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mm-110-03
multimedia
VISUAL CONCEPTS I

WEEK ELEVEN

TYPOGRAPHY

Lecture
Ancient writing systems Drawings, pictographs, ideaographs, Greek alphabet, Roman serif alphabet, Writing of the scribes, Ornamental type.

Parts of a character Roman/Italic, uppercase lowercase ascenders and descenders, Hairline stroke/stem stroke, Serifs brackets and san serif terminals, body height x-hieght, bowls and counters, arms and legs, ears, spurs, cross stokes, loops links and tails, swashes beaks barbs and finally point size.

Type categories Oldstyle, Modern, Slab Serif, Sans-Serif, Decorative, Script and digital effects


In Class Exercise
The Form of a Letter This exercise involves removing as much of the letter as possible while leaving enough to allow it's identification. This assignment brings into focus those qualities of a letter that make it different from others. It is not important to end up with a letterform that is immediately identifiable; it is enough to insure that, after a process of elimination, the remaining form could not be derived from any other letter. The final composition should have roughly the same amounts of black and white, figure ground, form and counterform. Do not distort the integrity of the letter. Try several compositions of these using either Helvetica or Times. Remember, theory is nice but experiment is necessary! Work in Illustrator using masks on a 7" x 7" square. Convert the type to outlines before you mask it. Once youıve exhausted these, try to add the same letter in itıs complete form. Be sure to integrate it into the composition.


Free Form and Structure Using some of the compositions from the previous exercise, combine these in a free form composition and others in a structured (grid) composition. Create an arrangement not just by repeating (parquet) but by manipulating form and counterform in both versions. Again, try to create a balance of figure ground relationships. This dismantling and rearranging of letterforms is done in the spirit of experimentation. Try to understand the tension between freedom and constraint.

HOMEWORK



Letter Form and Color
Combine double letterform combinations to divide the space and work with the following color combinations:
IN ILLUSTRATOR
Six compositions using two analogous colors
Six compositions using the different complementary colors
Five value studies of a color of choice (two values of red, etc.)
Five saturation studies of a color of choice

One composition using two letter forms and primary colors
One composition using two letter forms and secondary colors
One composition using two letter forms and tertiary colors
GOOD LUCK!

Some interesting resource sites for typography
counterspace
typographica
typolis
typography online
FUSE
fonts online-fuse
Herb Lubalin
Stop Stealing Sheep