Project Five :: Next steps for your font

For our next class, choose the most effective of your 3 alphabet versions, rework/improve what you've already created, and develop letterforms based on 4 words:

• One word of your choice, related in some way to your object, at least 6 letters long.
  Set lowercase.
• Another word of your choice, related in some way to your object, at least 6 letters long.
  Set uppercase.
• 2 more related words, set in upper and lowercase
•  

After reworking and creating the new letters, follow the Photoshop demo to prepare and set your words. Bring black and white printouts to our next class.



The final due, next Monday Dec 7, should consist of three fields on a board:

Project Five :: Letterform Design

Both Sections due Monday, Nov 30

Draw a 10 x 10 grid in pencil in which the units are about the same size as your objects. Each grid unit should have the same height and width. Make a few copies of your grid, some at 100%, some scaled a bit larger, some a bit smaller.

Start positioning your objects on your grids to create letterforms. Concentrate on the following letterforms: A, N, B, G, Z, n, p, i, r, k. Take digital photographs of each result, then move on to a new letterform. Take your photographs from a consistent distance away from your work, positioned directly above (90 degrees) the work. A tripod would of course give you the most consistent results.

Attempt to create consistency from letterform to letterform by setting the same baseline and x-height for each design you attempt.

Bring in 3 different typeface designs for the above letters as digital photographs. Your design process can solely consist of moving objects around and photographing, those more inclined to "thumbnail" can sketch ideas out on gridded paper to start, then photograph the objects.

Project Four :: Presentation Boards due Friday 11/20

Both sections please have your presentation boards done and placed on the prof desk in your studio by the end of this week so we can hang them in the gallery.

These should be opaque white paper on good quality black board. No foam core!

Project Five :: Bitmap/Analog

P5.Bitmap/Analog Font Prototype

project
Using an object of your choosing as a base unit (or 'bit'), create the prototype for an alphabetic system built from a 10 x 10 unit grid.

objectives
Investigate the architecture of bitmapped letterforms
Understand the power of the grid in creating unified, systematic design
Devise methods for integrating the analog, or methods outside the computer, into your design process for richer ideas and results.

preparation
Find a small object to use as the base unit of your font. Try to avoid perfectly round or square objects, an interestingly contoured object will provide interesting results. Also make sure it is not a one of a kind object, you will need multiples.

for our next class
Look for interesting objects! The should be relatively small (fit in your hand) to make the font construction process feasible. Bring 3 possible objects to class. Remember, you'll need multiples (15-45 depending on your design) of the object you decide to use.

Also read pages 54–59 from the Lupton book before our next class.

Project Four :: Presentation Boards

Please prepare 3, 12" x 18", presentation boards for final crit. 1 board should contain your best monogram (large and small) on 2,
6.5" wide x 7.5" high, pages. One sheet should be black and white, the second in color. Choose a color that relates in some way to your element's characteristics or properties.

The other two boards should contain your 2 best spread layouts. Those pages are of course
7.5" x 7.5". Images and monogram for the presentation spreads can be color or black and white, your choice. If your monogram is in color, consider using the same or a related color in your title text.

Project Four :: Wed 11/11, Fri 11/13

Print out your best 2 spreads before class starts for a final, in class, editing round. (When working in InDesign, keying "command" + "i" will call up spell check.)

In class

• 20 min: have 2 people read and correct your text
• 20 min: make final corrections, package the spread going in the book, put on my CAS drop box
• 40 min: work on photoshop layouts
• 80 min: Dreamweaver CSS demo

Homework

• refine photoshop layouts, post JPEGs to blogs
  
• recreate designs in Dreamweaver
• begin preparing boards for final crit (see upcoming presentation post)
  

Project Four :: Deliverables & Web Layouts Mon 9/9

We are now moving our typography into the internets! Many design projects involve multiple media and components. Along with our postcards and books we will have a website devoted to your elements. Sweet!

In class together

• Collect InDesign files 
• Export and collect PDF files
  
• Monogram thumbnail demo
  
• Photoshop layout demo
  

In class in studio

• Layout sketches 5-10
• Begin designing 3 layouts in photoshop:
  Size: 576 px (pixels) wide * height dependent on content, start at 800 pixels
  Typefaces: restrict typeface choices to the following cross-platform web fonts:
  Sans serif: Arial (Helvetica), Verdana, Trebuchet
  Serif: Georgia, Times New Roman
  Type size: don't go under 10pt, be generous with point size for the web!
  Color: Consider color for your images and your monogram for the web layouts. Are there colors that say something about your elements qualities?

Homework for Wed/Fri

• Finish designing 3 layouts in photoshop.
  Save your files as JPEGs under "Save for Web" and put on my Drop Box like this:
  firstinitiallastname_layout1.jpg
  
  

Project Four :: Monogram EPS Files

Please give me your monograms as Illustrator EPS files by tomorrow (Thursday Nov 4).
They should be simple vector shapes and compound paths. The file should contain only the one monogram alone on a 3" x 3" document size.

Place the files on my CAS Server drop box or send it in an email.

Project Four :: Format Change & Deliverables

Because we are publishing our spreads in a book together on Lulu.com we will need to change the format to 7.5" x 7.5". That also means we will be limited to black and white only.

So today in class (Mon 11/2) pick your 3 best spreads, change the format,  and revise based on desk crit feedback. For homework digitize the 3 spreads in InDesign.

Also please make any final revisions on your monograms by our next class meeting.