expressions

EXERCISES

Week 1 :  Exercise 1 ( Type expression )

I sketched the expression words on my iPad and realized that it was not as easy as it seems, constant brainstorming was required in order to think of the right impression. Even doing so, some expressions were not as accurate as I thought. 

Fig 1.21 Sketches of expressive words 14/4/2023

Week 2 : Digitizing expressive words 

For my previous sketches, I learned that I have used a lot of illustrations in my designs. During this week, I improved my designs for the expressive words based on last week's feedback session. 

Fig 2.21  Design for split  21/4/2023

For most of these, I tried to utilize the shape of the letter "l" and tried to make it look like a blade, splitting the other letters apart. 

Fig 2.22 Design for surprise 21/4/2023

Surprise was not a simple word to express as personally, I don't get surprised a lot so I did some research on the word and tried to get some ideas to try to express this word.

Fig 2.23  Design for destroy 21/4/2023

Expressing destroy was ultimately the most challenging with me as destroying normally involved objects ( it could be a hammer, hand ) but eventually i tried to think of some ideas to make it possible to express without using illustrations. Personally, the destroy on the top right was my favorite out of all designs.  

Fig 2.24   Design for pause 21/4/2023

For pause, there was not as much to express compared to the other three words, so I kept it as calm-looking as possible. But during the lessons, I also learned that a pause could be quite exciting, and not boring. 

Week 3 :  Finalized expression word designs

After a feedback session with Mr Vinod, he picked the ones which looked the best and suggested I move on to animating them.

Fig 3.21 Finalized design for split 28/4

The "l" acts as a slicer, splitting the letters "s" "p" with "i" "t"

Fig 3.22 Finalized design for surprise   28/4/2023

The letters act like balloons, which you normally see in surprises

Fig 3.23 design for pause before feedback 28/4/2023

Fig 3.24  design for pause after feedback 28/4/2023

I went with a very simple and minimalistic design with pause as during a pause, it is normally just a calm moment. I added grey to the background as Mr Vinod suggested so it gives of a contrast.

Fig 3.25 design for destroy before feedback 28/4/2023

Fig 3.26 design for destroy after feedback 28/4/2023

For destroy, I was a little more adventurous and tried playing around with the letters, using them to create a smasher. The 'd' acts as the handle of the smasher, and I used the middle line in 'E' to create a vision of a smasher.  

Fig 3.27 Final Type Expression, JPEG 28/4/2023

Fig 3.28 Final Type Expression, PDF 28/4/2023

Week 4 : Animation for expressive words

Fig 4.21 Split GIF sample 1 27/4/2023

Fig 4.22 Split GIF sample 2 27/4/2023

Fig 4.23 Surprise GIF sample 27/4/2023

Fig 4.24 Pause GIF sample 27/4/2023

Fig 4.25 Destroy GIF sample 27/4/2023 

Final animated type expression "Split", GIF

Fig 4.26 Final animated type expression "Split", GIF 28/4/2023

While animating it, I changed it to a slower speed so the viewer can see the action a little clearer. I also included a slight pause so it doesn't repeat too fast.

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FEEDBACK

Week 2 :

General feedback:

I came out with 20 different designs for 5 different words so explorations were sufficient. However, not all expressions portrayed the action of the words. Illustrations and distortions are not allowed. Stick to using the fonts provided.

Specific feedback:

On a scale of 1-5, the strength of the ideas are rated at 3 from my point of view. as I realized some designs are similar to my classmates'. For the word "silence" refrain from adding the line from the "L" as it will result in looking like a "T". The work can be improved with expressing with simple fonts and more brainstorming. Also explore more on the meaning of the words to really bring out the feeling it is supposed to give.

Week 3 : 

Specific feedback: 

For split, adjust the letter "s" and "t" position lower.

For pause, add a grey or black background to give some contrast.

For surprise, play with the positions of the letters instead of placing them orderly.

Week 4 :

General feedback: It is best to insert a pause if it isn't a smooth loop. Look at what is being expressed, act out what is being expressed and not adding just an action. It is suggested to add more frames to make the animation smoother (25 frames for a 1 second pause)

Specific feedback: 

For destroy - The "d" and "E" should just stay on the ground. Instead of putting "destroy" in the smashed area, put "stroy" only. Use a more condensed font.

For split - loop was too fast, pause after the animation happens for it to repeat again.

Week 5 :

Lecturer feedback:

W5 As explained in the first week and demonstrated in the sample feedback above, the latest feedback is to be recorded above the previous feedback. Week 4 above W3, W3 above W2 etc. The top left of this sheet clearly gives you the short cut key to create a paragraph space: Alt+Enter/Opt.+Return

General feedback:

• Maintain an even grey tone so a particular part doesn't look to dark/light.
• When you have paragraph of texts where there are abbreviations being used, they stand out from the texts and the rhythm of the text will be broken, causing the breakdown of the harmony of reading. To fix it, use small capital or a different font or reduce the size, which follows the median line text's height
• NEVER use a force line break!
• A centralized format can be stable but not outstanding enough to be great, it needs some dynamism 
• Avoid using bodoni for body text and futura light as it is hard to read
• Have different margin spaces to create dynamism
• Try to maintain constant spacing
• If there is already a difference in weight, no need to put it in italic form as it will be too much
• Maintain similarity when cropping images ( e.g If you crop the head of person 1, make sure to crop the head of person 2 as well )

Specific feedback:

 Image is not related to text and need more leading. When using left align, have some ragging so it doesn't look like it is justified. Make title alignment matched to image and caption for image must be smaller or same size as body text.

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REFLECTIONS

Experiences

Since it was my first time in a typography class, I learned a number of things and also learned to be more meticulous when reading texts I see on an everyday basis. It could be a post online, a leaflet I see in a mall or even packaging items. There were so many questions going around in my head, asking if the text could use some kerning, or could the spacing be a bit more and etc. I have also tried to not rely on illustrations as much, which was the biggest challenge to me as I am a big fan of illustrations. 

Observations

Even a small change of a design element could change how your text looks to a viewer. Kerning was something I was most fascinated about as it was such a simple change but it gave a huge difference, instantly making the texts appear cleaner. 

Findings

I discovered that not everyone has the same preferences even in typography. Some may prefer a more extravagant design/layout, when some prefers something simple. However, I think sticking to simpler designs would be the best for beginners like me and only start being adventurous once I dive deeper into the whole typography world. Although it's a subjective topic, typography still has its own rules that we designers have to follow in order to achieve the best reading experience for readers. 

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FUTHER READING

Article: Typography Elements Everyone Needs to Understand by Laura Martin

Fig 1.31 Typography Elements Everyone Needs to Understand

link: https://medium.com/gravitdesigner/typography-elements-everyone-needs-to-understand-5fdea82f470d

1. Typefaces

Starting with the basics, there are 3 basic type of typefaces:

Fig 1.32 Three basic typefaces

• Serif (extended lines marked in red circles in Fig )
• Sans-serif ( without thick and thin strokes ) sans means "without"
• Decorative ( more creative fonts )

Tips:
- use a maximum of 3 different typefaces in a given project.
- try pairing serif + non serif fonts together

2. Hierarchy

Hierarchy helps keep your ideas organised and also helps readers identify the content they are viewing. This also helps viewers in finding specific information. An example of using hierarchy is using different font size for subheadings, and text.

3. Contrast 

Varying size, typeface, weight, colour, and style can give your designs a big impact as well as make your ideas organised. It could also help in emphasising specific information, as well as grab reader's attention.

4. Whitespace

It is the empty space around objects or text, that can take the form of margins, padding, or just an uncluttered area. It creates a pleasing visual experience 

I.D.E.A.S. (2003)

Fig 1.33 I.D.E.A.S. (2003)

Display

• attention-getting headline fonts
• best not to use as body fonts

Fig 1.34 examples of display fonts

Script

• designed to mimic handwriting
• letters are designed to touch one another
• never be used in all capital letters

Fig 1.35 examples of script fonts

Mono-spaced

• proportionally spaced; smaller characters take up less space than larger ones
• usually type-writer style fonts, take up the same amount of space regardless of the actual letter

Fig 1.36 examples of mono-spaced fonts

Dingbats

• small pieces of art used to enhance the design of the text or page

Fig 1.37 examples of dingbat fonts

Dashes

• En-dash 

- slightly longer than hyphens

- used to separate a range of items eg: dates, quantities, and time

- as a rule, if you can substitute the word "to" or "through" in place of the dash, then it is used correctly

• Em-dash

- used in place of a comma to set off a section of the sentence that requires special emphasis

- used to precede the attribution of a quote

- the width of the letter "M"

- never typed as two hyphens in a row 

Text in boxes

• attracts attention to small amounts of text
• indent the text from sides of the box 
• don't make the background tint or colour too dark- unless the type is reversed
• if using reverse type, try making the type bold and sans serif

Thoughts after reading this book:

As i read this book, I realised most of the things have been covered in the lectures already. But, I still learned a couple of new, interesting stuff on typography and some rules that I have to take note of so I can avoid of the basic typography mistakes. It amazed me on how typography could also be a form of art with just words.