Question 1
Define the term “typography” in your own words.
Typography is the arrangement of type on a paper or other mediums. It’s the decisions made for how the text your working with should look, for example the kerning, weight, letter spacing etc.
Write a few sentences explaining what typography is not.
Typography is not the creation of letters one by one.
for example if you were to use a stick and write words into the sand on the beach that would not be typography, or if you make a decorative word by hand that’s not typography. As i understand it typography is when you have a typeface/font chosen and in use on any medium and you format that text for legibility or some other reason.
Find a case study on a certain typeface development.
I found some case studies on the typeface especially designed for AirBnb, the typeface is called Cereal.
https://airbnb.design/introducing-airbnb-cereal/
https://airbnb.design/working-type/
https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/airbnbs-new-typeface-is-a-case-study-in-unified-accessible-design/
The font is actually made for the purpose of being suited for all kinds of use. AirBnb wanted a typeface they could use from the smallest area in UI to the biggest billboard in the city.
The typeface is made scalable from the start, so depending on size and weight the typeface is designed to work. It’s not one font scaled bigger or smaller every change to it’s size has been designed with purpose.
From the ligatures being designed to separate for example the “c” from the “e” with ease even in small sizes makes it easier for the reader, you might not think about it but words with a lot of similarities like “Illinois” makes our brain work harder to read, so to have small design changes that makes it easier for us to read makes a lot of sense.
They also worked a lot on the x-height of the typeface finding the right size. With a higher x-height you minimize the difference in height between an ascender like “f” and other letters like the “ox” in the word fox. This also helps the typeface to look bigger and be more legible in when displayed in really small sizes.
They also spent a lot of time figuring out the perfect weight for the “book” version of the typeface. Since a big problem on especially UI is that fonts with to little weight tend to disappear and be hard to extinguish. So with the challenge to have a typeface that could be used on a massive billboard physically but also be seen on a small resolution screen online they made a lot of testing. They have this fun page where you can test the typeface and play around with it.
Question 2
Document one day of your life acting as an observer of typographic design. Produce a comprehensive diary of the typographic experience of your day from first thing in the morning to last thing at night.
Keep this diary within a research folder or sketchbook. You should be prepared to use photography, photocopying and other means where necessary to evidence what you find, as well as collecting first-hand examples of typographic design.
Make notes or comments to reflect on what you have collected and documented. Your notes should help you to consider what kind of design it is that you are recording.
Question 3
Complete the exercise files that came with the Lynda video Indesign Typography. Upload them to WordPress.
Use your design software to design a newspaper front page. Pay special attention to typography (size, leading, column width, etc.).
newspapa PDF.
Use your design software to design a double-page spread (DPS) for your favourite magazine.
I don’t really have a favorite magazine so i decided to go with Kingsize magazine. It’s a Swedish music/hip-hop focused magazine. Since this is focused on Typography i did not find the most optimized images for the project i hope that is ok!
magazineDPS PDF.
MARTIN ENGVALL 