Advanced Typography - Final Project

23.06.2020 - 14.07.2020 (Week 11 - Week 14)
Wong Kai Yi (0340236)
Advanced Typography
Final Project

1. LECTURE

No lectures

2. INSTRUCTIONS

23.06.2020 (Week 11)

Ideation for Final Project

Fig 1.1 Final Project Ideas

I came up with multiple ideas. After receiving feedback from Mr Vinod and Mr Shamsul, I decided to go with the Black Lives Matter movement, to make a protest font (idea 8) for this purpose. I did some research on this movement, mainly the protest signs and significant symbols.

Below is the compilation of images, inspired artwork and symbols.

30.06.2020 (Week 12)

Fig 1.2 Black Lives Matter inspiration

I decided to make a font which has a brush effect. Initially, I tried using the brush in Adobe Illustrator to draw some letters. However, they did not work out as it does not look natural. Then, I did some trials writing with Chinese ink on paper. After taking the images, I changed the brightness and contrast of the images.

Fig 1.3 Fist artwork

Fig 1.4 Black Lives artwork

Fig 1.5 Matter #BLM artwork

Fig 1.6 Letters "A" to "Q"

Fig 1.7 Letters "R" to "Z"

After importing them into Adobe Illustrator, I did image trace and made some slight adjustments. Here are a few examples of the letters and logo after image trace.

Fig 1.8 Fist (vector)

Fig 1.9 Combined Black Lives Matter #BLM quote (vector)

07.07.2020 (Week 13)

I done small caps in Adobe Illustrator, with a hash and fist symbol. This is version 1.0. There were some problems with the uppercase letters, so I did the small caps first.

Fig 1.10 Image trace of letters

Fig 1.11 Compilations of letters

14.07.2020 (Week 14)

I added punctuation, numbers and some commonly used symbols in protests. I refined the font so that they have the same weight. I put it into Fontlab 7 and did some resizing and kerning.

Fig 1.12 Symbols and Numbers on Paper

Fig 1.13 Progress in Fontlab 7 - fist

Fig 1.14 Progress in Fontlab 7 - all the letters, numbers, punctuation, symbols

After that, I started working on the collateral. Initially I was doing merchandise, so Mr Vinod told me to focus on placards to show the beauty of the type.

Fig 1.15 Merchandise design 1

Fig 1.16 Merchandise design 2

Hence, I continued with protest placards.
Progress of the protest placards:

Fig 1.17 Progress on protest placards

After designing the placards, I took some photos of my brother holding a blank piece of blank cardboard. Then, I placed my design onto the image.

Below are some of the placards that weren't chosen for the final submission:

Fig 1.18 Protest Placard 1

Fig 1.19 Protest Placard 2

Fig 1.20 Protest Placard 3

Fig 1.21 Protest Placard 4

FINAL:
Font name: Protest
Font weight: Regular
Download the font here: Protest Regular Download

PNG:

Fig 1.22 Final Submission Font name: Protest Regular (PNG)

Fig 1.23 Final Submission Font name: Protest Regular (PNG)

PDF:

Fig 1.24 Final Submission Font name: Protest Regular (PDF)

Applications (Protest Placards)

Fig 1.25 Final Submission Protest Placard 1 (PNG)

Fig 1.26 Final Submission Protest Placard 2 (PNG)

Fig 1.28 Final Submission Protest Placard 3 (PNG)

Fig 1.28 Final Submission Protest Placard 4 (PNG)

Mock Ups:

Fig 1.29 Final Submission Protest Placard 1 Mock Up (PNG)

Fig 1.30 Final Submission Protest Placard 2 Mock Up (PNG)

Fig 1.31 Final Submission Protest Placard 3 Mock Up (PNG)

PDF:

Fig 1.32 Final Submission Compilation of Applications (PDF)

3. FEEDBACK

23.06.2020 (Week 11)

General feedback:

Design a font for a brand which can further establish the brand.

The purpose and problem has to be there. If you are designing a font which has been designed before, what makes yours different?

Specific feedback:

I showed an idea of a protest font with the most recent Black Lives Matter movement protest images. Mr Vinod suggested that I do one specifically for BLM. After looking at all of the 10 ideas, I can go with Black Lives Matter or the Wayang Kulit font.

30.06.2020 (Week 12)

General feedback:

My process is good.

Specific feedback:

Good process and presentation. You are on the right track. :') Can try to have glyph and ligatures such as double "T" or double "O", can input in empty cells, where the two can differ in size. Write a few for each letter and pick the best. Remember to have a guideline when you write. Can also add some more symbols (like the fist I have done).

07.07.2020 (Week 13)

General feedback: -

Specific feedback:

Can leave the small caps as normal caps, add numbers, punctuation, ligatures and commonly used symbols (around 10) in protest. The symbols can be made with strokes (like how I made for alphabets) instead of shapes.

14.07.2020 (Week 14)

General feedback: -

Specific feedback:

Facebook: Use only your type. Focus on the protest board only. Don’t cramp all the info on one. Select your lines and ... use them and set them well. Remember these don’t need to be overly “designed”. They just need to be set well and large.

(continuous feedback)

Keep the background black. Portrait. A3. Try longer quotes, keep at it. Explore. The protest placard needs to look as good as possible for your font to stand out. Focus on the type.

4. REFLECTION

23.06.2020 (Week 11) - 07.07.2020 (Week 13)

It is important to come up with multiple ideas and choose the best. This is because there are more options to pick from, where the best can be chosen instead of the only one that has been done. During the writing process of the individual letters, I learnt that patience is very important. The letters were not consistent, so I have to write multiple times until I am satisfied with the outcome. Although it was a long process, it was fun and interesting as I could see my artwork becoming a font.

14.07.2020 (Week 14)

When designing the placards, it was quite a challenge for me as I wanted them to be filled with words. Some words were too short and some were too long to fit well into the placard as I was limited to doing A3 portrait. Hence, I had to look online for a lot of protest signs to get the slogans and filter them out later on. It was an eye opening experience as while I was looking at the placards, I was amazed at the designs and variations. This has led me to be more patient when designing.

5. FURTHER READING

23.06.2020 (Week 11) - 30.06.2020 (Week 12)

Title:
Playing with Type : 50 Graphic Experiments for Exploring Typographic Design Principles by Lara McCormick

Fig 1.39 Playing with Type (front)

Branding with type:
Brand a business / movement by using a typeface
The typeface is to be applied in unique ways to fit the client’s needs.

Questions to ask when branding:

Who? (audience)
What? (design strategy)
What? (platforms the brand will be implemented)

It is important to research on typefaces before using them, especially their origins by looking at specimen books and type foundry websites. A type that fits the flavor of the brand has to be selected. Sometimes, designers can consider to make slight changes to an existing typeface so that it can be customized.

07.07.2020 (Week 13) - 14.07.2020 (Week 14)

Title: Playing with Color : 50 Graphic Experiments for Exploring Color Design Principles by Richard Mehl

Fig 1.40 Playing with Color (front)

The joy of seeing color in nature:
Color is everywhere, wherever we go, especially nature. Often times, we do not realize the beauty of color theory in nature as it has become so normal for us to appreciate. Color palettes can be taken from an image taken in nature, as the combinations always look soothing to the eyes. On the other hand, the beautiful combination of colors are seen throughout our everyday lives, in malls, on roads and everywhere we go.

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Wong Kai Yi (0340236)