Typography - MCCNeb

Have A Great Summer

2005-05-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

I will be grading your projects over the next week. Starting Friday, May 27, your projects will be available at my office, RDG Planning & Design, at 900 Farnam on the Mall, Suite 100, in the lower level of the GreenHouse Building, on the Gene Leahy Mall. I will keep them there until June 17. You can stop by between the hours of 8am and 5:30pm Monday-Friday to pick them up. Thanks for all of your hard work and enjoy your summer.

For Class May 19

2005-05-12T18:06:00.000-07:00

LAST DAY OF CLASS!

Project 1.4 DUE

Project 4 DUE

FINAL EXAM study

For Class May 12

2005-05-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

Have a cover design sample, and some ideas for binding for Project 1.4.

Have at least one layout printed out for Project 4.

Keep studying for the Final Exam

For Class May 5th

2005-04-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

Project 1.3 DUE

Have a rough draft of your report for Project 4.

Be ready to do some thumbnail sketches (bring some colored pencils or markers).

Final Exam Review Sheet

2005-04-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

There will be a Final Exam on our last class period, May 19. Here is the Final Exam Review Sheet. Start studying now!

Things To Know

2005-04-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

Hopefully by now you are pretty good at recognizing fonts. Be able to recognize:

For Class April 28th

2005-04-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

Project 3 DUE
(Don't forget to bring your electronic file!)

Bring three (3) options each of 1.3.A, 1.3.B, 1.3.C, 1.3.D (In color and trimmed!). Here's the Project 1.3 projectsheet.

Read chapter 9 of The Clair Book

The Perfectly Mounted Board Would Have...

2005-04-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Tracing paper covering all of the front of the black board and nothing more (other than to wrap around and attach to the back)
Artists tape cut cleanly with an X-acto knife rather than torn (be careful not to cut through to the board when trimming your tape)
A perfectly centered composition (remember to erase your pencil marks)
No glue residue sticking to the tracing paper (watch out for overspray onto other compositions when you are spraying)
Everything centered, lined up, and cut at right angles with laser-like precision. There is no detail too small.

For Class April 21

2005-04-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

Project 1.2 DUE

Bring three (3) trimmed sample spreads for Project 3.

Read Chapter 7 of The Clair Book

For Class April 14

2005-04-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

Bring at least three (3) options of EACH of the following (for a total of twelve options):

Project 1.2.A
Using all 9-point Helvetica Neue Regular, and only the distance between text elements and orthogonal ornament (vertically and horizontally oriented boxes and lines) to establish a hierarchy.

Project 1.2.B
Using all 9-point Helvetica Neue Regular, Helvetica Neue 45 Light, Helvetica Neue 75 Bold, and/or Helvetica Neue 25 Ultra Light, the distance between the text elements and orthogonal ornament (vertically and horizontally oriented boxes and lines) to establish a hierarchy.

Project 1.2.C
Using all Helvetica Neue Regular, vary size and the distance between text elements and use orthogonal ornament (vertically and horizontally oriented boxes and lines) to establish a hierarchy.

Project 1.2.D
Using all Helvetica Neue Regular, Helvetica Neue 45 Light, Helvetica Neue 75 Bold, and/or Helvetica Neue 25 Ultra Light, vary size and the distance between the text elements and useorthogonal ornament (vertically and horizontally oriented boxes and lines) to establish a hierarchy.

Print out your options on a laser printer, and trim to 8.5" x 8.5". These will not have to be mounted at this point.

Type and print out the text from Project 3.

Read Chapter 6 of The Clair Book

Read the Bringhurst handout on page proportions.

Project 3: Book Interiors and Special Characters

2005-04-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

DUE ~~April 21~~ APRIL 28, 2005

Book interiors are a great test of one's skills in subtle communication of hierarchy. The margins of a book deserve as much consideration as the typography itself. Additionally, there are some special characters on that don't reside on your keyboard that every typographer will encounter some day.

Project 3: Book Interiors and Special Characters hones these skills and includes some characters that are challenging to type.

Things to Know

2005-04-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

Don't forget the things you already know, but in addition, know terminology for the anatomy of letters. More specifically:

ascenders
descenders
serifs
terminals
stress or bias
bowl
ears
spurs
shoulders

[UPDATE: April 11, 6:27PM]
also:

spurs
serifs
baseline
x-height
cap-height

Extra Credit Opportunity (25 points)

2005-03-31T18:41:00.002-08:00

Go to a cultural event such as an exhibit, concert or an AIGA event, and write a one-page report summarizing the event, and your reaction to it. Class time on ~~April 14~~ April 28 will be dedicated to an opportunity to attend one of these events. Postcards From the Good Life will showcase Nebraska postcards at the Fluxion Gallery, as well as an opportunity to see some work by Andy Warhol. Turn in by May 12.

[UPDATE: April 7, 9:10 AM]
Postcards From the Good Life is April 28, not the 14th.

For Class April 7

2005-03-31T18:35:00.000-08:00

Project 1.1 DUE (A, B, C, D)
Project 2 DUE

Read Handout Historical Synopsis.

[UPDATE: April 4, 6:10 PM]
I have posted a link (above) to the handout that was distributed on March 31st.

Project 2 - Four-Letter Word

2005-03-24T19:07:00.000-08:00

DUE ~~MARCH 31~~ APRIL 7, 2005

This project will acquaint you with the subtleties of typographic form, and exercise your attention to detail and ability to verbally justify your design decisions. All of this is done by placing a word of four-letters or more on a canvas size of your choice.

For more details, download the project sheet.

For Class on March 31

2005-03-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

Bring at least two (2) options of EACH of the following (for a total of eight options):

Project 1.1.A
Project 1.1.B
Project 1.1.C
Project 1.1.D

The Deadline for Project 1.1 has been extended to April 7

Bring a sample of typography from a newspaper, magazine, ad, book, etc. (in-class project - 25 points).

Bring a laser printout of your composition for Project 2, cropped and ready for critique.

Read Chapter 5 from The Clair Book

Things to Know

2005-03-23T20:23:00.000-08:00

Here are just some things you should be familiar with by this point. They may be on a quiz soon.

Aldus Manutius
Trajan's Column
Gutenberg
pictographs
ideographs
rebuses
phonograms
leading / tracking
kerning
Cuneiform
Heiroglyphics

Myriad vs. Helvetica

2005-03-23T19:18:00.000-08:00

Some students may be having difficulty discerning the default font of Illustrator (Myriad) from the required font for Project 1.1 (Helvetica Neue).

Though it is slight, Myriad has a modulated stroke in comparison to Helvetica. This means that there is a slight thickness or weight variation in the strokes of the letters. Notice, for example, that the tops of the o's are slightly thinner than the sides.

Both fonts are sans-serif, but notice that some of the characters in Helvetica, such as the "a" have a very small serif that is the same stroke weight as the rest of the font.

Probably the most dramatic difference between the two is in aperture: on Helvetica, look at how much closer the terminal of the "a" comes to its own bowl, and the terminal of the "e" to its own eye.

The curves on Myriad are also much more gentle than Helvetica, which has pretty abrupt changes in direction.

That should help you identify the difference.

Changing fonts to outlines

If all looks well, on screen, but you simply cannot get your compositions to print out in Helvetica, select all of your text, and go to the menu Type < Create Outlines. This will make your text uneditable. Be sure to do this only before printing, and undo it once you are finished

Type Anatomy

2005-03-23T19:05:00.000-08:00

A good primer on type anatomy, to accompany Chapter 5 of your text.

For Class on March 24

2005-03-17T19:41:00.000-08:00

Bring at least three (3) options of EACH of the following (for a total of six options):

Project 1.1.C
Using all Helvetica Neue Regular, vary size and the distance between text elements to establish a hierarchy.

Project 1.1.D
Using all Helvetica Neue Regular, Helvetica Neue 45 Light, Helvetica Neue 75 Bold, and/or Helvetica Neue 25 Ultra Light, vary size and the distance between the text elements to establish a hierarchy.

Print out your options on a laser printer, and trim to 8.5" x 8.5". These will not have to be mounted at this point.

Read Chapters 2-4 of The Clair Book

Read Handout Layout of Lettering and Signs.

[UPDATE: March 23, 10:38 PM]
I have posted a link (above) to the handout that was distributed on March 17th.

Varied Scales

2005-03-17T18:44:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of varied scales that will be useful in choosing font sizes.

Lecture 2 Links: Gutenberg through Renaissance

2005-03-16T19:24:00.000-08:00

Gutenberg's Bible
Carolingian Lettering
Nicolas Jenson
Aldus
Bembo
Garamond
Adobe Garamond
Bodoni
Caslon
Victorian Poster

For Class on March 17

2005-03-10T18:40:00.000-08:00

Bring at least three (3) options of EACH of the following (for a total of six options):

Project 1.1.A
Using all 9-point Helvetica Neue Regular, and only the distance between text elements to establish a hierarchy.

Project 1.1.B
Using all 9-point Helvetica Neue Regular, Helvetica Neue 45 Light, Helvetica Neue 75 Bold, and/or Helvetica Neue 25 Ultra Light, and the distance between the text elements to establish a hierarchy.

Print out your options on a laser printer, and trim to 8.5" x 8.5". These will not have to be mounted at this point.

[UPDATE: March 13, 11:00 AM]
Read Chapters 1-2 of The Clair Book

I have updated the project sheet for Project 1.1 to remind you to keep all of the type horizontal.

Changed "or" to "and/or" for project description for 1.1.B above to clarify that you may use any combination of the fonts indicated.

Lecture 1 Links: Why We Have Typography

2005-03-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Venus of Willendorf (29,000 B.C.)
Sumerian Cuneiform (3,200 B.C.)
Egyptian Hieroglyphics (2,800 B.C.)
Pictographs
Ideographs
Rebuses
Proto-Canaanite, Phoenician, Greek Alphabets
Alphabet Family Tree
Trajan's Column Inscription
Trajan Font
Pompeii Amphitheater Inscription

Project 1.1 - Information Hierarchy: Proximity, Weight, and Size

2005-03-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

DUE ~~MARCH 31~~ APRIL 7, 2005

This is a small component of the project that is the main focus of this course. Your ability to differentiate information through the masterful use of proximity, size, weight, ornament, and color is the essence of your typographic skill. In this first part of that project, you will establish a hierarchy to the information in the supplied template using combinations of the factors of proximity, weight, and size.

For more details, download the project sheet.

Welcome

2005-03-08T09:28:00.000-08:00

This is the class website for GCA121-5A, Typography, at Metropolitan Community College. Check here for summaries and updates. I will post here before the end of the day each Monday, summarizing the previous class, and updating what will be necessary for the next class session.

Be sure to read the syllabus