History of the alphabet

Swiss Bank Note Design Competition results.

Since I know all of you are thinking about what to get me this Christmas, here's an idea. ;) Type bookshelves set in bajillion point type. Check out GALERIE, quite cool.

ImagePlayer is online in downloads.

Edit the file "data.xml" to control which of your images get loaded and displayed. Add more "image" tags to add more images. Change the fade value to adjust how long it takes to fade from one image to the next. Change the hold value to adjust how long it stays on screen after fading in. All values are in seconds and decimals are allowed.

Play your animation by double clicking ImagePlayer Projector (Mac) or ImagePlayer.exe (Win). You must quit and start again after each edit to data.xml.

If ImagePlayer does not work and freezes on the "Loading" screen, check the following:

1. Your images have to be JPEG in RGB and non-progressive.
2. Your spelling for each image has to be the same, and the image has to exist.
3. The file data.xml has to be "well-formed". Check by opening it in FireFox (www.mozilla.org).
4. You can only use one music file that has to be an MP3. If you do not want music, delete that line.

If you wish to use another application to make your animation, go for it. Some students have had success with ImageReady and Flash.

For quiz:

Reading: Letter/Text (Lupton); Bringhurst; Contrasts (Dair); Stop Stealing Sheep on Paragraphs (Spiekermann)
Classification: Humanist/Old-Style Serif, Transitional Serif, Modern Serif, Humanist Sans, Transitional Sans, Geometric Sans, Egyptian/Slab serif, (Lupton)
Identify the following typefaces: Centaur, Baskerville, Bodoni, Gill Sans, Helvetica, Futura, Clarendon
Letterform: axis, contrast
Optical adjustments in type design
Letter parts (see Doyald Young handout & Lupton)
Words that describe the weight of a font w/in a family, the width of characters of a font w/in a family
Different Contrasts in Design
Em, En, Points, Picas
Paragraph specs: Tracking/Kerning, Word spacing, line length, leading
Justified, Left-justified, Right-justified, Centered
Type-size & Tracking/Kerning
Readability, Legibility
Professional typesetting: Hanging punctuation, old-style figures, dashes, quotes, small-caps, ellipsis
Typefaces from each students lecture

More reading for this project in downloads section: how_to_find_the_right_typeface.pdf

Word Recognition article now online in downloads section.

Don't forget to use the resources online (within the Type Foundries section) when finding typefaces for your word.

This is an interesting site. Notice how some of the works are created using a mere ballpoint pen.

11/17
10 each, your word in a typeface that matches your word's meaning
10 each, your word in a typeface that is the opposite of your word's meaning
8x8 inch panels

11/22
5 each, typographic compositions using only Futura Bold.
Do not think about animations yet. Your compositions must convey your idea all by itself.
8x8 inch panels
Receive study guide.

11/24
Thanksgiving
Catch up on reading!

11/29
Jeff Presents Typeface
5 each, storyboard sketches of your idea. Each of the 5 will consist of multiple panels, much like a comic strip.

12/1
Research check-in
Final panels complete. 600x600 pixels each.
Learn how to animate your panels using tool.
Quiz

12/6
Crit physical word
Offsite work day

12/8
Crit physical word
Offsite work day

12/13
Expressive Word due
4 mounted boards, 8x8 inch on 12x12.25 black board.
1. Matching Typeface
2. Ironic Typeface
3. Keyframe from animation
4. Photo of physical model
Compile research

12/15
Research due
Party

A few people have had questions regarding the character map. You should do what works best for you. In previous classes people have used the keyboard, others have made tables. See the downloads section for tabular examples: characcessmac.pdf; AdobeWestern2.pdf

one more aiga event to attend.

this sounds like fun...

Israel,

Oscar Bartos habla español. Él es diseñador gráfico en de
Cornish. Él puede ayudarle.

Interview with Erik Spiekermann

me pueden escribir en espanol y explicarme un poco el proyecto

For the Exg, we chose these letters because it gives an example of a typeface's Cap height, x-height, baseline, and descender size. The sizes you need to include are listed in the handout.
72, 60, 48, 36, 30, 24, 18, 14, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5.
Remember, use both a sans and a serif.

Cheat Sheet Requirments:

Your cheat sheet should be a portable size and contain the following information. Be sure to use 2 TEXT faces. One in sans and one in serif.

1. The title Typesetting Cheat Sheet
2. The 3 paragraphs of text. The last 2 paragraphs must be set in the same type size. One should be in sans, the other in serif.
3. The characters "Exg" in sans and serif, in multiple sizes.
4. Rules (lines) from .25 pt to 12pt.
5. Key caps or glyph guide for the standard character set of a typeface.
6. Numeric conversions. From 0 to 1 inch in 16th incrememts. Convert from inch decimal to inch fractions to picas to points.
7. You may optionally include proofreaders marks.

If you wish to tweak these parameters to improve your final product, do so, but back up your decision with good aesthetic and intelligent arguments.

Schedule:
11/8 : Rough crit after HADW visit
11/10 : Official in class crit. (Note that ongoing projexts are due.)
11/15 : Cheat sheet due at beginning of class.

If you have questions, pleast post them to the blog for everyone's benefit.

Hornall Anderson studio tour info:

We are meeting in the LOBBY of the Dexter Horton building at 9:00 AM sharp, Tuesday November 8th.

The address is:
Hornall Anderson
(Dexter Horton Bldg)
710 Second Avenue
Suite 1300
Seattle, WA 98104
www.hadw.com

If will not be on time, do not show up at all.

For my class, bring any mockups or early designs of your cheat sheet. If we have time, we will go to a coffee shop and do a quick crit.

I just uploaded some references for typing in all the different glyphs from your keyboard. They are in the downloads section:

characcessmac.pdf
characcesswin.pdf
AdobeWestern2.pdf

hey,

I found this fun site that, among other things, points out the differnences between Ariel and Helvitica, favoring the latter. There is a fun quiz at the beginning to see if you can spot the differences.

Here is a cool web site for type topics. They have a great forum.

Sup homes,
Here's the link to Hornall Anderson. Their address can be found on the contact page. Remember, be there 11/08 @ 9:00AM. w00t!

erm... I mean: Ricky, thanks for the speedy response to my question. Sorry.

Hello All,

In case any of you were wondering (I was), we don't have to turn in ALL of our letter combos. Only our five best and the reversal are due this coming Tuesday.

Ricky: Thanks for the speedy response to my question.

Hello All,

In case any of you were wondering (I was), we don't have to turn in ALL of our letter combos. Only our five best and the reversal are due this coming Tuesday.

Ricky: Thanks for the speedy response to my question.

Here's the link for more information on El Lissitzky.

Type Samples PDF is now in the downloads section of the website.

Here are some more tips from a link in the "Links" section of the class website.

1. Handicap yourself. Like I mentioned today, see what happens when you force yourself to use the ugliest typeface you can think of.

2. Change tools. Instead of starting on the computer, see where collage can take you. Can you do it all within a camera. Can you make a physical model as a starting point.

3. Start somewhere else. Rethink the process. Think of the final design as a series of steps, with the final outcome as the last step. Now backtrack those steps, one by one, until you get to the beginning. Then back it up a couple more steps and take a different turn. Or take the opposite turn.

4. Design like someone else. The great masters used to copy previous master's work. You can sometimes only truly understand an artist was really doing by copying them. Copy a designer you like. Or one you don't like. Mash-up.

5. Create a system for the work to execute itself. E.g. Use dice to determine which font to use, where to put it, what parameters to manipulate it with.

Below is the link to a website that lets you upload an image of the font you are looking for, then does a search for you. Go to the "What The Font" section. Could be helpful for the ongoing project.

A silly but informative documentary:

I Hate ITC Garamond!

Reading for Class:
"Letter" from Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton.
"Contrasts" from Design With Type by Carl Dair (now in downloads section)
There will be a mid-term quiz on reading.

Peter Miller Books (First and Virginia) has Ellen Lupton's book Thinking with Type in stock.

(cont'd) is not.

Just for clarafication, Tamara, I believe the typeface sample is the 'ab4' variation accompaning the article, but the Guardian Unlimited logo itself.

I like the new Guardian typeface. The second word "Unlimited"'s x-height looks higher than "Guardian" (optical illusion) but it adds to the groovy British look.

The Gaurdian recently redesigned their newpaper, complete with a new custom typeface.

One Bodoni full size printout is missing. If you have it, please return it on Tuesday. (No cheating!)

One Bodoni full size printout is missing. If you have it, please return it on Tuesday. (No cheating!)

Doyald Young handout, Art of the Letter (45 MB), is in the downloads section. This is required reading. Because of it's file size, consider downloading it at Cornish.

Type classification handout now online in downloads section.

This is a great tool for the ongoing project:

Sample "verbsgohuman" examples in downloads section. Remember, the blue lines are for guidance only. Do not include the lines in your photocopies.

Blog is up and running. Feel free to post any interesting links you come across this semester.

Website also has a list of type foundries (for helping you identify type) and a place for class downloads.

Welcome!