Assignment 4 Tutor Feedback and Reflection:

The use of the page layout as an element of each word meaning is really effective (eg. placing ‘sad’ or ‘shy’ in the lower corner). This important element is so often overlooked in this exercise, yet you demonstrate the awareness and deliberate use of the page from the outset of the exercise. It isn’t documented here in great detail, the mention of where you place the words on the page is mentioned rather matter-of-factly. This demonstrates either that you have analysed the exercise brief very carefully (as it does mention to use the page to construct the meaning) or that you are not treating this typography exercise in isolation by incorporating themes from the part on colour, and visual language, as well as looking ahead to layout. Either way, this is really important to acknowledge because as you move forward there will be even more overlap and interconnection between themes and subjects being explored.

I assumed that the page would be used to present meaning from the description of the task. I felt this seemed to allow me to attempt to display meaning of the words more directly e.g. sad being in the lower part of the page. I will continue to improve upon interconnecting subjects.

Overall, there is a range of success through the words in this exercise. Some are more successful in the analogue method (eg ‘swagger’ and ‘squeeze”) while others are more successful when manipulated digitally (eg. ‘scholarly’ and ‘stiff’). In the reflections you demonstrate a fairly good understanding of what works and what doesn’t. The one part that isn’t covered here is various iterations or experiments through the process. I wonder if the sequence in which you completed the words had any effect on the compositions, or if you attempted them out of sequence - returning and adjusting words when your ideas evolved?

I feel like some of the words were likely to be more affectively conveyed through digital methods as some of their meanings (or ways of presenting them) were more complicated and there are more options for digital manipulation that could serve to present meaning. I definitely should’ve documented my process of producing them, through photos or screenshots of different attempts/tests. Looking back at what I produced for the task, I didn’t describe my process well, or even at all. I began in the order they were listed and produced the outcomes over a few days- a week. Producing them in groups of roughly 5 at a time and changing their composition/using digital methods in different ways I felt allowed me to have more focus on the group I was producing, without similar compositions continuing throughout, especially for words which meanings could potentially be conveyed in similar ways. It allowed me to have a ‘fresh’ perspective on each word, and then looking back at what was produced the next day before sticking them down (analogue) or exporting (digital.)

First, I want to commend you for starting with ‘x’. This is, as above, often overlooked. The importance of the x-height is mentioned in the readings and yet the instinct is often to start with ‘e’ or ‘o’ because they are ‘complete’. This clearly overlooks the nuances of curved letterforms (a curve doesn't sit directly on the baseline). In the reflection and sketches you include in the log the details do not give much to go on. I am pleased that the challenge of this task has inspired you to engage more with type.

For the purposes of assessment and documenting your work, when an exercise includes questions (even when they are technically yes/no questions) this presents you with an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding or to connect the exercise to a wider context. For example, in this exercise you were asked about any changes to your appreciation of type - you could demonstrate a change in understanding by referring back to past work (made easy on a blog by including a link to any other post) and then commenting on how you would approach it differently knowing what you know now. This would allow you to demonstrate the development of your skills and understanding.

Looking back at my responses to this task/question I’m not happy with how I documented (lack of) my process, and my responses to the questions. I will keep this in mind and moving forward with future tasks document my processes more thoroughly, and also respond to questions in way more detail.

Even though my response now is even stronger having completed the whole ‘Typography’ section rather than being quite early on, I would like to respond to the questions again, as I feel it is very obvious some of the elements that I neglected with previous tasks and the changes that I would make/elements I would focus on more.

What came to mind first was Exercise 3: Book Cover Design at the beginning of the course, where my focus was mainly on illustrations (and still has been until recently.) I began the task with creating composition ideas, and collecting potential imagery to include to present the meanings of the book titles. I then briefly consider the typographic elements, as a secondary element to the design, and in retrospect this is where the design begins to be less effective. Now, having developed my knowledge and appreciation of Typography, it’s affect on meaning and the design’s audience, my mindset has changed to how I would approach a design such as a book cover. When gathering insight/composing the design, I would’ve considered potential typefaces/fonts to use, tested with them, then considered their layout/positioning within the design and how this conveys meaning to the viewer, and asked myself does it have the desired affect? The issue I came across (now knowing that this is because of neglecting or being less aware of the importance of typography) of how to layout the book title and author etc was that wherever I composed the information, it didn’t seem to flow or have the desired affect. If I were to of considered which font to use and chosen a more affective composition at the beginning of the design, then decided on any illustrative elements, the designs would have been more affective and professional.

Looking at how a typeface is constructed, and how typography is really the core of design has allowed my perspective to change and my skills to develop. For future design projects, I have began to collate typefaces/fonts which could be affective for many different design scenarios. The appreciation of the ‘smaller’ but very crucial elements of a font such as it being a serif/sans serif or how the kerning affects legibility will hopefully allow me to create some affective and interesting designs moving forwards.

I’m glad that you found the first part of this exercise helpful. The task of creating a sample book of typefaces can be an immense undertaking, and a simple list of fonts by name set in the font itself is a good start because this can serve as a quick reference, but ultimately misses much of the nuance and details. Have you looked into font sample books in terms of a historical or published document? These will often include a heading and a paragraph of text set in the font, some may highlight key characteristics or include detailed views of certain glyphs. In terms of searching fonts through digital means, most foundries and distributors allow you the capability to set your own preview text. If you ever find yourself looking for a font I would strongly recommend using dummy text, or if possible, the exact text that will be used for your work as opposed to making the decision based on the title of the font.

I hadn’t looked into font sample books etc when producing my response to this task. Looking back I am unsure as to why I didn’t research into this any further. I assumed that an example word of the font was ‘enough’ to present how the font looks etc, but in hindsight after reading your comments I realise that more information as you mention- paragraphs and glyphs would be very beneficial. It would allow you to view (and adjust to test with) the display of the font, sizing, kerning etc which would help you decide which font is most affective. I will definitely familiarise myself with more font sample books, and update my own method of collating fonts.

Overall the fonts used in each of the commissions are well supported. You include mockups and rationale to back up your decisions. There are a few additional considerations that could benefit you going forward. In the womens’ magazine article the line length is quite long. A rather small font set to the full width of the page can present some accessibility and readability issues - these are important practical factors to consider. The spacing around the drop caps could be played with - typically a drop cap will sit within the paragraph (so that the top of the paragraph is aligned), therefore breaking this convention is more successful when done intentionally (this is demonstrated in some of the inspiration images included). In response to your later reflections, the drop cap itself could have been treated as an illustrated element. This would allow you the opportunity to draw on your existing skills while working with type.

Looking back at the design, perhaps columns could have been included/tested with to improve legibility, I will definitely be considering the layout more with future work. I was unaware that this was the typical convention, it was inspired from my research, that would’ve been something to consider. Treating the Drop cap as the illustrative element would definitely of been something interesting to test with and could’ve created a more cohesive design.

The church advert, as you rightfully mention, did move away from typography, so here it is important to acknowledge that the learning was about where to put your focus. This is well documented in your log and is every bit as relevant as creating a ‘successful’ advert. You include this in the reflection showing a great deal of awareness around your creative practice. The boys’ club and engagement celebration show how you focused your attention on type, in response to the previous outcome. The break from convention (the ‘typical’ visual language for these types of objects) is not acknowledged. A typical advert for a community center program would not be drawing on wallpaper and RayGun for inspiration! I can see why you chose the approach you did, but I think that if this was something for a client or printed/shared throughout a community there would be additional considerations, same for the engagement celebration. To understand if these pieces would serve the purpose for which they are designed would require a deeper understanding of the audience. Would the people you are seeking to inform/attract understand this? Would it resonate? How might it not serve the purpose it is designed for? eg. the boys’ parents might be the ones enrolling them in the program, or the engagement celebration - how would this be perceived by elderly or more traditional relatives? If the party is for friends and peers it may work, but if 90-year-old great aunt Rose saw this, what would she make of it?

My excitement in finding a new visual inspiration from Ray Gun, David Carson etc ‘took over’ as I felt inspired and wanted to experiment with something new. I completely agree with and really appreciate you highlighting the importance of the audience when designing. I did not consider questions such as who would be enrolling them etc, and these comments have made me reconsider my approach to design in general, as I am very focused on personal design choices over putting producing a successful outcome for the audience first. Not meaning to sound like I completely disregard audience, which I don’t believe I do, but I definitely need to and will develop a deeper understanding and importance of the audience. I look forward to producing designs in the future that don’t just satisfy my personal aesthetic/meanings.

The rivers in the final setting are quite prominent. It appears as though you had the hyphenation option turned off. When setting justified text it is pretty standard to allow hyphenation, thus reducing some of the awkward spacing that results. I feel that in your case what is ‘typical’ may not be the right solution and that certain publications or audiences would, as you do, like the aesthetic. It feels like this is a case of knowing the rules (of typography in this case) in order to know how to break them. So even though your personal aesthetic preferences lean towards less conventional approaches it is still important (for your log as well as professional practice) to be aware of what the conventions are and why they work. In the case of rivers, the whitespaces in blocks of text can be distracting and impact legibility. It can also be really hard on anyone with a visual or cognitive impairment. Going forward there may be ways in which you can incorporate the more experimental and fun side of your work with practical considerations that will serve the people who are reading the work.

I didn’t consider hyphenation when producing the design, despite there being hyphenation in the newspaper. I aim to become aware and able to understand typical conventions, again I didn’t consider affects on visually impaired etc. I look forward to over time becoming my subtle with my approach to design allowing the design to be affective for the audience, and still be visually interesting.

The work in this exercise is well supported through the research, you bring together ideas introduced earlier in the course, you bring in resources I’ve recommended in previous feedback, and you include many resources you have discovered yourself. This in itself is fantastic and well documented. The one thing I would like to draw your attention to is the purpose of all the research seems to be on composition, style, the energy and feel of the design, the techniques, and the mediums. This is excellent for developing your skills and technique, and you demonstrate through the documentation how these skills are evolving.

There are also other reasons for research that do not seem to be documented in your work. For example, to better understand who you are designing for. In some (most) cases the people you are designing the work for will not have the same frame of reference, aesthetic values and preferences as you. Taking the time to understand who the design is for will change what a successful outcome is. In some cases a successful solution means designing something that follows a conventional approach. In the context of this course I think it serves you well to have the space to experiment and explore, but if these were clients with a defined target audience you were designing for there would be different considerations that are not recorded in your documentation.

The tech article stands out as an example of this. Your visual references/inspiration show the very conventional approach - crisp images, sharply dressed business people, pristine and clean aesthetic. a sense of luxury and wealth conveyed through both the text and imagery. You acknowledge in your reflection that the addition of handmade elements may not serve the target audience and continue to include them to satisfy your own curiosity. A potentially different approach here, to demonstrate a connection to a wider cultural context, may be to identify a more edgy tech publication. Perhaps there is a tech savvy audience that appreciates the contrast of analogue? Through further research you may have identified a suitable audience. Obviously this is not how a commission would typically progress, but for a hypothetical course project this could help demonstrate that your work is grounded in something more concrete.

I definitely need to and will change my focus towards understanding the audience, and the affects the design has on them. I aim to overtime produce affective design work for a defined target audience and this feedback has been great in helping me develop my thought process, which I look forward to continuing to develop with future tasks. I will definitely be putting more focus on contextual research and why certain conventions are more affective for specific audiences than others.

Your learning blog continues to be well documented and organised. The one key thread that is evident through all the exercises and assignments is the desire to satisfy personal aesthetic preferences. Moving forward, if you are considering a commercial path or working with any mainstream clients, this could be a challenge. As you continue down this path it will be really important to balance your voice against the request or requirements of a given project. This makes me wonder what you might change about the work if, at the core, each project was about a specific person. What if you decided to design for a specific person and this (hypothetical) person drove your decisions and assessment of success. Would you approach the work differently?

The research points in this section asked you to find out more about an area of typography that interests you, as well as documenting some vernacular typography. The full documentation of the research points is well written, but the most significant aspect is how you interwove the findings from the research into the project design work!

I completely agree and really do appreciate you highlighting this within this feedback. I feel as if I get carried away with creating aesthetics with meaning, and need to/will shift my focus to the requirements of the tasks and understanding the audience. I feel as if my expression from my personal artworks etc carries over too far into design, and I struggle to produce work that is affective for the design brief. I look forward to developing my design skills and thought processes.

This assignment continues to successfully draw on your research, you also document how you embraced serendipitous accidents through the process (eg. the look of the layered acetates). The addition of the handprints on the paper and the different directions gives a sense that these are the discarded pages from a print shop. This embeds a deeper sense of story in the work and makes it quite fun to imagine how the page got to look the way it does. The colours of the ink also work well, as this gives a sense of the typical inks that would be present in a print shop.

There are some details that could be finessed, especially in terms of the reader experience. For example, the proportions. The size of the handprint feels that either the publication is quite large or the handprint is that of a child. If you wanted this placed in just the lower corner of the page an option would be to just have the fingers, as if someone had picked up the paper with inked hands, as opposed to a full handprint which more resembles a craft children would make. The annotations on the word ‘typography’ are a great idea. It’s challenging to tell without holding the physical printed piece in my hand, but it seems the annotations may be a bit small. The only way to truly test this would be to print it and interact with it.

For the inner spread, it would be unusual for a magazine to use its own masthead as the visual. I think that a deeper exploration into the layout of the inner pages would be required here. What visuals would a publication like this use to support their articles? What would the reader gain from the visuals? How would the reader experience be augmented through the rotated text paragraphs and the unconventional placement? As far as design choices, these are all legitimate for aesthetic purposes, the additional considerations would need to be from the reader's perspective.

I aimed for the design to look tactile, as if it was made haphazardly. This could’ve been a good idea to explore and could’ve been continued throughout another part of the page as if it was picked up/put down. Looking back there is a lot I would’ve changed and feel if I should’ve allowed myself more time to look back and develop further, the annotations are quite small and I will test next time with a printed version.

I need to develop my research into the audience and the affect my design has on the viewer, I definitely could’ve delved deeper into the inners of publications and reader experience. I look forward to improving on these elements with future design projects.