Typography

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What I learned this quarter

Ok, so I wasn’t planning on any great learning happening this quarter… 5 classes, several of which I have either had or even taught before.  However, it ended up providing more learning opportunities than expected!

  • Typography is a pretty cool subject! (Thanks Kevin! Great teacher!)
  • 30 hours working a job while carrying a full class load is too much (how do people do it?)
  • Syncretism in Christianity is still going on today (look at the attempt by Christian leaders to balance just how much the faithful should embrace current culture and bring it into our lives including the splits over lifestyles to the music such as Christian rock.)
  • I love history! 
  • Sculpture and architecture is much more interesting than I thought.
  • Sometimes you have to jump through hoops and spend a lot of unnecessary money to get a degree and I am working at not resenting that.
  • Web Design was the right choice after all.
  • I love writing (oh…I knew that)
  • I still do not like marketing even though I had fun with my topic.
  • Whatever made me get an Associates in Business anyway?  What was I thinking?
  • I don’t like writing scripts or much of anything to do with advertising.
  • I do love the learning experience!
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Typography Charity Poster Final

Create a poster in black and white for a charitable organization using typography rules of hierarchy etc.

This one was a no brainer – Indiana Sheltie Rescue!  They have been the subject of several of my projects since not only do we support them, I can get high quality photos quite easily!  Our most recent rescue, Toby, just turned 1 and he makes for a great poster pup!  What do you think?

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Typography: Tobias Frere-Jones

Instructions were to produce a brochure in black and white on the typographer of our choice. I chose Tobias Frere-Jones, a 40 year old whom I have found fascinating. How can typography actually be interesting?!!! But I am finding it very much so!

This was a double sided, single fold down the middle, brochure.  You can download the entire brochure through the link below:

GarvinSheri_Proj5_Brochure_II

The front and back pages were created to "bleed" onto each other.

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Dissecting a Font

Typography is an interesting class, but I also think we are learning things I will never use in my entire life. Such as much of the terminology of a typed letter. While the history of type is interesting, it is probably one of those odd things from college that will stick in my head til I am 95 and be of absolutely no use to me unless I am in New York City and end up in the Cash Cab.

However, I am convinced I will remember that the curve that connects the serif  to the stem is called a bracket and that some letters have beaks while others have bowls.  And don’t even start me on the floppy ears, tails, eyes, spurs, and loops!  It is crazy intense!

Project 3 was to dissect the type and to create our own hand made type.  I preferred to practice writing with my Wacom tablet than to expend undue energy making it fancy.  Some weeks you have to make choices and this week practicing with my Wacom won out.  It is actually much more difficult than I imagined and I need all the practice I can get!

FYI – below is a Wacom tablet for those who might not be familiar with them…

So the lower example is my hand drawn font a la Wacom tablet in Adobe Illustrator.

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Introduction to Type

My Thursday afternoon class is Typography.  Not difficult, but definately time consuming.

The first project was to design the front cover on our binder using only one font type.  The writing is all the requirements.  The design was up to us.  I was so intent on the design that I messed up the oblong of body type, which I should know better!  I was not paying attention… hmmm… right brain (design) / left brain (technical).  One of the things I often forget is the need to use both sides of the brain!

The second project was to create the face of a famous person using a single font.  I was bored and feeling a bit down, so decided to reach into my childhood and do a cartoon character (that was allowed.)  It was fun.

Mr. Magoo in Matura font (can you see the letters that make up the various parts?  I used some straight lines and parenthesis on some of the long or curved lines, but otherwise tried to stay true to the font face.  The eye is an N, for example, the nose a C, the chin a G, the collar Ds, fingers Ms… etc.)