Visual Thinking By Alice Farrar

Visual Thinking

Alice Farrar

Visual Thinking

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Visual Thinking is thinking through visual processing and using the visual approach to enable the thought process. It is an exploration of images and typography, as tools for communication and understanding, within creativity and graphic design. This unit focuses on extending my understanding of visual awareness.

Visual Thinking

Visual Thinking

Chapters

11223344

Contents

55

Distinctive Characters

Postcard Design

Vernacular Letterforms

Poster Design

International Trip Berl in

66

778899101011121211

For The Love Of Graphics

Mein Gott Gutenburg Gone Digital

Si lk Screen Printing Workshop

Handlettering I l lustration Workshop

Altered Books

Visual Thinking Lectures

Type Index & Refrenced

Visual Thinking

1 Typography as a semiot ic resource in i ts own r ight is capable of t ransmit t ing a var iety of meanings.

The study of semiot ics has been used by academics to analyse and deconstruct Post Structural ist Theor ies. I f we look at the work of The Semiot ic Al l iance we can see how semiot ics are used within the commeric ia l sector to help some of the wor ld ’s biggest brands f ind fame and fortune.

I f we go much further back in history to the Middle Ages we see how rel ig ious and secular texts use I l lumiated Characters to accentuate meaning and

Distinctive CharactersTypography can be used as a powerful vehic le to t ransmit ideas and not ions of cul ture,gender, h istory, mater ia l i ty and value.The functuon of typography is to communicate a message so that i t effect ively conveys and reinforces meaning. In the ear ly 20th Century Beatr ice Warde in The Crystal Goblet ascertained that typography should render i tsel f invis ib le and be subservient to the content. in the 21st Century digi ta l intervent ion has al lowed greater access to typographic technologies and no longer is typography judged on i ts abl i ty to remain wi th in these constrained vessels.

N A T L H U I S N I V I G K M T R P E A S R A E I O I C T E S O U C E Y S

establ ish hierarchical construct ion. the use of colour to provide part icular emphasis and meaning to the texts.

Working in groups of two choose an in i t ia l let ter f rom the fo l lowing set and based on the terminologies and glossar ies contained within the br ief develop a word that is re lated to the uni t - you can produce i t in Caps or lowercase. After careful p lanning design and make a three dimensional in i t ia l character that communicated i ts meaning. the model can be made of found objects but must f inal ly be wal l mounted. 1

Dist inct ive Characters

Visual ThinkingDist inct ive Characters

As our f i rst br ief for the unit ‘v isual th inking’ states “ typography’s main funct ion is to communicate a message so that i t effect ively conveys and reinforces meaning.” Working in a pair we picked the let ter U out of a hat and had to create a three dimensional model that could be wal l mounted and that communicated a word or phrase start ing wi th the same let ter. Af ter l is t ing al l the words beginning with U, p lanning and sketching, we came up with the idea of the let ter U being represented by the word ‘Upstairs ’ . Both Jerome Corgier and Ryan Reigner inspired

this decis ion, through their work of re l ief . By bui ld ing upon layers and layers of card they achieve a staircase effect that emphasizes the height. In i t ia l ly creat ing a Rockwel l font whi te card prototype U, we found i t wasn’ t the f in ished, professional look we were hoping for. Taking our prototype and sketches to the model making department, we wanted to take i t a step further by laser-cut t ing our f inal model. With a l i t t le help f rom a tech-nic ian, we created our i l lustrator design and transferred i t to a laser-cut t ing machine. Once the l ines were al l burnt through we used wood glue and lef t to dry.

Visual Thinking

erome Corgier

Jerome Corgiers designs reminded me of the l ink between archi tecture and typography. He bui lds up layers of d i fferent mater ia ls so create an emphasis on the height and this l inks to my idea for the word ‘upstairs ’ .He speaks many languages, loves and studies forms but also creates geometr ic patterns creat ing a three dimensional ly sense, which l inks to my let ter form. His work along with Ryan Reigner, inspired my groups layered stair p iece.J


Visual Thinking

Prototype and lasercut models

Prototype and lasercut models


I am happy with the f in ished model as i t communicates the word ‘upstairs ’ , which was our aim. Having not worked as part of a team pr ior to th is project I was sl ight ly anxious, however we both took up roles and stuck to them, making the teamwork effor t less and enjoyable. Photography the white card prototype and the lasercut wooden U shape shows the di fference in professional ism.

Visual Thinking

This is our laser-cut t ing process for our design. We gained advice and were al lowed to use machinary which I wouldn’ t normal ly have used and wi l l used this knowledge for future projects.


Visual Thinking

We photographed our ‘U’ let ter form against a whi te background and used

art i f ic ia l l ight ing whi lst shoot ing to achieve shadows, which emphasized

the staircase and height.

We photographed our ‘U’ let ter form against a whi te background and used art i f ic ia l l ight ing whi lst shoot ing to achieve shadows, which emphasized the staircase and height.


Visual Thinking

22Distinctive CharactersPostcard

As a cont inuat ion to the ‘Dist inct ive Charcters’ project , produce an A6 postcard wi th the image on one side and a br ief descr ipton of the piece stat ing why i t l inks to graphic design. Should include around 50 words of text , th ink about placement and design. The postcard wi l l s i t next to the three dimensional let ter form model on the wal l so wi l l help communicate the idea and meaning behind the l ink. The A6 postcard d imensions are 105mm by 148mm with a 3mm bleed.

The text to accompany the postcard design.


Visual Thinking

Typography is like architectural structures due to the instinct of knowing what to do. The automatic movement when walking upstairs is similar to the flow of letterforms. Creating a layered piece emphasies the movement of the word, ‘upstairs’.

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Visual Thinking

Cont inuing on from our three dimensional model design and st i l l in our pairs, we were asked to design a postcard wi th a br ief descr ipt ion l inking our model to the word upstairs. Lucki ly archi tecture and typefaces have a great deal in common because they are both structures that can be studied and read. The automat ic movement when walking upstairs is s imi lar to the f low of reading let ter forms. I t ’s the inst inct of knowing what to do. Taking the photographs into Photoshop we edi ted and then chose three of our favour i te images that would work wel l as the main image on our postcard. Playing around with typography fonts and sizes, we decided to keep i t s impl ist ic and have the text in l ine wi th the image and at a point seven size. We made sure the font was in keeping with the font we used for the actual model and stuck wi th Rockwel l . This postcard wi l l s i t n icely next to the 3D model when mounted on a wal l and wi l l help communicate fur ther our design and thought process.


Visual Thinking

33Vernacular Letter forms

Vernacular Letterforms

This br ief begins wi th a v is i t to Poole where you wi l l ident i fy, col lect and photograph, examples of vernacular let-ter forms in the town. Your images could be l i teral interpretat ions of detai ls of road signs, gravestones or shopfront s igns, etc or s l ight ly more chal lenging ab-stract col lect ions of ‘h idden signs’ drawn from archi tectural forms, found objects and unintent ional typographic structures.

You wi l l be working in teams of four and planning which let-ter forms you each photograph in order to create a lexicon of

venacular let ter forms. Remember, you wi l l need a fu l l a lphabet.

I t is important that you keep accurate notes for each of the pictures: ie Photographer, Locat ion, Date, Descr ipt ion before returning to AUB and uploading your p ictures to the hard dr ive.

You wi l l then go through a process of p icture edi t ing and retouching in readiness to prepare layouts for the book they wi l l be publ ished in.

Technical speci f icat ion: Tr immed size: 300x300mm

Visual ThinkingVernacular Letter forms


The in i t ia l br ief started off wi th a v is i t to Poole. Sometimes the best way to spark creat iv-i ty is to take a step away from the screen to explore and look at the real wor ld. A key text I read pr ior to get-t ing th is br ief cal led ‘Typefaces in the urban landscape’ by Peter Dawson, meant I had an in i t ia l understanding of what was wanted of us. The book out l ines the typefaces we see

around us in our day-to-day l ives because type is everywhere, f rom bi l lboards to graf-f i t i . Fol lowing our br ief and working as a group of four, we vis i ted Poole to photograph the typography. However, my group wanted to push the boundar ies and ignor ing the type-faces l ike the ones shown in the book, we opted to only photo-graph hidden let ter-forms. Photographing

these found everyday urban objects in such a way to create a let-ter form; using di fferent angles and perspec-t ive to t ry and f ind that unique shot whi lst st i l l in keeping with the a lphabet. We steered away from just look-ing at shop fronts and actual typography and focussed more on the hidden aspect. Because of th is, we made i t more di ff icul t for ourselves and we ended up going

to Poole twice. Find-ing al l 26 let ters was a chal lenge but af ter put-t ing al l our photographs together in a col lect ion, as a group we managed i t , even having mul-t ip les of some let ter-forms. Within th is book that we designed on InDesign, is a select ion of the photographs that we chose and favoured, in order of the alpha-bet.

Visual Thinking

Whilst taking photos in Poole we spotted numerous doubles.

Mult ip les of the let ter O. This was the most common

and easiest to f ind.

Vernacular Letter forms

Visual Thinking

Some photographs of the perfect b inding method. Long and tedious but fa i r ly s imple to do and I can use i t in future projects.


Visual Thinking

We bound the book with the method of perfect b inding and chose a br ight eye-catching cover to at t ract the v iewer. Perfect b inding is a commonly used bind in paperbacks. I t is a long process of g lu ing and regluing the pages as the spine and then the cover to the pages and leaving to dry. I t is a long process but also fa i r ly s imple. I can use this perfect b inding technique in future projects and my

own personal work. I have l iked working in a group of four, each br inging di fferent ideas and opinions to the table but I prefer paired work because things were done quicker. This br ief has taught me not only the method of perfect b inding but has also helped me real ise photographing something at a d i fferent angle can completely change the image.



Perfect bound book- Inside the final book.


Perfect bound book

Visual ThinkingVernacular Letter forms Poster

44Vernacular LetterformsPoster Design

A cont inuat ion br ief . Each person from the group of four you are already in is to produce a A2 poster to promote the book and i t must contain 300 words of text . Produced in Indesign. This br ief was actual ly removed but because I had an idea, I thought I would st i l l design one as I need to work on my layout ski l ls .

The text to accompany the poster design.

Visual Thinking

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Typography and letterforms are everywhere and especial ly in urban surroundings. Stepping away from the screen and exploring the real world is the best way to spot them. Following our brief and working as a group of four, we visited Poole to photograph the hidden typography. Photographing these found everyday urban objects in such a way, to create a letterform: using different angles and perpective to try and f ind that unique shot whilst sti l l in keeping with our alphabet. We steered away from just looking at shop fronts and actu-al typography and focussed more on the hidden aspect. Because of this we made it more diff icult for ourselves and we ended up having to go to Poole twice. Finding al l 26 letters was a challenge but after putt ing al l our photographs together in a collection, as a group we man-aged it , even having multiples of some letterforms. With-in this book that we designed on Indesign, is a selection of the photographs that we chose and favoured, in order of the alphabet. We bound the book with the method of perfect binding and chose a bright orange eye-catching cover, to attract the viewer. This brief has helped me re-al ise photographing something at a different angle can completely change the image and gett ing and f l ipping through our book might help you do the same.

Vernacular Letter forms Poster


Another cont inuat ion project where the group work “Letters in the Landscape” bound book has led onto a poster design. This project fe l t a touch more free because each member of the group could design their own A2 poster. Af ter f in ishing our book and having i t cut down to s ize on the gui l lot ine machine we completed a shoot. We wanted to get p ictures f rom al l angles, showing some of the better inside spreads as wel l as the exter ior so we set up a whi te background and l ight ing shoot. Lucki ly because there were four of us, I took the photographs, another held the book, another on l ights and last edi t ing, which is where I th ink a larger group comes in handy; more of a team to work together. Af ter edi t ing the images and having the freedom to design my way, I chose the image I thought showed off the book the best. I chose a photograph at an angle showing the front cover and the t i t le

through a peephole, but a lso a snippet of the inter ior wi th the fanned pages on show.I made the image smal l and places in the corner of the poster as a direct l ink for the audience to know what i t looks l ike. I made the poster portrai t and simpl ist ic wi th one of our h idden let ter form images from inside our book as the main image. Just the main image and a two hundred word paragraph underneath to help people understand what the book is about and why we created i t . Struggl ing wi th where to place the text on the page I created a few screenshots of d i fferent posi t ions so I was able to compare al l the opt ions, s ide by s ide. I decided the text works wel l underneath so they look at the image f i rst and the descr ipt ion fo l lows. For the t i t le I wanted i t to be subt le but also obvious. Hidden Letters wi th only the edges cut out so i ts see through and l inking with the t i t le.

Visual Thinking

International Trip Berl in55

Berl in

Visual ThinkingBerl in

Visual ThinkingBerl in

graphic designer, which was interest ing and pr iceless. The tr ip came at the perfect t ime too, just as we started to wr i te our essays on designers showing passion and convict ion wi th in their work and how including propaganda can inform and persuade their audience. Propaganda is the art of persuading others that your ‘s ide of the story’ is correct and should be fo l lowed not chal lenged. Within Nazi Germany, propaganda was taken to an extreme and v is i t ing some of the museums that go into fur ther detai l about the history, real ly helped my essay and gave me insight on how powerful propaganda can be.

I was lucky enough to be offered a chance to v is i t Ber l in in the beginning of February and would have been si l ly to say no. The educat ional t r ip gave us the f reedom to see the histor ical s ights and vis i t the museums around the ci ty for f ive days. Having been before I knew the history behind the ci ty but a chance to revis i t s i tes l ike checkpoint Char l ie, the Jewish memorial , the Jewish museum, the Bauhaus, the Rei chstag, the Fernsentrum, the typographic museum and many others, meant that I was refreshed. We were given the opportuni ty to v is i t the edenspiekermann graphic design off ices for a tour and lecture and were able to speak direct ly to them about the working l i fe of a

Visual ThinkingFor The Love Of Graphics

For The Love Of Graphics Exhibit ion66


There were four main organizers and gett ing us eighty students together wi th al l the stuff cannot have been easy but I th ink the outcome and f in ished curated exhibi t ion was br i l l iant . I t was busy but wel l la id out so you could walk around the whole exhibi t ion wi th ease. I th ink being lef t in charge and sett ing up an exhibi t ion was somewhat stressful at t imes but a great chance for people to show leadership ski l ls and also the group working as one big team to gather the i tems and also br ing together col lect ions wi th themes. We took the responsibi l i ty and succeeded whi lst a lso having some fun.

For the Love of Graphics was a one-day exhibi t ion set up and curated by us, the f i rst year graphic design students, which aimed to explore our love of graphics through a spectacular display of graphic art i facts and col lect ions. The exhibi t ion aimed to invest igate how we consider, posi t ion, love and cher ish examples of graphic design. I contr ibuted some of my Art Nouveau Mucha posters as examples of what I love and was not alone. There were other posters i t was jo ined by along with a v inyl sect ion, great graphic books, c lassic chi ldren’s toys and games and also some of our own designs too.

Visual ThinkingMein Gott Gutenburg Gone Digi ta l

77 Mein Gott Gutenburg Gone Digital Workshop

I briefly touched on letterpress at Camberwell on my foundation diploma but wanted to try it again. When I went to sign up, unfortunately the spaces were all gone and it was full so I signed up for the closest to letterpress as I could. I was pleasantly surprised with the LetterMPress workshop. LetterMPress is a program that allows you to digitally letterpress without all the mess. It is obviously much faster while still achieving some of the print effects and patterns. Trying out this new piece of design software on the macs for a day was very interesting and I feel like I learnt a lot.

Visual ThinkingMein Gott Gutenburg Gone Digi ta l

W e w e r e a l l o w e d t o m e s s a b o u t o n i t f o r a b i t , t o g e t o u r b e a r i n g s a n d t h e n t o d e s i g n a p i e c e w e w o u l d w a n t t o p r i n t . I c r e a t e d a f e w, s o m e o f w h i c h r e l a t e d t o t h e p r o j e c t w e h a d a t t h e t i m e . F o r o n e o f m y d e s i g n s I w a n t e d t o s e e w h a t h a p p e n e d w i t h d i f f e r e n t l a y e r s a n d c o l o u r s a n d n o r m a l l y w i t h l e t t e r p r e s s , t h i s c o u l d h a v e b e e n q u i t e t i m e c o n s u m i n g w i t h s w a p p i n g i n k s a n d t h e w a i t i n g d r y i n g t i m e e t c , b u t w i t h t h i s o n l i n e p r o g r a m , y o u c a n s w a p a n d c h a n g e w h e n e v e r . U n e x p e c t e d l y t h e l a y e r e d p r i n t w a s m y f a v o u r i t e a n d I t h o u g h t i t w a s w o r t h p r i n t i n g . T h e p r o g r a m w a s s i m p l e b u t e x t e n s i v e a n d I c o u l d a n d w i l l s p e n d h o u r s d e s i g n i n g n e w t y p o g r a p h y p i e c e s o n t h e r e w i t h e a s e f o r f u t u r e u n i v e r s i t y a n d p e r s o n a l p r o j e c t s .

Visual ThinkingSi lk Screen Pr int ing Workshop

88Silk Screen Printing Workshop

Visual Thinking

D u r i n g m y f o u n d a t i o n c o u r s e , I s p e n t a l o t o f t i m e i n t h e p r i n t i n g r o o m , c o m p l e t i n g e t c h e s , s c r e e n p r i n t s a n d l e t t e r p r e s s . K e e n t o f u r t h e r m y s k i l l s a n d c o n t i n u e s i l k s c r e e n p r i n t i n g h e r e a t A U B , I s i g n e d u p f o r t h e S i l k s c r e e n p r i n t i n g w o r k s h o p a n d i n t r o d u c t i o n . E v e n t h o u g h I h a v e d o n e s c r e e n - p r i n t i n g p r i o r , i t w a s g o o d t o r e f r e s h t h e k n o w l e d g e I a l r e a d y h a d a n d t o l e a r n n e w t e c h n i q u e s . G e t t i n g m y s e l f f a m i l i a r w i t h t h e w o r k s h o p w a y s a n d l a y o u t , I w e n t b a c k a f t e r t h e i n d u c t i o n t o t r y o u t s o m e o f m y o w n d e s i g n s . I h a d t w o d e s i g n s , o n e o f w h i c h i s t h e f r o n t c o v e r o f t h i s b o o k . P r e p a r i n g o n e b o a r d t o p r i n t o n , I a l i g n e d b o t h d e s i g n s s i d e b y s i d e . U s i n g a v a r i e t y o f c o l o u r s a n d p a p e r s t o f i g u r e o u t w h i c h w o r k e d b e s t I c h o s e b l a c k i n k o n w h i t e c a r t r i d g e p a p e r f o r t h e f i r s t d e s i g n . F o r m y s e c o n d p r i n t t h e d e s i g n w a s b a s e d a r o u n d a c i t y s o p r i o r t o s c r e e n - p r i n t i n g , I c h o s e a p h o t o I h a d t a k e n i n N e w Y o r k a n d t h e n o v e r l a i d m y c i t y d e s i g n o n t o p i n w h i t e . T h e f i r s t p r i n t w o r k e d w e l l , h o w e v e r p r i n t i n g d i r e c t l y o n t o a p h o t o g r a p h d i d n ’ t c o m e o u t h o w I ’ d h o p e d . T h e p a p e r I p r i n t e d t h e p h o t o o n w a s n ’ t a b s o r b e n t e n o u g h . I f I h a d m o r e t i m e t o r e p r i n t , I w o u l d p r i n t m y i n i t i a l p h o t o g r a p h o f N e w Y o r k o n t o c a r t r i d g e p a p e r . I f o u n d i t v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g t o c o m p a r e t o t h e d i g i t a l p r i n t i n g w o r k s h o p t o s e e t h e c o n t r a s t . I w i l l b e u s i n g t h i s m e t h o d o f p r i n t i n g i n f u r t h e r p r o j e c t s .

Si lk Screen Pr int ing Workshop

Visual Thinking

Visual ThinkingSi lk Screen Pr int ing Workshop

Some of my final prints from the Silk Screen workshop. I built on my knowledge already and learnt my way around that workshop. I enjoyed the freedom and working environment and will go back for future projects.

Visual ThinkingHandlet ter ing I l lustrat ion

99 Handlettering I l lustration Workshop

Visual ThinkingHandlet ter ing I l lustrat ion

peoples designs, some of which I hadn’t ever tried before meant it was a day of variety. In terms of helping me for this project, it showed me how many different methods of drawing there are as well as how using different media can affect the final image and if/ when taking typography further in a project, I can include some of the research and findings from the key text ‘type and typography’ which I found an interesting read after I had learnt the basics and beginnings of sketching a letterform from this workshop.

During this unit we had the opportunity to choose lectures and workshops from other courses, one of which was the hand-lettering workshop from Illustration. I have always enjoyed working with typography, both by hand and also through a screen so thought this would help me develop my type further. This workshop helped me broaden some of the skills I touched on in my foundation and the first unit but was also quite fun and hands-on. With varied tasks including time limits, switching hands and copying other

Visual ThinkingAltered Books

1010Altered Books

Altered Books

Gaining inspiration for this project from the exhibition of a third year students work in the

Library.

Visual ThinkingAltered Books

This workshop looked at the idea of altered books as art. I have completed book art for previous projects but thought this would be a good opportunity to follow up and see if I can push the boundaries of the book further. We were able to explore deconstruction & reconstruction of the existing book forms. My work for this unit has involved text, typography, books and binding so I was extremely interested in this workshop as it linked in and allowed me to explore the deconstruction further. For my final altered book, I folded different pages in different places to achieve a fanned pattern when the book was finished and standing. I would take this idea and topic further by exploring this as a project.

Altered Books

Visual ThinkingLectures

Propaganda

Design is usually based around a message the designer wants to communicate whether it is political or not. A key text ‘What is Graphic Design’ by Quentin Newark helped me understand the power and effect of having a political message behind the design, on the audience. This lecture on power of persuasion and propaganda was by far the most useful when it came to starting my essay. The lecture combined the historical aspects and meaning of propaganda but also artists and designers that use it within their own work. It explored propaganda within wartime, Nazi Germany, recruitment posters and how it is even still used today. Some of the photos shown were shocking at times but necessary to feel how the audience was scared into believing certain ideas. Censorship played an important role, because the use of controlled information can make something sound plausible and believable. This lecture also explored the use of persuasion techniques and examples including the use of icons, flags and exaggerated patriotism. This lecture helped me understand further what propaganda is, its power and why it is often used in adverts and posters to reinforce, persuade and/or convince.

Post modernism

Postmodernism is a late twentieth century movement within design, departing from modernism. It recycled the past and returned to earlier ideas of decoration and style. Going into the lecture, I knew about modernism but not much about postmodernism. The lecture helped me understand the meaning and ideas surrounding the subject and how it is the complete opposite to modernism. There was a belief in scientific approaches to organisation and how less is more in terms of reductionism. Form follows function and designing for the purpose became more important than anything else. After the lecture, I followed up on some reading to get a further understanding of the movement from a key textbook ‘visual research: an introduction’ by Ian Noble and Russell Bestley. I think there is a blur of postmodernism between advertising and fine art but after looking at examples including the Jewish museum building by Philip Johnson, I can see how it relates to graphic design and could help with future projects.

Transmedia

A lecture, which played a part to my projects for both the three-dimension letterform and the letters in the landscape projects, was on transmedia. It is about storytelling through an image and built upon monomedia, which was only literature or the spoken word. We learnt about the mixing of cultures and multimedia and how sound and image have only been working together for roughly one hundred years. These three terms, monomedia, transmedia and multimedia are all fairly new to me, knowing little if not nothing before the lecture. The lecture was interesting, showing examples of transmedia in books and films like the matrix. With a cannibal culture, there is intertexuality running throughout the media, so we looked at the relationships between current historical and how the method of reusing designs plays a part in the design world today. This lecture opened my eyes at how processes and methods can change but the designs are reused and recycled.

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Visual ThinkingLectures

Notions of Taste

The word taste is derived from the old French term to touch or feel. The attraction different people have to different objects and this association with taste. This lecture explored our relationship with objects and how we respond to and give value to ‘things’ and how our aesthetic judgements and purchase decisions relate to the consumer culture. The affect of the advertising world, persuading and alluring the audience to buy, is powerful with thought out designs. This lecture didn’t have a direct link to my essay but in general taste surrounds the design world and in that sense this was a very important lecture and has helped me without realising.

Photography killing Painting vs Digital is dead

Growing up in the 20th century, I am considered a digital native. Our generation is using media and technology more and more within design. Artists and photographers like Ansel Adams wanted to capture and record an emotion as realistic as possible, which paintings could not fulfil l. He had a desired image so altered and developed the lens to try and achieve the desired effect. The word image comes from the Latin word imitation and designers are resorting to realism. This lecture was extremely fascinating and thought provoking. Given many links and references, I intend to follow up and look deeper into this topic.

Cinematic Bodies

This lecture was based around the analysis of the human body within cinema, mainly based around horror. We watched various clips from different horror films looking into human materiality, human development, and how the cinematic screen can act as a mirror. Us as the audience invest in the characters, inverting reality through fiction. This lecture didn’t help me in terms of this unit or essay but I chose it because I have always been interested in film and this gave a brief history behind it.

Visual ThinkingTypography Index

1212Typography Index

Alternates

Dif ferent shapes (or glyphs) for the same character in a t ypeface, for example smal l caps, swash characters, contex tual a l ternates, case-sensi t ive forms, etc.

When a l ternates are bui l t- in as OpenType features, cer ta in (o lder) operat ing systems and appl icat ions wi l l not be able to access them.

Aper ture

The aper ture is the par t ia l ly enc losed, rounded negat ive space in some characters l ike ‘C’, ‘S’, the lower par t of ‘e’, or the upper par t of a doublestorey ‘a’.

Basel ine

The imaginary l ine upon which the let ters in a font appear to rest . body

Original ly the physical b lock on which each character sat , in d ig i ta l t ype i t is the imaginary area that encompasses each character in a font . The height of the body equals the point s ize; i ts width is related to the width of the character.

bowl

The curved par t of the character that enc loses the c i rcular or curved par ts (counter) of some let ters such as ‘d’, ‘b’, ‘o’, ‘g’, ‘D’, and

‘B’ is the bowl.

Cap height

The height f rom the basel ine to the top of the uppercase let ters (not inc luding d iacr i t ics).

case-sensi t ive

The posi t ion of a number of punctuat ion marks l ike hyphens, brackets, s lashes etc. is centred on the x-height of the lowercase let ters. Fonts wi th case-sensi t ive punctuat ion a lso have s l ight ly ra ised al ternates of these characters that are centred on the cap height (the height of

the uppercase).

Descender

Any par t in a lowercase let ter that ex tends below the basel ine, found for example in g, j , p, q, y, etc. Some types of descenders have spec i f ic names d iacr i t ics

A diacr i t ic is a anc i l l iar y mark or s ign added to a let ter. In the Lat in a lphabet their funct ion is to change the sound value of the let ters to which they are added; in other a lphabet ical systems l ike Arabic or Hebrew they may indicate sounds (vowels and tones) which are not conveyed by the basic a lphabet .

d isp lay

A category of t ypefaces designed for decorat ive or

headl ine use.

Ear

Typical ly found on the lower case ‘g’, an ear is a decorat ive f lour ish usual ly on the upper r ight s ide of the bowl.

embedding

Inc luding font informat ion in a d ig i ta l document, to ensure that the tex t is rendered wi th the font spec i f ied by the

author. Some EULAs restr ic t embedding.

eye

Much l ike a coun-ter, the eye refers spec i f ica l ly to the enc losed space in a

lowercase ‘e’.

A B C D E

Visual ThinkingTypography IndexTypography Index

1212Family

A col lec t ion of re lated t ypefaces which share common design t ra i ts and a common name. A t ype sty le means any given var iant of th is coordinated design and is the equivalent of a font or t ypeface.

Super fami l ies are very ex tensive wi th a very large number of weights and widths. Type systems are col lec t ions of re lated t ype fami l ies that cross t ype c lass i f icat ions.

font

A col lec t ion of let ters, numbers, punctuat ion, and other symbols used to set tex t mat ter. A font is what you use, and a t ypeface is what you see.

Glyph

Every character in a t ypeface, (e.g: G, $, ?, and 7), is represented by a glyph. One s ingle t ype design may contain more than one glyph for each character. These are usual ly referred to as a l ternates.

greek

(appended to a font or volume name) Language suppor t; inc ludes the Greek alphabet and al l necessary accents for Greek.

Hybr id f igures

An intermediary s ty le between o ldsty le f igures and l in ing f igures, hybr id f igures are somewhat smal ler than the capi ta l let ters and have a consis tent body s ize, yet some par ts ex tend s l ight ly upwards and downwards.

When the d i f ferent f igure sets are bui l t- in as OpenType features, cer ta in (o lder) operat ing systems and appl icat ions wi l l only be able to access the defaul t f igures.

I ta l ic

A (most ly) s lanted t ype sty le which takes i ts basic shapes f rom a s ty l ised form of handwr i t ing, and is usual ly narrower than i ts roman counterpar t . I ta l ics are commonly used for emphasis in tex t . They are pr imar i ly found in ser i f des igns, whi le obl iques or ig inal ly were assoc iated wi th sans ser i fs .

F G H I LLeading

The ver t ical space between l ines of tex t (basel ine to basel ine). A lso known as l inespac ing.

l igatures

Specia l characters that are ac tual ly two let ters or more combined into one. In cases where two adjacent characters would normal ly bump into each other, a l igature a l lows the let ters to f low together more graceful ly. This usual ly makes word shapes more aesthet ical ly p leasing.


Monospaced

A font in which every character has the same width, and no kerning pairs. This a l lows for neat ly set t ing columns of tex t and tables, for example in programming code, account ing, etc. O as in Oldsty le

Figures

Obl ique

A font that is s lanted. Obl ique fonts are di f ferent f rom i ta l ic fonts, in that they are mechanical ly sheared, then s l ight ly adjusted. I ta l ic fonts, on the other hand, are designed d i f ferent ly f rom upr ight or roman vers ions. They are usual ly narrower than their roman counterpar ts, and ref lec t more of a cal l igraphic sensib i l i t y than lowercase obl ique fonts.

opt ical s ize

Some type designs come in d i f ferent vers ions opt imized for use in spec i f ic point s izes. Subt le var iat ions in weight , contrast , and propor t ion make them as legib le in smal l tex t as they are beaut i ful in b ig headl ines.

Pet i te caps

Sl ight ly smal ler than smal l caps, pet i te caps are capi ta l let ters that are exact ly as high as the x-height of the lowercase let ters.

p ixel

Pixel fonts are modular t ype designs that tak e advantage of the p ixel gr id to render of ten very smal l t ype on screen. They are very popular in web design, but a lso became an aesthet ic on their own.

Roman

The (standard) upr ight t ype sty le. The term Roman is a lso somet imes used to denote the Regular

weight .

point

Type s izes are general ly expressed in points. The point is a t ypographic uni t of measure corresponding to 1 ⁄ 12 th of a p ica. At 100% zoom one computer point corresponds wi th one image p ixel on a computer moni tor d isp lay.

Spac ing

Spacing refers to the dis t r ibut ion of hor izontal space on both s ides of each character in a font to achieve a balanced and even tex ture. Spac ing problems in d i f f icul t let ter combinat ions (except ions) are solved wi th kerning. Wel l -spaced fonts need comparat ively less kerning pairs.

swash

An elegant ex tension on a let ter form, e i ther a modi f icat ion of an exis t ing par t or an added-on par t .

When swash characters are bui l t- in as OpenType features, cer ta in (o lder) operat ing systems and appl icat ions wi l l not be able to access them.

Typography Index

1212 M O P R S


Weight

A s ingle sty le or i terat ion of a t ypeface. Somet imes, the term “weight ” refers spec i f ica l ly to the heaviness of a t ypeface. However, i t is of ten used as a general term for any sty le: I ta l ic, Smal l Caps, Bold, L ight Exper t , etc.

western

Language suppor t; inc ludes al l necessary accents and characters for Albanian, Breton, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Engl ish, F innish, French, German, Icelandic, I r ish, I ta l ian, Norwegian (+ Bokmål & Nynorsk Norwegian), Por tuguese, Rhaeto-Romance, Spanish, and

Swedish.

X-height

The height of the lowercase let ters, d isregarding ascenders or descenders, t yp ical ly exempl i f ied by the let ter x. The relat ionship of the x-height to the body def ines the perceived t ype s ize. A t ypeface wi th a large x-height looks much b igger than a t ypeface wi th a smal l x-height at the same s ize.

Tai l

In t ypography, the descending, of ten decorat ive stroke on the let ter ‘Q’ or the descending, of ten curved d iagonal s t roke on ‘K’ or ‘R’ is the ta i l .

t ypeface

An ar t is t ic interpretat ion, or design, of a col lec t ion of a lphanumer ic symbols. A t ypeface may inc lude let ters, numerals, punctuat ion, var ious symbols, and of ten for mul t ip le languages. A t ypeface is usual ly grouped together in a fami ly conta in ing indiv idual fonts for i ta l ic, bold, and other var iat ions of the pr imary design.

Unicase

Type design wi th upper- and lowercase let ter forms that share the same height .

uppercase

The capi ta ls in a t ypeface. The name refers to the days of metal t ype, as the capi ta ls were kept in the upper par t of the

t ype case.

Typography Index

1212 T XWU

Visual ThinkingReferenced Books

Books I used and referenced in this ebook and project.

1. ‘What is Graphic Design’ by Quentin Newark

2. ‘Type & Typography’ by Phil Barnes & Andrew Haslam.

3. ‘Fully Booked’ by gestalten.

4. ‘The Visual Dictionary of Typography’ by Gavin Ambrose & Paul Harris.

5.’Visual Research’ by Ian Noble & Russell Bestley.

6. ‘The Fundamentals of Typography’ by Gavin Ambrose & Paul Harris.

7. ‘The Fundamentals of Typography 2nd edition

by Gavin Ambrose & Paul Harris.

8. ‘Typefaces in the Landscape’ by Peter Dawson.

1212 Referenced Books

A

Visual Thinking

Alice Farrar

Visual Thinking By Alice Farrar

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Transcript of Visual Thinking By Alice Farrar