Advanced Typography: Task 2 Key Artwork & Collateral

 Edlin Raihana binti Mohamad Firdaus 0359096 Bachelor in Design Creative Media
GCD61004 Advanced Typography

INSTRUCTIONS

MIB GCD61004 Advanced Typography

     ⇢ Lecture Notes

• Perception & Organization

        Typography is more than just the written word; it's a visual language that guides the reader's eye and influences their understanding. This visual communication is achieved through the interplay of contrast, form, and organization.

        Contrast is the key to creating visual interest and directing attention. It can be achieved through various elements:

• Size, Larger elements, like titles and headings, immediately draw the reader's attention.
• Weight, Bold type stands out against lighter type, emphasizing key information.
• Form, Using different weights, styles (like italics or capitals), and letterforms (like sans serif vs. serif) creates visual interest and separation.
• Structure, The choice of typeface itself contributes to contrast, with different styles like monoline sans serif, traditional serif, italic, and blackletter each having a unique visual impact.
• Texture, The overall visual appearance of the text, created by combining size, weight, form, and structure, adds depth and interest.
• Direction, Using vertical and horizontal elements, as well as angles, creates visual dynamism and can emphasize certain elements.
• Colour,  Colour can be used to highlight specific elements, but it's important to consider the tonal values of the colours chosen.

        Form, refers to the overall visual impact of the typographic composition. It's about how the design looks and feels, how it guides the eye, and how it creates a memorable experience. Good typography is visually intriguing, leading the reader's eye from point to point and making the content more engaging.

        When a typeface is treated as a form, it transcends its literal meaning and becomes a visual element in itself. This can be achieved through distortion, texture, enlargement, and even extrusion into three-dimensional space.

        Ultimately, typography is about finding the right balance between function and expression, ensuring that the visual presentation of the text enhances its meaning and creates a powerful and memorable experience for the reader. 

• Organization & Gestalt

        Gestalt, a German word meaning "form" or "shape,"  lies at the heart of Gestalt psychology. This field explores how our minds perceive and organize information, seeking to understand the laws behind our ability to create meaningful perceptions.

        A core concept in Gestalt theory is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This means that we experience things as unified wholes, rather than simply a collection of individual elements.  

        This concept has profound implications for design, especially typographic layouts. The individual components of a design, while functional on their own, are only as effective as the overall visual form they create. A well-designed layout harmonizes its elements, creating a unified and impactful experience for the viewer.  

        In essence, Gestalt theory reminds us that design is about more than just individual elements; it's about creating a cohesive and meaningful whole. 

• Perceptual Organization & Groupings

        Gestalt psychology explains how our brains perceive patterns, and several principles, often called "laws," govern this process. These principles explain how we naturally group objects:

• Similarity, We group objects that share similar features, like color, shape, size, or even motion.
• Proximity, Objects close together are perceived as a unit.
• Closure, We fill in missing information to perceive complete figures even if they are incomplete.
• Continuation, We see continuous lines or shapes even when they are interrupted.
• Symmetry, Symmetrical elements are perceived as belonging together.
• Simplicity (Praganz), Our minds prefer the simplest interpretation of an image, grouping or separating elements for clarity.

These principles help us understand how we perceive the world and are valuable tools for designers to create visually appealing and easily understood layouts. 

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    Submission: All exercises given are to be completed and documented (labelled, clean, clear & concise) in your E-Portfolio and hardcopy submissions respectively (print-outs if requested)

    Exercise: Explore and compose as many permutations and combinations of your name in the form of a wordmark/lettering. The final key artwork must be an elegant solution, well balanced and composed, not complicated or confusing that leads to a functional and communicable key artwork.

    ⇢ Task 2A Key Artwork

            We were instructed to create a wordmark based on our pseudonym/nickname. I chose 'Flos' as my wordmark since I used that mainly for my online persona. I then chose a few adjective that describes me to base my designs off.

fig 1.1 sketches

    I showed Mr Vinod my sketches and he stated that there were too many adjectives that I was basing my wordmarks on. He suggested that I tried taking one adjective and expand on that. I chose the adjective of me liking cats.

fig 1.2 'FLOS' cat versions + wave, futurism, thick and elegant

        I then started digitizing the sketches in Adobe Illustrator. I did change a few orientations here and there but kept the overall design the same. I also added a few cat ideas for the 'O' in 'FLOS'

fig 1.3 digitized 'FLOS' cat versions + wave, futurism, thick and elegant

        Safe to say Mr Vinod didn't like any of those sketches. He stated that their line widths were too inconsistent and the 'cat-ness' didn't  show through enough. He then sketched a design and I went ahead and started digitizing it. To be fair it was a rough start since I couldn't get the lines to look consistent and looks good but I got there anyways.

fig 1.4 'FLOS' from sketch to final rendition

fig 1.5 'FLOS' Final form

        For the colour palette, I sourced Coolors and found a few combinations that I really liked.

fig 1.6 Colour Palettes

        I went with the second combination but changed a few of the values to match the light and the dark values of the colours.

fig 1.7 Final Colour Palette

        For the Key Animation, I used Adobe After Effects.

fig 1.8 Animating 'FLOS' in Adobe After Effects

fig 1.8 Final Animation 'FLOS'

    ⇢ Task 2A Final Outcome

  fig 2.1 'FLOS' white wordmark on black background

fig 2.2 'FLOS' black wordmark on white background

   fig 2.3 'FLOS' Colour palette

   fig 2.4 'FLOS' Animation

   fig 2.5 'FLOS'  lightest colour wordmark on darkest colour background

   fig 2.6 'FLOS' actual colour wordmark on lightest colour background

    ⇢ Task 2B Collateral

            After having our wordmarks and our Key Artworks, we started on figuring out how to apply them onto collaterals. I chose water bottles, badges and phone cases as my collaterals

    ⇢ Collateral #1

            For the water bottles, I created 2 designs, one minimalist and one maximalist. I tried out a background using the darkest value in the colour palette but ultimately settled on a lighter colour palette for the minimalist design and a darker red background for the maximalist design.

   fig 3.1 'FLOS' maximalist bottle cover (scrapped)

 fig 3.2 'FLOS' maximalist bottle cover

 fig 3.3 'FLOS' maximalist bottle cover

        I did have to edit the mock up picture to incorporate both designs but I think it turned out alright!

 fig 3.1 'FLOS' water bottle mock up

    ⇢ Collateral #2

            For the badges, I created 6 designs and at this point I realised that I don't have an actual logo other than the wordmark so I took the connected part (the 'OS' of 'FLOS') since it was the key visual (also to reference the fact that I used my liking of cats from the brainstorming of the sketches [see fig 1.3])

 fig 4.1 'FLOS' black logo on white background

 fig 4.2 'FLOS' white logo on black background

        I then played around with the colours from the colour palette's of  'OS' to see what combination looks the best.

 fig 4.3 'FLOS' badge designs

        From this selection, I chose second, third, fourth and sixth design for my badge designs. I then proceeded to Adobe Photoshop to make some badge mock ups.

 fig 4.4.1 'FLOS' badge #1

 fig 4.4.2 'FLOS' badge #2

 fig 4.4.3 'FLOS' badge #3

 fig 4.4.4 'FLOS' badge #4

    ⇢ Collateral #3

            For the phone cases I made 2 designs. For these designs I wanted to try something different and experiment on colour combinations and design.

 fig 4.5.1 'FLOS' phone case design #1

 fig 4.5.2 'FLOS' phone case design #2

        I also did the mock up in Adobe Photoshop

 fig 4.6 'FLOS' phone case mock-ups

        Here are all three finalised mock ups! I also cropped them into Instagram sized posts (1080px x 1350px) for easier upload into the Instagram layout.

 fig 4.7 Finalized 'FLOS' mock-ups (bottle, phone case and badges)

    ⇢ Self Image

            I used one of my pictures and made them black and white through photoshop. I then thought of ways that I can incorporate my logo in and decided to add it to the background of my photo. Since my Instagram layout would be dominated with the 'FLOS' wordmark, I decided to balance it out by using the logo version  'OS'.

 fig 5.1 Self Picture Background

 fig 5.2 Self Picture

 fig 5.2 Final Self Picture

    ⇢ Instagram Layout

            I had a few ideas on how the layout would be but ultimately landed on this layout since it looked the most balanced to me with enough connections, especially the middle being connectively together with the repetition pattern.

 fig 6.1 Final Instagram Layout (@fl0s_exe)

   ⇢ Final Outcome

fig 7.1 'FLOS' black wordmark on white background

  fig 7.2 'FLOS' white wordmark on black background

   fig 7.3 'FLOS' Animation

   fig 7.4 'FLOS' Colour palette

   fig 7.5 'FLOS' actual colour wordmark on lightest colour background

   fig 7.6 'FLOS'  lightest colour wordmark on darkest colour background

   fig 7.7 'FLOS'  Collateral #1 Water Bottle

   fig 7.8 'FLOS' Collateral #2 Badges

   fig 7.9 'FLOS'  Collateral #3 Phone Case

   fig 7.10 'FLOS'  Instagram Layout

    ⇢ Feedback (In order of from earliest to latest)

Sketching

• Too many adjectives - focus on one and expand
• Use one sketch and expand on that using the adjectives - combine the types of sketches you had together (major + minor)

Digitization

• Too inconsistent - follow the grid
• Different widths of space between each part - consistency+++
• Try more values - pick 2 colours and find light and dark values

MockUps

• Try different picture for mock up - easier application

    ⇢ Further Reading

fig 8.1 Computer Typography Basics by David Creamer (2003)

        Fonts come in a variety of styles, each with its own unique characteristics and uses. 

        Serif fonts, known for their decorative "feet" at the ends of letters, are the most common choice for body text due to their readability. They come in three subcategories: Oldstyle, Modern, and Square Serif, each with its own distinct appearance.

        Sans Serif fonts, lacking these decorative elements, offer a clean and modern look. They are often used for headlines and subheads, but can also be used for body text with careful consideration.

        Display fonts are designed to grab attention and are best suited for headlines. 

        Script fonts, mimicking handwriting, are often used for formal invitations. 

        Text fonts, inspired by early religious texts, have an old-world charm and are used for certificates and invitations. 

        Mono-spaced fonts have a uniform width for each character, similar to typewriter fonts. 

        Dingbats are small decorative symbols used to enhance the design of text or pages. 

    ⇢ Reflection

        

        Throughout this project I have experienced and learnt quite a handful of things regarding Adobe Illustrator, After Effects and especially Photoshop. I'm still am not quite versed in Photoshop and this was my first time making mock ups of anything. I definitely had trouble with creating the masks and properly placing my designs so that it wont look awkward but it was quite interesting seeing it come to life in real time.

        Putting my designs out there whether through a multitude of different colour choices, designs or layouts helped me to look at the picture as a whole rather than a singular design (very Gestalt of me I know). Definitely expanded my design thinking and changed how I expanded on designs in a good way.