Type & Hierarchy
Project Three, Part Two
The purpose of this project was to build an appreciation for typefaces, and the unique meanings each conveys. Though typefaces can be found anywhere from street signs, books, posters, and even menus, people generally don’t pay any attention to them. A typeface can make or break a design, and one that is well incorporated can influence the impact that the medium has.
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For this project, we were instructed to create a type specimen poster, one that includes some basic information about the typeface including the designer and they year it was produced, and also conveys the meaning and “personality” of the typeface.
Final Product
This is my final product, which was inspired by the NYC Subway Station signs, which uses Helvetica as its typeface to portray clear labels and directions.
Research
Helvetica was designed in 1957 by Max Miedinger, a Swiss typographer. It was originally named Neue Haas Grotesk, but was renamed in 1960 after being licensed by Linotype. The purpose of Helvetica was to serve as a neutral typeface, one that doesn’t distract the reader from the meaning of the words. Because it is san serif and there aren’t drastic changes in its thickness throughout the strokes, it has great clarity. Therefore, many companies and organizations, even airlines, use this typeface so that their logo is clearly visible even when it’s far away or in movement. Though most of the characters in Helvetica are very simple and at times, perceived as “boring”, some characters are very unique and unlike any other. For example, the bowl of the letter “a” in Helvetica is pretty square but pointy at the top, which creates an interesting shape when you focus on the white space. Another example is the serif-like feature of “R”, which extends out and contrasts with other letters that are mostly sans serif.
Sketches
After researching what kind of contexts Helvetica is used in, I tried to incorporate a lot of the information that I obtained into my sketches. Because Helvetica is used so popularly, there was inspiration from a lot of different sources, such as the tax reform, iOS, NYC subway system, and the US space shuttle. I wanted to create a design that portrayed how Helvetica is being used in day to day life.
Digital Iterations
When transferring my designs to Adobe Illustrator, I tried to pick designs that focused mostly on the font, and didn’t contain distracting illustrations. This ensured that the theme of Helvetica would be at the forefront, and go hand-in-hand with Helvetica’s clear personality.
The four designs above seemed too simple however, and I felt that Helvetica’s characteristics were not amplifying as much as I wanted them to be. Therefore, I chose a context Helvetica was most famous for, and expanded on the theme of NYC Metro system.
These three iterations were the first designs inspired by the subway system, but it did not feel too creative, so I combined these designs with another one of my sketches to produce the following iterations.
To ensure that the viewers instantly would realize that these designs were inspired by the NYC Metro, I used the year as subway lane markers, and created lane names, based on different aspects of Helvetica. Throughout my iterations, I also manipulated the colors of the lanes to make sure that “Helvetica” was at the highest hierarchy, and that viewers would read the name of the typeface first. Therefore, my final product only contains four unique hues.
