Project Three
Introduction
In this project, I will be exploring the power of typography in illustrating meaning and communicating effectively. My goal is to explore features like line spacing, indentation, color, tone, value, texture, and position in order to understand how type influences perception as well as dig deeper into the history of fonts.
Voice of Type: September 23, 2022
For my first assignment, I explored fonts that I believe each communicate something unique about the word “bright.”
Scotch Modern Display
I chose this font for the word “bright” because I love how it emphasizes the intellect associated with the word. By being more traditional yet adding a flare if personality with some thin strokes, this is a sophisticated font which associates a wisdom with the words used. Thus, in typing “bright” with this font it becomes a word that appreciates wisdom rather than solely a descriptor of light or visual stimuli.
EloquentJFPro
This font emphasizes the gaudiness and flashiness of the word bright which I adore. It brings the viewer into the word making it impossible to ignore, which really embraces the way bright can feel when it is used as a descriptor of strong visual stimuli. It is also a sophisticated font which utilizes curls and large bold strokes to evoke a playfulness in the word “bright.”
Didot: favorite font for this word
I believe this font evokes the word “bright” the best communicating its sophistication alongside its lightness. While “bright” can be used in a flashy way, it is more typically used in a way that evokes lightness or intelligence. This font brings those meanings to the forefront of the viewer’s mind through even, traditional strokes, and playful curls. It is also a light font which in and of itself looks bright on the page.
American Typewriter
This thin, curly, modern font evokes bright in an innovative way, particularly emphasizing its lightness with very lightweight strokes and its flashiness with lots of curls and very apparent feet. It has a bright appearance on the page which makes it attractive to the viewer’s eye. However, it is a little too playful to evoke all of the dimensions of “bright” and it misses some of the sophistication.
Acumin Variable Concept
This very thin, spaced out font is another type that looks physically bright on the page. I love how modern it is and it also evokes small elements of intelligence through even strokes which make it look very definitive. However, it is not as playful as I would like it to be and is thus missing some of the aspects of “bright” that make it an interesting word.
Researching Avenir: September 23, 2022
- Avenir
- Designed by Adrian Frutiger
- Designed in 1988
- “Avenir was developed by the famous Swiss type designer Adrian Frutiger and presented by Linotype in 1988. The design of this font design is based on the Sans Serif typefaces Futura and Erbar. The name Avenir (future) gives us a clue as to Frutiger’s intentions, to convey the idea of timelessness in the image of his typeface.” (https://www.linotype.com/1116/avenir.html)
- Full character set (screenshot from https://www.dafontfree.io/avenir-font/)
6. Classic. Stylish. Timeless.
Sources:
Poster Sketches
With these sketches I aim to focus on the contemporary aspects of Avenir, highlighting its futuristic shape and skinny lines. I wanted to experiment with shape and space in these designs and really draw the viewer into the font. I like how these turned out and am particularly excited about the top two designs which I believe bring the viewer into the font best with large, attractive lettering and have the potential to become beautiful, eye-catching posters.
Digital Drafts: September 27, 2022
Idea #1:
With this first design, my goal was to play around with modernity and minimalism. I used a bold “O” from Avenir to create bubbles for the text that float around the page. This adds a stylish dimension to the poster, but the focus is still simply the font name and the tagline which are very minimalistic in contrast with the bubbles of text — as they are typed in a traditional straight line. I really like this design and feel like I could do a lot with it as we progress with the project.
Idea #2:
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This is my favorite design of the two in which I embrace the even weight and more classic aspects of Avenir to create a modern, experimental design. It advertises the font using concentric circles which say “Avenir” with one circle in the light version of the font containing the character set. This design brings the viewer into the history of the font which is centered as well as the designer at the precise center of the page. Finally, I use the tagline at the top and bottom of the page to create a symmetric look which complements the circles. I think this design is super attractive and I am excited to keep working on it as it shows off Avenir’s best qualities very well.
Type Exercise 2: Hierarchy: September 27, 2022
- Line Spacing:
With these line spacing practices, I played with what dates were associated with which events by grouping them differently. I think that design 1B does a much better job with line spacing as it is more intuitive that these dates line up with the events they are grouped with. On the other hand, 1A’s dates are a bit more confusing and with each date actually being for the next lecture which is just a lot to expect a viewer to figure out. 1B is straight forward and obvious, so the viewer does not have to think too much about the information they’re consuming.
2. Size Change and Typographic Weight:
Here, I play with both size change and typographic weight. In 2A, I use light and roman Helvetica, and I use roman and bold Helvetica in 2B. I believe my design in 2A is much cleaner as attention is quickly drawn to the name of the seminar series and the dates of each one, with less emphasis being put on content as the viewer will look at that when they focus in on the poster. I prefer that the majority of 2A is left aligned text as I think it gives the presentation a much more cohesive look as opposed to 2B which feels a bit more invasive with the bold and kind of takes the viewer all of the page with a stair-cased view of dates and topics. However, I do like that the topic of the seminars are emphasized in 2B and believe that would aid 2A a bit more. In short, I prefer the hierarchy of typographic weights of 2B, but enjoy the seminar topic alignment of 2A which makes that design look much simpler.
For both designs, I make the seminar title and dates a larger font, but for 2B I keep the introduction of the seminar series and the adress/timing information consistent which I think adds a level of balance that I really enjoy.
3. Horizontal Shift or Indentation:
I looked at horizontal shift or indentation for the third part of this exercise. I think the text for both of these is a bit confusing and lumped together, but I like that 3A is much more consistent and leads the viewer from the top left of the page to the bottom right. Whereas, in 3B, the design begins in the middle of the page and then jumps back and forth for dates, ending back in the middle which makes the design seem a bit jumbled. 3A overall is more gentle with the viewer and centers the content of the seminar while also guiding the viewer through the other necessary information.
Refined Poster Iterations: September 30, 2022
With these poster iterations, I wanted to play with the design spacing and type hierarchy. The feedback I received from my group was mainly focused on type hierarchy, so I played around with that as well as spacing. In this iteration, I also added color. I chose to use blue as it is a very simple and futuristic color which pairs well with Avenir.
#1: In the first design, I used color to play with depth in this poster, using blue as a drop shadow to add both a three dimensional aspect and a softness to the poster design. Additionally, for the bubbles and title I added a satin effect to give the lettering a velvety appearance making the font look very stylish. In terms of type hierarchy, I decided to make the information blurb in small caps to add emphasis and legibility, but not detract from the title. I also put all the body text in light oblique style Avenir as well as the bubbles to give the design a little more direction.
#2: For my second design, I wanted to play around with type weight. So, I put the Avenir circles and Adrian Frutiger 1988 in heavy type Avenir to emphasize them in the design. I think this adds a layer of variety to the design that was missing before. Additionally, I used the blue to make the circles almost look like an aura around the main text. I also put the informational paragraph in medium style Avenir rather than light to make it more legible.
More Refined Poster (2 iterations): October 4, 2022
Based on feedback from class, I decided to continue with my second poster idea as it was the more effective design. The biggest thing I wanted to work on was the way in which I incorporated the tagline, color, and the breathing space between lines. In both iterations, I added more breathing room between the informational text and the the circles around it to feel less crowded. I also played around with transparency to really emphasize the aura effect around the informational text.
Iteration #1: In this first iteration, the biggest change I make is drastically increasing the font size for the tagline in a light style to that works as a border to draw the reader inward. Further, by putting the tagline in blue, I hope to group that as part of the aura, so the viewer still focuses inward on the information in black. Overall, I think this looks a lot better and more unified; however, I am not certain the font size/color of the tagline does what I want it to do.
Iteration #2: In this second iteration, I decide to inverse the effect of color on the tagline adding two little planet-like structures in the corners around which the tagline orbits. I chose to put the colored circles in a more transparent blue as to not detract from the rest of the design. Further, I bolded the name of the designer and year as to ensure that those are still the focus of the design. I like the way this turned out and think it gives a cool space-like futuristic element to the poster design, which helps aid the modernity the font inspires.
New Iteration: October 6, 2022
With this new iteration, I really wanted to play with the idea of outer-space and add some new dimension to the background. I chose to continue with the second iteration, after hearing feedback from my classmates and deciding the that it is more dynamic when there are a variety of shapes on the page. It also would help with the futuristic planetary effect I was trying to achieve. After seeing my peers’ posters, I admired their use of background and wanted to add some more of that dimension to my own poster. So, I added a radial gradient to the background to give a planetary illusion to the design. I also applied a gradient to the two circles on either side of the design. On the whole I think this creates the effect of zooming in on planets in a galaxy which conveys the timelessness of the font. I also changed the font color and type size for the tagline “planets” in order to connect it to the character set and reinforce the hierarchy of the text with the center text being most emphasized. This was a suggestion from Wednesday’s critique that I think really aided the design.
Final Design: October 10, 2022
For my final design, I changed several things. The first is that I inverted the hierarchy of transparency in the concentric circles to make sure that the darker font was over the gradient so it could be legible in print. Furthermore, as I darkened the inner circle, I also lowered the point size of the font to still draw the viewer inward. Additionally, I fixed some of the kerning in the “Avenir” circles to avoid a random space that kept popping out and also adjusted the kerning of the tagline circles in order to make sure the entire tagline could be seen clearly. Lastly, I adjusted the inner gradient circle to make sure the design looked even and intentional. Semina’s feedback really helped me focus on preserving the type hierarchy (with the adjustment of the transparency and font size) as well as learn how to adjust the spacing issues with kerning. Overall, I am super happy with how this design looks and am excited to hear what the class thinks in the final critique!
Reflection on Final Critique: October 13, 2022
The class responses to my design were overall really positive! People seemed to particularly responsive to the even-ness of the circles and the calming space vibe of the design which is exactly what I was going for. Some noticed that the gradient did not exactly line up with the outer “Avenir” circle which was a bit difficult for me to try and do as the gradient was so large. However, if I were to do this project again, I would pay extra attention to changing that. Overall, I am super happy with this design and I don’t think I would change much else if we were to do this project again.
On the whole, I really enjoyed this project! The group critiques helped me develop a much better eye for what I was doing and a plethora of new skills in Adobe InDesign. In the beginning, I struggled to figure out how exactly to display this font and demonstrate the qualities of timelessness I wanted to emphasize. However, through critiques and experimentation, I learned how different elements like type size, weight, and lined spacing could really make a poster feel unified and dynamic.
