Core Concepts- Exercise 15: If the Face Fits
Create your own sample book of typefaces on your computer that you can refer to. Organise them into:
• Serif for continuous text; readable at small sizes and those suitable for headings.
• San-serif for continuous text; readable at small sizes and for headings.
• Script fonts that look handwritten with a pen or brush.
• Decorative fonts only suitable for headings or ‘fun’ uses.
• Fixed width, techno and pixel fonts for use on the web or to give a computer appearance
Now identify which fonts you might use in each of the following commissions:
• A short story in a woman’s magazine entitled “I thought I loved him; now I’m not so sure”. The story is 1300 words long so you will need to identify a text font and a headline font.
• An advertisement in a parish magazine asking for more helpers on the flower rota. The finished size is A6 landscape and the text reads: “Can you add that important artistic flourish to our church? We desperately need more volunteers to join the flower rota. If you can help or would like more information please contact Jennie jennie@vicarage.co.uk.”
• A poster to advertise an after-school club for boys aged 13 – 14. The poster will be A3 size and the copy reads: “Bored? Feeling got at? Nowhere to go? Then why not come and join us on Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school in the Old Gym. We’ve got football, ping pong, table soccer, computers, Karate, cooking and lots more. All free just come along.”
• Your friends’ engagement party. They want a flyer A5 size to send to their friends as if advertising a club night. The copy reads: “Mandy and Josh are finally going to do it...well almost!!!!! Come and join them on Friday 24 March from 8pm at the Golden Calf to celebrate their long awaited engagement... and yes lots of presents would be gratefully received particularly if we can drink them!!!!!
Then have a go at mocking up each of these. Try different fonts to see how each changes the feel of the text and make notes in your learning log about which works best and why
I found this task very helpful in collecting type faces I like and could use for different forms of work. I created a “Favourites” list to refer to including my personal favourites from each category. I included the techno/pixel fonts within the ‘Decorative’ category. I look forward to collecting more fonts and adding to this list as I move forwards with my work.
Commissions:
A short story in a woman’s magazine entitled “I thought I loved him; now I’m not so sure”. The story is 1300 words long so you will need to identify a text font and a headline font.
Headline: ParisianPlayBoy JNL
Main text: Avenir
I think I would use the ParisianPlayBoy font for the title as it is for a woman’s magazine and this will be a humorous engaging way to present the article to come. I would use Avenir as the main text because it is a more modern sans serif style font, which is good for a magazine, and it isn’t in italics so should work well contrasting with the headline.
I was very interested to get started on designing this, it is something I haven’t done before. I began by researching different magazines/designers/type inspiration, current and older. I created some mood boards including some of the work of Cipe Pineles; a designer/art director at magazines such as Seventeen, Charm, Glamour, House & Garden, Vanity Fair and Vogue in the 20th century, Andrew Stocks, the guardian’s current art director, Ed Fella, a graphic designer/artist and any other images that inspired me.
I began by playing around in Photoshop to decide what worked well together, I started on an a4 canvas, but knew that 1300 words is too much to fit on one page. When I started designing the magazine I created a spread of 2 A4 sized canvases. I had a good idea of the style of composition I wanted after finding the imagery used in an old Cecil Beaton photo book, so began to design around this. I tested with my original decided fonts, which in reality didn’t look very professional, I then continued to test with various serif and sans serif fonts seeing which would fit well for a women’s magazine.
I began to ‘settle’ with Bodoni 72 for both the title and text, as I felt it has character, yet looked professional. When coming back to this I felt that paired with the imagery/colours it looked quite dated. I did intend for it to have a ‘vintage’ feel, but also to look modern, quite paradoxical but I feel like a balance could be found if I found the ‘right’ font.
Helvetica Neue is a great sans serif font that looks modern and professional. I decided to try different combinations of Didot, Bodoni and Helvetica Neue. I feel like the best is a bold italic Helvetica Neue title, with a Didot text. I feel that this displays the modern/vintage feel I wanted, while still remaining aesthetically pleasing for a woman’s magazine. I added a few elements to the illustrations, then created a mock up to see how it looked as a magazine.
Final:
Overall I am relatively happy with the outcome. I feel like the fonts work well together and present well for a woman’s magazine with the title “I thought I loved him; now I’m not so sure.” Actually testing the fonts together in a practical way allows you to visualise the typography together with other elements that you can’t imagine when just brainstorming potential fonts. My end result was different from my initial plan for the more humorous title font, with a sans serif main text, which is interesting, again showing how actually creating changes your views/ideas.
There are many elements that I would like to change or test with now looking back. In particular I think I should’ve tried with different compositions rather than sticking with my first idea of the man looking over towards the woman from across the pages. The illustrative elements also need some work, it feels that there is something ‘missing’ perhaps making them busier, with more range of pinks/oranges/whites could improve them.
An advertisement in a parish magazine asking for more helpers on the flower rota. The finished size is A6 landscape and the text reads: “Can you add that important artistic flourish to our church? We desperately need more volunteers to join the flower rota. If you can help or would like more information please contact Jennie jennie@vicarage.co.uk.”
Headline: PT Serif Bold Italic
Main text: Times New Roman
The headline has to look serious (as it is from a Parish) but engaging, and I feel that PT Serif Bold Italic is a good presentation of both attributes. The serifs creates a more serious tone, and the italics draws you in and acts as a conversation starter. The main text again should be formal, easily legible and almost comforting to not put off the reader. Times New Roman is a very common and recognised font by many, but is also formal, this could be a good font as it has the right balance with the headline.
I began in Photoshop on an A6 canvas. I found an image of a church and isolated it to use as part of an illustration. I began by texting with the fonts, boldness, composition and colour.
I continued with editing the illustration, composition and colours. I began to be unhappy with the appearance of the font, so began to test with others to see if they were as affective. I had to keep in mind that this is for a church magazine, and must remain formally looking but be engaging.
I ended on choosing Warownia and Helvetica Neue for the fonts. The heading being Warownia which is clear and professional, but also modern and engaging. The text being Helvetica Neue, which is also modern and easily legible.
Final:
Overall I am not very pleased with my outcome to this task. I feel as if I have been focusing on illustration more than typography and avoiding practising/experimenting with type, perhaps this is because it is new to me and I am apprehensive. I will begin to put typography at the main focus here onwards. I have decided to stop here despite not liking the end visuals and move onto the next task, if I have time I will return to this task and create an updated version. I feel as if the final version looks unprofessional and not complete or ‘whole.’ I feel because I focused on the illustration more, the typography feels out of place, and was placed around the illustration, rather than me focusing on the importance of the information and aesthetic of type. I feel particularly uninspired by this, more research/inspiration is definitely needed.
A poster to advertise an after-school club for boys aged 13 – 14. The poster will be A3 size and the copy reads: “Bored? Feeling got at? Nowhere to go? Then why not come and join us on Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school in the Old Gym. We’ve got football, ping pong, table soccer, computers, Karate, cooking and lots more. All free just come along.”
Headline: Know Your Product
Main text: Helvetica
The poster is aimed at 13-14 year old boys and should therefore look appealing to them, or at least attract their attention, a ‘normal’ or more formal font would not do this. I decided on ‘Know Your Product’ due to it’s ‘handmade’ street art style that would attract a young person’s attention. I feel that Helvetica would work well with the headline as it is simple to read, modern and familiar to many people, even 13-14 year old boys.
Above are some mood boards I created from some of the most interesting designs I came across. The board on the left is from Bauhaus legends; Jan Tschichold, Herbert Bayer, Kurt Schwitters, Piet Zwart. The colours and bold graphic aesthetic is brilliant, I find it very inspiring. I came across David Carson (board on the right) via Instagram, just when I needed too! David Carson’s work is the best I’ve seen, he treats typography as if each letter is a separate element, and makes some very visually interesting designs. “"Don’t confuse legibility with communication. Just because something is legible doesn’t mean it communicates and, more importantly, doesn’t mean it communicates the right thing." ~ David Carson
I began to test my initial chosen fonts along side others, to see which worked. I then, inspired by David Carson, took the letters individually and chose my favourites. I decided against ‘know your product’ font (the stencil) as it looked unprofessional and not very aesthetically pleasing. Keeping in mind that this was for young teenage boys, I chose bold text, and made it really stand out by placing black boxes behind and inverting some of the letters.
I printed out my chosen letters, and used an acetone transfer method to give them a more interesting and worn texture.
I arranged and edited the composition of the letters on the page, based off my initial plans. I added texture and a paper background, then used a displacement map to allow the text to follow the texture of the page. I added some hand drawn elements to it, which I feel would help draw in the attention of a younger teen.
Final:
I feel like my final outcome would at least attract the attention of 13-14 year old boys, and cause them to read the poster. I am relatively pleased with the final outcome. I feel like it is ‘too much’ and too highly contrasted/textured. I think that this is something I will improve on overtime, hopefully becoming more tasteful in my style. I enjoyed creating this design in particular, and I feel more inspired and interested to improve. I think that finding different printing methods or ways of physically distressing/distorting the text is the next step forwards for me. Overall I think that focusing on the typography and treating that itself as a medium of it’s own will allow me to improve and hopefully make some interesting designs in the future.
Your friends’ engagement party. They want a flyer A5 size to send to their friends as if advertising a club night. The copy reads: “Mandy and Josh are finally going to do it...well almost!!!!! Come and join them on Friday 24 March from 8pm at the Golden Calf to celebrate their long awaited engagement... and yes lots of presents would be gratefully received particularly if we can drink them!!!!!
Headline: Integral CF
Main Text: Futura Medium
The invite is inspired by nightclub flyers, which usually have bold and ‘in your face’ fonts. Integral CF is a good example of one of these fonts, it is bold but easily legible. Futura Medium could be a good font to use with this as it is ‘medium’ in it’s boldness, making it look interesting and stand our, but contrasting slightly with the headline as it is ‘smaller.’
I tested my initially chosen fonts compared to others and they looked like they would work. They are bold and contrasted well together, which in my opinion is what’s needed for a nightclub style flyer.
I began with some research into old style nightclub/event posters. I collated a few of my favourite designs to reference.
I continued to test and edit the composition of the flyer and then moved onto adding some texture to the text. As done before I tested with an acetone transfer, and liked the result.
I added a paper displacement map to make the flyer look more worn, and tested with different colours. I decided to go with a yellow/green as I felt like this stood out and worked well as an old style nightclub flyer.
Final:
I left the imagery offset as I thought it gave it a more handmade/old school flyer feel. Overall I think the flyer works, but I am not pleased with the final result. I like the chosen fonts but feel like I definitely should’ve tested with different/more compositions. This is something I keep repeating and need to work on. Inspired by the Carson quote “Don’t confuse legibility with communication. Just because something is legible doesn’t mean it communicates and, more importantly, doesn’t mean it communicates the right thing” I didn’t worry too much about the sentences being aligned or continuing onto each other directly. I wanted to present a hierarchy of information, the “come join them” drawing them in (even though the viewers already going to be reading it because it is an invitation) with other important or funny information being in bold.
I look forward to creating more word including typography and feel like it could get somewhere after a lot of practise and testing. These tasks I feel have opened my mind up to a different way of thinking/viewing design.
