29.05.2023—7.7.2023 (Week 9—Week 14)
Rachel Madeline Purwanto /
0356994
Advanced Typography / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative
Media
Task 3: Type Exploration & Application
❥INSTRUCTIONS
TASK 3 — TYPE EXPLORATION & APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
1. Create a font that is intended to solve a larger problem or
meant to be part of a solution in the area of your interest be it
graphic design, animation, new media or entertainment design or any
other related area not necessarily reflecting your specialisation. End
result: a complete typeface generated (.ttf) + applications.
Or
2. Explore the use of typeface in your area of interest, understand its
existing relationship, identify areas that could be improved upon, explore
possible solutions or combinations that may add value to the existing
typeface. End result: a complete typeface generated (.ttf) +
applications.
Or
3. Experiment. For your idea to qualify as an experiment it must be novel
and unique — working with material that might be 3-dimensional, digitally
augmented, edible, unusual, typographic music video or fine art. End
result: defined by student.
❥TASK
1. PROPOSAL OF IDEAS
On the first week of this task, we were instructed to come up with 3-4
ideas based around our personal interests or our chosen
specializations.
Fig 1.1 Proposal for Initial Ideation (25/05/2023)
Based off the feedback received for the ideation proposal, I decided to go with either the
third or second idea and develop it further. I was torn between 2
characters to choose from for the fonts which are spider-punk or
Spider-Gwen from the movie Across the Spider Verse
so I decided to do visual research on both their respective character
designs and personalities.
2. VISUAL REFERENCES, RESEARCH & IDEA DEVELOPMENT
Fig 1.2 Visual Research & Ideation Process (27/05/2023)
Although I was fond of spider-punk’s style, I had to scratch that
idea as making a font for spider-punk whose typeface for each letter
changes between various existing serif and non-serif fonts throughout
the movie would defeat his character and personality being a wild
card. In the end, I chose to go with Spider-Gwen and took inspiration
from her features and her web slinging.
Fig 1.3 Ideation Drafts done on Paper with Highlighter then traced on
Ibis x Paint (29/05/2023)
To achieve that ribbon like typeface, I used a highlighter to write all
the letters, punctuations, numbers and symbols and held the highlighter
at a diagonal angle when drawing to maintain consistency of the strokes
throughout the letterforms. The first attempt was tested on Ibis x Paint
first to give a rough visual of the various ideas I had inspired by
Spider-Gwen's character and traits. I did multiple attempts for each
glyph and traced out the ones I was most satisfied with on Illustrator,
and did further refinements for the strokes.
Fig 1.4 Using highlighter to write letterforms, punctuation &
numbers (29/05/2023)
3. DIGITIZATION PROCESS ON ILLUSTRATOR
Fig 2.0 First attempt on Illustrator (31/05/2023)
According to the first feedback on my first attempt, I decided to make
some adjustments for the G, S and R.
Fig 2.1 First Attempts on Digitization (31/05/2023)
Based on the second idea on the right (Fig 1.3), I tried to achieve
that comic feel the Spiderverse movie has, I added
their signature half-tone dots which are often used in Marvel
comics and Spiderverse movies for shading and
defining foreground and background (further research refer to
proposal pdf). At first, I tried to use the gradient tool and
applied the pixelated filter effect but the letterforms became
pixelated and aren’t in vector forms anymore so I decided to try
another method to achieve the half-tone pattern.
Fig 2.2 First Failed Attempt after all Capital Letters are done
(31/05/2023)
The second attempt is a bit more time consuming, since I had to
make the half-tone dots manually but utilizing the blend tool to
duplicate the circles made the process slightly quicker. After
using the blend tool, each row was expanded and then made into a
compound path.
Fig 2.3 Process of Making Half-tone dotted pattern using Blend tool
(31/05/2023)
Fig 2.4 Process of Making Half-tone dotted pattern using Expand tool
(31/05/2023)
Once the half-tone dotted pattern was made, I placed it on the end of
the stroke of the letterforms and used multiple pathfinder tools. Most
of the strokes that have the half-tone dots are placed where the end
of the strokes are or when I lift the highlighter off the paper.
Fig 2.5 Process of Applying Half-tone dotted pattern on the Stroke
(06/06/2023)
Fig 2.6 Process of Applying Half-tone dotted pattern on the Stroke using
Pathfinder (06/06/2023)
I applied the same effect for all the other capital letters
Fig 2.7 Second attempt on Half-tone dotted pattern on all caps
(06/06/2023)
Fig 2.8 Construction of Capital letters (06/06/2023)
Proceeding with the lowercase letters, punctuation and symbols, I tried to
reuse some of the strokes to create some of the letterforms to maintain
consistency within the strokes. According to the feedback received for the
lowercase letters, there were some minor details that could be further
refined which are the joints of the letterforms that are making the stroke
look thicker than it actually is.
Some down strokes are not kept as equal amount of size throughout its
shape because when you draw with a highlighter, it leaves a bit of a wider
shape at the end of the stroke so I tried to implement that feature on
some of the strokes.
The lowercase letters were especially a bit tougher since there are barely
any existing comic fonts that utilizes the lowercase letters as old comic
books often just use capital letters.
Fig 2.9 First attempt on lowercase letters (06/06/2023)
Fig 2.10 Second attempt on lowercase letters after further refinement on
details (06/06/2023)
Fig 2.11 Construction of lowercase letters (06/06/2023)
Fig 2.12 Punctuation, Symbols and Numbers (13/06/2023)
Fig 2.13 Construction of Punctuation, Symbols and Numbers (13/06/2023)
4. IMPORTING ON FONTLAB
Before starting on fontlab, all the vectors had to be unified or used the
shape builder tool to combine its strokes and shapes.
Fig 3.1 Measuring Dimensions (19/06/2023)
Once all the letters were imported and adjusted accordingly in Fontlab7,
kerning was the next step. For the left side of the bearrings I tried to
keep the amount consistent.
Fig 3.2 Metrics Tab (19/06/2023)
Fig 3.3 Process of Kerning on Fontlab7 (19/06/2023)
With the kerning complete, I decided to move on to the application process.
Heres the link to the .ttf font file :
font here
Fig 3.4 Type Exploration on Illustrator in JPEG (19/06/2023)
Fig 3.5 Type Exploration on Illustrator in PDF (19/06/2023)
6. APPLICATION PROCESS
After looking at various Spider-Gwen scenes, I came up with a
colour palette based off the overall colour schemes of
Spider-Gwen's suit and scenes.
Fig 4.1 Potential Main Colour Palette (21/06/2023)
Fig 4.2 Visual References to find Colour Palette (21/06/2023)
The scenes that I picked out also used half-tone dots for some of their
shading, so I decided to implement that for my application.
I wanted to go with a comical style so I used made some comic effects and
used half-tone dots.
Fig 4.3 First Attempt (5/07/2023)
I wasn't really satisfied with the first attempt so I tried out a different
approach to it and made it seem like a comic book.
Fig 4.4 Second Attempts (5/07/2023)
The second attempt didn't really have a Spider-Gwen feel to it so I
decided to do further adjustments.
Fig 4.5 Third Attempt (5/07/2023)
Despite this being inspired from the movie itself and the font being for
Spider-Gwen's scenes, I decided to apply the font on Spider-Gwen's comic
book cover and pages.
Fig 4.6 Process of doing other applications (5/07/2023)
The way I added captions for Spider-Gwen's thoughts were inspired from the
main character's scene.
Fig 4.7 Screenshot taken from a scene of Miles Morales's thoughts from
Into the Spiderverse (5/07/2023)
Fig 4.8 Process of doing the application on the movie scenes (5/07/2023)
7. FINAL APPLICATION
Fig 5.1 Type Font Presentation & Application in JPEG (5/07/2023)
Fig 5.2 Type Font Presentation & Application in JPEG (5/07/2023)
Fig 5.3 Type Font Presentation & Application in JPEG (5/07/2023)
Fig 5.4 Type Application in JPEG (5/07/2023)
Fig 5.5 Type Application in JPEG (5/07/2023)
Fig 5.6 Type Application in JPEG (5/07/2023)
Fig 5.6 Type Presentation & Application in PDF (5/07/2023)
❥FEEDBACK
Week 9
General Feedback : For ideation for final project; All the ideas were
approved but need to be further specified for the first 2 ideas; For
task 2 layout, could use more of the similar pattern used on the
skateboard for the rest of the applications
Specific Feedback : The third idea could be used for not only the title
but should be able to used for the merchandising, text in the cartoon,
etc; the first and second idea needs to be further specified since it is
too generalized(need to pick an animated character for the first idea /
animated series and the scene for the second idea)
Week 10
General Feedback : Overall the sketches and ideas work but the way its
digitized must be thought out
Specific Feedback : The G and W isn't well crafted but the S P I D E R
looks good
Week 11
General Feedback : Throughout adding the features for each letterform
ensure to pay attention to its consistency
Specific Feedback : All the letters overall look consistent in terms of
features and strokes, for the dotted patterns feature, take inspiration
from half-tone dotted letters
Week 12
General Feedback : Overall the digitization so far is good and
consistent throughout the strokes
Specific Feedback : If look at it in further details, minor adjustments
and refinements to ensure the gaps between the body and the stem of the
letterform isn't too wide
❥REFLECTION
Experience
The assignment from the first semester was taken up in Typography
in the second semester, where it was 10 times more difficult in
terms of inventiveness, thoroughness, and applicability. We were
given the responsibility of developing a full font with more than
eighty distinct letters rather than simply fifteen. We had to use
all the information and abilities we had acquired from both the
Typography and Advanced Typography classes because this was a huge
leap in ability level. We looked at many typefaces, considered
typographic design issues, and eventually produced our own
original typeface. To explore how our typeface will work in
genuine design environments, we also tested it in the applications
that are well suited for our typefaces and in my case since it was
originally made for Spider-Gwen's captions, I decided to implement
them on Spider-Gwen's scenes from the Spiderverse movie but kept
it in a comic book style.
Observation
One thing that really caught my attention was the significant
difference in kerning techniques between standard fonts and
comic fonts. In comic typography, the spacing between
characters is exaggerated, creating a sense of movement and
adding to the overall dynamic and energetic feel of the comic.
This unorthodox kerning technique plays a key role in
capturing the spirit of comic art. Additionally, comic fonts
often incorporate special effects like onomatopoeic lettering,
bold outlines, and exaggerated shapes, further enhancing the
expressive and lively nature of comic typography. The
combination of expressive letterforms, unconventional kerning,
and special effects makes comic fonts truly fascinating and
impactful.
Findings
I was always curious on how they kept the comical fonts
consistent throughout different various comic book franchises
and the visual research I did to create this Spider-Gwen
inspired font answered my question as to how. In the past,
they hired typographers to do the lettering in comic books and
all of them had to follow a set of requirements and rules to
maintain consistency when creating the lettering.
❥FURTHER READING
Fig 1.1 Typographic Design : Form & Communication
THE TYPE FAMILY
-
A type family consists of a group of related typefaces,
unified by a set of similar design characteristics.
-
Variations within a type family can be achieved
by
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF LEGIBILITY
-
The primary purpose of a letterform is to convey
recognizable meaning to the audience. Due to that,
letterforms must be designed with clarity.
-
Legibility in typefaces relies on three key qualities
-
Contrast
-
Simplicity
-
Proportion
-
The most legible typefaces are those that possess these
enduring attributes.
-
Achieving effective typography involves factors like the
communication context and making subtle adjustments to
letterforms and their spatial relationships. These elements
play a significant role in determining the readability and
ease of reading in typography.
CAPITAL AND LOWERCASE LETTERS
-
Setting text solely in uppercase letters to suffer in loss
of legibility and the reader is placed at a significant
disadvantage.
-
A variety of letters with shapes, ascenders, and descenders
provides good contrasts that can assure satisfactory
perception.
-
If a word takes on an appearance that differs from the
originally learned word shape, it will confuse its reader
therefore failing to capture the eyes of the readers as well
as making it harder for them to memorise.
LEGIBILITY AND DIGITAL TYPOGRAPHY
-
New legibility issues appeared when the digital revolution
occurred in typography and design which include problems
regarding on-screen display.
-
Digital typography offers designers more possibilities for
type manipulation that cannot be done before but if a
designer does not have adequate knowledge of typographic
legibility, it will result in them blindly following fads,
succumbing to common visual clichés provided by the
software.
-
Therefore, it is important for designers to learn and be
careful when creating or choosing an appropriate
typeface.
THE TYPOGRAPHIC MESSAGE
-
Typography is a language of potent visible signs, a
language capable of educating, persuading, informing, and
entertaining.
-
It shows how the selection of typefaces, font sizes,
styles, spacing, and other typographic elements are used to
convey a specific message.
-
The typographic message is verbal, visual, and vocal.
Fig 3.4 Type Exploration on Illustrator in JPEG (19/06/2023)
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