Advanced Typography - Task 1 : Exercises

22/04/2025 - 14/04/2025 (Week 1 - Week 4)

Cindy Noverin / 0376409

Advanced Typography / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media / Taylors University

Task 1 : Exercise 1


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Lectures

Instructions

Feedback

Reflection

Further Reading


LECTURES

AdTypo_1_Typographic Systems

explains that all design is based on a structural system and according to Elam 2007 there are eight major variations of structural system which is :

  • axial  = elements are organized to the left or right of a single axis
  • radial = all elements are extended from a point of focus
  • dilation = all elements expand from a central point in a circular fashion
  • random = elements appear to have no specific pattern or relationship
  • grid = system of vertical and horizontal divisions
  • transitional = informal system of layer banding (its on top and bottom of eachother but doesnt have to be the heading first)
  • modular = a series of non objective elements that are constructed in as a standardised units
  • bilateral = all text is arranged symmetrically on a single axis


AdvTypo_2_Typographic Composition

typographic composition


Design Principles Applied to Type

  • Common design principles like emphasis, symmetry, alignment, and repetition are used.
  • Some (e.g. emphasis and symmetry) translate well to type layout.
  • Others (e.g. perspective, repetition) are harder to apply directly
  • Rule of Third  =  not often used in typography but may help with placement of important content in a layout.


Typographic Systems (8 total)

  • The Grid System (or Raster System) is the most used. It comes from letterpress printing and was developed further by Swiss Modernists (e.g., Josef Müller-Brockmann).
  • It's modular, versatile, and easy to read—ideal for structured layouts.


Postmodern Typographic Systems

  • Rebelled against order with chaos, randomness, and asymmetry.
  • These designs still considered structure and intuition—they just presented it differently.


Environmental Grid System

  • Based on real-world structures (buildings, interiors, etc.).
  • Designers extract lines and curves from these environments and use them as a base for layouts.
  • This system adds context, identity, and visual uniqueness to designs.
  • It’s a reductionist and intuitive approach to layout, unique to the subject or organization.

AdvTypo_3_Context&Creativity

Handwriting is crucial in the study of typography as it influenced the design of the first mechanically produced letter forms

Early type aimed to imitate handwriting, establishing standards for form, spacing, and conventions.

Historical Context of Handwriting
  • The evolution of the Latin alphabet dates back to 1750 BCE, originating from proto-Sinaitic letter forms and hieroglyphics.
  • The Phoenician alphabet marked a significant shift from pictorial representation to sound-based writing, influencing Greek and Latin alphabets.
  • Cuneiform, used around 3400 BCE, was one of the earliest writing systems, characterized by wedge-shaped forms pressed into clay.
Influence of Egyptian Writing
  • Egyptian hieroglyphics combined ideograms and phonetic characters, contributing to the development of alphabetic systems.
  • The influence of Egyptian writing on Greek and other scripts is often overlooked in Western narratives.
Development of the Greek and Roman Alphabets
  • The Greek alphabet evolved from the Phoenician system, introducing vowels and developing unique reading rhythms.
  • Roman letters, influenced by Greek inscriptions, became more rounded and humanistic over time, leading to the development of lowercase Roman type.
The Carolingian Handwriting Reform

  • Under Charlemagne, the Carolingian minuscule standardized writing conventions, including spacing and punctuation, during a period of cultural stagnation in Europe.
  • This reform laid the groundwork for modern European scripts.
Movable Type and Printing Innovations
  • Movable type was pioneered in China and Korea, with significant advancements occurring in the late 14th century.
  • The introduction of Hangul in Korea allowed for phonetic representation, contrasting with the complex character systems of Chinese writing.
Eastern Contributions to Writing Systems
  • The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) script, dating back to 3500-2000 BCE, remains undeciphered but is believed to have influenced later scripts.
  • The Brahmi script, developed around 450-350 BCE, is foundational for many modern Indian scripts and influenced Southeast Asian writing systems.
Southeast Asian Writing Systems
  • Indian scripts, particularly the Pallava script, significantly influenced writing systems across Southeast Asia.
  • the Kawi script, indigenous to Java, served as a medium for communication among ancient kingdoms.
Modern Context and Opportunities
  • There is a growing recognition of the importance of indigenous scripts and the need to digitize and preserve them.
  • The rise of local programmers and designers is facilitating the creation of multi-script typefaces that incorporate vernacular languages.


AdTypo_4_Designing Type

there are two reasons for designing typefaces, by designer Sega Dupreeh, Which is : 
  - Social Responsibility: Type design has a moral obligation to improve legibility and fulfill specific needs.
  - Artistic Expression: Designers have an intrinsic desire to express themselves through their work.

Social Responsibility in Type Design
- Designers must recognize and address needs or problems in typography.
- The importance of clarity in the purpose of a typeface is emphasized, as it guides the design process.

Notable Type Designers
- Adrian Frutiger: Known for the Frutiger typeface, designed for the Charles de Gaulle Airport in 1968. The typeface aimed for high legibility in various conditions, including poor lighting.
- Matthew Carter: Created Verdana for Microsoft, focusing on legibility on screens, especially at small sizes. He also designed Bell Centennial, which addressed printing challenges in telephone directories.
- Edward Johnston: Designed the Johnston Sans typeface for the London Underground, aiming to unify various signage and create a modern yet traditional look.
 
Design Process and Considerations 
- The design process involves research, sketching, digitization, testing, and deployment.
- Understanding type history, anatomy, and conventions is crucial for effective type design.
- Sketching can be done traditionally or digitally, each with its pros and cons.

Testing and Prototyping  
- Rigorous testing is essential to refine and correct typefaces before deployment.
- Feedback from stakeholders is vital to ensure the typeface meets its intended purpose.

Construction of Typefaces  
- Roman capitals are constructed using grids and circles, which help in creating letter forms.
- Visual corrections, such as ink traps and spacing adjustments, are necessary for legibility.

 
  

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INSTRUCTIONS



For this exercise, we are assigned to  explore 8 systems which are Axial, Radial, Dilatational, Random, Grid, Modular, Transitional and Bilateral in InDesign using the content given in the MIB. We were also instructed to watch the InDesign demonstration videos in the lecture playlist.
- Size 200 x 200 mm
- Colours: Black and additional colour
- Minor graphical elements

the template

"The Design School,
Taylor’s University
All Ripped Up: Punk Influences on Design

Open Public Lectures:
June 24, 2021
Lew Pik Svonn, 9AM-10AM
Ezrena Mohd., 10AM-11AM
Suzy Sulaiman, 11AM-12PM
June 25, 2021
Lim Whay Yin, 9AM-10AM
Fahmi Reza, 10AM-11AM
Manish Acharia, 11AM-12PM

Lecture Theatre 12"

My attempt on axial

I tried to check past students reference and books that are provided by Mr. Vinod, I first arranged the content on my first attempt, then rotated it. I was thinking to give it a little contrast by putting the black area on the left side, but after the feedback session, Mr. Vinod said that the black is very distracting and unnecessary so I changed into dashed outline.
fig.2.1.1. Axial Progress, Week 2 (29/04/25)
fonts used : 
ITC New Baskerville Std (Bold, Roman)


My attempt on bilateral

while looking at some reference provided, I arranged it with center alignment and put it a little bit to the left side so I could put the elements, like the circle, at first I feel like the circle is too overwhelming so I toned it down a little by lowering its opacity. after the feedback session, turns out I dont need the circle at all so I removed it and rearranged it. 

fig.2.1.2. Bilateral Progress, Week 2 (29/04/25)
fonts used 
Futura std (heavy, Book)

My attempt on Modular system 

till this moment, I'm still not sure how the modular words, I thought I got it at first by arranging it per square, but it still doesn't look like a modular system so I redo the position and I ended up with the final result.

fig.2.1.3. Modular Progress, Week 2 (29/04/25)
fonts used : 
Futura std (heavy, heavy oblique,  Book)

My attempt on Random System

at first I was thinking to use the unused dilatational title into the random and complete it with other unaligned words and elements from other system aswell, but it still looks organized so I redo the whole thing

first I make a random scribble path and put the option type on path, then I put the other information randomly and with different colour and group it to duplicate it as a group multiple times and play with the opacity. 


fig.2.1.4. Random Progress, Week 2 (29/04/25)
Fonts used
Futura std (heavy, heavy oblique,  Book)
ITC New Baskerville Std (Bold, Roman)
Bembo (bold)

My attempt on Grid System

out of all the system i'd say that the grid system is the easiest. I just position them in lines that I created and put a little of elements. but when it was feedback session, Mr. Vinod said that the information of the time and lecturer is a little bit unclear so I fixed that and put some finishing touches.
fig.2.1.5. Grid Progress, Week 2 (29/04/25)
fonts used : 
Futura std (Bold, Medium, Book)

My attempt on Dilatational system

this system is one that I take so much effort on, I first thought of repeating the tittle but I cancel the idea because it looks messier than I thought, I also thought of making the dilatational shaped form a shape of a electric guitar but scrapped the idea because it will make the information looks complicated and all over the place. 

I decided to start all over again with creating multiple circle to put the text on, arranged it so the information is easy to read and added elements of the multiple lines. If you look at it again, it would somehow look like a punk hair. :D

fig.2.1.6. Dilatational Progress, Week 2 (29/04/25)
fonts used : 
ITC New Baskerville Std (Bold, Roman)

My attempt on Transitional System

I first try to do something interesting with the title, by creating outlines for it and connecting the letter, cause punk have a correlation with rock or metal music, I thought of stretching the n to make it look like a thunder, although people cannot see It that much. after creating them, I added the "all ripped up :" and other information and arranged it to follow the flow of the decorated title and thats it.
fig.2.1.7. Transational Progress, Week 2 (29/04/25)

fonts used : 
Univers lt std (roman, bold)

My attempt on Radial System

radial system is the most troublesome for me, I wonder why Indesign wouldn't create a shortcut to arrange the text radially, through out the process, all I do is just selecting and rotating the text, trying my best that the rotation point is perfectly in the middle of the circle so that it doesn't look off, I also don't know whats the best way to arrange them so I just put it wherever I want and for the time and lecturer name, I decided to arrange it like a thunder too but it didn't look that visible.

fig.2.1.8. Radial Progress, Week 2 (29/04/25)
fonts used : 
Futura std (Bold, Book)


Final Result before Feedback

fig.2.1.9. Final 8 System before Feedback, Week 2 (30/04/25)



Final Result after Feedback

fig.2.1.10. Final 8 System after feedback, Week 2 (30/04/25)


Exercise 1 Final Result 


fig.2.1.11. Axial typography system, Week 2 (30/04/25)

fig.2.1.12. Radial typography system, Week 2 (30/04/25)


fig.2.1.13. Transitional typography system, Week 2 (30/04/25)

fig.2.1.14. dilatational typography system, Week 2 (30/04/25)

fig.2.1.15. Grid typography system, Week 2 (30/04/25)

fig.2.1.16. bilateral typography system, Week 2 (30/04/25)

fig.2.1.17. modular typography system, Week 2 (30/04/25)

fig.2.1.18. random typography system, Week 2 (30/04/25)


fig.2.1.19. all compiled 8 system without grid - PDF , Week 2 (30/04/25)


fig.2.1.20. all compiled 8 system with grid - PDF , Week 2 (30/04/25)

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Exercise 2 : Type & Play: Finding Type

Research
Fig.2.2.2. Research pictures in Pinterest, Week 3 (05/05/2025)

fig.2.2.3. Research Pictures, Week 3 (05/05/2025)


I tried to look for lots of picture that has pattern or repetition in it. I was thinking to do fries but I feel like it would be too basic, then I thought of using light that reflects of a stained windows, then stuck with using albalone shell or some other language says its paua shell.

This may contain: an image of some very pretty blue and green things in the water that is close together
fig.2.2.4.Image choosen, Week 3 (05/05/2025)

fig.2.2.5. letter extraction, Week 3 (05/05/2025)

fig.2.2.6. refining letter part 1, Week 3 (05/05/2025)

when first drew the letters that I found in procreate then extracted it in illustrator. I then smoothen the path and start to find the reference font that I could use to form the letters. I ended up using Futura Std Bold as my reference font.

fig.2.2.7. refining letter part 2,Week 3 (05/05/2025)

I adjusted the letters again according to my reference font and and added uneven white lines inside the letters to give it a characteristics of an albalone/paua shell. I asked my sister for feedback and she said it looks inconsistent but I ignored her. 

fig.2.2.8. refining letter final before feedback, Week 3 (05/05/2025)

after feedback session, I adjusted some things which is balancing the wavy-ness of the letters and adding more white lines inside to add more of the paua shell's characteristics (turns out it is inconsistent :p )

fig.2.2.9. Refining letters after feedback, Week 3 (07/05/2025)



Final typeface
fig.2.2.10. final letters result , Week 3 (07/05/2025)


Poster making Process 


I jumped through 2 app just to adjust to which that I could use to make poster and I ended up using illustrator. I was thinking to make the poster  based on the word that I could form like "oh paus" or "paua" but I felt like it wouldn't work so I searched again for a picture of the shell itself, because there's rarely any hd pictures of albalone shell, It really took me a long time to find the paua/albalone shell. 

fig.2.2.11. first poster idea , Week 3 (07/05/2025)

fig.2.2.12. paua shell reference , Week 3 (07/05/2025)

then I finally found one thats decent and not much going on around it so i can edit it however i want. I came up with the idea of the shell just alone in a white background. so I look up something similar to what my vision is and start replicating it

fig.2.2.13. Image reference , Week 3 (07/05/2025)
source : https://learn.zoner.com/how-to-shoot-products-on-white-backgrounds/

I didn't document much of the progress but I did lots of googling on a better movie poster  layout and I ended up with this one, I added shadow, then a faint reflection by duplicating it and adding another shape of it, making it the same color as the background, and adjusted the opacity.  to make it less plain, I added noise filter for texture

fig.2.2.14. poster result 1, Week 3 (10/05/2025)

after the last class feedback where I used the gradient as the final typeface, Mr. Vinod Recommend me to put the gradient later on in the poster so for finishing touch, I worked on the gradient for the poster

fig.2.2.15. Final Poster Result , Week 4 (13/05/2025)

when its feedback session, Mr. Vinod is quite confused on what the picture is but he said I did good with the overall mock up poster and I could end the work here.

Exercise 2 - Final Result

fig.2.2.16. Image and Extraction, Week 4 (18/05/2025)

fig.2.2.17. Refining Letters Process, Week 4 (18/05/2025)


fig.2.2.18. Extracted letterforms w/baseline, Week 4 (18/05/2025)


fig.2.2.19. Reference Font , Futura Std Bold , Week 4 (18/05/2025)

fig.2.2.20. Final Letterform , Week 4 (18/05/2025)

fig.2.2.21. original extraction(top) & final letterforms(bottom) comparison, Week 4 (18/05/2025)


fig.2.2.22. Exercise 2 Part 1 compilation - PDF, Week 4 (18/05/2025)

fig.2.2.23. Final Movie Poster - JPEG, Week 4 (18/05/2025)

fig.2.2.24. Final Movie Poster-PDF , Week 4 (18/05/25)


FEEDBACK

Week 1 
General Feedback : 
Mr. Vinod brief us about the module and the upcoming task that we'll be expecting, we also got a short explanations about the Typographic System Definition and His

Week 2
General Feedback : 
we had a feedback session for our 8 typograpic system and explanation about our week 2 assignments
Specific feedback : 
the black half is not great contrast for axial, the the transational is okay, the grid is good but the information is a little bit unclear because of the bold. the radial is good, the dilatational is the best he had seen, the modular cannot be said as modular, and the circle in bilateral is distracting.

Week 3 
General Feedback :
we had a feedback session, where he said mostly is that there need to be consistentcy and characteristics of the objects
Specific Feedback : 
Mr. Vinod said that overal shapes is good but inconsistent. i either need to wave it more or smoothen it more, i also could make more lines inside of the letters instead of the gradient

Week 4
general feedback : 
when creating a layout we set the margins, information below us not a decoration and its supposed to be readable
Specific Feedback : 
good job



REFLECTION

Experience
my experience during the first 4 weeks of typography is overwhelming for me. especially when theres 4 other module I'm taking this semester. I underestimated the assignments and wasted a lot of time procrastinating. Even so, It's quite fun learning about the typographic system, making letters, and making mock up posters

Observation
when listening to feedbacks, I realize that I sometimes forgot the slightest details needed in making a work works. I also realize that elements in typographic designs are supposed to be used to lead viewer to the content instead of distracting the viewer to look at the elements instead

Findings
I found that there could be a lot of things that can be turned into a typeface. and the process of making a typeface itself requires a lot of research and revising. so does doing the 8 typographic system where I really need to understand it to be able to implement it.


FURTHER READING

Typographic System by Kimberly Elam


from this book by Kimberly Elam about typographic system, I got a lot of inspiration and reference from it, especially for the first few attempts to make the typographic system for Axial, Radial, and Dilatational.

Kreatif Beats by Vinod Nair


Nair, V. (2023, December 13). Finding Type: A novel typographic exercise. +. https://kreatifbeats.com/2023/08/06/finding-type-a-novel-typographic-exercise/


I used the website provided by Mr. Vinod to guide me through my typeface refining process, and took a lot of reference from the pictures that are provided there, like the typeface thats made from tree branches and the butterfly poster with "bread" as it's title




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