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box with trials and final processbook and type specimen

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a few of the edited photos displaying my final outcomes 

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type specimen - just a few unedited images from the other day

I am fairly happy with how this turned out. I will obviously re-do this for the show and anything post uni but I am happy with it. the cover didn't turn out that great but again, thats down to the printer. I have also realised on the spreads with the all the letters, it has two uppercase Zs instead of Zz. bugger. 

as mentioned, one of the bits of feedback I got was to make it more playful, something that I do agree with but also don't agree with. vinosa isn't exactly a playful typeface and it think having the specimen the way it is at the moment suits the typeface more. I will experiment with this specimen post hand-in but I don't want to make it really playful as yeah, I don't think it would suit the typeface. 

the size of this specimen (and my process book) are based on the what I think is the original sizing of the original 1470 book by jenson for which I used as my reference material. I think it’s nice to do this as it kind of pays homage to it all and I like that my process book and type specimen are the same size but I think for the show, I will make my type specimens much smaller. 

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process book - this is just one of the photos from when I took pictures of everything the other day. 

the process book didn't turn out as great as I had hoped in all honesty. I am happy with the layout and all of that I am just a little disappointed with the way it turned out. i.e I hate printers and my binding skills are not the best. I think maybe in a few weeks I might slightly tweak the layout so its not effected by poor alignment from the printer (its just the page architecture) and then bind it again and work on a better, nicer cover in nicer paper stock. 

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one drive link

a few months ago or maybe a month a go, I started a folder where I just kept bits of type that I saw that I liked. this is from various sources but mainly social media. I have complied these images into a one drive folder and the link is below;

https://liveaucbac-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/1907303_my_aub_ac_uk/Eno9EaZdq6RBkjhGXVERGxEBhUpOjv7pI8fN2KyT-uSskQ?e=5C36e0 

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project evaluation

> slightly different to the one in the back of my process book <

to start this off, creating a typeface is no easy task. its a very long process that requires a lot of work, dedication and a lot of attention to detail. it is not for everyone, something i have been told by quite a few of my fellow students but i am so glad that i chose to do this for my major project. I have enjoyed every minute of it, even with those tricky letters like the s and double story g. i mentioned at the start of this book that i needed to pick something that would get out of bed every morning and this certainly did. 

my project went through quite a few changes during the first stages whilst I still tried to figure out what i actually wanted to do. there were points where i felt very lost with just no idea on what to do but i am very thankful and grateful for this as it all led me to where i am now and what i have been able to do. 

i knew for both translate and transform that i wanted to do something type orientated as this is where my interest lies and is what i want to pursue post AUB. the major project lent itself as the perfect opportunity to further my knowledge in my chosen subject. knowing that i wanted to explore type design from the off was very beneficial although i did get fairly stuck in the idea generation and research phases. these are very much safe spaces and i think i did outstay my welcome in both which, obviously had a bit of a knock-on effect which i felt later as i progressed through the design phase. that being said, i did explore many options to this project and did get a lot of research done, all within type design but in different areas of type design and it was all beneficial. 

i am happy with the research i conducted for this project but i could have done with more, especially more into nicolas jenson and venice as a whole during the period in which jenson worked and lived there but i was very aware of the task that lied ahead and the time this was going to take. the experiments i conducted for this project were really enjoyable and really beneficial. i did end up spending quite a bit of time on these but what i gained from them was great. unfortunately, i didn’t create a variable typeface like i originally planned but i now know how to do so who knows, in the future that variable classification typeface might become a thing. 

as mentioned, creating a typeface is hard and creating a full typeface with various weights and a complete character set takes years, not months but i am very proud of what i was able to create in the time frame. as mentioned previously, there were some elements that didn’t get the time that they deserved. the numbers for example, i would have liked to have created these without the use of a reference image but that process of using that image sped everything up and did help massively. unfortunately, the poster and specimen suffered the same fate and were slightly rushed. however, i am still proud of them. mainly the poster. one bit of feedback I received for the specimen was to make it more playful. I do agree with this but at the same time, its not a playful font, I felt that a playful specimen would not truly represent my typeface given the general style of a venetian and the elements that I brought to it e.i the symmetrical components and straight strokes.

all my type projects prior to this have been sans serif display fonts so with this project, i did throw myself into the deep end by choosing to create a venetian serif. 

i was kindly warned from the start that a venetain serif is probably one of the most difficult classifications of type to create. but as mentioned throughout the project, if it isn’t challenging then why do it? i feel i really did push myself with this and the knowledge that i have picked up along the way is absolutely priceless and it has reaffirmed my interest in this subject.

i do wish that my typeface had more than just one weight and i do wish i could have added more characters and spent more time on the specimen but i just ran out of time. however, apart from the lingering around in the idea generation and research phases, i feel i did manage my time well throughout this project, I can’t remember the last day in which I didn’t do any uni work at all but this has paid off and as I have said, I have enjoyed every part of this, it hasn’t been some daunting task that I just have to do, it’s been really enjoyable.

as mentioned, there were areas where i had to rush, especially towards the end which is obviously, my own fault but i am still extremely happy with the end result and very pleased with what i was able to create in the time frame. i will continue with vinosa and add more characters and various weights and styles and work on a nicer specimen that has some playful elements. hopefully one day, vinosa will be a fully fledged functional typeface available for download. 

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experimenting with websites 

this is a much more minimalistic approach and I think I prefer it. I think keeping things simple is just nicer, let the work speak for itself and not let some fancy website distract from it all. 

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screenshots showing the reworked and rebuilt altneu. 

I re-built all letters and applied what I learnt from this project (construction, variables, alternate characters etc). it is now portfolio ready (ish). 

the numbers I am unsure of, I might make an alternative set in the future that sit lower and the spacing still needs work but that is a very long task. anyways, above shows all the letters, numbers and basic punctuations. I have also made an alternative e as the one I had is a little weird so I thought best to have a substitute. this new version, along with the poster can now sit in my portfolio. I still need to make a specimen for it for the show and anything after that but that can come at a later date. 

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a few screenshots from an alternate poster for altneu. I wanted to include the square circle and triangle and thought I would try making them 3D but it turned out pretty rubbish. much happier with the current design for the portfolio.

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poster for altneu 

I wanted to include the bauhaus colours and the square circle triangle as this inspired the typeface and the shapes made the grid for which this typeface was designed from. it only includes the lowercase letters and not the stretched/distorted uppercase or the numbers nor does it show all viable weights but I don't want to add all that clutter. the whole typeface is based off modernism and the removal of the unnecessary so I want to keep the poster in line with that as much as possible. 

its a pretty weird looking bit of type but I don't mind it (bit biased obviously). anyway, this is ready for the portfolio now. 

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poster experiments for the portfolio

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that's better

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don't really need to blog about this but I finished altneu for the portfolio. I applied what I learnt during this project and was able to create a variable version of it and I also rebuilt every letter applying what I had learnt. 

and this is just a quick attempt as how I want to display my typeface for the portfolio. this is a quick poster which is obviously heavily inspired by de stijl. (its actually 9 weights not 8 which works better as a 9 looks better than an 8 personally).

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the two extremes and then the variable weight in the black bar at the bottom. 

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all letters ‘upper’ and lowercase in the two extremes and then anything in-between. spacing needs some attention but I am happy with this. I think I will leave as is (apart from some basic spacing) for the portfolio, I will add the numbers at a later date. I now need to focus on making a poster or something for it for the portfolio. 

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I have been manually adjusting all these letters for the two weight extremes which has been a very long process but I have just found out the offset curve/stroke tool which pretty much does it all for you, wish I knew about that before I started this. oh well, if this method does work I think it will, I could make vinosa variable. (I have since adjusted the leg on the k as it was way too thick and way too long).

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working on altneu variable. so its upper and lowercase but the uppercase is still lowercase but stretched/distorted. it’s almost all done, just the dreaded s. I have the s for the standard lowercase weight but I need to make the bold version and stretched versions for the two extremes. I have the numbers to do but that can probably wait until after hand in.

upper and lowercase a - as mentioned, its not really an uppercase letter just a much wider letter. the variable weight can be seen in the black bar. I already have a few old versions of this exported and working that I could use for the portfolio but I might as well do it now.