TypebyTigist

Conceptual Opportunities: These specimen posters look like scientific infographics even though they aren’t. Since the topic for my poster is on plants, I thought I could do something like this to illustrate an organic science theme. 

The top image looks like labels for scientific jargon like N for nitrogen. 

The bottom looks like a diagram of how sunlight/soil effects plants.

Look/Feel: Since the topic is nature, I thought an earth colour palette would give off a natural vibe. I think a minimal and clean colour palette would do well such as white (cleanliness), green (nature), and yellow (sun). 

Content Reaction: Viewers should feel the typefaces match the content, so there’s no distraction and they can appreciate it. It should make designers want to purchase the faces, and scientist want to find out more about the plants.

Serif

Subclass: Old Style

I chose old style because it was when typographers began to create new typefaces instead of copying existing ones. I feel like this is an important milestone in type history, so I thought something from this era might be a good place to start.

Typeface: ITC Galliard Pro 

I chose this face because I like the simplicity of it. It’s elegant, but not so much it's illegible. I like the bracketed serifs, the ball terminal on the lowercase R, and the contrastign strokes. I think the little elements like these are what makes this face appealing, and adds character to it.

Subclass: Venetian

I don’t think this era of type is essential because it doesn’t have a large impact on type. However, like all styles, it does bring something to the type world. Venetian is like an updated version of blackletter; containing bracketed serifs, left axis or stresses, and subtle contrasting strokes.

Typeface: P22 Stickley

I like this face because I think the subtle contrast in strokes helps with legibility, this would allow it to be used for body copy. I also think having the iconic left-leaning axis on the lowercase E helps typophiles identify the era of this type. People may not notice type in a body copy, but if it’s a short caption or heading it might be noticed.

Subclass: Modern

I chose this style because I think it’s also an important time in the type era. This is when serifs were not bracketed, which changes the look and feel of the type. The type looks more clean and new, rather than traditional and elegant. This new experminenting in type is almost like statement, a step towards type trends.

Typeface: Gimlet Display

I chose this face because I like the contrast between the fine cross strokes and the stems. It looks like it’s mimicking the pattern of a fine point pen. I also chose this because the curves in the lowercase A and S are so dramatic and eye-catching. I defiantley think this would be a good face for a heading, afterall it has the word display in it.

Sans-Serif

Subclass: Monospace

This style was based on the functionality of typewriter keys. I think this is an important time in type because typographers are aware of the experience people had using typewriters. Faces in this style consist of characters that have equal widths, as well as positive kerning. The equal kerning is a result of the keys only being able to move forward in one specific distance. This style was later used for computer coding so it didn’t have to be designed nicely, it just had to be legible.

Typeface: Ubuntu Mono

I chose this face because it had that monospace feel with the condensed M to match the width of the other letters, but it also had its own twist. For example, it has tighter kerning than other monospace faces, which helps with legibility. It also has curves on the lowercase U’s and N’s, which I think gives it some character. This separates it from a regular mono look with a fresh take on monospace type.

Subclass: Grotesque

This style is the beginning of the sans-serif era, so it’s probably one of the most familiar styles. I think this makes grotesque essential, and because it was known as ugly it probably stood out more. It shows the transition from old type to modernized type by keeping some serif features, such as contrast in strokes or double story A’s and G’s (for some faces). This was also a time in type history that opened doors for typographers to be more daring with their work.

Typeface: Brandon Grotesque

I like the simple and clean look of this face. The strokes are relatively even, and the kerning is positive to be used as body text. I think this face would almost work like Helvetica is meant to: it lies as a foundation for personality comes from the words, not the face itself.

Subclass: Humanist

This style is a sub category of grotesque, so it doesn’t have as large as an impact as grotesque, but it has some influence on type. Humanist styles are like grotesque in the way they want preserve something of the past. For grotesque, they wanted to preserve some of the characteristics of serif typefaces. Later Neo-grotesque was introduced and it rejected serifs. Then came humanist faces, which took a step back, and honoured the characteristics of human writing.

Typeface: Amplitude

I like this face because it’s legible, simple, and could possibly be used as body text in a small magazine article. I don’t think it would work well in with heavy reading, but I think it would be alright in a magazine for stylistic and legibility purposes. I think it has some characteristics of a ball point pen with the dot on the I and the subtle contrast is the curved strokes.

Slab-Serif

Subclass: Typewriter

This style is similar to monospace because going by the name, it was meant for typewriters. This style is a subcategory of monospace, of course it was used for typewriters before computer coding, but it lies within the same perameters. Unlike moonscape, their proportions can be adjusted because they take on characteristics of electric typewriters as well as manual ones. 

Typeface: Nexus Typewriter Pro

I chose this face because it’s easy to read, has thin and even strokes, and has the typewriter aesthetic. Their distinguishing features make the face more unique: condensed W, squared serifs, various kerning, and narrow curves on rounded characters. I think this face would be best used as display, but there are other typewriter faces that are used in body copy such as movie scripts.

Subclass: Round

This era of type doesn’t have a large impact on type, but it changes the look and feel of serifs. The rounded serifs are to make the faces more welcoming, rather than the straight and elegant serifs which are more distant. I chose this because I don’t think this style is used often, or even thought about.

Typeface: Grover Slab

This face has a modernernized serif feel to it, like the Roots clothing brand face. I like how it can be dominant and simple at the same time. The rounded serifs make it unique and memorable. Almost all of the characters, lowercase or uppercase, have some form of serif on them. I think the wide letters, bold weight, and stylistic curves would interfere with readbility as body copy, but it would be a great display face.

Subclass: Neo-Grotesque

As mentioned before, Neo-grotesque is a form of grotesque which began rejecting any characteristics of serif faces. As if grotesque wasn’t rebellious enough in type history, Neo-grotesque took it one step further. Although it is a subcategory, I think this era is quite important because it introduced controversial faces like Helvetica. I also think this form of rejection of older type characteristics all together allowed for more experimental type.

Typeface: Justus

I chose this face because it’s almost has a geometric look to it. Although it’s a Neo-grotesque face everything looks mirrored ,such as curved strokes and perfect kerning. The serifs are simple and minimalistic, and the character weight is even. I think this face would work well for display, and a heavier font for might work for body copy.

Handwriting

Subclass: Script

Script faces are pretty straightforward that they are based on handwriting. They are used for elite branding, but only in headings, and sparingly. Scripts  mimic handwriting not by just the curves and varied strokes, but also the way they never consist of all caps.

Typeface: Luxus Brut Sparkling

I chose this face for its old look and feel. It has the characteristics of a feather and ink pen or a fine ball point pen for calligraphy. It’s very dramatic with the contrasting strokes, luxurious curves, and size significant size difference between the lowercase and uppercase charatcers.

Subclass: Printing

Although printing might not be an actual classification, I feel this is the style this face is going for. Instead of mimicking the old style of writing such as handwriting, this is more of a modern take on writing: printing. Printing has the look of a regular pen or pencil used on a daily basis, whereas script takes on the role of feather and ink or calligraphy.

Typeface: Jakob

This face has the look of a more common pen. It’s informal, imitates note taking, and has rushed character strokes. This modern printing has no official serifs, although some characters, such as the lowercase J, have serif aspects. There’s a slight contrast in strokes, but it’s not too dominate. It’s easy to read and has personality to it because it looks like actual printing. I think this would work well for display, especially for stationary branding.

Subclass: Printing

Again this face is in the style of printing. It’s fresh and simple, but it also has a two-story G, which takes on a bit of a stylized version of handwriting.

Typeface: Swing King

I chose this face because of its handwritten look mixed with a distinct personality. Sometimes when people write a journal entry, whether it’s for school or personal use, they will add personality. For some people it’s printing a two story A, others it’s doting I’s with hearts. For this face, there’s a two-story G, a stroke on the lowercase Q, and rounded characters. I think this makes for an interesting face, and would work well for display.

Decorative & Display

Subclass: Ornamental

Although this face is not technically ornamental, it has ornamental aspects to it. For example, the dot on the I is a diamond and a opposed to a regular circle. Some characters also will have an extra crossbar or ascender (capital T) merely for decorative purposes.

Typeface: Mason Serif

This face has dramatic tails, extra crossbars, and straight curves on some characters like M’s, W’s, and U’s. I think the mix of this unusual approache on an older type style makes this face interesting. I think the various sizes and characters used for uppercase and lowercase (lowercase shaped N is the same size as capital letters) interfere with legibility. The contrast in strokes don’t help for legibility, but they are subtle enough they don’t take away from the face either. These dramatic differences aim for form over function. I also think the kerning of this face helps with legibility so it’s not too bad.

Subclass: Grunge

I’m not sure if grunge is an actual subclass of decorative and display, I came across it on a website. Grunge probably became popular after Neo-grotesque was introduced in the 90’s when the boundaries of type were pushed. I also think the grunge trend may have already been around in fashion design, and then was introduced in type design.

Typeface: Battery Park

I chose this face because it was eye catching and different. If there was a category called slab sans-serif, I think it would fit. The thick even strokes allow for dominance and legibility. The contrast of the heavy type and faded spray paint effect create a edgy look and feel. I think the face can get away with the faded letters because of the even and bold stroke of the characters. Aside from the spray paint effect, the only other characteristics are the broken letters. But again this doesn’t interfere with legibility because the breaks are so subtle, but it still could only be used as display.

Subclass: Outline

Again this was a category I pulled from a website. It mentioned that a subcategory of decorative and display faces are outlines. I would usually stay away from outlines because they’re not legible, but I think this face works because 1/3 of the characters are filled in.

Typeface: Acier BAT

Typeface:

Faces used: I used Futura PT for this layout. 

A Head: Futura PT Extra Bold

B Subhead: Futura PT Bold

Body Text: Medium

C Caption: Futura PT Demi

Reason for choices: I used a font identifier to find what typeface Vancouver transit (TransLink) used. I found that Futura PT was one of the closet and free fonts that matched. I chose to go with this typeface so there would be cohehsion between my design and the company’s exisiting design. 

Format Choices:

Colour: I did a colour swatch of TransLink’s logo to create a colour theme that matched their colour pallete. I based my colour choices on those colours to create cohesion between my design and the company’s. I read that it’s easier to read white on black, so I chose lighter colours (white and light blue) to help with readabililty of black text. Also since this will be used by seniors, it’s probably best to use colours they’re used to reading on, and is easy on their eyes.

Shading: I ended up having to create my own colour for the shading on the table, because the lightest shade of TransLink’s blue was not readable. If I were to stay with the TransLinks light blue, I would have to make the text white, which would cause to much caos reading wise. The reader would have to go from reading black on white, to white on medium blue;driving their eyes crazy. I wanted something that was minimal, but easy to follow when there’s so much horizontal reading, especially with a sans-serif face. 

Spacing: I also wanted to make sure there was a distinction between the bus numbers, location, and departure times. I wanted to create hierarchy in the title, so I put the first and last stop as a heading, and the days of the week as a subhead below. I made sure there was breathing room between the TransLink logo and the headings. I also made sure the headings and logos were aligned with the table columns.

I also made spaces after the subheading for eligibility for the day passes. This way the lines wouldn’t be too close to the next bit of text, confusing the reader,

Rules: I read that padding around cells with text helps with readability, so I aimed for that. I also found out that it looks cleaner to only have horizontal borders on the table, so I applied that as well.

I created hierarchy in the table headings and subheadings with weight and colour. I wanted the info in the table to be less dominant, and more readable. I used weight and colour in the body copy as well to adhere to readability and hierarchy.

I also did this with day pass info. Since day passes are the most important, I gave it a big heading with bold type and colour. I then made the blurb underneath demi bold since it applies to all day passes. 

I applied a thicker stroke under “Concession” to seperate it from the information below and also to create hierarchy. I bolded the subheading within concession, and then made the text readable in terms of weight and colour. I also made sure the text wasn’t given the same importance as it’s subheading.

Experience:

Challenges: I found seperating the information into its own boxes difficult. Everything needed to be arranged so it could be to simple to navigate, approachable, organized, and visually clean. I also really wanted to use the light blue shade I swatched from the logo to create visual cohesion, but tables are usually function over form. I think I made the right choice in choosing a lighter background like white that allows for readability with black text.

Were some choices not what you would have done?

Random tight and loose word spacing.

A dotted stroke rectangle with a graphic.

A random mustard yellow bleed on the left.

Red type on yellow. The greater than signs.

Two articles on one page and a text wrap for advertising.

If so, why?

I think tight word spacing makes it harder to read, especially in columns. I think the letter spacing and kerning should be relatively equal everywhere.

I think dotted strokes are only necessary for coupons, otherwise, they look tacky and outdated.

I don’t think the block of yellow on the left is working. I know it’s to separate the articles, but it has a similar layout to the rest of the page to stand out nicely.

I think when colour is included, it should be subtle, limited, attractive, and match another colour on the page. I also think colours should not go on top of each other; they should be in a neutral colour. I think the greater than signs are irrelevant and don’t really add to the design, they’re too subtle and randomly placed

I find the text wraps interfere with readability, especially since there’s two. Also, I think text wraps should be for pullout quotes, not advertising.

What types of choices did the designer make in their layout that made you realize their efforts and choices?

The magazine probably had a limited budget, which is why there are two articles on one page, and cheap typefaces. They had to put a lot of content in narrow columns. They didn’t align the first two columns with the third columns title, and the issue info at the bottom looks like it’s floating. I think they were limited on time and money and had to do the best they could.

What did you learn?

Improvement Analysis

This sign can be improved in the following ways:

One typeface

One colour

A calming and soft typeface, such as a massage

Hierarchy in size and layers (Company name, company info, company contacts)

An image of an adult, and inside the massage parlour

The image in its own section

Before

After

Improvements Made:

One typeface

All green

No black background (to keep look and feel of relaxing massage)

Hierarchy of title, massage therapist, and contact info

One image of an adult on the bottom

No rags

All letters on the same baseline

Hillside Massage Therapy

Did the designer accurately convey the concept of the business or information represented through the choice of typeface?

No, this typeface is too decorative and active for a massage parlour. The typeface should be clean and relaxed. These are some of the following issues I found with the typeface choices of this sign. 

Typeface: 

The H, M,& T are different typefaces than the rest of the text > The title should have one typeface 

There are four different typefaces on this sign when there only needs to be one

The sans-serif typeface for website URL is used inappropriately

  Display type “Registered Massage Therapist” is also used inappropriately (tight kerning, extreme contrast in weight) > all caps are distracting because they don’t have the same cap height 

Positioning: 

The title is on the bottom of the sign

“Registered Massage Therapist” is on top of the title

Contact info is near the top of the sign

The text is not aligned > even “Registered Massage Therapist” and the title are not aligned

Contact info should not be centred

There should be no text under the image 

The image should have its own place separated from the text 

Rags are created on both sides

Textsize:

The phone number is the same size as the title > no sense of hierarchy

“Registered Massage Therapist” is too similar in size to the title > no sense of hierarchy

Colour:

The pale green on the H, M, & T is too subtle > even if the colour was prominent, viewers would read HMT; serving no purpose (unlike the brand M&M meat shops)

Is it readable? Why or why not?

No, it is not readable for the following reasons;

The slanted letters in the title are subtle, but they are not adding > Interfere with readability 

Title typeface is not readable from the side of the road > Needs to be readable from a glance on the road 

The decorative marks around some of the letters create more difficulty in reading

How might this typeface appeal to its intended audience (assuming it does!)

Look & Feel:

The image might appeal to some people. Relaxing grass, and having smooth skin while receiving a strong massage.

Colour: 

The pale green on the H, M, & T is too subtle > even if the colour was prominent, viewers would read HMT; serving no purpose (unlike the brand M&M meat shops)

Vancouver Island Health Authority

Did the designer accurately convey the concept of the business or information represented through the choice of typeface?

Yes, Vancouver Island is portrayed through the mountain graphics. The wave of water represents health. The sans-serif typeface is modern, clean, and professional. These are some of the following reasons these typeface choices are strong in this sign. 

Typeface: 

Simple sans-serif typeface > reflects professionalism Two similar sans-serif typefaces with varied weights > strong weight contrast between the two 

Positioning: 

All text is left aligned

The H in “health” & U in “authority” show character relationship

Graphics are not overlapping > right aligned with each other and text

Water graphic fills in a potential rag

Is it readable? Why or why not?

Strong kerning and tracking in both typefaces

Strong sense of hierarchy through weight & size

Kerning is appropriate for “Vancouver Island” because it is all caps

Leading is good, and equal distance between lines of text and graphics

Readable from a distance

Strong kerning between A & V in “Vancouver”

How might this typeface appeal to its intended audience (assuming it does!)

These typefaces appeal to professional businesses, older people who have difficulty reading, and families. They are simple, to the point, and gets the message across in a glance. This is shown by the following; 

Colour:

Consistent and minimal colour palette > same colour in graphics and text

One colour for each typeface

Look & Feel:

Blue shows professionalism and water

Hillside Massage Therapy

Type classification (Title): Monospaced

Typeface Name (H, M, T of Title): Slab serif

Typeface Name (H, M, T of Title): 1906 French New Caps Bold

Typeface Name (Rest of Title): Uncle Typewriter 2

Vancouver Island Health Authority

Type classification: Sans-serif

Typeface Name (Vancouver Island): Superia Normal Caps TF

Poor Typography

Glass Art Studio

Mutts n’ Such Pet services

Good Typography

Vancouver Island Health Authority