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Homework #5
What are the advantages of a multiple column grid?
The multiple column grid is all about control and establishing a system for arranging content within a given space. Effective grids are flexible like a resilient structure, not rigid. The horizontal and vertical divisions within a modular grid help diminish the possibilities of symmetry within the grid.
How many characters is optimal for a line length? words per line?
Optimal Characters for a Line Length: 45-75
Context in Critique (review of Emigre No.64, Rant)
The article that I chose was a Critique of Emigre's, Rant. The article set out to 'challenge today's young designers to develop a critical attitude toward their own work and design scene in general', focusing on a time period known as the Legibility Wars.
Dmitri begins his critique speaking about Typography and the time period where designers were pushing it to to the point of "experimental exhaustion", ignoring all of the guidelines that suggested "good typography". But what makes good typography and how does a designer create self-motivation to create good typography? Through the context. Dmitri goes on to speak of Shawn Wolfe's Rant, "What is my motivation?", in which Wolfe changed the "context" in which he worked by getting more involved to find love in his design again.
Dmitri begins his critique speaking about Typography and the time period where designers were pushing it to to the point of "experimental exhaustion", ignoring all of the guidelines that suggested "good typography". But what makes good typography and how does a designer create self-motivation to create good typography? Through the context. Dmitri goes on to speak of Shawn Wolfe's Rant, "What is my motivation?", in which Wolfe changed the "context" in which he worked by getting more involved to find love in his design again.
Flash
Flash is essentially an instrument to creating interactive design. Flash has become a huge part of our evolving society especially in Web Design. Flash not only allows designers to create an even more interesting design, but it allows designers to get the user to interact with the application. Modern technologies such as the iPhone use flash within the millions of applications that they target and offer to consumers.
Here are some cool flash animations:
Billy Bussey Website Intro
Infinit Colours
2 Advanced Media
Here are some cool flash animations:
Billy Bussey Website Intro
Infinit Colours
2 Advanced Media
Futura Similarities
After really looking at the font I noticed that so many of the letters shared some perfectly geometric similarities, so I made this quick image of some of those letters grouped together.
Info Graphics
This info graphic is very appealing to me. The colors are very interesting but fit together well while the solid/grunge shapes are set on top of a topographical map. As stated in the paragraph, each seems to make its own landscape and the chaotic composition goes further and further back until you see the tiny contours of the topographical map. Overall the design works very well.
Futura!
Finally, a Sans-Serif... here it lye courtesy of Silvia:
Futura was designed by Paul Renner (August 9, 1878-April 25, 1956) and issued by the Bauer Foundry in Frankfurt. The typeface was designed between 1924 and 1926 and belongs to the Geometric Sans Serif classification.
Geometric typefaces are based on simple geometric forms like the circle, square and equilateral triangle. They were developed in Germany in the 1930s, and embody with the ideals of the Bauhaus movement. They embrace the purity and objectivity of the geometric form and attempt to eliminate traces of humanism or historical associations in type design. Normally there is little to no contrast between thick and thin strokes, and the same curves and lines are repeated throughout the characters reducing letter differentiation.
Other Geometric Sans Serif fonts include:
Germany was going through cultural, political and social turmoil during the interwar period. The country was also struggling to define its design identity, as it attempted to balance its attachment to traditional gothic typefaces with the emerging international roman letterforms. During that time, the Bauhaus movement embraced technological developments and attempted to create unified, universal art by eliminating ornamentation and focusing on simplicity and functionality. Although Renner was not associated with the school, his effort to create a pure geometric typeface reflected the principles of the movement and the hopeful trend towards modernism and New Typography of that period.
Renner first started working on the Futura typeface in the summer of 1924. Jakob Hegner was searching for someone to design a modern printing type, and favored painters with fresh perspectives over script masters who he believed had preconceived notions about type. He commissioned Renner to work on the project after visiting his Munich studio and discovering his landscape paintings. Renner drew a number of versions of the phrase “the typeface of our time,” a phrase Hegner had used to describe the project, and sent them to Hegner and Siegfried Buchenau. They liked the version that eventually became the Futura font, but they failed to respond after Renner sent them the rest of the characters. Renner then sent the typeface to his former student, Heinrich Jost at the Bauer foundry in Frankfurt, and after a lengthy collaboration with foundry owner Georg Hartmann, the typeface was released in late 1927.
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There is some controversy regarding the originality of Renner’s design, since he claims that he naively showed slides of his early 1925 trial versions of Futura during lectures, and similar typefaces were developed and released as he and Hartmann were finalizing the design. Unlike Bauhaus designers, Renner was not a revolutionary, and he arrived at the geometric type design by trying to strike a balance between modernist innovation and the classical models for capital letterforms to give it a timeless quality. The Futura type family was originally published in Light, Medium, Bold, and Bold Oblique fonts in 1928, with Light Oblique, Medium Oblique, Demibold and Demibold Oblique released two years later. The original Futura also included small capitals and old-style figures, but these were dropped with from the typeface’s original metal issue.
Futura was well received when it was first released, since it embodied the modernist trends of the time and the Bauhaus design philosophy that“form follows function.” Although some typographers preferred to use 19th century grotesque types, Futura was widely used and commercially successful, with additional variations being added based on demand. Renner had to adapt the font to suit specifications for advertising text, and in 1932 Futura Buchschrift was added specifically for book setting. Renner attempted to bridge the gap with 19th century sans serifs through Steile Futura, a variation that departs from the geometric model and has rounder letters, as well as italic—and sometimes handwriting—features.
Paul Renner also designed:
In addition to type design, Renner also had strong political views, and he expressed his opposition to the Nazis in his book Cultural Bolshevism?He was arrested by the Nazis in 1933, shortly after Jan Tschichold. His apartment and offices were searched after slides he had prepared for a German exhibit in Milan were considered to have an exceedingly large amount of roman type, but was released the following day after a direct plea to Hitler by Rudolf Hess. Gothic was outlawed by decree in 1941 after it was deemed to interfere with the Nazi plans for world domination, and roman type suddenly became the norm. Following his arrest and dismissal from his teaching post at the Munich printing school, Renner wrote and lectured on design. He is best known for designing the Futura typeface, which continues to inspire new geometric sans-serif typefaces long after its release. Designer Adrian Frutiger acknowledges that his 1988 typeface Avenir was inspired by Futura. Other related typefaces include Tasse, Beteckna and Braggadocio.
Here are some awesome posters that Silvia designed with this lovely font:
Poster Designs
Out of both of these design sets, I believe that the blue ones are overall more successful. I like the colors of the red set a lot more but the design and relationships within the blue set are more successful to me. Maybe I’ll take the design and swap the colors and see how it looks for the final, but again, its up to you!
Homework #6
"...type is a universal requirement for communications and has life after life as each stylistic and technical age goes by..." - David Berlow
Belizio (a slab-serif font) was originally designed by David Berlow and released in by the Font Bureau in 1987. David was born in Boston in 1954 and is still alive today, currently working on an expansion of the ITC Franklin Gothic type family for Monotype Imaging.
Font Classification: slab-serif
In typography, a slab serif (also called mechanistic, square serif or Egyptian) typeface is a type of serif typeface characterized by thick, block-like serifs. Serif terminals may be either blunt and angular (Rockwell), or rounded (Courier). Slab serif typefaces generally have no bracket (feature connecting the strokes to the serifs). Some consider slab serifs to be a subset of modern serif typefaces.
Because of their bold appearance, they are most commonly used in large headlines and advertisements but are seldom used in body text. The exception is those that are monospaced, because of their usage intypewriters, but that is declining as electronic publishing becomes more common. Another recent exception is the typeface designed for The Guardian newspaper in the UK which is an Egyptian used through the paper as body text.
Biography/History
The Man
David Berlow credits his life-long interest in type to a combination of psychology, technology, history and the arts. “The fact that type is a universal requirement for communications and has life after life as each stylistic and technical age goes by, makes it endlessly fascinating to me,” Berlow says.
Berlow majored in fine arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, although he didn’t have any formal training in drawing letters, exposure to letterpress in school sparked his interest in type. Berlow's career in the graphic arts began while he was still at the University of Wisconsin. “I was a fine arts major and a friend approached me to draw a logo. I guess he figured ‘drawing was drawing.’ The logo was for a local travel agency, and what I drew turned out to be completely typographic.” Berlow had seemed to become hooked on type from that point on, but this was not the case.
The logo project did, however, open Berlow’s eyes to the world of graphic design. After graduation, he moved to New York and took a job in an advertising agency. It lasted two months. “I learned pretty quickly that the New York agency scene wasn't for me,” he recalls. “I just couldn’t fit in with the structure. I probably also had authority issues.” Berlow knew he had to put together a plan. “I figured I’d spend a few years drawing letters, a few years learning photo editing and then work as the art director for a music magazine like Rolling Stone or SPIN.”
Berlow applied for work at a number of places, including Marvel Comics, a diploma factory and the newly opened drawing office of Mergenthaler Linotype. Linotype made the first offer and Berlow took the job. “The money wasn't great,” he remembers, “but the job was fantastic. I discovered you could actually get paid to draw letters all day long.” He worked there four years, then left to join several of his colleagues at their newly formed company in Cambridge, the digital type foundry Bitstream Inc.
Berlow left Bitstream in 1989 to found The Font Bureau with Roger Black. The independent foundry and design studio quickly gained a reputation for producing high-quality classic types and outspoken but perfectly constructed display faces.
Although known for having a quirky sense of humor, Berlow is attracted to the classics. His retail types at Font Bureau include the sensitive Californian™ Goudy revival and the Bureau Grotesque™ type family, an interpretation of the English nineteenth century sans that’s seen in newspapers and magazines worldwide. Other Berlow faces range from the silent film title stylings of the Meyer Two™ family to the powerful voice of Rhode® typeface, a Figgins-inspired elephantine grotesque design.
In 1995, Agfa Corp. commissioned Berlow to conduct research at the Plantin Moretius Museum in Antwerp, Belgium, and develop a type family exclusive to the Creative Alliance label. The result of Berlow’s exploration was the Throhand® family, an elegant serif in 12 styles with three fine variations in weight.
As with the Throhand brief, Berlow’s motivation for designing a typeface usually comes from listening to the needs of others, whether it’s a corporate client or his own sales team. He constructs a solution to meet customer needs, listens to feedback, and then draws a new family.
“When I start working on something typographic, and I need to follow clue after clue to get into the mind of the designer and the audience for which he worked, that I love,” Berlow says.
Berlow works from his home studio on Martha’s Vineyard, where he’s inspired by nature and keeps grounded in reality by working with his hands. Other Font Bureau staffers often work independently or have flexible hours. It’s a unique arrangement that works. “We don’t have a traditional structured hierarchy, so it’s like we’re all at a round table (electronically), and anyone can say anything,” Berlow says. “In the end, if no one else can make the decision, I will.”
Berlow is currently working on an expansion of the ITC Franklin Gothic™ type family for Monotype Imaging. The popular sans will be upgraded with special display versions and a set of text-specific fonts, including agate versions for extremely small point sizes.
The Typeface
The eight-part Belizio series updates the first Font Bureau typeface. David Berlow’s family is based on Aldo Novarese’s Egizio, designed in 1955 for Nebiolo. It was first prompted by the popularity of HaasClarendon designed by Hoffmann and Eidenbenz, an impeccably Swiss revival of the traditional English letterform. Aldo Novarese was among the first to investigate a true italic designed in the Clarendon style. Belizio has a very subtle contrast of stroke, it is very machine-like, mono-form, and rectangular.
David Berlow has designed dozens of other fonts including:
Agency 1990 Belizio 1987 Belucian 1994 Berlin Sans 1994 FF Berlinsans 1992 Bureau Grotesque 1997 Californian 1994 Cheltenham FB 1989 Eagle 1989 Eldorado 1997 Empire FB 1989 ITC Franklin Gothic Compressed 1995 Condensed 1995 Gíza 1994 Meyer Two 1994 Numskill 1990 Bureau Ornaments 1990 Phaistos 1990 Rhode 1997 Romeo 1991 Throhand 1995 Titling Gothic 2005 Truth 2005 Village 1994
Homework #5
Old Style a style of font developed by Renaissance typographers to replace the Blackletter style of type. These fonts were based on ancient Roman inscriptions and are characterized by little contrast between thick and thin strokes, bracketed serifs, and a left-leaning axis or stress.
Transitional the Old Style of type of evolved into a style known as Transitional. Its characteristics were 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.
Modern a typeface developed in the late 18th century through much of the 19th century. It was characterized by high contrast between thick and thin strokes and flat serifs. Most of these modern fonts were much harder to read than any of the older typefaces.
Slab Serif a serif font that evolved from the Modern style. These serifs are square and larger, bolder than serifs of previous typestyles.
Sans Serif a typeface that does not contain serifs. It has five main classifications that include: Grotesque, Neo-Grotesque, Geometric, Humanist, and Informal. Within these classifications the typefaces share similarities in stroke thickness, weight, and letterform shape.
Script a category of type that replicates historical and/or modern handwriting styles that look as if written with different styles of writing instruments from calligraphy pens to ballpoint pens. Its characteristics are connected or nearly connected flowing letterforms and slanted, rounded characters.
Blackletter a style of type that contains elaborate thick to thin strokes and serifs.
Monospaced a font that's glyphs are displayed using only a single fixed width.
examples Garamond, Centaur, Goudy Oldstyle
Transitional the Old Style of type of evolved into a style known as Transitional. Its characteristics were 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.
examples Baskerville, Times New Roman, Bell
Modern a typeface developed in the late 18th century through much of the 19th century. It was characterized by high contrast between thick and thin strokes and flat serifs. Most of these modern fonts were much harder to read than any of the older typefaces.
examples Bodoni, Didot, Bernhard Modern Roman
Slab Serif a serif font that evolved from the Modern style. These serifs are square and larger, bolder than serifs of previous typestyles.
examples Belizio, Clarendon, Rockwell
Sans Serif a typeface that does not contain serifs. It has five main classifications that include: Grotesque, Neo-Grotesque, Geometric, Humanist, and Informal. Within these classifications the typefaces share similarities in stroke thickness, weight, and letterform shape.
examples Arial, Helvetica, Verdana
Script a category of type that replicates historical and/or modern handwriting styles that look as if written with different styles of writing instruments from calligraphy pens to ballpoint pens. Its characteristics are connected or nearly connected flowing letterforms and slanted, rounded characters.
examples Comic Sans (I HATE THIS FONT), Mistral, Giddyup
Blackletter a style of type that contains elaborate thick to thin strokes and serifs.
examples Black Forest, Linotext, Goudy Text
Grunge a typographic wave in the 1990s that not only denied the importance of any historical type, but occasionally even the importance of legibility itself. Grunge typographers believed in using a medium within the font to express the message.
examples 84 Rock, 28 Days Later, Barber Shop
Monospaced a font that's glyphs are displayed using only a single fixed width.
examples Courier, Monaco, Fixedsys
Undeclared confusing type that cannot be categorized as a serif or sans serif due to its insignificant typographic orientation.
examples Optima, Copperplate, Gothic