9/29/11 Typography Readings

In the "11 Essential Tips For Good Print Typography" it was listed first, and I found it the most useful out of all the tips on the list. Its so obvious that we often forget how useful it is.

Another reading I found useful was the reading on "Choosing Type Combinations." Its main point is to "follow the Holy Font Guideline #1 when choosing different typefaces for a piece: Concord or contrast, but don’t conflict. That is, either stick with different styles in the same typeface family (concord), or choose completely different faces (contrast). Do not choose typefaces that are similar (conflict)." This of course only makes sense if you know your font families (modern, sans serif, etc.), which the reading includes in the explanation of font guideline.

The "Five Simple Steps to Better Typography" discusses the relationship between measure and leading. A simple rule they propose is "Small Measure, less leading. Wide Measure, more leading." So far, I think this will be the most helpful in fine tuning my typography skills. They also discuss hanging punctuation, an example of which might be when all the texts from a bulleted list starts at the same margin. It is something that always bothers me when making and viewing layout that I haven't been able to put a name to. I would definitely recommend reading that whole series.

There really is a lot more to typography than just picking fonts, aligning them and sizing them. I really am excited to fine tune these skills and learn more about this aspect of design.

For my design example, I chose this poster about conserving water by Maxime Delporte of France. I really like the mostly monochrome color scheme, as blue is the color mostly associated with water. Even though not all water looks blue, it is the color most positively associated with water. The left aligned message uses a bold font and unusual line breaks for emphasis while not overshadowing the background figure. The background figure uses shading to give 3 dimensional depth the the h's and o's that make up the two human figures. Many of the letters in the figure are cut off to make the shape more clean, but you can still tell which ones are which. All in all its an eye catching, well designed piece with a great message behind it.

Design Brief 2

I really don't have too many concerns about Design Brief 2. I have used InDesign for many other classes and have become comfortable with the software. I learned from Design Brief 1 to expect a lot of variety, and I am excited to see how my classmates interpret the assignment. I hope to learn more about typography through this assignment- how font choice, line spacing, sizing and so on created a tone for the piece.

From A to Z

Initially I had listed a variety of possible audiences, from businessmen to the homeless to tourists. Though very different, all these people have one thing in common- they are going somewhere.
My first designs were very modern looking, and I realized I wasn’t designing as much for the people as I was for the city setting. My final design aims to incorporate both. I kept the thick, modern capital A’s and incorporated motion. By stretching and angling the A’s a zig-zag motion is created. I also threw in a double meaning with the letters themselves. The A’s form a Z, subtly telling the transit riders that they can take them anywhere in the city from A to Z.
As mentioned before, I learned the importance of designing for an audience rather than a location. People react to design, not concrete.

Fountain

Initially, I had not planned on creating a tile for a fountain. This tile was created under the context of a transit station- modern and geometric to appeal to urban citizens. When we shared the tiles in class this ended up on the fountain table and it made a lot more sense there. It has a fountain feel to it, rotating from a central point. But because it still has the thick, blocky letters from its transit roots it is has an interesting feel to it. Some might find it has a Native American with the star-like pattern in the middle, or even find that it resembles the sun.
From the creation of this tile I learned a second (or third) opinion can be extremely helpful. The artists vision can be very different from the audience’s perception. From now on I will definitely seek out the opinions of others before finalizing any work.

Two Audiences, Two Images

My blog entry for this section was not very detailed. I listed children, their families and various hospital workers. As I got to thinking about the similarities and differences of these groups, I really just needed to focus on two audiences- children and adults.
I came up with a very simple looking design that can be perceived as two entirely different images and evoke entirely different emotions. A child looking at this picture would see the Q’s as balloons or lollipops, both very happy objects. Adults on the other hand can pick out a more complex scene. The smaller Q is meant to represent a child and the bigger Q and adult caring for them. That adult could be a nurse, doctor or family member. The picture is meant to calm the viewer, remind them that the patient is in good hands.
From creating this tile I learned that simple images can be powerful. I learned that the slightest change in positioning can completely change the message of an image. If I had realized this sooner I could have saved myself a lot of time.

Figure and Ground

The simplest way to describe figure and ground is a foreground and background relationship. Figure being foreground and ground being background. But there is a lot more to it than that. Describing it in fore/background terms gives the impression that figure is more important that ground, which is absolutely not the case. You can not have one without the other, and good design work makes every decision with that in mind. A classic example of this relationship is the vase/kissing faces graphic. Each picture plays the roll of figure and ground depending on how you focus on the object.

I have already noticed myself using this idea in my work, making arranging my letters to make shapes and patterns with both the letters themselves and the surrounding white space.

Design Brief 1- 9/13/11

For my first context I chose the transit station. I liked the idea of creating work for a space that would have a wide variety of viewers... business people commuting to work, students of all ages on the way to school, the homeless, transit workers, as well as people visiting the city.

For my second context I chose the zoo. When I think of the zoo, the first thing I think of is an elementary school field trip... so teachers, their students and parent chaperons are a major audience. But these children might also visit the zoo with their families on the weekend, which brings in children older or younger than elementary school aged, as well as parents and grandparents. Let's not forget people of any age who just love and are fascinated by animals... these people might work at the zoo, or just visiting. And of course the animals themselves, they're smarter than we think.

My last context is the children's hospital. The obvious audience are the children and their close families, but doctors, nurses, janitors, and other hospital workers would see the tiles as well.

Here are three tiles I made with the transit station in mind: