Typography - Task 2: Typographic Exploration & Communication

25.4.2022 - 16.5.2022 (Week 6 - Week 8)
Tan Yi-Tyng (0353327)
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Typography
Task 2: Typographic Exploration & Communication (Text Formatting & Expression)

LECTURE

Lectures 01-06 completed in Task 1: Exercise 1&2 (click here to see the previous lectures)

Week 6: Typography Task 2 Process Demo

In this video, Mr Vinod gave us a demonstration of how to create a typography editorial layout for task 2. Below are the steps that I noted down from the lecture video.

Look at the contextual content within the page size. Understand the texts and, that way we can understand how much texts there are and how much space the texts cover.
Begin with a sketches for the layout ideation. Make some possible ideas for the headlines and paragraph placement.
Create the headline in Adobe Illustrator (200x200 mm document).
Create a new document in Adobe InDesign. (200x200 mm, 6 pages, 5 mm Column Gutter)
To make Facing Pages: Select all the Pages, turn off Allowance to Shuffle Selected Spreads, drag the second page after the first page.
Place the Illustrator headline file into Adobe InDesign document.
Arrange the text layout

INSTRUCTIONS

Task 2: Text Formatting and Expression

In this second task, we were instructed to express typographically the content in a 2-page editorial spread. We may use Adobe Illustrator to create the headline expression and use Adobe InDesign to typographically compose and express the text within a given size (200 x 200 per page). Mr Vinod has provided us with three editorial text options, including headlines and texts, which we need to choose one of them for this task. We can only use the ten typefaces given in task 1 and we are not allowed to add images, but some very minor graphical elements are allowed.

For this task, I chose the first article (The Impact of Bauhaus on Modern Culture) as I think this topic is very interesting to me, it has a strong concept style and I felt that there are many possibilities for me to express my ideas. With that in mind, I started by researching the topic to help have a clearer and more understanding of this topic, so I can know what design best suit for me to convey the message visually.

1. Visual Research

Title: The Impact of Bauhaus on Modern Culture.

What was the Bauhaus?

The Bauhaus was a school of design, architecture, and applied arts that existed in Germany from 1919 to 1933. Its full name was Staatliches Bauhaus.

What does "Bauhaus" mean?

"Bauhaus" literally translates to "house of building," which was derived by inverting the German word Hausbau or "building of a house."

What kind of art did the Bauhaus create?

The Bauhaus aimed to merge art with technically expert craftsmanship through workshops that taught skills such as carpentry, pottery, wall painting, and stagecraft.

Who founded the Bauhaus?

The Bauhaus was founded by German-born architect and educator Walter Gropius.

How has the Bauhaus influenced modern art and design?

The Bauhaus inspired a focus on the functionality of objects for mass society as well as the fundamentals of design. Today many art curricula include foundational courses based on the Bauhaus model.

Bauhaus Style in Graphic Design

Graphic Design owes tons of similarities with Bauhaus movement and gets influenced by it, as a Bauhaus was a minimalist design style, they only used a few elements and all of them needed to have a function, this fact made that they were focus on studying the shape psychology, color theory, visual hierarchy and basic design principles.

Geometric Shapes in Bauhaus Design

The use of simple geometric shapes was essential in Bauhaus design philosophy, contributing to its themes of functionality and simplicity. As technology and mechanization were significant pieces in the movement, classic geometric shapes visually resembled the technological thinking that pervaded the era. Squares, circles, triangles, solid angles, and thick lines are definitive of art and design from this period and play an essential role in graphic design today.

Experimental Grid Layouts

The Bauhaus artists wanted to go outside the conventional grids used for design and they were focused on the experiment with grids and placement of objects trying new design layouts, these experimentation has influenced modern design layouts as they were the firsts who broked that grid.

Fonts

Using serif-less fonts is the best suited with Bauhaus style and try to avoid cursive fonts. Universal Type font developed by Herbert Bayer for example was held up as a prime example of type by original Bauhaus designers, praised for its "visual clarity stressed above all." He was an advocate of greater legibility which he provided with his design of geometrically formed characters with the greater distance between them. He removed the upper and lower cases and serifs, leaving simple, yet effective design, popular to this day.

Next, I move on to search for some inspiration for the layout design through magazines, posters, and brochures. Below are some of the excellent works I found that there are very good in expressing the Bauhaus style with a simple design yet easy to understand. Besides, their text formattings which I like the most, is the flow, neat and clean. They manage to create a good hierarchy and they also look harmonious.

Fig 1.1 - Type Expression & layout (5.5.2022)

Fig1.2 - Editorial Text Layout Example (5.5.2022)

2. Sketches

After going through the process of visual research, I sketched out some of my ideas, I tried to explore different arrangements to express the Bauhaus style and emphasize the word Bauhaus in the headline. And for the body text, I experimented with a different arrangement to create a good text flow, organized and easy to read.

Fig1.3 - Layout Sketches (6.5.2022)

3. Digitalize

- Layout 1

For the first composition, I decided to make the headline and sub-headline separately in Adobe Illustrator. I wanted to emphasize the word Bauhaus by placing it in the middle. I started by placing each alphabet close together and extending the A alphabet to make it more dynamic. I have also added some black coloured shapes by adjusting the opacity, so it somehow shows a balance between positive and negative spaces. For the body text, I wanted to make the layout of the paragraph something like a staircase to show a flow and movement between the body texts. Last, for the subtext, I placed it in the left bottom corner as it can utilize the empty spaces. At the same time, this can let the viewer know that it is a different group from the body text.

Fig1.4 - using ruler as a guideline to arrange the layout (13.5.2022)

Fig 1.5 - Add the sub headline & align to the headline (13.5.2022)

Fig1.6 - Arranged the text layout and cross alignment (13.5.2022)

Fig 1.6 - Final Layout 1 (13.5.2022)

- Layout 2

For the second attempt of composition, same as layout 1, I used the same method to extend the line of some alphabet on Adobe Illustrator. What is different is that I tried a new arrangement and added some geometrical shapes to convey the Bauhaus style. For the body texts, I wanted to arrange them in an organized way to contrast with the arrangement of the headline.

Fig1.7 - using ruler as a guideline to arrange the layout (13.5.2022)

Fig1.8 - align the element with 'Bauhaus' (13.5.2022)

Fig1.9 - added line at the border to lead
the viewer's eyes from left to right (13.5.2022)

Fig1.10 - Cross Alignment & tracking to prevent rivers

Fig 1.11 - Final Layout 2 (13.5.2022)

- Layout 3

For the third layout, I’m using the same concept of extending the alphabet line in Adobe illustrator. However, for this layout, the design and the arrangement of the word ‘Bauhaus’ give a sense of elegance, the design looks simple and organized, which I feel is very aesthetically pleasing.

Fig 1.12 - Arranged the layout in Illustrator (14.5.2022)

Fig 1.13 - Arranged the text layout & Cross Alignment (14.5.2022)

Fig 1.14 - Final Layout 3 (13.5.2022)

- Layout 4

For this layout 4, I wanted to try something new, I decided to design the headline directly on InDesign as I came up with the idea of a simple design that I think the tools in InDesign are enough for me. Based on my research, the Bauhaus style is known for using geometrical shapes, so I was thinking of some of the alphabets that I could replace with a shape. For example, I decided to use a triangle instead of ‘A’, using a square to replace ‘U’ and a circle instead of ‘0’. At first, I was trying to emphasize the word ‘Bauhaus’ only. However, there is still a lot of space on there. So, I added ‘100’ with it as after reading this article, I knew that this article is part of a celebration of 100 years of Bauhaus.

Fig1.15 - Adding the '100' to filled up the space(14.5.2022)

Fig1.16 - Cross Alignment &
Adjust the text to prevent widow (14.5.2022)

Fig1.17 - Final Layout 4 (14.5.2022)

- Layout 5 (Final Submission)

For this Layout, I got the inspiration from my reference that designing the Layout in a diagonal form and incorporating geometrical shape. As there are many shapes and text on the page, I have to pay close attention to arranging the Layout and aligning them to make it look organized. Although this arrangement took me a lot of time, I was surprised that the final outcome looks great, and I think the Layout has clearly expressed the Bauhaus Style. As there are many elements on the right side of the page, I decided to arrange the body text neatly and simply way to create a contrast between both pages.

Fig 1.18 - Align the text and shape with -45 ° guide line (14.5.2022)

Fig 1.19 - Align the text and shape with both 45 ° and -45 ° guide line (14.5.2022)

Fig 1.20 - adjust the point of the shape to align with the grid line (14.5.2022)

Fig 1.22 - Cross Alignment (14.5.2022)

Fig1.23 - adjust the text to remove widows and rivers (14.5.2022)

Fig 1.24 - Final Layout 5 (14.5.2022)

- Layout 6

Although I only research ideas based on the topic Bauhaus, I came up with some new ideas when I read this article, which I think I can experiment with it. I created multiply of the word 'follow', arranged them according to an L shape and emphasized the word 'Code'. For this composition, I tried something different from the previous layout, we can see how the headline is designed on both pages. This layout shows how the flow of the text help to lead the viewer's eyes from left to right. At first, my idea was to align the top and the bottom of the body text. However, I tried different ways to arrange them but it didn't look so nice. So, I decided to arrange the body text like a staircase that showed movement in the pages. Besides, this arrangement also gives some spaces around the headline 'Code', which will help to emphasize and stand out in the area.

Fig 1.25 - Arrangement of the body text align to the left (14.5.2022)

Fig 1.26 - Arrangement of the body text align the top and bottom (14.5.2022)

Fig 1.27 - Layout 6 (14.5.2022)

- Layout 7

For a second attempt on this topic, I used the same concept for the headline that repeated the word ‘follow’ and emphasized the ‘code’. I’m trying to curve to the path which shows movement and is well balanced in the positive and negative spaces. As for the subheadline, I placed them aligned to the corner to utilize all the spaces. For the body text, I remained the same and arranged them like a staircase, so it doesn’t feel boring to read the whole bunch of text.

Fig 1.28 - Created the headline in Adobe Illustrator (14.5.2022)

Fig 1.29 - Align the sub headline (14.5.2022)

Fig 1.29 - Cross Alignment (14.5.2022)

Fig 1.30 - Final Layout 7 (14.5.2022)

4. Compilation of All 7 Layout

Fig1.31 - All Layout (14.5.2022)

After looking at all the layouts I created, I decided to choose Layout 05 as the final submission. Even though I’m very satisfied with all the layout, layout 05 is one of my favourite as I think it has clearly conveyed the message and feeling of Bauhaus style. For the layout, I tried to incorporate all the elements that best express Bauhaus, such as geometrical shape, angular layout, and alignment. Despite the fact that there are a lot of elements used there, it still looks very organized and we can see how well their connection and relationship between each other. Not only that, but it has also shown a well-utilized of spaces and balance between positive and negative space in the whole composition.

Final Submission - Task 2

Fig1.14 - Final Task 2, JPG (15.5.2022)

Fig1.15 - Final Task 2, PDF (15.5.2022)

Fig1.16 - Final Task 2 with Guide and Baseline Grid, PDF (15.5.2022)

Font : Futura Std (heading), Janson Text LT Std (subheading), Univers LT Std (body text)

Typeface : Heavy & Medium (heading), Bold (subheading), Roman (body text)

Font size : 89pt & 22pt (heading), 10pt ( subheading & body text)

Leading: 12pt

Paragraph Spacing: 12pt

Average characters per line : 45 ~ 55

Alignment: Justify with last line aligned left

Margins : 12.7mm (top, left, right), 65mm (bottom)

Columns : 2

Gutter (for columns) : 5mm

FEEDBACK

Week 7: Task 2 (Text Formatting & Expression)

General Feedback:

Need to consider the design of the type expression conveys what meaning, does it relate to the word itself? Further explain your idea in your blog.
The line length of all columns must be the same
Pay close attention to aligning the text layout

Specific Feedback:

Nice Work! I could see how you are expressing the Bauhaus style in the headline. Very good exploration in the arrangement, there’s enough positive and negative space and it also can be seen the alignment between the shape and the text.
However, what you can improve is the subheadline “Of” the letter f, you don’t need to align with the line, you can put the line in the middle of the letter O & f.
The rectangle shape at the middle of the page, you can try to explore with arranging in a line, so it can be aligned with the bunch of text next to it.
Arrange some small details on the letter U, align it with the line and give more spaces between the H and the shape on top.
For the text formatting, overall is very good, just some minor things you can improve on kerning or tracking and also add some hyphenate to prevent the river in the paragraph 1 and 2.

To make it clearer and easy to remember on what Mr Vinod said, I roughly sketch out the things that I need to improve on my work.

Fig - feedback on sketch

Week 8: Submission

Excellent! Systematic and methodical progression, well documented and varied ideas and explorations. Well done kiddo – keep it up!
E-portfolio is Comprehensively completed!

REFLECTION

Experience

Overall, I felt very enjoyable and exciting when completing this task 2 as this time I'm already quite familiar with using the software and the design process. This task allowed me to learn more about trying to develop many unique editorial layouts. I liked exploring the arrangement of paragraphs and designing the headline to see how that would affect the flow of how viewers read the article. Although I was nervous and got anxious whenever receiving feedback from Mr Vinod on my work. I'm always afraid that I can't fulfil Mr Vinod's expectations. However, I'm glad that Mr Vinod like my work and he give lots of helpful comment to improve my work. I realized that this is a normal process and good to go through to prepare for us in the future work life. It was a great experience, and I gained more confidence that I could do better than I thought.

Observations

I observed that this task is very helpful for us as we need to apply all the knowledge we have learned in the previous task to create an editorial layout. This task challenges our creativity under the condition of observing the rules and regulations of typography. Additionally, I observed that it's crucial to understand what is the best way to arrange the elements such as the headline, sub-headline and placement of body text to create a good hierarchy, better text flow and clear visual communication. Besides, I have also learned something new about the term of Bauhaus through my visual research process, and I could use the concept and ideas I learned to apply in my future work.

Findings

I found out there are so many requirements and rules of typography that must be fulfilled when creating a good layout. Through this task, I think I need to improve on paying more attention to kerning and tracking as the body text may look too tight or too loose, which will affect the readability of the passage. Furthermore, I found out that I have improved on balance and white space in this task. Although it is slightly challenging to arrange so many design elements on one page, I did my best to balance the whole composition and let readers feel comfortable reading.

FUTHER READING

Reading Article

Reference: Layout and Composition

layout and composition are the building blocks of design. They give your work structure and make it easier to navigate, from the margins on the sides to the content in between. Composition is important as it’s the way your content is arranged.

1. Proximity

using visual space to show relationships in your content.
related items are grouped together, Groups that are not related to each other should be separated to visually emphasize their lack of a relationship.
All in all, this makes your work easier to understand at a glance, whether it's purely text or something more visual.

2. White space

means negative space, like the spaces between your content, between lines, and even the outer margins.
There's no one way to use white space correctly, but it's good to understand its purpose.
White space helps you define and separate different sections; it gives your content room to breathe.

3. Alignment

When aligning objects by yourself (for instance, images or separate text boxes), getting it right can be tricky. The most important thing is to be consistent.
It's this attention to detail that makes the composition easier to navigate. Without consistent alignment, your work could start to feel disorganized.

4. Contrast

Contrast simply means that one item is different from another.
In layout and composition, contrast can help to catch the reader's eye, create emphasis, or call attention to something important.
To create contrast you can use colour, more than one style of text, and objects of differing sizes. This makes the design more dynamic and, therefore, more effective at communicating its message.

5. Hierarchy

Contrast is also closely tied to hierarchy, which is a visual technique that can help the viewer navigate your work. In other words, it shows them where to begin and where to go next using different levels of emphasis.
Establishing hierarchy is simple: Just decide which elements you want the reader to notice first, then make them stand out. High-level or important items are usually larger, bolder, or more eye-catching in some way.

6. Repetition

Repetition is a reminder that every project should have a consistent look and feel. This means finding ways to reinforce your design by repeating or echoing certain elements.
For instance, if you have a specific colour palette, look for ways to carry it through. If you've chosen a special header style, use it every time.
It's not just for aesthetic reasons—being consistent can also make your work easier to read. When viewers know what to expect, they can relax and focus on the content.

TAN YI-TYNG (0353327)