How good is good?

This article by Stephan Sagmeister was very interesting to me. In the beginning, it quotes Victor Papanek's "Design for the Real World" which bashes what I hoped to do as a career: Advertising design.

He says “There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only very few of them. And possibly only one profession is phonier: Advertising design. In persuading people to buy things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, in order to impress others that don’t care, it is probably the phoniest field in existence today.”

Ouch.

The article goes on to talk about is good design + bad cause = bad .. then does bad design + good cause = good?

These are interesting questions for graphic designers. It makes me think about what I want to do with my career. It makes it seem like a good vs. evil thing.

How Good is g

Type - Project 4

What are the advantages of a multiple column grid?

a multiple column grid gives the user a framework to place and arrange their content, keeping it structured. It makes it easier to create asymmetry and make interesting compositions. It is flexible, you can vary widths, using 1, 2 or 3 columns... For example, a 4 column grid is not very flexible.

How many characters is optimal for a line length? words per line?

6-8 words per line - 45-75 (average of 60) characters per line

Why is the baseline grid used in design?

the baseline grid makes everything lock to it so that everything is aligned. You can make it smaller so that you have more flexibility. It creates continuity 

What is a typographic river?

this happens in justified text when there are weird gaps of white space left between words and creates lines of white space in the paragraph

From the readings what does clothesline or flow line mean?

a horizontal line that creates continuity across the spread that elements hang below

How can you incorporate white space into your designs?

Grouping elements together and leaving space around them is another helpful tool. Divisions in paragraphs or columns are also used. Leave white space on the outside

What is type color/texture mean?

it is the choice in type, size, color, increasing tracking and leading. These create a texture to the type. Also contrasts between thick and thin. You want visual texture. 

What is x-height, how does it effect type color?

x-height is the height of the lowercase x in a typeface. Using typefaces with different x-heights can also create type color. If a font has a tall x-height, the type is going to look darker and heavier, if it has a small x-height, then it will look lighter and smaller.

In justification or H&J terms what do the numbers: minimum, optimum, maximum mean?

What are some ways to indicate a new paragraph. Are there any rules?

symbols, indention, type size, bold or italic, drop caps, leading, spaces, hanging words...

What are some things to look out for when hyphenating text.

don't hyphenate if you don't have to

What is a literature?

What does CMYK and RGB mean?

What does hanging punctuation mean?

that is when the punctuation hangs outside the paragraph. It should be outside the rest of the type in the paragraph

What is the difference between a foot mark and an apostrophe?

an inch mark indicates measurement and is a straight line, and a quote mark surrounds a quote "quote"

What is the difference between an inch mark and a quote mark (smart quote)?

What is a hyphen, en dash and em dashes, what are the differences and when are they used.

What are ligatures, why are they used, when are they not used, what are common ligatures

Information Design

I really enjoyed the example that shows "How to dance the electric slide." It is really clear and shows you exactly what to do in an interesting way. The color scheme is nice and simple to fit with the feel of the diagram.
I also think that the #9 step in the design strategies "integrate" is very important to an infographic. If the infographic tells a coherent story, then it will be much more successful.

Project 2 Final Posters

ta da!

Attempt 3

Strong Sportswear animation- attempt 2

My animation is getting a lot better- even though it still has a way to go. I really like this version so far :)

Posters

Letter Crops

Refined Compositions for Project 2

Swift Characteristics

1. My font has wedge serifs- that is a very unique serif type
2. The Q has a very long tail
3. The lowercase b and d have little flag looking serifs on top
4. It has a very tall X height
5. The wedge serifs make it a strong, solid font
6. The stroke weight has pretty high contrast between the thin and thick lines
7. On the capital K - the arm and leg don't meet the stem
8. I think that swift is a funny name for it- because it is so structured and solid
9. It has a 2-story g and a
10. The capital G doesn't have a spur

Swift typeface - I will grow to love it

2. 3. Gerard Unger was born in Arnhem, Netherlands, 1942 and is still alive today. He designed Swift in 1985. He even has a web site: http://www.gerardunger.com/

4. Swift is categorized as a transitional serif font.

5. (below)




















In the last decade of the 17th century, the first conscious revision of old style occurred in France, with the creation of the font for the Imprimerie Royale. This departure from old style greatly influenced designers of printing types during the 18th century, the best known of these was John Baskerville. Baskerville was an English amateur printer and typefounder, who is credited with the creation of one of the earliest transitional types…..

Advances in ink and paper-making and printing technology, all made by Baskerville himself, enabled hi to rationalize the design of his typeface whilst subtly retaining distinctive aspects of hand-written form. ……..

“About Face: Reviving the Rules of Typography” by David Jury


6. Baskerville, Julek, and Antiqua are also transitional serif fonts

7. At the beginning of the eighties there were only a handful of types that were suitable for newsprint, and most newspapers were using either Times or Excelsior “ both of which dated way back to 1932. At the same time, papers were less carefully produced than now. This is why Swift has such a robust appearance, large serifs and pronounced character: it is designed to be a survivor. Today, Swift is used more outside newspapers than in them, especially for corporate identities and as a text type for periodicals.

8. Unger also designed Swift Amerigo BT (1986), Oranda (1987), Argo (1991), Gulliver (1993), Capitolium (1998), Paradox (1999), Coranto (1999), and Vesta (2001).

9. Gerard Unger is a graphic designer, typographer and type designer. He studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. He has been freelance since 1972. Board member of the Association Typographique Internationale and member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale. Part time professor at the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication of The University of Reading, UK, and part time teacher at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam.Since 1974 he has been involved in digital type design. Some of his type designs are: (1984), Swift (1996), Amerigo BT (1986), Oranda (1987), Argo (1991), Gulliver (1993), Capitolium (1998), Paradox (1999), Coranto (1999), and Vesta (2001). Of these, both Swift and Gulliver are used internationally in newspapers, magazines and other printed matter. He has designed the typeface for the new Dutch roads signs, commissioned by the anwb and in cooperation with npk industrial design, Leiden.He has also designed corporate identities, magazines, newspapers and books. He writes regularly about his profession and has often lectured abroad. In 1997 his book about reading Terwijl je leest has been published (in Dutch). In 1998 he designed, heading a group of six designers, and again in cooperation with npk industrial design, Leiden, the orientation and information system for Rome in 2000, with at its core the type design Capitolium. This type design continues the 2000 year old and unique Roman tradition of public lettering.He was awarded the Dutch national H.N. Werkmanprize in 1984 for the way he reconciled type design and technological changes, and in 1991 the Maurits Enschedé-Prize for all his type designs.

http://www.identifont.com/show?13N

“Many of my type designs have been the result of my own initiative,* particularly my newsfaces. The first of these was Swift, later produced by the Hell company. At the beginning of the eighties there were only a handful of types that were suitable for newsprint, and most newspapers were using either Times or Excelsior “ both of which dated way back to 1932. At the same time, papers were less carefully produced than now. This is why Swift has such a robust appearance, large serifs and pronounced character: it is designed to be a survivor. Today, Swift is used more outside newspapers than in them, especially for corporate identities and as a text type for periodicals.•

http://typedia.com/explore/typeface/swift/

Swift (1985) has proved its worth in corporate identities, magazines and newspapers and occasionally in books — it is a versatile type and can be used in a wide range of circumstances. It is a striking type, with large serifs, large counters and letters that produce a particularly strong horizontal impression. This means that words and lines in Swift are easily distinguished, even where there are large spaces between words, as can occur in newsprint. Swift’s large, robust counters were designed to improve legibility particularly in newspapers. It was designed in the early eighties, when papers were less well printed than they are today, and its special features help it survive on grey, rough paper printed on fast rotary presses. Today it is used more often outside newspapers than in. The current Swift (1995) is an improved version with technical and aesthetic enhancements, and has been expanded into a family of twenty-four variants.

http://www.gerardunger.com/fontstore/store-swift.html


Gerard Unger developed this newspaper font between 1984 and 1987 for Dr.-Ing. Rudolf Hell GmbH, Kiel. He was mainly influenced by William A. Dwiggins (1880-1956), the typographic consultant of Mergenthaler Linotype, who started to develop more legible, alternative fonts for newspaper printing as early as 1930. More…

Swift was named after the fast flying bird. Austere and concise, firm and original, Swift is suited for almost any purpose. Swift has been specially developed to sustain a maximum of quality and readability when used in unfavorable print and display processes, e.g. newspapers, laser printing and low resolution screens. Its robust, yet elegant serifs and its large x-height provide an undeniable distinction to the typeface, making it suitable for corporate ID and advertising purposes as well.

Swift 2.0 family was designed in 1995. It’s an improved version with technical and aesthetic enhancements and new family members. The Cyrillic version was developed for ParaType in 2003 by Tagir Safayev.

http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/paratype/swift/


10. “Swift (1985) has proved its worth in corporate identities, magazines and newspapers and occasionally in books.”

“Its robust, yet elegant serifs and its large x-height provide an undeniable distinction to the typeface, making it suitable for corporate ID and advertising purposes as well.”

Font Classifications

Old style- a style of font developed by Renaissance typographers to replace the Blackletter style of type. Based on ancient Roman inscriptions, these fonts are generally characterized by low contrast between thick and thin strokes, bracketed serifs, and a left-leaning axis or stress. There are two groups of Old Style typefaces: Venetian (Renaissance) and Garalde (Baroque).
Examples: Garamond, Centaur, Goudy Oldstyle, Century Oldstyle, Palatino, Sabon

Transitional- the Old Style of type of the 16th and 17th centuries evolved into a style known as Transitional. The primary characteristics of Transitional type are medium contrast between thick and thin strokes, less left-inclined stress than earlier Old Style faces, and a triangular or flat tip where diagonal strokes meet (such the base of a W).
Examples: Baskerville, Times New Roman, Bell, Perpetua

Modern- a style of typeface developed in the late 18th century that continued through much of the 19th century. Characterized by high contrast between thick and thin strokes and flat serifs, Modern fonts are harder to read than previous and later typestyles.
Examples: Bodoni, Didot, Bernhard Modern Roman

Slab Serif- A Slab Serif is a type of serif font that evolved from the Modern style. The serifs are square and larger, bolder than serifs of previous typestyles. Considered a sub-classification of Modern
Examples: Clarendon, American Typewriter, Rockwell

Sans Serif- type which does not have serifs. Within sans serif there are five main classifications: Grotesque, Neo-Grotesque, Geometric, Humanist, and Informal. Typefaces within each classification usually share similarities in stroke thickness, weight, and the shapes of certain letterforms.
Examples: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Futura, Univers, and Franklin Gothic

Serif - a font with the little extra stroke found at the end of main vertical and horizontal strokes of some letterforms. In some cases serifs may aid in the readability of a typeface. Serif refers, in general, to any style of type that has serifs.

Visual Concepts - Post 3

Well, my tiger project was going pretty well... until I got strep throat. So this morning I went to Watkins with a 102 degree fever and thinking I was going to die. But now I've got antibiotics.

So after a nap - it's back to work on my tigers! I think I have most of them nailed down, although some still need some refinements. I'm going to send them to Jeremy to see what he thinks, since I don't get to go to the critique today because I'm contagious :(

Here's my new favorite one:

Typography - Post 3 - John Baskerville & Adrian Frutiger

John Baskerville

John Baskerville was a printer and a business man, but most notibly a typographer. Baskervillle was born on January 28, 1706 in the village of Wolverley and was a printer in Birmingham, England. He was a member of the Royal Society of Arts. He directed John Handy, in the design of many typefaces.

Baskerville printed works for the University of Cambridge in 1758 and although he was an atheist, he printed a folio Bible in 1763. His typefaces were greatly admired by Benjamin Franklin, a printer and fellow member of the Royal Society of Arts. His fonts were adopted for most federal government publishing.

Baskerville also was responsible for huge innovations in printing, paper and ink production. He developed a technique which produced a smoother whiter paper which showcased his strong black type.

He created the Baskerville typeface in 1757. It is considered to be a transitional serif typeface. Baskerville is positioned between the old style typefaces of William Caslon, and the modern styles of Giambattista Bodoni and Firmin Didot.

The fonts of John Baskerville were composed of more contrasting elements than any print characters at that time. People needed finer paper and printing ink in order to display and highlight their details. Baskerville can often still be found in use in books and magazines.

Baskerville died January 8, 1775.

http://www.linotype.com/1882/baskerville.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Baskerville


Adrian Frutiger

Adrian Frutiger was born May 24, 1928. Frutiger is best known for creating the typefaces Univers and Frutiger. He is considered to be one of the prominent typeface designers of the 20th century. He is unique because he has also continued to influence type of the 21st century.

Frutiger studied type and graphics at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts from 1949 to 1951. He then went to Paris in 1952 and worked as typeface designer and artistic manager at Deberny & Peignot. His first typeface creations were Phoebus (1953), Ondine (1954) and Meridien (1955).

He established his international position as a typeface designer with his Univers sans-serif font, that was produced for metal and film in 1957. He was also Professor for ten years at the Ecole Estienne and eight years at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.

Frutiger released Univers in 1957. It is a neo-grotesque sans serif; that features even stroke weights and a large x-height to improve legibility. It’s become known for the variety of weights and set-widths included in the family. At the time it was designed it included 21 variations, and was the first type family to implement a numbering system as opposed to using names. Today there are over 27 different variations of Univers available. Univers is an extremely diverse typeface that has the ability to work very well at large display sizes for applications such as headlines and mastheads as well as in small sizes for body copy.


http://typophile.com/node/13516?
http://www.linotype.com/720/adrianfrutiger.html

Vis Com - Post 2

So, the first project is going alright so far. I'm not a very good drawer, so I've been having a little trouble with my craft. I picked a tiger- which is kind of a hard animal to get in proportion. Making the first 75 drawings was a struggle, but I made myself push through them.

I think today is going a lot better. I have a few of my drawings into Illustrator and I think they look pretty good :) The next set of drawings #6-10 should be more challenging, but fun also.

Vis Comm - Post 1

It is interesting to think about how symbols are transmitted. Do people all receive the same message? Or do some people get a different message from the symbol?

In Shannon Weaver's communication model, it says that communication that does not work as intended, has failed. So then, is there no room for interpretation? What if the artist wants the viewer to take from the symbol whatever they want? I guess in visual communication, we are trying to get the viewer to see and understand what we make. It is less about feeling and more about correctness.

Typography Post 2 - Definitions

Definitions

Absolute Measurement - are measurements of fixed values. For example, a millimeter is a precisely defined increment of a centimeter. All absolute measurements are expressed in finite terms that cannot be altered.

Relative Measurement - many measurements, such as character spacing, are linked to type size, which means that their relationships are defined by a series of relative measurements.

Point - is the unit of measurement used to measure the type size of a font.

Pica - is a unit of measurement equal to 12 points that is commonly used for measuring lines of type

Em (and em dash) - is a relative unit of measurement used in typesetting to define basic spacing functions, and therefore it is linked to the size of the type. An em = the size of a given type.

En (and en dash) - is a unit of relative measurement equal to half of one em.

Legibility - depends upon the ease with which the eye can identify letters, and distinguish them from one another. It therefore depends on the relationship of letters in the font as upon the design of the individual letters.

Rag - occur when highly noticeable shapes form by the line endsof text blocks that distract from simple, uninterrupted reading. Rags can include exaggerated slopes or noticeable inclines.

Type Alignments - Flush left - all lines line up to the left margin, jagged right, easy to read.
Flush right – the ends of lines are aligned on the right margin, jagged left, can be hard to read in large amounts.
Centered – all text is centered between the left and right margin, overused.
Justified – text is spaced so that it aligns with both the left and right margin, can create odd spaces, but looks really nice when used well.

Word Spacing - adjusts the space between words.

Rivers - typically occur in justified text blocks when the separation of the words leaves gaps of white space in several lines. A river effect is created where white space gaps align through the text.

Indent - text blocks can be indented so that some or all of the text lines are moved in from the margin by a specified amount. Indention provides the reader with an easily accessible entry point to a paragraph.

Leading - the point system used to specify the depth of space between lines. Leading refers to the hot-metal printing term where strips of lead were inserted between text measures in order to space them correctly.

Kerning - is the spacing of particular letter pairs that would otherwise create disproportionate spaces. If the letters in a typeface are spaced too uniformly, they make a pattern that doesn't look uniform enough

Tracking - adjusting the overall space between letters, rather than the space between two characters. Also known as letterspacing.

Weight - typefaces customarily include a choice of weights from bold, to intermediate weights like medium and demi. An increase in the stroke width will necessitate modifications of the form of the font.

Scale - content may be differentiated through the scale of the type, by increases in point size. As a general rule, size should be increased or decreased by at least 2 points to create a contrast.

Typographic Variation - should serve to clarify visually for the reader specific to kinds of emphasis and prioritization, and to establish consistent distinctions between different kinds of content.

Orphan - the final one or two sentences of a paragraph separated from the main paragraph toform a new column and should be avoided.

Widow - a lone word at the end of a paragraph

Josef Muller-Brockmann

“The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee.It permits a number of possible uses and eachdesigner can look for a solution appropriate to hispersonal style. But one must learn how to use thegrid; it is an art that requires practice. ”
Josef Müller-Brockmann

Josef Muller-Brockmann is often referred to as the father of Swiss Graphic Design. His ideas are mostly abstract concepts, but he also strictly followed the established the rules of typography and the grid. Muller-Brockmann also studied and taught graphology. In his 1981 book Grid Systems in Graphic Design, he describes his use of the grid and emphasizes the importance of its use and simplicity. He labeled his style “constructive design.”

Josef Muller-Brockmann was born on May 9th in Rapperswil, Switzerland. He grew up in Rapperswil, Schmerikon, and Uznach. He completed his secondary school in Rapp. and started an apprenticeship as a graphic designer in Zurich in 1930. He ended his apprenticeship in 1932 and begun auditing courses by Ernst Keller and Alfred Willimann at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts.

He worked as a freelance graphic designer for a few years and designed the Pavilion of Honor for the Swiss universities for the 1939 National Fair. He then enlisted in the military and served as a lieutenant in the Swiss army from 1939 to 1945.

After the war, Muller-Brockmann went back to his life in graphic design and continued producing work and writing many books on the subject. He had many lecture tours, won the Gold Medal of the Canton of Zurich in 1987 and won the Brunnel Award twice.

Muller-Brockmann died in Zurich on August 30th, 1996.


http://www.thegridsystem.org/tags/jan-tschichold/
http://www.filterfine.com/resources/jmb/bio.htm
http://www.agrayspace.com/ncsu/04_fall/img/Brockmann.pdf

Jan Tschichold

Jan Tschichold was a hugely influential typographer of the 20th century who worked his whole life in the design field. He wrote many books, designed very famous typefaces, and worked as a teacher.
Tschichold was born April 2nd, 1902 in Leipzig, Germany and died August 11th, 1974 in Locarno, Switzerland. He was the son of a script writer, Franz Tschichold. He gained an early appreciation for scripts and often helped his father work. After finishing school, the 14-year-old decided to become a drawing teacher.

It is reported that the 1914 World’s Fair for Books and Graphics was an important experience in the boy’s life. In Tschichold’s free time, he studied books by Edward Johnston and Rudolf von Larisch and created calligraphy on his own. He created amazing manuscripts for a 16-year-old beginner.

In 1919, he begun taking typography classes and he regularly received design commissions for advertisements by 1921. Tschichold was influenced heavily by the Bauhaus and settled in Munich in 1926, where he wrote “The New Typography” in 1928.

He moved around a lot after that, going between London and Switzerland. It was on his return to Switzerland that he created his masterpiece typeface: Sabon. Its model was the 1952 Garamond interpretation. Sabon is often referred to as Tschichold’s masterpiece typeface. It originally had three weights: normal, italic, and semibold.


Fonts: Transit (1931), Saskia (1931), Zeus (1931), Sabon® (1967).

Publications include: "Die neue Typographie", Berlin 1928; "Typographische Gestaltung", Basle 1935; "Geschichte der Schrift in Bildern", Basle 1941; Schriftkunde, Schreibübungen und Skizzieren«, Basle 1942, Berlin 1952; "Schatzkammern der Schreibkunst", Basle 1946; "Meisterbuch der Schrift", Ravensburg 1953; "Erfreuliche Drucksachen durch gute Typographie", Ravensburg 1960, "Willkürfreie Maßverhältnisse der Buchseite und des Satzspiegels", Basle 1962; "Ausgewählte Aufsätze über Fragen der Gestalt des Buches und der Typography", Basle 1975; "Jan Tscichold, Leben und Werk", Dresden 1977; "Jan Tschichold. Schriften 1925–1974", Berlin 1991.

http://www.linotype.com/794/childhood.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Tschichold
http://www.biography.com/articles/Jan-Tschichold-37399

Typography Post 1 - The Grid

What is the definition of a grid?
A grid breaks up space or time into regular units. The grid creates a backdrop for arranging the content and can be used for alignment and control of the space.

Why do we use a grid? What are the benefits or functions?
We use a grid for control. It allows the designer to bring a more rational approach to a blank piece of paper. The grid serves as a structured environment in which we put our design. The equally spaced lines and modules make it easy for us to align elements and create continuity or regularity.

What is a modular grid?
A modular grid has equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines that form square modules. These modules can have gutters between them for separation.

Define and illustrate margins, columns, grid modules, flowlines, and gutter
Margins – the margin is the buffer between the grid and the edge of the page. It creates an empty border so that the content doesn’t go all the way to the edge
Columns – the vertical divisions in a grid
Grid Modules – the squares that are formed by the equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines in the grid
Flowlines – the horizontal and vertical lines
Gutter – the spaces between the individual modules

What is the definition of hierarchy?
Hierarchy is a logical and visual way to express relative importance of different text elements by providing a visual guide to their organization. It makes the layout clear and easier to digest.

What are ways to achieve a clear hierarchy?
Ways to achieve a clear hierarchy include: making the most important text bold, italic, larger, or just at the top or far left of the page. You can also surround text with a lot of white space to make the viewer’s eye see it first.

Define type family and type styles –
A type family includes a number of separate fonts including roman, bold, italic and at least one variant in weight, like bold. The family commonly shares the same proportion and width and is seen as part of the same face.

Type styles are the different styles of fonts, like sans serif or serif. Some styles have more flair and some are very plain.

My Plan

This blog will document my trip through the University of Kansas Graphic Design Program.

We will start with the grid - and grow from there.

Enjoy my struggles!