1.    Context

Typographers and type foundries (the companies that commission and produce typefaces) have always had to promote their latest designs to printers and designers to show off a particular typeface,  its different fonts in a variety of sizes and contexts, and the unique features of it.  Once Specimen Sheets were the main way of doing this.  Nowadays most of that marketing takes place online – research type foundries on the internet.

2.    Brief

Design the font for use on the cover of a magazine called type and write a short article for the magazine using a range of typefaces, with typographic illustrations, drawing on all that you have learned in this section.  The article should include sections on:

• What makes a typeface interesting.
• How a typeface is constructed.
• Question marks.

3.    Getting started

I am excited about this assignment!  There are so many typefaces out there, but I already have my favourites that I have collected throughout this section.  After getting my thoughts together by making a spider diagram to analyse the brief, it became clear that the best way to kick off this assignment is to revisit all my favourite typefaces and start sketching the word type.  This will help me analyse the type while sketching and become aware of the details of each letter.  At the same time I am starting the exploration stage for the cover of a magazine.

The first thing that came to mind while reading through this brief was the cover of Ellen Lupton’s book called Thinking with type.  I have been using this book throughout this course, and the cover interest me every time I pick up the book.

4.    Creating type

While drawing, it is interesting to notice how ideas float into my head.  I started drawing ‘type’ with uppercase ‘T’ and lowercase ‘ype’.  Lowercase letters appear more balanced, and because ‘type’ will stand alone on the cover, it is a good idea to have it all in lowercase.  ‘Balance’ could be one of the keywords for this magazine.  I will determine the tone of the magazine by drawing to generate more ideas.

So far, the styles that attract me the most are Courier, Adelle and Baskerville.  I am fond of Baskerville’s descender style of the ‘y’ and like the sharp corners of Adelle.  The traditional simplicity of Courier typeface attracts me the most.  I will now explore further to come up with my own font.

The top sketch (figure 4) is my first attempt at creating my own font.  I have taken Courier, sharpened the serifs and terminals, and used the descender of the ‘y’ of Baskerville.  This looks slightly unbalanced with too much space between the descender of the ‘y’ and ‘p’.

In the middle sketch (figure 4), I used Courier as an inspiration and sharpened the serifs and terminals and structured the ‘t’ terminal to extend upwards.  This creates a barrier between the ‘t’ and ‘y’, but I think this can work with more space between the two characters and extending the serif of the ‘p’ towards the ‘y’.

The bottom sketch (figure 4) is an experiment to see how the word will appear if I remove the serifs and use a rounder ‘t’ and ‘y’.   This seems monotonous, with not enough tension between the characters, and the descenders appear heavy.  However, this can be balanced by creating a smaller counter for the ‘p’ and ‘e’.

In the first sketch (figure 5), I explored half-rounded terminals but it did not work on the letter ‘e’.

In the middle sketch (figure 5), I tried a different style descender on the letter ‘y’ but still found it to appear somewhat unbalanced even though I tried to balance it out by making the serif of the ‘p’ longer on the left side.

At the bottom (figure 5), I constructed the descender of the ‘y’ to be slightly more compact, which seems to work well.  I balanced it out by extending the serif of the ‘p’ to the right side instead of the left side, and it makes the type seem more balanced in a way, almost like two feet carrying the word ‘type’.  This design is similar to the top design of (figure 4), but this time it has bracketed serifs which seems to balance the design better.

In figure 6, I have taken the same design and tried a simpler ‘y’ descender (top) and below that, I tried a thinner left stem of the ‘y’.  For the third from the top, I was happy with the font but experimented by tilting the ‘e’ and below that played around with the volume of the text.  The third design from the top is my favourite so far.

I then went from higher volume to higher contrast and came up with the design (top word in figure 7).  Furthermore, I explored proportions and spacing to see what would happen if the letters were set to bounce on the baseline.  None of these seems to work for a font, but it will probably work better for hand lettering.  I have decided to go with the third word from the top in figure 6 and will explore the rest of the spread by taking the designed font as a starting point and working from there.

I took my first choice from my sketchbook and digitally refined it, and eventually arrived at the finished font by reducing the weight of the serifs and increasing the x-height to increase the counters of the y,p and e.  I have done this in Procreate and will take the finished font in figure 8 to Adobe Illustrator and balance out those counters so they are more proportionate to each other.  Digital refinement 2 (figure 8) was an idea that I tried out, but I prefer the finished font.

5.    Research on ‘how type is constructed.’

When constructing type it is important to create consistency within a piece of lettering by balancing its overall visual texture, commonly referred to as ‘colour’.  In typography, the colour refers to its grey value or how ‘light’ or ‘dark’ it appears.  Colour is a result of a combination of four main contributing elements; volume, spacing, contrast, and proportion.  Harmonising these are the basic principles of creating type or lettering.

Volume refers to the overall area the type occupies and is determined by both its strokes and its counterforms.  By making a positive shape you are also defining a negative space and because each letter has a different form, its positive and negative spaces should be distributed uniquely.

Spacing is connected to the principle of volume and as a general rule, the area between letters should correspond to the area inside them.  Letters with thin strokes generally have larger counterforms and should be spaced more openly compared to heavy letters with smaller counterforms which will be spaced more closely to one another.  Spacing must be done optically.  This principle also applies to line spacing; light lettering should be given more ‘air’ between rows, while lines of darker lettering should be positioned more compactly.

Variation in the thickness of a letter’s strokes is referred to as contrast.  Contrast also helps you determine the axis of a letter.  The axis can be revealed by intersecting the contrast areas in the upper and lower curved strokes of a round letter.

Proportion refers to the comparative size of different letterforms and their various parts.  Not all letters should be dimensionally proportional, which is to say that they should have the same height and width as one another.  Having all characters the same proportion will ignore the complexity of letterforms and how their construction affects the space they occupy.  The precision of classical proportions leaves some room for the letters to be manipulated with the emphasis on visual uniformity. 

Questions to ask when constructing type.  Successful lettering depends on the questions you should ask yourself when creating type.  Evaluate your lettering by using the element of colour as a checklist.  Does the overall colour look even?  If not, is the volume of the strokes regular?  What about the negative space?  Have contrast been dealt with uniformly and are the proportions equal?  Handling these principles consistently will create lettering that is attractive and convincing. (Barber, 2020)

6.    What makes a typeface interesting

Have you ever noticed that some typefaces have a palpable energy?  This might be due to a healthy tension between the characters.  It is tough to put your finger on it, but it is a pull and push between the characters.  This tension can be created by changing how the volume is typically distributed or varying the degree of offset slightly so the resultant movement appears interesting.  Even a rotational shift can add rhythm to characters and the words they form. (Barber, 2020)

7.    Research on question marks.

The origin of the question mark is not definitely known, but it is believed to have originated from the Latin word ‘quaestio,’ meaning ‘question’.  It is said that middle ages scholars would write ‘quaestio’ at the end of a sentence to show that it was a question, which was shortened to QO.  Eventually, the Q was written on top of the O, before steadily morphing into a recognisable modern question mark that we are using today.  (Nordquist, 2018)

8.    Research on foundries.

A traditional roman book face typically has a small family consisting of roman, italic, small caps, bold and semibold (each with an italic variant) styles.  Sans-serif families often come in many more weights and sizes, such as thin, light, black, compressed, and condensed.  A superfamily consists of dozens of related fonts in multiple weights and/or widths, often with both sans-serif versions. (Lupton, 2010)

8.1. Forma DJR Foundry (David Jonathan Ross)

This foundry is an example of a superfamily originally released in 1968. Forma was the Italian type foundry Nebbiolo’s answer to Helvetica to design a more mature humane neo-grotesque.  As a result, Forma’s rationality is tempered by its warmth, and its trademark single story that sets it apart from the rest.

8.2. Ivy Foundry

The Ivy Foundry is another example of a superfamily.  Part of the Type Network, a global alliance of typographers that make high-quality type to solve complex design problems.  The foundry is based in Denmark and takes its name from the fleuron – a glyph used as a punctuation mark.

8.3. Yellow Design Studio

Yellow Design Studio was founded in 2004 as a print and web design firm.  As their interest evolved, they transformed into a type-design and fine arts collaboration with unique fonts created by Ryan Martinson and artwork by Rena Martinson.

9.    Research on Specimen sheets

A type specimen sheet is a publication, often in pamphlet form, that shows the range of a particular typeface in use.  Printers and typographers have produced type specimens for hundreds of years. (Lupton, 2010)

I am considering using the traditional type specimens in figure 13 to inspire the magazine layout.  The simplicity makes it direct and the main focus is on the type.  The Caslons and Garamond specimens on the sides have a one-column layout with the lettering centred.  The middle Caslon specimen is a three-column layout showing the typeface in different styles and stroke weights.

In figure 14, we have the modern-day type specimens which can mostly be viewed online.  They are colourful and many of them have illustrations to emphasise the characters and bring an interesting edge to showcasing the typefaces. 

10.    Designing the cover

Taking the above specimen sheets into consideration, I am leaning towards a simple design with an emphasis on the type.  Using sketches I explored the possibilities which have taken down the same route of ‘keeping it simple’.  The magazine layout needs to flow with the cover of the magazine.

In sketch 1 (figure 15) are cosmic shapes and letters coming from a light source in the atmosphere and floating around in darker-toned space. 

Sketch 2 (figure 15) has freeform shapes around the word ‘type’.  The idea is to render the darker stripe with strips of text, similar to figure 16, picture C, Cyberspace and Civil Society Poster.

Sketch 3 (figure 15) has more free forms inspired by Tina Touli, as seen in figure 17.  I like the floating type in suspension in an unknown atmosphere.  It gives the impression that the type is moving and floating.

In Sketch 4 (figure 15), I used flourish shapes to float in the atmosphere.  This was inspired by picture A of figure 16.

Sketch 5 (figure 15) I simplified the floating shapes and experimented with contrast by having a darker shape below the word type to draw emphasis to the word.

Sketch 6 (figure 15 I tried a different concept by creating type in the background but sketching paths that flow like waves across the page.  This can be at a lower opacity and on a coloured background.  The margins of the page can be white to create a border, and the text can ‘overflow’ onto the white border to create interest.

Sketch 7 (figure 15) is the same concept as sketch 6, but I can use my pencil sketches as a background to depict a sketchbook feel.  The opacity of the sketchbook drawings can be slightly transparent and against a bright background.  The guides (as used in the software) can be visible and extend beyond the margins to give a feel of the design process, giving the audience a peep behind the scene. 

Considering the magazine’s inside pages, my preferred choice is to go with sketch 6 or 7 because it focuses more on typography.  The background text in sketch 6 can give a preview of the text that will be seen inside and what’s to come.  Although sketch 7 is also a nice idea, the text size of the background and title is too similar.  If I make the background text of sketch 7 smaller, it might lose its effect and still not give a ‘preview’ of what can be seen when opening the magazine. I will choose sketch 6 as the cover design and create the inside pages to complement the cover.

I would like the size of the magazine to be the same size as a National Geographic magazine.  It is slightly wider and shorter than a regular A4. (figure 17)

11. Finishing the font

I  refined the font-sketch in Procreate to prepare it for the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator.  The pen tool is accurate and ensures correct proportions with crisp edges and beautiful rounded forms.

I then created the rest of the front cover and initially wanted to use three different typefaces for the wavy background, but the contrast between the typefaces took away from the smoothness of the waves, so I decided to stick with one font and use Baskerville.  Baskerville is one of my favourite fonts and creates a significantly beautiful body text. 

I want the type to integrate with the white border around the edge, so I changed the type to white.  This was a good decision because the type is now more visible when it flows over the big black letters.

I have now progressed onto the spread and inserted a picture from my sketchbook collection, appropriate for under the heading ‘How to construct a typeface’.  My main focus at this stage was to use my layout plan in figure 15 as a guide and place all my pictures and text to see how they fit and how much space they occupy.

There is no connection between the text on top of the arrow and the direction it is pointing at.  I  also need to resolve the ‘chessboard’ layout and see if I can create a layout that will draw in the eye by creating more of a hierarchy.

I designed the Baskerville and Courier specimen sheet in Adobe Illustrator by using a grid and setting the type according to the golden ratio; for example, the largest text is at 390 points (the large letter B) divided by 1,618 as many times until I find the next correct size.  I then keep dividing the point size by 1,618 until I get to the next optically attractive size, which is the word Baskerville at 92 points and the smaller text at 35 points.  I applied the golden ratio to all the point sizes in this magazine spread.

I decided not to use the Courier Specimen sheet for the spread but to have it as the back cover.  I already had so many different typefaces in the spread.  The layout appeared more attractive after removing the Courier Specimen.  I also divided the Didot/Fatface typeface insert into two pieces to get a different size rectangle for a wider variety of shapes and removed the arrow and highlighted effects. 

I created a black oval with the text ‘Typefaces Today’ to draw the viewers’ eyes and indicate where to start reading.  I aimed to keep a comfortable reading order by spacing the columns to flow into one another and having the appropriate visual picture close to its description.

The cover consists of yellow background with a white border and text that flows across the page. The typeface is Baskerville regular at 18 points.

The heading is Adelle Light at 27.5pt and Adelle Semibold at 27.5pt. The subheadings are in Adelle Condensed Bold at 17 pt and the body text is in Adelle Sans Regular at 10,5pt. I have also used Adelle typeface for the page numbers, date and name of the magazine at the bottom.

Overall the project was challenging, and I have learned a great deal about typography and working with publishing software.  It was interesting to learn how to design type.  I have learned about the ‘colour’ of a typeface, volume, spacing and proportion.

Drawing each letter in my sketchbook has given me a better understanding of how letters are constructed.  I have learned how to use the golden ratio to determine the point size of my text and how to pair fonts choosing the correct font for the heading, subheading, and body text.

At the beginning of this section, I only had a vague idea of how to use Adobe InDesign, but now I can use InDesign confidently and have learned about the parent page, links, placing text, working with guides, and measuring your spacing, columns and margins, and many more.

This was an intense part of Graphic Design, but I am pleased that I have learned so much already and am looking forward to the final stretch of Part 5.

Works Cited

Barber, K. (2020). Lettering Manual. California, New York: Watson Guptill.

Nordquist, R. (2018, July 19). Question mark definition and examples. Retrieved from Thought Co.: https://www.thoughtco.com/question-mark-punctuation-1691711#:~:text=Supposedly%2C%20in%20the%20Middle%20Ages,a%20recognizably%20modern%20question%20mark.%22

Lupton, E. (2010). Thinking with type. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.