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Phase One
This project will include two exploratory phases. The first phase is the visual exploration of your client’s name.
Using no more than two fonts, either a sans serif font (helvetica), or a serif font (times roman), or both, create 36 unique black only typographic syntactic compositions of your type company’s name.
Typographic syntax is the connecting of typographic signs to form letters, words, phrases and sentences. Designers use form — typographic attributes, space, visual hierarchy, orientation and other typographic visual characteristics — to make words and phrases visually distinct and holistic.
Here are some sample typographic explorations of the name of a fourth type company,
Word Smith:
We will use these explorations to investigate the inherent visual syntax and communicative possibilities of the words that make up your client’s name.
Typographic characteristics you might explore, man of which were discussed in your most recent class reading assignment (R2), include at least the following and possibly more:
• all caps
• lowercase
• u&lc
• small and large caps
• type weight (light, regular, medium, semi-bold, bold, extra bold, etc)
• type width (condensed, roman, extended)
• word orientation (flush left, flush right, justified, centered)
• word positioning (stacked, horizontal, diagonal, etc)
• italic and/or oblique
• letterspacing (tracking, kearning)
• wordspacing (or lack thereof)
• outline type
• other
No typographic alterations and distortions, shadows, colors or textures are allowed.
Choose the top 24 explorations that best visually express the company, then lay them out on a single vertical 11x17 size page using a three column grid and a 1/2 inch margin.
This class exercise E2 - Typographic Explorations is also phase one of your second design project, P2 - Logotype. As such, please exhibit the final results of this exercise in two separate posts on your blog:
The second phase of this project is the visual signification of your client’s name.
Choose the top 6 explorations of the 24 that you think have the most communicative and expressive potential to build a logotype upon.
You will now add more signification to the type explorations This can be done innumerable visual ways. You can substitute a more expressive typeface for one or two of your original fonts. Even add color and/or texture. While you may not distort your type that will undermine the communication inherent with the original type, you may adjust and create custom ligatures, and/or adjust x-heights, create special letter spacing, align asenders and desenders, as well as dots on lower case “i”s, etc., while maintaining typographic integrity. Next, you can also consider adding a shape to the design to position the type in and or reverse the type out of, and even bring in some dimensionality to the type and/or shape if deemed appropriate. Be conservative with shape signifiers however, and only use them if the logotype design and message benefits from it.
In all cases however, legibility is still of up most importance, in addition to the embellished visual meaning you are now bringing to the company’s name.
Create a minimum of three new visual signification explorations of your chosen six for a total of 18 significant explorations.
OPTIONAL:
Lastly, if you discover a visual and semantic (meaningful) design opportunity to add an image signifier to any of your new logotype explorations, then visually explore the opportunity conservatively. The purpose is to make the logotype more significant, while at the same time not kill the meaning inherent within the logotype’s words. The image most likely will be an abstracted or extremely simplified symbol, and/or pictograph of an object or a sign that will add additional meaning to the overall logotype. Be cautious however, adding an image to a logotype can easily turn the logotype into a trite trope, and alter it’s intended meaning. Also remember, the purpose of the logotype is to identity a type company and not a zoo.
You may add up to six image signifiers to your collection of 18 new significant explorations for a total of 24 designs.
Layout all 24 on a single vertical 11x17 size page using a three column grid and a 1/2 inch margin.
Add this exercise to your existing P2 - Logotype post, no later than the beginning of class, Thursday, February 7th.
Also print out the 11x17 sheet and hang it on the crit wall by the beginning of class.
The third phaseof this project is the visual refinement and finishing of your client’s logotype.
Edit your last 24 logotype visual signification explorations down to the four which best “typographically express” your type company.
Fine tune their expressive typographic meaning and visually finish them so they are the best typographic designs you have created to date.
Position all four of them equally balanced on a single vertical or horizontal 11x17 size page using a two column grid with at least a 1/2 inch margin.
Postion the singular most successful logotype of the group centered on a single vertical or horizontal 11x17 size page.
Add these designs to P2 - Logotype post, no later than the beginning of class, Tuesday, February 12th.
Also print out the 11x17 sheet and hang it on the crit wall by the beginning of class that same day.
This project will include two exploratory phases. The first phase is the visual exploration of your client’s name.
Using no more than two fonts, either a sans serif font (helvetica), or a serif font (times roman), or both, create 36 unique black only typographic syntactic compositions of your type company’s name.
Typographic syntax is the connecting of typographic signs to form letters, words, phrases and sentences. Designers use form — typographic attributes, space, visual hierarchy, orientation and other typographic visual characteristics — to make words and phrases visually distinct and holistic.
Here are some sample typographic explorations of the name of a fourth type company,
Word Smith:
We will use these explorations to investigate the inherent visual syntax and communicative possibilities of the words that make up your client’s name.
Typographic characteristics you might explore, man of which were discussed in your most recent class reading assignment (R2), include at least the following and possibly more:
• all caps
• lowercase
• u&lc
• small and large caps
• type weight (light, regular, medium, semi-bold, bold, extra bold, etc)
• type width (condensed, roman, extended)
• word orientation (flush left, flush right, justified, centered)
• word positioning (stacked, horizontal, diagonal, etc)
• italic and/or oblique
• letterspacing (tracking, kearning)
• wordspacing (or lack thereof)
• outline type
• other
No typographic alterations and distortions, shadows, colors or textures are allowed.
Choose the top 24 explorations that best visually express the company, then lay them out on a single vertical 11x17 size page using a three column grid and a 1/2 inch margin.
This class exercise E2 - Typographic Explorations is also phase one of your second design project, P2 - Logotype. As such, please exhibit the final results of this exercise in two separate posts on your blog:
• The first post, entitled E2 - Typographic Explorations, will be linked to Class Assignments.
• The second post, entitled P2 - Logotype, will be linked to Design Projects.
Post this exercise on your blog as both E2 and P3 and link the posts to their appropriate labels, no later than the beginning of class, Tuesday, February 5th.
Also print out the 11x17 sheet and hang it on the crit wall by the beginning of class.
• The second post, entitled P2 - Logotype, will be linked to Design Projects.
Post this exercise on your blog as both E2 and P3 and link the posts to their appropriate labels, no later than the beginning of class, Tuesday, February 5th.
Also print out the 11x17 sheet and hang it on the crit wall by the beginning of class.
_________________________________
Phase Two
Choose the top 6 explorations of the 24 that you think have the most communicative and expressive potential to build a logotype upon.
You will now add more signification to the type explorations This can be done innumerable visual ways. You can substitute a more expressive typeface for one or two of your original fonts. Even add color and/or texture. While you may not distort your type that will undermine the communication inherent with the original type, you may adjust and create custom ligatures, and/or adjust x-heights, create special letter spacing, align asenders and desenders, as well as dots on lower case “i”s, etc., while maintaining typographic integrity. Next, you can also consider adding a shape to the design to position the type in and or reverse the type out of, and even bring in some dimensionality to the type and/or shape if deemed appropriate. Be conservative with shape signifiers however, and only use them if the logotype design and message benefits from it.
In all cases however, legibility is still of up most importance, in addition to the embellished visual meaning you are now bringing to the company’s name.
Create a minimum of three new visual signification explorations of your chosen six for a total of 18 significant explorations.
OPTIONAL:
Lastly, if you discover a visual and semantic (meaningful) design opportunity to add an image signifier to any of your new logotype explorations, then visually explore the opportunity conservatively. The purpose is to make the logotype more significant, while at the same time not kill the meaning inherent within the logotype’s words. The image most likely will be an abstracted or extremely simplified symbol, and/or pictograph of an object or a sign that will add additional meaning to the overall logotype. Be cautious however, adding an image to a logotype can easily turn the logotype into a trite trope, and alter it’s intended meaning. Also remember, the purpose of the logotype is to identity a type company and not a zoo.
You may add up to six image signifiers to your collection of 18 new significant explorations for a total of 24 designs.
Layout all 24 on a single vertical 11x17 size page using a three column grid and a 1/2 inch margin.
Add this exercise to your existing P2 - Logotype post, no later than the beginning of class, Thursday, February 7th.
Also print out the 11x17 sheet and hang it on the crit wall by the beginning of class.
_________________________________
Phase Three
Edit your last 24 logotype visual signification explorations down to the four which best “typographically express” your type company.
Fine tune their expressive typographic meaning and visually finish them so they are the best typographic designs you have created to date.
Position all four of them equally balanced on a single vertical or horizontal 11x17 size page using a two column grid with at least a 1/2 inch margin.
Postion the singular most successful logotype of the group centered on a single vertical or horizontal 11x17 size page.
Add these designs to P2 - Logotype post, no later than the beginning of class, Tuesday, February 12th.
Also print out the 11x17 sheet and hang it on the crit wall by the beginning of class that same day.
