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(United Monogramographical Assemblage – Luke Lucas 2016)

Reference List

Cart, M 1993, ‘Georgia Typeface’, image, Wikimedia, viewed October 1st 2017, <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/GeorgiaSpecimenAIB.svg/220px-GeorgiaSpecimenAIB.svg.png>

Emigre 2006, ‘Triplex’, Emigre Fonts, viewed October 1st 2017, <https://www.emigre.com/Fonts/Triplex>Emigre 2006, ‘Triplex’, myfonts, viewed October 1st 2017, < https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/emigre/triplex-ot/>

Licko, Z and Downer, J 1989, ‘Triplex Typeface’, image, Wikimedia, viewed October 1st 2017, <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/TriplexSpec.svg/220px-TriplexSpec.svg.png>

Lucas, L 2013, ‘Esquire (US) – 80th Anniversary Issue’, image, lukelucas.com, viewed October 3rd 2017, <http://www.lukelucas.com/Esquire-US-80th-Anniversary-Issue>

Lucas, L 2016, ‘United Monogramographical Assemblage’, image, lukelucas.com, viewed October 3rd 2017, <http://www.lukelucas.com/United-Monogramographical-Assemblage>

Microsoft 2017, ‘Georgia’, Microsoft typography, viewed October 1st 2017, <https://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/family.aspx?FID=4>

O’Brien, G 2017, ‘Alphabet Print’, image, jackywinter.com, viewed October 3rd 2017, <https://d1vbicfi1yyiko.cloudfront.net/uploads/2013/05/02044532/GEMMAOBRIEN_OUTSIDELANDS_2016_thumb-768x1086.jpg>

O’Brien, G 2017, ‘Prove You’re Human’, gif, jackywinter.com, viewed October 3rd 2017, <http://jackywinter.com/artists/gemma-obrien/attachment/gemmaobrien-proveyourehuman-compressor>

Rawsthorn, A 2006, ‘Quirky serifs aside, Georgia fonts win on Web – Style – International Herald Tribune’, The New York Times, viewed October 1st 2017, <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/style/09iht-dlede10.2150992.html>

Revolvy 2017, ‘Triplex (typeface)’, revolvy, viewed October 1st 2017, <https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Triplex%20(typeface)>

Whittemore, J 2009, ‘Triplex Serif’, typedia, viewed October 1st 2017,  <http://typedia.com/explore/typeface/triplex-serif/revision/19/>

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(Esquire (US) – 80th Anniversary Issue – Luke Lucas 2013)

Week 2 – Wednesday: Setting for Sense

Wednesday’s lesson was spent finalising the type setting examples that I had created for the booklet. I decided to continue with four particular examples of type setting that all varied greatly but appealed to the viewers eye. These were all incorporated into the booklet as per required of Task A.

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(ITL Monogram – Talyah Livanes 2017)

Week 3 – Tuesday: Monogram

This portion of the classes felt as if it were almost an extension from a previous workshop in this semester. The first workshop the class was in was about creating brand-marks, there it was discussed how letters can be used as a logo, especially in a typographical sense. This lesson extended from that and also taught more detail about how to modify type to create a monogram (after learning about the history behind monograms). For my monogram I decided to avoid using a pre-made typeface to create the letters, instead I utilised the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator to create the lines that I needed, giving me more freedom for the final product.

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(Pot of Gold – Talyah Livanes 2017)

Week 1 – Wednesday

Week 1 Wednesday was spent during hands-on craft. I missed the previous lesson so I focused solely on catching up to the rest of the class, whilst looking into what the tasks would be for the next three weeks. The Ransom Note I created that is called ‘Pot of Gold’ is a focus on a more high-end market, with a strict pastel colour scheme to suit. It took the majority of the lesson to create, with most of that time being dedicated to finding various type to incorporate within the image.

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(Prove You’re Human – Gemma O’Brien 2017)

Week 2 – Tuesday: Setting for Sense 

These two lessons were about correct type setting, typefaces and use of placement. We began by studying the different types of typefaces you can come across daily, either being sans or sans serif type. The lecture included a look into how these two different forms of typefaces are used, for what purpose and how they can impact a design. 

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(Triplex Typeface – Zuzana Licko and John Downer 1985-89)

Triplex Typeface

Triplex is a serif/sans serif hybrid typeface created by Zuzana Licko and John Downer in the years 1985 and 1989. The typeface ‘…was intended as a friendly substitute for Helvetica’. (Whittemore 2009) Helvetica has typically a very clean and simple appearance, whilst it is evident that Triplex features more curvature in the design, especially in the lower-case letters. This curvature is the result of it being a serif/sans serif hybrid typeface. As it shows the characteristics of both classifications. 

The typeface was originally designed by John Downer in 1985, originating as a sans-serif typeface, the hybrid nature of the typeface was created when Zuzana Licko revisited the typeface in 1989 and created two separate adaptions of Triplex, the serif and sans serif variations. (Revolvy 2017)

The name itself has meaning, as it represents the three different major variations of the typeface. The three different variations being, Triplex, Triplex Serif and Triplex Italic. (Emigre 2006) All three being the product of the two designers and their work on the typeface in 1985 and 1989.

The first most noticeable appearance of Triplex was when it was published in Emgire Magazine, the 14th edition. ‘…a special issue devoted to Swiss designers published in 1990’. (Emgire 2006)

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(Georgia Typeface – Matthew Carter 1993)

Georgia Typeface

Georgia much like Triplex takes a friendlier approach in regard sot being a typeface. It was designed by Matthew Carter in 1993, for intended use as part of the web package for Microsoft. 

The typeface Georgia is a serif font, with an old style appearance similar to that of Garamond and Times New Roman. The style of Georgia was purposely done to suit smaller text and on-screen display. ‘In Georgia, the uppercase characters are lightened, the x-height is increased, the ascenders rise above the cap height, and the numerals, often cunt with a high degree of stress, have been evened out and made slight non-aligned – a characteristic that imparts a flavour of individuality to any page set in Georgia.’ (Microsoft 2017)

These features of the Georgia typeface create character and charm, adding a certain familiarity and individuality when used for a body of text on a page. Often referred to as ‘…the most fashionable one on the internet’ (Rawsthorn 2006) in regards to the consistent use of the typeface across a range of varying websites. 

An interesting point made by Rawsthorn on the New York times article ‘Quirky serifs aside, Georgia fonts win on Web – Style – International Herald Tribune’, details how not only the letters were a focus for the Georgia typeface. Rawsthorn includes a quote from Matthew Carter elaborating on this point, “Late in the day we decided to exaggerate the differences by making them ‘old style figures’ [referring to the numerals in the typeface style] in which the 3, 4, 5 ,7 and 9 drop below the line, and the 6 and 8 stand proud [above the line]”. (Carter in Rawsthorn 2006) These little details and intricacies to the typeface were all intentionally created to dis-align the text, to help balance the heavy appearance that is common for serif typefaces. 

This attention to detail in the Georgia typeface is one of many examples, highlighting how it works as such a strong typeface, even with it’s almost chaotic nature when put under the microscope and studied for what is typically seen as the norm and ‘correct characteristics’ of a serif typeface.

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(Task A Booklet – Talyah Livanes 2017)

Week 3 – Wednesday: Printing

After completing all the various exercises, the final lesson was all about the printing process for a booklet. The lesson was spent discussing in detail the various settings and how they perform when creating a booklet. I appreciated the insight into these settings as I had only ever previously looked into Adobe Photoshop’s printing settings. The new information I garnered from this lesson will soon become of use for future projects, through helping me achieve a professional booklet appearance.

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(Alphabet Print – Gemma O’Brien 2017)

Reflection

This workshop was an insightful look into how typography is vital for graphic design. Whether it be for printing posters, booklets, or an online article. Typography, typefaces, and typesetting were major points within this project, each exercise that was given to us worked as a clever teaching tool to help give experience into what this various forms appear like and how they are useful for different needs. 

The first task, Ransom Note, was probably one of the more challenging exercises of this workshop as it required more hands on work, searching through an abundance of magazines to find typefaces that would suit the appearance or theme we were trying to achieve. It was a lengthy task that helped act as the foundation of the design for Task A, the booklet. 

In the second week, the focus shifted to a more serious area, typesetting. Typesetting is very common within the graphic design industry due to it’s importance when creating an article or booklet. We were to create six different variants of a piece of text, then incorporate that into or Task A booklet. I personally was a little lost when it came to completing this task to begin with, but with some guidance and analysis was able to create rather strong examples of typesetting.

Out of the three tasks, I enjoyed creating my monogram the most. It’s a field of graphic design that I have a strong interest in, creating brand marks and monograms for clients. My monogram reads ‘ITL’, my initials for my two first names and last name. I decided to take a more challenging yet rewarding route when designing my monogram, by designing it from scratch using the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. I found doing this allowed me more control over the design of the typeface, giving me more options for manipulation and creating the piece to appear more like a piece of interesting design rather than just text slapped down in the middle of a white space. 

Before the end of the workshop, I appreciate the fact that we spent time as a class understanding how to correctly print a booklet. I was never quite sure how I was supposed to go about this portion of Task A, and by learning about it I now have a stronger understanding of the printing techniques and settings that can be utilised for different purposes. I still ended up doing many test prints, sometimes even forgetting to change settings when preparing the printing document, but in the end I managed to get a finished product which met the requirements.

This workshop was a rewarding experience, it has a lot of importance to me as an aspiring graphic designer as I hope to continue to gain knowledge about the field of typography. The past three weeks were a great turning point in my understanding of typography, typesetting, and monograms.