Tutor reportStudent name Jane Braybrook Student number 511794Course/Module

Graphic Design 1 Assignment number Four

Overall Comments

Part four has focused on typography’s history and application. Overall your response has been successful and you are showing a good research and experimenting with typography. Well done!

Project: The visual wordTypography uses both written and visual languages, you were asked to explore this by visually representing a range of words.

You are exploring a wide range of typefaces in relation to the meaning of the words and it is good to see you are exploring style, shapes and colours. In addition to your research of words, it is good to see your notes on your strategies on your learning log. You ask questions, such as 'Would colours help?'. What colour is appropriate for the meaning of a word? Try to analyse this.Which typeface is most effective for the meaning of a word?

You prefer to work digitally, however it would be good to try to print and cut out words. By arranging the words on a sheet of paper you can capture the meaning of the words and might come across different possibilities. Try to play with this, perhaps try different sizes. Have you considered to experiment with the composition of the text, the words and white spaces?Keep playing with words and typography in order to understand the meaning of a word and a typeface.

Project: Anatomy of a typefaceTo explore your understanding of how a typeface is constructed you were asked to undertake a typographic jigsaw puzzle.

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You are showing a clear process of the typographic jigsaw puzzle on your blog. You mentioned one part didn't fit anywhere, this makes you aware of the technical aspects of typography, using the serif typeface Baskerville. Perhaps try again.Did your appreciation of typography increased? Make notes on your learning log.

Perhaps try to practice with different typefaces, both serif and sans serif. Print them and use tracing paper to draw them in order to understand the construction of letters. Compare the typefaces and look at the different aspects of a letter, such as stems, tail, terminals. By researching the construction of letters closely, you will get a better understanding of typography and how to use a specific typeface. In addition to this, perhaps look at the work of type designers, for example, Eric Gill or Gerrit Noordzij.

Project: Different typefacesYou were introduced to some of the ways typography can be categorized, asked to create your own sample book of typefaces, and identify fonts that you could use for a number of different design jobs.

You are showing an interesting and wide range of typeface examples. You are showing a wide range of typeface examples. It is really good to see your sample book of typefaces, very organised with the colour system you have used, well done! You are showing a clear classification system of the typefaces, serif, sans serif and script, with typefaces such as, Verdana, Georgia, Courier and Bodoni. Perhaps look into the history of typography, this will give you a good understanding of typography and it's wider context.

Look at different typefaces in existing magazines and posters referring to the subjects of the exercise, woman’s magazine, engagement flyer. By identify fonts and look where and how they are used, you will gain a good understanding of the fonts and how you can use them within your own work.

You are showing an interesting layout of the woman’s magazine. The typefaces in your layouts are working well, both for the body text and the heading. The typeface you have used for the heading is working well. Have you tried to make the heading bigger or play with composition? Look at layouts of articles in exciting magazines. By designing different versions and comparing the designs you will see which layout will work best and which typeface reflects the content of the article best. Try to reflect on your designs in order to understand what you can improve.

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Your A6 Parish Council advertisement is showing a clear layout, using fonts that are well chosen and reflecting the content. However, there is room for improvement in in the design. Have you considered to use an image within your design? Try different layouts and experiment with hierarchy in the text.

Your consideration of the typefaces of the The Old Gym poster is working well. Again I would recommend to experiment with different layouts. What will happen if make the text in the centre smaller and the title bigger? This might make the poster stronger and asking for more attention. Think carefully about the content of the poster. Where are the contact details and time? Have you considered using colour in your poster? Experiment more with the layout of the poster.

It is good to see your hierarchy on the Engagement flyer, you are showing which information is most important. The typefaces you have used are working well for the Engagement Party. What will happen if you experiment with image or colour? Your overall use of typography in this flyer is good, try to explore it more! Try to create different layouts for different typefaces.

Overall a good use of typefaces and you are exploring them well. Try to experiment with colour and design with a range of typefaces and layouts, to see what is most suitable for the content (subject). Perhaps print them out. By printing your different designs it will help you to see what will work best.

Project: TypesettingThis section explored typesetting by looking at magazines in terms of how easy they are to read, and using Lorum Ipsum to typeset text.

There is no evidence of this exercise on your blog. It would be good to see examples of newspapers and magazines, explore them! Look at drop caps, legibility, sans serif, bold, alignment and colours and make notes on your learning log. Reflect on this exercise, it will make you aware of, for example, how effective spacing in the text can be, the use of colour and composition. By using the tools in computer software, such as Indesign, you will get a better understanding of magazine design and layout. Try double spreads with very different layouts to get a good understanding of the relationship between text and images.

Project: HierarchyYou were asked to typeset headings, subheading and body text for three different pages.

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No evidence of this exercise on your blog. It would be good to collect images and typefaces from existing articles as reference for your research, perhaps add them to your typeface library. Try to use typefaces for each article that are appropriate for each subject. This will help you to develop your design for each article as well.

Try to experiment with a few typefaces in one article. However, too many typefaces in a short text can make the reader confused. It is good to experiment with this, in order to see what is working best.Look at articles, text or papers and try to look closely at the typefaces and ask yourself if they are appropriate for the subject. Try to add a few designs of articles on your blog.

Assessment potential

I understand your aim is to go for the Visual Communications / Creative Arts Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. From the work you have shown in this assignment, providing you commit yourself to the course, I believe you have the potential to succeed at assessment. In order to meet all the assessment criteria, there are certain areas you will need to focus on, which I will outline in my feedback.

Feedback on assignment Creative and analytical thinking, Visual and Technical Skills

For the Show Me… assignment you produced a cover and short article for a magazine on typography.

You are showing an interesting research and process of your work. You are asking yourself interesting questions as a starting point for your magazine. Such as, 'What is a font for?' and 'What is a font trying to achieve?'. Have you tried to answer the questions by writing a short article?

You have looked into type foundries, such as P22.com and MaltonDaag. This is a very good starting point to get ideas for the magazine cover and article. However, it would be good to collect images of magazine layouts and typefaces for your type library. Perhaps save images of double spreads of the magazines you have looked at. Look at font books, design magazines and type publications In addition to your research, I would recommend you to start to create a mind map, for example, 'type' or 'type foundries' as a staring point. The mind map might give you new ideas.

You are asking interesting questions on the front cover, such as 'Has the question Mark had its day?' and 'Where did it come from?'. Have

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you considered to write a short article for the magazine about the questions you ask? It is good to see the typographic illustration section. Have you looked into the history of the typefaces you have used? This might be help you to understand the typefaces.

It is good to see and read about your design process of your typeface design. Again the questions you ask yourself are important and a good starting point.Try to reflect more critical on your work and ask questions such as, why and how have you made design decisions?In addition to this, it is good to see your sketches of your typeface and your notes. However, it would have been good to see sketches of the cover and pages of the magazine. I would recommend to design a few different layouts, compare them with each other and analyse the process. This might help you to think about the composition and sizes of each object you are using on the pages, create thumbnails. The experimentation is very important for a design process. You might look at it in a different way and find new solutions. It is vital that all research is crucial in the design process.

In addition to your sketches and designs, have you asked for feedback during the design process? This will give you a good idea of what is working well and why. By asking feedback you can improve your final designs. You are analysing well on your designs and the process, however try to reflect more critical on your work (as I mentioned before), this will help you to understand why and how you can improve your designs.

Final designsIt is good to see your designs of the cover and the article of the magazine. The typography and the colour palette on the front cover is strong. Keep experimenting with the front cover to improve your understanding of typography, composition and technical skills.

Your magazine front cover is showing an interesting design, a good starting point of your ideas. The composition is strong and I would recommend to experiment with your design. Have you tried to create a few different versions? The colours you have used are working well. Have you tried different colours? Experiment with the size of the title to see what will work best. The typography you have used is strong and appropriate for the magazine. Have you considered trying different typefaces as well?Don't be afraid in using text (the questions) in combination with the shapes (background) experiment with composition, typefaces and sizes.

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It is good to see your page layout, divided into different sections; headings, body text and introducing different typefaces. However, there is room for improvement, have you considered to create an introduction page? A short introduction of your article will give the reader an idea what to expect of the article and the magazine. Try to write an article by using your questions from the front cover and experiment with the text on a double spread. The title is strong and working well using the colour system you have created from the typefaces.

The typeface of the body copy is working well in combination with the heading. However, have you created a grid for the layout? Try to create a grid before each design. The grid will help you organising your content on the pages and you will get a better understanding of the space on a page. Currently the title and the body text go through the spine, this can cause problems when reading the magazine. Try to create clear pages. For example, play with the columns of the body copy.

It is good to experiment with the typography, the possibilities and to consider which typeface is working best for your content. You will get a better understanding of typefaces, layout, sizes, alignments etc. In your PDF Magazine article, page 4 and 5, Question Marks, this is a good starting point. Try to go extreme with the layout. Use the different question marks and colours, play with compositions and sizes.

Overall a good use of composition, colour, experimenting with computer programs and good to see your letters on the front cover. This is very effective, well done! Try to experiment with typography in order to develop your ideas. You might discover new possibilities and compositions. Keep exploring the computer programs.

It is good to read your comments on your sketches (the design process) and you analyse your work well. By writing your reflections down (as you do) you might discover what you can improve, why and how you can do this. I would like to encourage you to keep experimenting with your ideas, create more mind maps, sketches, designs and play with typography.

Sketchbooks Research and idea development, Context

To see your sketches on your learning log is helpful to understand your design process. However I would like to encourage you to create more sketches of a design, in order to develop your ideas.

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You are experimenting with different typefaces. I would recommend you to keep exploring compositions, layouts and look at the work of other artists, such as Derek Birdsall. Keep exploring your ideas by creating the mind maps. In addition to this, try to keep taking pictures of your sketches, mind maps or design process and put them in your learning log.

Learning Logs or Blogs / Critical essays Research and idea development, Context

Your research points asked to find out more about an area of typography that interests you, as well as documenting some vernacular typography.

Your first research point is showing images into the history of typography. Try to reflect on the images (typography) and your interests. Perhaps look more into the history of printing and typography? Or look at type designers and their background. This might give you more background about type design and the history.

You are showing an interesting collection of images in your vernacular typography research point, Nottingham City Centre, with notes accompany the images. Try to keep collecting this kind of images, as it will help you to look at different typefaces and see the difference.

Try to analyse magazines, brochure and newspapers, and look why one layout is working better than the other. Look at columns, alignments and typefaces. Perhaps compare a newspapers with a magazine layout. Put your research on your blog.Try to keep adding typefaces to your sample book (classification of each typeface). I would recommend to this, as you will get a better understanding of the typefaces. Analysing typefaces from your library is a very good starting point to understand the anatomy.

You are reflecting well on your design process, try to reflect more on the exercises and assignment. Try to put more of your research onto your blog. For example more sketches, images and perhaps work by other artists of your interest. It is a good to look at the work of others artists, as it will help you to develop your ideas and reflecting on your own work. Collect any kind of typeface that interests you or relates to your work in order to create a typeface library.

Suggested viewing/reading

ArtistGerrit Noordzij (Type designer)

Books

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Timothy Samara, 29 April 2005, Making and Breaking the Grid: A Layout Design Workshop, Rockport Publishers Inc. New edition edition

Kimberly Elam, 1 October 2004, Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type (Design Briefs), Princeton Architectural Press

Pointers for the next assignment

The final part of the course focuses on layout by exploring how to design leaflets, flyers and posters.This is a good opportunity to experiment with your ideas and explore the skills you have learned so far. Create mind maps in order to exhaust your ideas and keep researching and experimenting to improve your visuals and your layouts. Make sketches and explore different techniques, such as drawing or photography. Try to use your computer skills, experiment with typography and play with images. Make a habit of creating mind maps and thumbnails.

Tutor name: Welmoet WartenaDate 31/03/2015Next assignment due

16/03/2015

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