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Advanced Typography - Task 1: Exercises


21.4.2025 - 21.5.2025 / Week 1 - Week 5
Aw Wen Chia / 0368828
Advanced Typography / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Task 1: Exercises 1 & 2



1. LECTURES

Week 1:
TYPOGRAPHIC SYSTEMS
"All design is based on a structural system". Typographical organisation is complex because the elements depend on communication to function. Hierarchy, order of reading, legibility and contrast also play a part. 

According to Elam, 2007, there are 8 major variations with an infinite number of permutations:

Axial System:
All elements are organised to the left or right of a single axis. The axis can be bent, not just straight.

Radial System:
All elements are extended from a point of focus. There can be multiple points of focus on a composition.

Dilational System:
All elements expand from a central point in a circular fashion. Multiple rings of text can stem from a singular point.

Random System:
Elements appear to have no specific pattern or relationship.

Grid System:
Elements appear in vertical and horizontal divisions.

Modular System:
A series of non-objective elements that are constructed as standardised units.

Transitional System:
An informal system of layered banding.

Bilateral System:
All text is arranged symmetrically on a single axis.



Week 2:

TYPOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION
Emphasis, isolation, repetition, symmetry and asymmetry, alignment, and perspective are the dominant principles underpinning design composition.


Emphasis:
Fig 1.1, Emphasis


The Rules Thirds:
It suggests that a composition can be divided into 3 columns and 3 rows; the intersecting lines are used as guides to place the point of interest.

Fig 1.2, The Rules Thirds


TYPOGRAPHIC SYSTEMS
From the 8 systems, the most pragmatic and the most used system is the Grid System (Raster System), which came from the compositional structure of Letter Press printing, then was enhanced to become the Swiss (Modernist) style of typography by Josef Muller Brockmann, Jan Tschichold, Max Bill and such.

example:
The Grid System may seem old and rigid, but the versatility of the system and its modular nature tend to allow an infinite number of adaptations. This is why it continues to remain modular. 

Fig 1.3, Grid System


In reaction to this very ordered approach to Typography of the modernist era, a group of younger designers began to questions and challenge this notion of order. The post-modernist era in Typographical systems was born, it introduced chaos, randomness and asymmetry were explored. 

Legibility and readability took a back seat, however, the bests examples were to combined the two seamlessly. Its proponents include: David Carson, Paula Scher, Jonathan Barnbrook, to name a few.

There was a method to the madness, order was replaced with chaos, however, the chaos was exciting and "new" for the generation. Asymmetry, random, repetition, dilatational and radial systems started becoming known.


Other Models: Systems

Form & Movement
This is based off an existing Grid System. The placement of a form on a page, over many pages creates movement, whether the page is paper or screen.

Fig 1.4, Typographic Systems



Week 3:

CONTEXT & CREATIVITY

Handwriting
Handwriting is important to study for Typography because the first mechanically produced letterforms were designed to imitate handwriting. The shape and line of hand-drawn letterforms are influenced by the tools and materials used to make them.


Evolution of the Latin Alphabet:
Fig 1.5, Evolution of the Latin Alphabet


Cuneiform (3000 B.C.E):
Cuneiform, the earliest system of actual writing, was used in a number of languages between the 34 C B.C.E. through the 1st century C.E.



Ancient Egypt Hieroglyphics (2613-2160 B.C.E.):
Fig 1.6, Ancient Egypt Hieroglyphics Chart

The Egyptian writing system is fused with the art of relief carving. Rebus and phonetic characters were used for the system, the first link to a future alphabetic system. Hieroglyphic images have the potential to be used in three different ways:
  1. As ideograms, to represent the things they actually depict.
  2. As determinatives to show that the signs preceding are phonograms.
  3. As phonograms to represent sounds that "spell out" individual words.

Early Greek (5th C. B.C.E.):
Fig 1.7, Early Greek Alphabet

Built on the Egyptian logo-consonantal system, the Phoenicians developed a phonetic alphabet consisting of 22 letters.



Roman Uncials:
Fig, 1.8, Roman Unicials

By the 4th century, Roman letters were becoming more rounded, the curved form allowed for less strokes and could be written faster.



English Half Uncial (8th C.):
Fig 1.9, English Half Uncials

In English, the uncial evolved into a more slanted and condensed form. While English and Irish uncials evolved, writing in Europe devolved considerably and needed a reform, which came in the Carolingian Handwriting Reform.


Emperor Charlemagne (8 C. CE):
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the end of a central, advanced culture resulted in a general illiteracy and a breakdown of handwriting into diverse regional styles.


Carolingian Minuscule:
A court school was established under the direction of Alcuin of  York. During Charlemagne's patronage increased and language was standardised.

Movable Type (11 C.-14 C.):
Printing (wood block) had already been practiced in China, Korea and Japan (Dharani Sutra, AD 750). China had attempted to use movable type for printing but was unsuccessful due part to the number of characters.


Handwriting in Southeast Asia:
The oldest writing systems present in Southeast Asia were Indian scripts. There were a few, but the most important would be Pallava (pr Pallawa in Malay), a South Indian script originally used or writing Sanskrit and Tamil.

In modern Malaysia, Jawi is of great importance because it's the script used for all our famous work of literature.


Week 4:

DESIGNING TYPE:
  • Type design carries a social responsibility, so one must continue to improve its legibility.
  • Type design is a form of artistic expression.

Frutiger is a sans serif typeface designed by the Swiss type designer Adrian Frutiger in 1968 for the newly built Charles de Gaulle International Airport, France. 

Purpose: To create a clean, distinctive and legible typeface that is easy to see from both close up and far away.


Matthew Carter created fonts created to address specific technical challenges

Purpose: The font was extremely legible even at very small sizes on screen due to the popularity of the internet and electronic devices.


Edward Johnston, the creator of the London "Underground". Later known as "Johnston Sans". He was asked to create a "bold simplicity" typeface which was modern but rooted in tradition. Johnston completed to design in 1916, combining classical Roman and humanist warmth.

Purpose: London's Underground railway ordered a new typeface for posters and signage from Johnston. His delivered letters shape set the tone for printed text until now.



GENERAL PROCESS OF TYPE DESIGN:

1. Research - Understand the type history, anatomy and conventions. Also know the terminologies, side-bearing, metrics, etc...

2.  Sketching - Sketch typefaces using the traditional tool set, then scan them for digitisation. Use this if you and more confident in your hands.

3. Digitisation—Professional software for typeface digitisation is Fontlab and Glyphs App. Designers can also use Adobe Illustrator to design letterforms; however, purists frown on this. Attention should be given to this, as readability depends on it.

4. Testing - Testing is important as the results is part of the process of refining and correcting aspects of the typeface. Prototyping is also part of the process that leads to important feedback.

5. Deploy - Even after deploying, typefaces can cause problems that were not caught earlier; testing  is important so the issues remain minor.



CONSTRUCTION AND CONSIDERATIONS:

Roman Capital:
The grid consist of a square, and inside it a circle that just touches the lines of the square in 4 places. Using the grids can facilitate the construction of a letterform and is a possible method to build, create and design the letterform.

2. INSTRUCTIONS



3. EXERCISE

Exercise 1: Typographic Systems

For this task, we had to design 8 Typographic Systems in InDesign. Which was:
  1. Axial
  2. Radial
  3. Dialatition
  4. Grid
  5. Transitional
  6. Bilateral
  7. Modular
  8. Random

We then had to choose the information to design in those formats. I chose the following:


Words:
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

I first started off with the sketches:
Fig 3.1, Exersice 1 sketches (25.4.2025)



After I finished the sketches, I started turning those sketches into designs in Indesign, using tools such as margin and columns, the pen tool, shapes and much more.



Fig 3.2 , Exercise 1 progress (28.4.2025)


The problems with my work (from left to right and up to down):
Axial: There should only be one line present in the composition.

Radial: The title should be bolder.

Dilatational: The graphics are a little much.

Grid: The graphics are too much.

Transitional: It is alright.

Bilateral: The graphic on the right serves no purpose.

Modular: It is not modular.

Random: It is not random enough.


The ways I fixed/reworked my designs:
Axial: Made it so the words followed only one line.

Radial: Swapped the fonts between the title and the secondary title.

Dilatational: Changed the filled shapes into outlines.

Grid: Changed the filled shapes into outlines and moved some of the text.

Transitional: Moved the text to make the transition look smoother.

Bilateral: Changed the filled shape into circle outline to remain the balanced.

Modular: Reworked the entire composition.

Random: Duplicated the text and placed it offset from the previous duplicate.




Final Submission for Exercise 1:

Fig 3.3, Final Axial System - JPEG (Week 2 - 3.5.2025)



Fig 3.4, Final Radial System - JPEG (Week 2 - 3.5.2025)

Fig 3.5, Final Dilatational System - JPEG (Week 2 - 3.5.2025)


Fig 3.6, Final Grid System - JPEG (Week 2 - 3.5.2025)


Fig 3.7, Final Transitional System - JPEG (Week 2 - 3.5.2025)


Fig 3.8, Final Bilateral System - JPEG (Week 2 - 3.5.2025)


Fig 3.9, Final Modular System - JPEG (Week 2 - 3.5.2025)


Fig 3.10, Final Random System - JPEG (Week 2 - 3.5.2025)
Fig 3.11, Final Submission without Grids - PDF (Week 2 - 3.5.2025)






Fig 3.12, Final Submission with Grids - PDF (Week 2 - 3.5.2025)





Exercise 2: Type & Play

For exercise 2, we have to design a font based on an image. I chose to take a picture of my blanket. I decided to use the folds of the fabric as the base of my font.

Fig 3.13, References Photo (3.5.2025)


I then began extracting:
Fig 3.14, Type Extracting (5.5.2025)


After extracting, I chose the font I think was closest to the shapes, which was Forte.


First iteration: The direct shape of the image.

Second iteration: Resized into more workable shapes.
Third iteration: Sized down letters.

Fourth iteration: Re-shaped into more proportional letterings.


My tutor said I could do more by using the dark spaces in between the folds to shape my letters even more. So I tried it:


Fig 3.15, Type Extraction Continuation (8.5.2025)



Fifth iteration: Reworked letters with the spaces between them more thought out.



Chosen Type:
Fig 3.16, Chosen Type (8.5.2025)



After deciding on my lettering, I started working on the poster. I first took a picture of another one of my blankets and cropped it to shape.

Fig 3.17, Chosen Poster Picture (10.5.2025)


I then placed the letters and started editing the letters into the picture.

Fig 3.18, Progress (11.5.2025)

Then I changed several things about the letters in Fig 3.16, which was the colour as it blends into the background too much, and the size of the letters, as the text was not taking up much space as I thought.

Then I added the dummy text in the Typeface Univers STD and a logo to make it look like a movie poster.



Final Submission for Exercise 2:

Fig 3.19, Image & Extraction (Week 3 - 6.5.2025)


Fig 3.20, Extracted Letters (Week 3 - 6.5.2025)

Fig 3.21, Reshaping (Week 3 - 6.5.2025)


Fig 3.22, Reshaping (Week 3 - 6.5.2025)


Fig 3.23, Refining (Week 3 - 6.5.2025)


Fig 3.24, Final Alterations (Week 4 - 11.5.2025)




Fig 3.25, Exercise 2, Part 1, PDF compilation (Week 4 - 11.5.2025)

Fig 3.26, Final Type Poster - JPEG (Week 4 - 11.5.2025)




Fig 3.27, Final Type Poster - PDF (Week 4 - 11.5.2025)






4. FEEDBACK

Week 2: 
General Feedback: Were briefed about exercise 2, and had a lot of problems with my task one.
Specific Feedback: My axial needs to be straighter, the words in radial were a little proportional, the graphics for dilatational were too much, the layout for grid was off, bilateral had too many graphics, and random needed for chaos.

Week 3: 
General Feedback: We were consulted on our exercise 2, mine had some issues.
Specific Feedback: My fonts had an interesting base, an image of a fabric with folds, but they could be expanded more, using elements of the image, such as the curves of the folded fabric.

Week 4:
General Feedback: My tutor had no problem with my work.
Specific Feedback: My tutor did not find any problems and approved my letterform and poster.


5. REFLECTION

Experience
My experience with these tasks was alright, I definitely used the knowledge I gained from Typography to help me with it. I did enjoy this task more than some of the tasks previously in Typography, as these tasks were more laid back in terms of how much graphics we were allowed to put. The second task I had the most fun in as I could work with pictures.

Observations
My tutor displayed my coursemates' work on the project so I saw plenty of their work. At first, I saw their work as perfect, but then my tutor immediately pointed out the flaws in their work, I did not even realised. And made me more careful and pay attention to the details.

Findings
Compared to Typography, this task for Advanced Typography is more laid back in my opinion as I like playing with graphics. However I know the future tasks will get harder and more demanding.


6. FURTHER READING

I read some parts of the book Typographic Systems by Kimberly Etam.

Fig 6.1, Typographic Systems by Kimberly Etam.


I read the first few pages of the book (pages 7, 8, 9) to help me understand the Typographic Systems further, as I had trouble fully understanding the system.


Fig 6.2, Typographic Systems by Kimberly Etam, page 10


I also observed the layout of the further pages to gain some inspiration for my sketches.



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