Category: Type+Image

Your Final is Saturday, December 5 at 4:30pm. We will have a final overview/critique of your projects.

You will turn in:

• 11″x17″ print featuring your entire character set in both variations on 15″x20″ black matboard
• Printed specimen booklet on 15″x20″ black matboard
• a PDF of your characters (emailed to me dennis.schmickle@ttu.edu)

Examples (click to enlarge):

  

Here’s a link to the blog posts I mentioned where Tobias Frere-Jones discusses variances in type weight for the sake of good typography:

Typeface Mechanics #001
Typeface Mechanics #002

Your final project in Type + Image has a number of components.

1. You will design a custom typeface (Doyald Young)
   • Give your typeface a concept (ZXX)
   • Design 2 variations (italics, bold, interference, etc)
   • Design Upper and lower case, numbers 0–9, punctuation (Illustrator, PDF)
   • Any extra glyphs/ligatures you might want to add (OPTIONAL)
2. Design a specimen booklet for your typeface (House Industries)

Objectives

• Create and implement an original typeface
• Create conceptual typography
• Develop an awareness between aesthetic and conceptual concerns in type design
• Increase conceptual skills through research

Project Components

• 11″x17″ print of your typeface on black matboard (simple, nothing interesting)
• Specimen Booklet (dimensions variable) presented on black matboard
• PDF of full font

Deadlines

Tue Nov 10: Begin research and initial sketches
Thr Nov 12: Review research and sketches. Digitize sketches.
Tue Nov 17:
Thr Nov 19:
Tue Nov 24:
Tue Dec 1:
Thr Dec 3:
DUE: Saturday, December 5 at 4:30 p.m.

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Ok, so what is meant by “concept” in this case? ZXX is a heavily conceptual typeface. It was designed with a specific purpose in mind, and that purpose heavily influenced how it looks. San Francisco is another font with a particular purpose. Why does it exist? Knockout and Gotham are two typefaces with historical context. How can you interject some kind of specificity into your particular alphabet?

Then, how do you advertise your creation? For whom is it intended? Can you create materials that will speak to that audience, and shine the best light on your typeface?

Check out this (now tragic) short documentary about Hoefler & Frere-Jones:

Font Men – SXSW 2014 Official Documentary Short Selection from Dress Code on Vimeo.

Start with letters O, H, and D. Erik Speikermann starts with A, N, E, S, and G. Then move on to characters composed of all straight lines: E, I, T, etc. Then, how do you deal with curves… such as the letter S, g, the ampersand (&), and the other sundry characters that make up a full set?

And if you’re going to start designing type, it behooves you to familiarize yourself with some type designers:

• Hermann Zapf
• Adrian Frutiger (typefaces)
• Neville Brody
• Jonathan Barnbrook
• Tobias Frere-Jones (typefaces here and here)
• Typographica
• Font Bureau
• Emigre (Zuzana Licko)
• Susan Kare
• House Industries

The Art of Hermann Zapf from Johnny Dib on Vimeo.

House Industries: Interview with Ken Barber from Gestalten on Vimeo.

In this day of high speed internet and instant information, do we still take time to appreciate the classics. Is information like classic literature, art, poetry still pertinent and vital? How would you encourage a 17 year old to put down the phone and pick up a book? Perhaps that book just needs to be presented in a different way?

Your problem for this assignment is to re-package a familiar piece of literature in a way that is appealing to younger readers (16-22). Your task is two-fold. First, you must redesign the book cover. It should stand out amongst the overcrowded shelves. It should attract attention.

It should, however, represent the story in a fair and honest way. The second task (or, part two of the assignment) is to create a promotional/instore poster to advertise the book. This poster should use some of the same elemnets that appear on the book, but keep in mind the purpose of a poster. To advertise and get attention.

The most successful book covers are those that give a hint of the story inside, without revealing all the details.

• Design the front, spine, and back of the book.
• The book cover must include, the title and author. The Penguin logo must be on the spine and back. Download it here.
• The Poster must include the above information plus, the Barnes and Noble logo (download it here).
• Give your book a barcode by visiting this site, or download this vector file.
• Make your book as much as possible like a “real” book. Add an ISBN number, reviews, and other details.
• There are no color or typographic limitations on this assignment.

OBJECTIVES

• increase your ability as a planner and form giver
• develop an awareness of the relationship between design and meaning
• increase and improve the quality idea generation (quality & quantity)
• understand and identify a “target” audience
• increase conceptual skills through research

PROCESS

You will be required to maintain thorough documentation of your process throughout this and all assignments in this class. Keep a collection of everything pertaining to this project (project sheet, research, sketches, thumbnails, copies, etc.) and bring it to each class meeting. This collection will be turned in at the completion of this assignment and will be part of your final grade.

PROJECT COMPONENTS

• one book cover mounted on foam board (dimensions variable)
• one book cover attached to an actual book
• one poster (11″x17″)
• one process notebook

PRESENTATION

• The finished poster will be flush mounted on foam board
• The finished book cover will be mounted on a 15″ x 20″ Black board
• The finished book cover will also be attached to an actual book

DEADLINES

• Tue Oct 20 – Discuss topics, begin thumbnails sketches/RESEARCH
• Tue Oct 27 – 3 full-color (8.5”x11”) computer comps due for book cover
• Tue Nov 3 – revisions due for book covers / 3 full-color comps due for poster
• Thr Nov 5 – Revisions of book cover and poster due
• Tue Nov 10 – Finished book cover and poster due

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Book and book cover design resources:

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CHOOSE FROM THESE TITLES:

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