Task 2: Key Artwork and Collateral

13/9/2023 - /9/2023 / Week  3 - Week
Adriena Tan Yan Zi  / 0351236
Advance Typography / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media / Taylors University
Task 2: Key Artwork/Collateral

                                                                                                                        

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Lectures 

Lecture 1 -3 

AdTypo_4_Designing Type

Why do we need to design more typefaces?

Type design carries social responsibility 

Improve legibility 

A form of artistic expression 

Fruitiger is a sans serif typeface designed by swiss type designer Adrian Frutiger in 1968 for the international Airport in France.

Considerations and limitations 

Letterforms needed to be recognised even in poor light condition 

Adrian received many honors 

Holy city of India 

Designed a new Devanagari font for modern typesetting and printing processes 

His draft got approved 

Verdana for Microsoft 

The font was tuned to be extremely legible even at very small sizes on screen due in part popularity on internet 

Exhibit characteristics derived from the pixels rather than the pen, he brush or the chisel 

Commissioned the design of a new typeface 

Solved multiple technical and visual problems 

Asked to create a typeface with bold simplicity 

Modern yet rooted in tradition 

Combined classical roman proportions with humanist warmth 

Different companies all using the same rails and tunnels 

All the signages was completely different 

Applied the proportions of roman letters to his typeface 

Johnson sans is similar to gill sans 

Student driven by guilt of seeing the success of his own typeface, gill sans 

General process of type Design 

Research 

Sketching 

Digitalising 

Testing

Deploy 

Research 

We would understand type history 

Type autonomy and type convections 

Know terminologies, side bearings and hunting 

Determine the type purpose 

Different applications 

Examine existing fonts 

inspirations / ideas/ reference/ context/ usage pattern/ etc. 

Sketching 

Designers sketch their typeface using the traditional tool set/ brushes/ pens/ ink and paper 

Scan them for the purpose of digitalsiation 

More confident their hands and have better control using it 

Some sketch their design with wacom directly into a font design (much quicker, persistent and consistent) 

Both methods have positives and negatives 

Digitalisation 

Fontlab and glyphs app 

Adobe illustrator to design or craft the letterforms 

Attention should be given on the whole form and counter form 

Readability of the typeface is heavily depended on it 

Testing 

Important component in the design thinking process 

Process and refining and correcting aspects of the typeface category 

Readability and legibility of the typeface becomes an important consideration 

Crucial if the typeface is a display type 

Deploy 

Teething problems 

Task of revision doesnt end upon deployment 

Rigour of the testing is important 

Teething issue remains minor 

Constructions and considerations

Forms and constructions are taken into account 

Important visual correction 

Extrusion of curved 

Vertical alignment between curved and straight forms 

Cannot be covered entirely in a single lecture 

There are many approaches and considerations provided in the link 

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Instructions

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Task 2 

Task 2(A): Key Artwork 

We are to make a Key Artwork sort of like a logo of our name. We are allowed to used our full name/ initials to form this artwork. Explore as many combination of artwork as possible. This task will then continue to be used in task 2(B). 

• Explore as many combination of artwork as possible
• Explore and understand what we like 
• Make a mindmap of the things we like 
• Make an artwork from type 
• Elegant solution, visual communication

1. Ideation and sketches 

I tried to start off with a mindmap first to understand and recall what I like before I start sketching. 

Mindmap by Adriena Tan

The mindmap making process is more of a brainstorming ideas process for me as during the process I get to recall all the things and hobbies I like, my characteristics and traits. Which then lead me to sketch out my ideas on a piece of paper, I prefer to sketch with traditional paper and pencil as there is no limitation of combination of design and type. 
 

Sketches 

Fig. 1.1 Initial sketch

Fig. 1.2 Initial sketch 2

Top left option:

I was going for something like a magical fantasy type of combination and design, realised that it kinda look like the title font from MyLittlePony which is a cartoon series that I used to watch all the time, the long tails look like the tails of a pony. 

Bottom left option: 
It's as easy as i LOVE butterflies and I find them beautiful yet hold a big symbolism with I strive to become. If you have heard of the saying that one flap from a butterfly's wings can cause a hurricane on the other side which is a huge impact it is capable to make. I want to be like that, as small as my effort may seem, I hope the result is impactful and leaves a good impression on people. Which is why I decided to include my name into the butterfly and was thinking of warping it later on. 

Right top corner: 

If you look closely, this design is actually my name that were made to look like musical notes floating above each other. I love singing and is the Vice President of L.I.V.E. Club, an acapella singing club. I have been ever since i could remember and sang till this day, still have a growing passion for it so I decided to have my name designed after to look like musical notes to remind myself that music is that I love is my safe haven, and that i can always find comfort there. 

2. Digitalisation

Design 1: 

Fig. 1.3 1st wordmark process 1 

Fig 1.4 1st wordmark process 2

For this initial design, I was just trying to recreate the one that I have sketched out with pencil and paper from above by first choosing the right typeface that represented my traits and then add tails to the top and bottom of the letters. 

Design 2:

Fig. 1.5 2nd wordmark process 1

Fig 1.6 2nd wordmark process 2

 

Fig 1.7 Final second wordmark

For this I'm also figuring out how to digitalise the sketch that I did which start from an existing type then step by step developing the necessary elements to resemble the one in the sketch. I have also added stars on top of the letter d to indicate that it is a magical staff and roots growing out of some letters. In my opinion, the ending result resemble a game title with the magical, adventurous type design. 

Design 3: 

Fig 1.8 Butterfly wordmark creation process

The butterfly font is actually the most challenging one to make out of all of them because I initially wanted to use the warping tool in AI but it didn't work as the font got distorted in the shape of the butterfly and it was illegible. Therefore, I decided to draw on the type one by one to see how it fits into the butterfly shape i have sketched out. I did go through a few trials and errors to figure out the best butterfly shape that would best fit both my characteristic as well as the typeface legibility. I soon find that irregular shape type is my best bet so i went with it till I filled up the whole shape with my name, 3 letters on the left wing and 3 letters on the right wing. The letter I as the body of the butterfly. 

Fig. 1.9 Butterfly wordmark on a t shirt template

Mr. Vinod asked us to do this which is to add to a t shirt collateral so see how it looks and print it out in class to get consultation from him. Got feedback from him to tweak the overall design a little bit to improve the legibility especially the letters N and As. 

Fig 1.10 Butterfly wordmark flaw

With the help of my friends' ideas and suggestions i managed to make the N look like an actual letter N again. 

Fig 1.11 Butterfly wordmark second flaw 

Over here, Mr. Vinod had me to join the 2 parts of the A together and and make their connecting line thinner which worked out somehow after a few more trials in AI. 

Final Key Artwork 

Fig. 1.12 Final key artwork for Task 2(A)

3. Wordmark Expansion 

Fig. 2.1 First batch of colour palette

The gradient is my initial colour palette but was rejected by Mr.Vinod as he said that gradient and pastel colours does not work on wordmark. Hence, I change the colour to full green and green and dark blue but the vibe it's giving off is a little to eco friendly to represent me. 

Fig 2.2 expanding my key artwork

Here i'm just expanding my wordmark design to see what kind of combination of elements I can so and what kind of other colours combination works best other than green and pink. 

Fig 2.3 First completed wordmark

The updated wordmark with smoothen out edges and updated background. I made changes to the body, wings and body to a little sharper and straighter lines than the original one. 

Fig 2.4 Further expansion 

Just doing the final expansion on the wordmark alone to see how it works together and also laying out

the colour palette as sir told to. 

Fig 2.5 Arranging the expansions

Displaying my key artwork expansion to see how it works together, changing a few arrangements along the way till I'm happy with the combination.

4. Wordmark Collateral

Process 

Fig 3.1 eyeshadow palette sample

Changing the eyeshadow palette colour to pink and black in photo shop from this original peach colour to match my colour palette.

Fig 3.2 pink paper bag

Fig 3.3 black paper bag

The first design for the paper bag before changing after sir suggest so. Sir wanted me to add elements to the key artwork to create a pattern then somehow add the original key artwork at the bottom somewhere. 

Fig 3.4 expanded pattern

Arranging the element to make a pattern like sir suggested. Redoing the paper bag collateral replacing it with a new design in both pink and black. 

Fig 3.5 app icon

The app icon without make it into 3D. Initially wanted to keep it like this but i experimented with the 3D feature on illustrator and liked the result. 

Final Collateral

Final Ig Link

Fig. 4.1 Final key artwork black and white jpg

Fig. 4.2 Final key artwork (with colour) jpg

Fig. 4.3 Final key artwork animation gif

Fig. 4.4 Key artwork colour palette jpeg

Fig. 4.5 Pink shopping bag (collateral 1).jpeg

Fig. 4.6 Black shopping bag (collateral 2).jpeg

Fig. 4.7 Eyeshadow palette pink (collateral 3).jpeg

Fig. 4.8 Eyeshadow palette black (collateral 4).jpeg

Fig. 4.9 App Icon (collateral 5).jpeg

Fig. 4.10 phone instagram screenshot jpeg

Fig. 4.11 desktop instagram screenshot

Fig. 4.12 Final collateral pdf

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Feedback

Week 4: 

General Feedback: He gave us a talk on our specialisation. We need to know what the wordmark we are designing means, it needs to represent us and not just visually pleasing. Find common factor from the type. 

Personal Feedback: For my poster, I need to change the information font because it is fighting for attention from my extraction font. For the wordmark, the fantasy idea is good, but I need to work on it really fast and figure out the typeface. The butterfly one need to be more well executed. 

Week 5: 

General Feedback: Make sure your wordmark is balanced.

Specific Feedback: No specific feedback.

Week 6:

General Feedback: Collateral: Expand your brand identity, do not copy and paste

T-shirt: The wordmark can spread throughout the T-shirt by using the texture or pattern of the wordmark. Look into big brand's wordmarks (Coca-Cola, Louis Vuitton, etc)

Study them and understand how they translate their brand characteristics.

Specific Feedback: The thick and thin strokes, unstable mark (Ensure it's in a horizontal position). The placement of the letter has to have "readability" and balanced structure. The "O" can't be seen, it is not visible at one glance.

Week 7:

General Feedback: Don’t repeatedly use the wordmark for every post, create an identity by expressing more from the wordmark in a creative way. 

Specific Feedback: Try combining the “a” and “f” together to create ligature and make sure their weight strokes are the same. Continue to work on my idea and proposal for the final project.

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Reflection

Experience 

All I can say is that everything was smooth sailing in the beginning until the part where i have to pick a colour palette. Task 2A for me was a more enjoyable process compare to task 2b as it requires me to explore my creativity and understands better about myself n order to have the wordmark expressed as myself. As for task 2b, it was stressful for me as I couldnt seem to figure out the right expansion and colour that i am happy with.

Observations 

From this task, I had observed that understanding colour combinations is important for a brand identity. I had learned that pastel colour doesnt work well as a brand colour as it's not eye catching enough. I also need to pay attention to the readability of a wordmark as it reader and viewers might misunderstand if the readability is not clear. 

Findings 

I found out that doing collateral is not all about slapping your logo onto products to just have it as yours. We have to take the time and make the effort to properly expands the wordmark and design it that is fitting with the product itself. I find that this task requires a lot of idea exploration to develop a decent design for each of our products. Idea exploration encourages creativity. It's the process of thinking beyond conventional boundaries, fostering innovation and differentiation. By exploring multiple ideas, you increase the chances of stumbling upon a unique and groundbreaking design.

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Further Reading

The Language of Type 

Serif, Sans Serif, and Script

Serif typefaces have small projecting features at the end of strokes, added as an embellishment to the basic form of the character. Serifs were needed when type was chiseled into stone, before paper was invented. In practice, serif typefaces feel timeless, elegant, trustworthy and retro.

Sans serif typefaces lack serifs, and therefore feel cleaner, simpler and more modern on the page. Sans serif fonts are easier to read on a computer, because the square nature of the pixel makes the subtle curves on serif type hard to render. 

Script typefaces are reminiscent of hand writing and lettering. They try to bring the same authenticity that hand writing creates. They are often used sparingly in combination with other typefaces

Typeface anatomy
Understanding the anatomy of a typeface can help students conduct more productive critique and discussion about type. There are many intricate details when one looks closer at a type character itself. Looking at the handout, when comparing serif typefaces to sans serif typefaces, it's evident that serif typefaces in general have smaller x-heights and longer ascenders and descenders. The cap height is generally shorter than the length of the ascender. In addition, the letter "o" dips below the baseline just ever so slightly.

Alignment is the arrangement in a straight line, often next to a margin. Left aligned type is most common and the easiest to read. Justified alignment can seem formal. Centered alignment is often used for minimal amounts of type such as wedding invitations or in an ad. Right aligned type needs to be used sparingly. Because the Western world reads from left to right, aligning type on the right makes it more difficult to read. However, right aligned type can also symbolize edginess or forward thinking because of the slight discomfort we feel while reading it.

Line length is also important to consider because reading too long of a line of text will cause the reader to have to move his or her head, which is uncomfortable for the reader and can cause lines to be skipped or doubled.