Advanced Typography - Project 1
23.9.19 - 30.9.19 (Week 5 - Week 6)
Abigail Bea Chong Ka Yee (0333966)
Advanced Typography
Project 1 - The Troublemakers Manifesto Colloquium
LECTURE NOTES
Lecture 5: Typographic Perception & Organization
23.9.19 (Week 5)
My group had a lecture today about Typographic Perception & Organization it consisted of three sub-topics which were Form and Contrast, Gestalt Psychology and Layout, and Creating Visual Hierarchy.
Lecture 6: Typographic Composition
30.9.19 (Week 6)
The subtopics that we learned today consist of• Environmental Composition
• Environmental Grids
• Alternate methods of determining the composition
The summary of the presentation
Environmental composition: The typography of an architectural building.
Environmental grids: A series of lines and shapes from a physical site that can be used as a grid, and using the structure in the image to guide placement for typography.
Alternate methods: when you use edges of objects (words) as grids.
Environmental composition: The typography of an architectural building.
Environmental grids: A series of lines and shapes from a physical site that can be used as a grid, and using the structure in the image to guide placement for typography.
Alternate methods: when you use edges of objects (words) as grids.
INSTRUCTIONS
PROJECT 1 - The Troublemakers Manifesto Colloquium (Key Artwork)
For our first project, we had to create a key artwork of an academic conference called The Troublemakers Manifesto: A Design Colloquium. It will later be used across the collaterals. The collaterals will range from:
- Poster (Static 50 X 70cm and Animated)
- Invite (Interactive)
- T-shirt, Sticker, Pin Badge, etc
We were also given the meaning behind The Troublemakers Manifesto: A Design Colloquium to refer to when brainstorming the concept.
The conference seeks to provoke inner dialogue of one's beliefs and to create a new paradigm shift through alternative viewpoints.
Troublemakers often make others feel uncomfortable. They challenge the norm, they question establishments rules and the status quo. This tension is needed to break the monotony brought about by societal conformity to the diktats of those wielding influence.
To most people, troublemakers are not a welcome lot but without their disruptive tendencies - creating ripples and ruffling feathers - unspoken ideas will not be made known, and innovations will not come to pass.
Why do they do, what they do? What principles and values lie beneath their decisions and actions? Are you a troublemaker, if so what is your manifesto?
I started to sketch my ideas out:
 |
| Fig 5.1 Sketches |
Title and Key Artwork (Week 6 - Week 7)
I had three ideas for the key artwork the first idea was high heels on drains where I got the inspiration from Rihanna stepping on drains in figure 6.1 and figure 6.2. It is supposed to symbolise danger from both the drain and the heel.
 |
| Fig 6.1 Rihanna stepping on a drain #1 |
 |
| Fig 6.2 Rihanna stepping on a drain #2 |
 |
| Fig 6.3 Drain for reference |
 |
| Fig 6.4 Shoe for reference |
The first attempt made for idea 1.
 |
| Fig 6.5 Attempt 1 (The shoe) |
For the second idea, I got inspired by this Japanese Tengu Mask. I did a little more research about the it and Tengu means heavenly dog in Japanese. They are said to cause wars and natural disasters. However, their image softened into one of the protective if not still dangerous spirits of the mountains and forests. I first came across this emoji on my phone.
 |
| Fig 6.6 The emoji |
 |
| Fig 6.7 The weapon reference |
 |
| Fig 6.8 The mask reference #1 |
 |
| Fig 6.9 The mask reference #2 |
The first attempt made for idea 2.
 |
| Fig 6.10 Attempt 2 (Tengu Mask) |
For my third idea, it was more of a funny one than a serious one. I chose a durian because the fruit wasn't allowed in several places like in hotels, hospitals, shopping malls, etc. The images used:
 |
| Fig 6.11 The bandana |
 |
| Fig 6.12 The durian |
 |
| Fig 6.13 The 'OK' sign hand |
 |
| Fig 6.14 The shades |
The first attempt made for idea 3.
 |
| Fig 6.3 Attempt 3 |
 |
| Fig 6.4 Attempt 4 |
 |
| Fig 6.5 Attempt 5 |
 |
| Fig 6.6 Attempt 6 |
After getting feedback from Mr Vinod he told me to not use any visual graphic but just the typeface from fig 6.4 attempt 4 from the word ": a design colloquium". Here are the process:
 |
| Fig 7.1 Process #1 |
 |
| Fig 7.2 Process #2 |
 |
| Fig 7.3 Process #3 |
 |
| Fig 7.4 Process #4 |
 |
| Fig 7.5 Process #5 |
I asked Mr Vinod for feedback in messenger and he told me to make it look like my design colloquium and not with the boxes.
 |
| Fig 7.6 Process #6 |
 |
| Fig 7.7 Process #7 |
Mr Vinod then gave me online feedback to tightened the spacing to make it function like a logo and not a poster.
 |
| Fig 7.8 Process #8 |
Mr Vinod then told me to move the "THE" closer and pixelate it.
 |
| Fig 7.9 Final Outcome |
The PDF version of the final outcome.
FEEDBACK
Week 5
General Feedback:
Once you start to refine your letterforms from the ones you have extracted, you need to keep a core characteristics of the letterforms and only add and subtract certain elements you want to in your own creativity with maintaining the characteristics of the letterforms.
Specific Feedback:
My letterforms are fine. But I need to make the 'born to' smaller and make the word DANCE contrast with the girl instead of around her.
Week 6
General Feedback:
Mr Vinod told us that to developed a proper key artwork we need to understand the meaning behind 'manifesto' (which are our beliefs). We also need to have different ideas and designs so we would have back up if our main ideas do not work well. Do not use lightbulbs as our ideas because it is too commonly known for positivity. Moreover, do not use a black background because we need the key artwork to stand out.
Specific Feedback:
Idea 1: The concept is not really there thus not working well as a design.
Idea 2: Need to use the common denominator of Malaysia and not Japan.
Idea 3: It has a funny idea to it but the main key artwork which is the durian, shades, the mask doesn't work with the hand.
Week 7
General Feedback:
For typographic systems make sure to have a an outline around the spreads. Do not put them in individual pages. The PDF (in spreads) must be made public and visible. For finding type exercise we need to put every refinement process on a baseline. Make show to show first refinement and last refinement. The lecture notes must be summarised, embedded and completed.
Specific Feedback:
Idea 4: the virtual elements weren't working, but Mr Vinod likes the ":a design colloquium" typeface which he then told me to work on with "The Troublemakers Manifesto.
Idea 5: The Cards Against Humanity idea didn't work.
Idea 6: The Coco Chanel concept can work but not the execution.
REFLECTION
Experiences
Week 5; I was glad that my type and play exercise part 1 was finally approved so I could focus more on my part 2 with the type and image. Part 2 exercise was quite tricky for me at first I really wanted to work on the guy skipping but it didn't turn out the way I imaged so I chose another picture which was a girl thus I was quite happy with how it turned out but I felt like I could do more. Week 6; After getting feedback from Mr Vinod I was still confused about how I wanted to gather my ideas to create a solid concept. Even though he explained clearly what manifesto is (meaning what we believed in) and troublemakers are people who have created trouble that has brought positive changes instead of negative, I still have a problem linking the design I want to create with the title. Week 7; After showing my main key artwork to Mr Vinod and a few other ideas. I felt completely lost on my concepts but at least I could work my way around the typeface I chose for (: a design colloquium). I tried out a few different ideas with the typefaces but I noticed something still was missing. When looking at the font it gives me skater vibes or some street art like the font was a different and improper format that doesn't follow the rules.
Observations
Week 5; Today's class felt informative for both us and our lecturers as it had been a few weeks since we had our last presentation. After the presentation, we had Q&A that was pretty interesting to discuss and talk about what we knew and what we didn't know. Week 6; Today's class felt quite short because of the break we had but very enjoyable due to Mr Vinod's story about how he made 3 different logos for a company but it got rejected, throughout the class, I could see everyone's fascination when hearing the story. At the end of the story, Mr Vinod told us that instead of focusing on one idea we need to have many more ideas/designs to create the best idea of them all. Week 7; Today's class proceeded gradually as we had to work on our project 1. The atmosphere felt stressful due to a lot of my classmates that did not have their work approved yet including mine.
Findings
Week 5; I noticed that refining letterforms are tricky to do if the letterforms extracted do not have the core characteristics of the image and that if you don't have a clear idea on how you want the letterforms to be it will be harder to refine it further. Other than that, picking an image for type and play part 2 is crucial to make sure the background isn't too distracting. Week 6; I noticed that most of my friends' ideas were lacking in design and that we had used the idea to fight for change thus relating it to design to make our key artwork concept good. Some of my classmates including me did not have a clear view of the concept about the title and how to link it to design. Week 7; I found that I struggled a lot with this project up till this week I still didn't get it approved but that's okay I'll still push through.
FURTHER READING
THE HISTORY OF TYPOGRAPHY AND ITS JOURNEY THROUGH ART by Smirna K
23.9.19 - 30.9.19 (Week 5 - Week 6)
 |
| Fig 6.1 The link to the website https://www.widewalls.ch/typography-history-art/ |
There was one section that I liked and that related to this project on this website. It talked about how in the 1960s it was a time of radical social changes, with the start of the peace movement and the psychedelic era, new fonts and styles came with it to support the emerging innovative ideas at the time.
 |
| Fig 6.2 Left: Wes Wilson – The Byrds, Moby Grape Poster / Right: Wes Wilson – Muddy Waters Blues Band Poster |
Wes Wilson was one of the most important designers of psychedelic posters, by inventing a new font around 1966, he heavily influenced typography. This was because of the psychedelic font that looked like it was melting away from the prints which made the letters more dynamic.
Comments
Post a Comment