Typography Task 2: Text Formatting and Expression

May 11, 2023

14th May 2023 - 28th May 2023 / Week 6 - Week 8

Asma' Binti Mohd Jailani / 0354335

Typography / Bachelor of Mass Communication (Honours) / Taylor's University Lakeside Campus

Task 2: Text Formatting and Expression



LECTURES

Click here to refer to Task 1



INTRODUCTION


<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfFqRrEzF6Q-N12eVOfg8dBYE-KeK169/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>


TASK 2: TEXT FORMATTING AND EXPRESSION


For Task 2, we were given three editorial text options

  1. The role of Bauhaus thought on modern culture 
  2. A code to build on and live by
  3. Unite to visualise a better world

After viewing the samples given by Mr Vinod, I figured that the Bauhaus option would likely require a fair bit more thought with the implementation of shapes and design into the headline, which I didn't fancy very much. While I liked the message behind option #3, I decided to go with #2 as I had a clearer vision of what exactly I wanted my headline to look like with that one. 

For #2, I was very fixated on the idea of a barcode for the headline. While some could argue that this may be misleading, due to the body text talking about a code of ethics rather than a literal bar code, I felt that this was fitting as a barcode was an indication of commercialisation and materialism - something which the body text is trying to warn designers against in favour of staying true to ones morals and ethics. Call it poetic irony, if you will. 


Figure 1.1: Barcode references


However, my first two drafts were rather... experimental, to say the least. 

Figure 1.1: Draft 1 (12/5/23)

Figure 1.2: Draft 2 (12/5/23)


Draft 1 is decidedly more experimental in comparison to Draft 2, and stems from the Youtube sample that Mr Vinod provided, where he turned the body text sideways. While Draft 1 does look like a barcode, the readability of it is decidedly abysmal, and it's difficult to fit all the body text into the page spread. Draft 2 was my tamer attempt at making the headline look like a barcode, but Mr Vinod said that it did not achieve its goal. It was back to the drawing board. 

I was still determined to go with my barcode idea. After brainstorming a bit more and drafting up a few attempts, I finally settled on these two options:

Figure 1.4: Headline drafts (19/5/23)


I decided that I liked the way the bottom option looked, and decided to go with that.

Figure 1.5: Draft 3 (19/5/23)


Out of all my headline drafts, this one looked the most like a proper barcode. However, Mr Vinod said that he didn't quite understand the positioning of the headline, and suggested two options:
  • Upscale the headline so it fills the whole space
  • Or bring the headline to the left and bring the byline on the top right to the left page, so it becomes like a subheading
I decided to go with the first suggestion, before settling on what would be my final submission.


Final Submission

Margins: 10mm (Top + Bottom + Left + Right)
Columns: 2
Gutter: 7mm

Head
Font: Univers LT Std / 53 Extended / 49 Light Ultra Condensed / 59 Ultra Condensed
Type Size: 84.996 pt / 283.321 pt / 53.831 pt

Body
Font: Gill Sans Std (Regular/Bold)
Type Size: 10.5 pt / 13 pt / 18 pt
Leading: 12.5 pt
Paragraph Spacing: 12.5 pt
Characters per line: 55
Alignment: left alignment



Figure 1.6: Final Submission JPG (26/5/23)

Figure 1.7: Final Submission PDF (26/5/23)

Figure 1.8: Final Submission w/ Grids JPG (26/5/23)

Figure 1.9: Final Submission w/ Grids PDF (26/5/23)



FEEDBACK

Week 6

General Feedback
  • Align to baseline grid
  • Be careful not to let words from the text be confused as part of the headline
  • Having the same body text in different line lengths is a big no no. 
  • Be sure not to place body text in the gutter between pages, as the text will become unreadable
  • No graphical elements allowed
  • Don’t express too many things at once in your headline; gets confusing
  • Design that is simple yet effective is best

Specific Feedback
  • Point size is a bit too large, leads to inconsistent ragging
  • Not allowed to alter text, keep sentences within their designated paragraphs
  • Type expression for headline doesn’t work, time to redraft

Week 7

General Feedback
  • pick 4 letters (one capital, one with an ascender, one with a descender, and one that simply rests within the x-height)
  • If a font is too expressive, it gets in the way of communication - it becomes a display typeface
  • Download FontLab7 later, the demo version only lasts a month

Specific Feedback
  • Two options for Task 2 headline:
  • Upscale the headline so it fills the whole space
  • Or bring the headline to the left and bring the byline on the top right to the left page, so it becomes like a subheading


REFLECTIONS

Experience
Surprisingly, I found this task more difficult than anticipated. I think it was due to the disconnect between the idea I had in mind and actually being able to execute it well. But I was persistent, and finally managed to come up with a headline that I was satisfied with. After that, formatting the rest of the body text was an admittedly simple job. 

Observations
Something that stuck out to me was what Mr Vinod said during one of our feedback sessions, and that was: Design that is simple yet effective is best. I think many of my classmates bought into the idea that to make a headline stand out, it needed to be flashy and louder than life. Admittedly, I had been swayed by that notion too, but I think I'll be switching up my approach for the upcoming tasks. 

Findings
Similarly to the first task, I was once again exposed to how vital a role typography plays in our daily lives, and how the more skilled the application of it, the more people don't notice the amount of thought that actually goes into formatting text and paragraphs. People only tend to notice typography or a a lack of good typography when it is poorly done, but when it's executed right? It's simply taken for granted. 


FURTHER READING



Figure 2.1: Computer Typography Basics, 2003 David Creamer


Much like the title implies, this book seeks to cover the basics of typography and its applications via computers.

For as long as the act of typography has existed, the first goal of typography has always been readability. It doesn’t matter how pretty a page layout is or how unique the font is, if it has failed in its primary purpose of conveying information. As soon as one chooses a font or adjusts the margins to create white space, that person becomes a designer, even if it's something as simple as writing a report. 

The book then goes on to describe the different types of fonts and their categories. The author uses these expanded categories as a jumping off platform to clarify further differences in:
  • Serif
  • Sans Serif
  • Mono-Spaced
  • Display
  • Script
  • Text
  • Dingbats

For instance, serif fonts are the most common text or “body” copy font. They come in three sub-categories: Oldstyle, Modern and Square Serif

On the other hand, Text fonts are based on hand-drawn letters made by early monks for religious books, and have an “Old-World” feel to them. They are mostly used for certificates and invitations, and should NEVER  be used in all caps.

In the Font Styles and Families section, something which I found interesting was how the book talks about how not all fonts were designed to be used in bold and italic versions. When a computer tries to make a font bolder when that font has NO bold or italic version, you run the risk of distorting the original characters. 

The term “font families” refers to fonts of the same design, but with a difference in weight from one font to another. As previously mentioned, many fonts only come in one weight - plain. However, many body-copy fonts are available in:

  • Plain (or Roman)
  • Italic (usually a Serif font) or oblique (usually a Sans Serif font)
  • Bold, and 
  • Bold italic or bold oblique

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