework: Create a personal Logotype. A logotype is different from a logo. Logotypes communicate purely through the use of type forms, type orientation, and type relationships. Do not make this a "Make a Word Do What It Says" exercise. For Thursday, I want to see 10 different thumbnails of your name. You may hand letter or use computer typefaces or a combination of both. Think conceptually, not literally when creating thumbnails that represent you. Remember, no imagery, just type.

Response:
A couple pages of stuff...with my final choice. While I love the script versions (top left corner of the second set), I didn't feel like they were very "me." I finally settled on a version that is a bit more stylized...something with cool typography and a little fun thrown in at the "r". Comments/critiques are always welcome.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Type 1: Music Postcard Assignment

Assignment:

Pick a song lyric and design a postcard. Convey the meanings and/or feelings of a musical lyric through type. Think about literal, connotative and historical meanings of your lyric. The typeface characters may not be manipulated in any way (NO PHOTOSHOP FILTERS•DO NOT STRETCH TYPE). You may not add any graphic elements. To convey your lyric’s meaning think about size, placement on the page, orientation, direction, and typestyle. Remember that there are two sides to a postcard, make sure you create both.


OBJECTIVES:

• to analyze appropriate fonts for interpretive value.

• to encourage the use of type exclusively to convey an idea.

• to introduce type as a visual-communication medium

• to encourage thinking of type as an interpretive, expressive medium




Response: (click to enlarge)





close up of back side text block below