Studio Brief 2: Design a Typeface

For this brief we were given the task of designing a bespoke typeface based on one of Müeller-Brockmanns classic and lead typefaces, which should also effectively communicate an adjective that we each picked out of a hat.

The word I got was 'Educated.'

I started by researching the 9 typefaces, exploring what makes each one unique, their history and the places where they are most commonly found.

Classic Type Faces

Cut in Paris in 1535 by Claude Garamond, it was the first font to design Roman and Italic typefaces as components of a type cut. Garamond is known for its elegance, readability and character and is widely used in the printing of documents, and books because of it being a serif typeface. As posed to the other serif fonts in the list my favourite i prefer Gamamond's design of the S as the terminal doesn't contain a spur, creating a clean, precise finish to the curves without being to extravagant. The serifs are all slightly smoothed off in a neat yet slightly decorative manner creating a legible and aesthetic font to read. 

Caslon is a group of serif typefaces that were designed and cut by William Caslon between 1720-1726. His Alphabet goes back to a 200 year old typeface and his work laid the foundation in England for the development of English typecasting. Caslon is characterised by it's short ascenders and descenders, bracketed serifs and its modulation of stroke. It is most commonly used for large bodies of text and is usually found in magazines, journals, books or as a corporate typeface. Caslon is my favourite of the serif typefaces from the list due to it's interesting terminals on the E, F and G especially. I find Caslon's font a lot more gothic/darker than Garamond's as the serifs and terminals are a lot harsher/sharper as you can see on letters such as the Z,  T and N and the contrast in stroke is also greater between the adjoining lines.

Baskerville was designed by John Baskerville in 1754 and is most known for its crisp edges, high contrast and generous proportions. Type designer jenson described Baskerville as the typeface with the most precise geometrical proportions and the greatest elegance. I however think Baskerville has quite an intimidating gothic appearance with it's sharp serifs and angular lines. Baskervilles influence was particularly strong in England in the second half of the 18th century with typographers and type-casters shaping English typography following Baskerville's tradition. I love the tail used on Baskerville's Q as it is very elegant and aesthetic to look at. Baskervilles body-width is larger than Garamond's, making it more compact in a bodytext, but it's strokes are a lot more elegant and it appears larger when used in display text.

'American typographer, Bruce Rogers, discovered a Baskerville type specimen in a Cambridge bookstore in 1917, and once he became printing adviser to Harvard University Press, he recommended that the type be casted from the original Baskerville matrixes, causing a revival to the typeface in the 20th century.' 

Now Baskerville is used in many publications such as magazines, shop signs and on the Metropolitan Opera logo by Pentagram. 

Bodoni was cut in Parma by Gianbattista Bodoni in 1790. Bodoni was said to be a pioneer of modern type. Exceptionally thin hairlines are what characterise his design, contrasting with heavy main strokes. Today Bodoni is very popular with many fashion labels such as Calvin Klein and Elizabeth Arden and is also found in many fashion publications due to its pleasant aesthetic when set in bigger sizes. Bodoni's letter forms are a lot more angular than the previous fonts as you can clearly see on the arm of the a. The stress of the letters is also very reflective as you can see on the O, Q and C. The difference between the line stokes is a lot more contrasting and the terminals are also a lot more prominent.

Clarindon was born from the growth of modern businesses calling for powerful advertising faces. It is based on an Egyptian face that first appeared in 1815 in the Figgins Type Foundry. Clarendon is notable for its strong horizontal connecting lines which contrast very little with the main strokes. Today Clarendon is used for NFL field markings and for the Costa Coffee 2013 campaign.

Times New Roam was designed in 1923 for the Newspaper 'The Times' with newspaper printing in mind. It is highly suitable for ensuring good legibility, even on poor paper as the letters are provided with short, powerful and sharp-cut serifs. Both capitals and small letters come out very clearly. Today Times can still be found in the Times Newspaper swell as being used by microsoft as the default type setting for Word.

Here is some information I found on Oldstyle Classic fonts: 

'There are three identifying characteristics to oldstyle fonts: 

Tilted axis–If you look closely at a round letter like an “O” or “C” you’ll notice there are thicker strokes and thinner ones. In oldstyle fonts, the axis of these letters is tilted, so that if you draw a line through the thinnest parts, it will be slightly off-center. This imitates the way the scribes would naturally write with a square-tipped pen. 

Moderate stroke variation–Look again and you’ll see that the thin and thick strokes, although noticeably different, do not vary all that much. In other words, the thick strokes are thick, but not hugely so. This is also due to the way a square-tipped pen creates a varying stroke as you create each character. 

Rounded or bracketed serifs–Serifs are the little bits of strokes like the “legs” on an “i” or the ending strokes on letters that look strictly decorative. These serifs are also due to the scribes, and the way their pens would leave a tiny flourish when they finished a stroke. Serifs help letters stick together as words, and that helps readability quite a bit.

Lead Type Faces

Berthold was designed in 1898 by the designer Hoffmann in Berlin. Based on the sans-serif faces of the early 19th Century, it's characteristic feature is the almost equal thickness of the vertical and horizontal strokes. It was used a lot in industrial advertising.

Helvetica, originally know as 'neue haas grotesque' was created by the Haas Typefoundry, Basle. The form of the letters in Helvetica are based on Berthold and other earlier sans-serif faces. Characteristic features of Helvetica include the horizontally shut ends of the letters c, e, g and s in contrast to Berthed where they are cut radially. The vertical strokes are also somewhat shorter than it's predecessors, improving it's legibility as a typeface. Helvetica because extremely popular after the war and can be found almost everywhere you look, from bin lids, to warning signs to shop fronts like American Apparel. Helvetica has merged into the background of our everyday lives and takes on the character of whatever environment it is set in.

Univers was created by Adrian frutiger for the Paris Typefounders Deberny and Peignot, and has since become the most widely used sans-serif face. It is characterised by its short ascenders and descenders and the connection between the bowl of the letter and the stem made slighter. Today Univers can be found in a variety of publications and magazines.

EDUCATED TYPEFACE 

The word I was given to base my typeface design on was Educated.

Synonyms: Well learned, intelligent, informed, literate, schooled, well read, discerning, knowledgable, progressive.

Antonyms: Uneducated, dumb.

Definitions: having been educated, resulting from or having a good education.

Interpretations: Gone to university, got a degree, clever, primary school, scholar, scroll, Greek carved in stone, graduation, newspaper, books, Harvard, modern university education (everybody going).

Connotations: Roman Numerals

Purpose: Conveying information to educated individuals. 

WHAT I RELATE EDUCATED WITH

For my font I wanted to base my design on a serif typeface as I most associate educated with being well informed, progressive and knowledgeable. This is when I started considering things that these qualities were associated with such as having a degree, particularly in an academic subject, reading the news and reading books. 

I looked at the fonts most commonly used in these publications which tended to be serif fonts as they create an ease in readability as the serifs differentiate the different letter forms from each other, in turn increasing the reading speed of long passages of text because they help the eye travel across a line. Garamond and Caslon were the 2 fonts that most commonly cropped up in the use of books. 

Garamond used in a book

I also associate Newspapers with education as it is a good way of staying informed and current. therefore I looked at various fonts used in newspapers. Times New Roman was probably the main one I found as the serif typeface was commissioned by the British newspaper The Times in 1931.

One of my first thoughts when I received the word Educated was of having an Oxbridge degree so I looked into the typefaces they used on their websites.

The font used on the Oxford Website was Baskerville and the University of Cambridge looked very similar to Garamond. 

I looked at Garamond, Caslon, Times and Berthold and compared the 4 fonts to choose my favourite variation of each individual letterform.

Caslon was the one I found the most aesthetically pleasing, however I did prefer elements from the other 4 typefaces aswell so tried to incorporate some of these things when creating my own bespoke typeface. 

I liked this design but found it a bit opulent and too exclusive for the image I was trying to create. Although I liked these typefaces they were all classic typefaces and therefore looked a bit 'Posh' and sophisticated whereas I wanted my design to be as accessible as possible so anyone felt comfortable reading it.

This is when I started looking at adding serifs to the lead typefaces to create a more accessible typeface. 

Helvetica with just adding a single serif to each letterform, to minimise on ink costs. 

Helvetica adding multiple serifs to at least 2 points on the letter.

Univers experimenting with adding serifs.

Berthold with multiple serifs added.

I didn't know whether people would find these fonts effective or whether they looked too clumsy or robotic with a pixelated feel however they were only rough drafts and I wanted to explore the concept in lowercase as with a bodytext 95% of the letters would be lowercase.

I wanted to try and define the word educated and particular people I related being educated with. My initial thought was someone like Stephen Fry. 

The definition of 'educated' is extremely subjective therefore I wanted to create a serif font that encompasses a variety of different elements. Whilst striving for a more modern approach, I also wanted to incorporate a hint at more traditional expectations and values related to education. The design had to be readable as well as easily translatable into a number of different languages, as education is a global necessity and everyone in the world aspires to be educated. The design above all else had to be practical. It is intended to be used specifically on print media such as books, newspapers, prospectuses and magazines so had to be designed as a body type. I wanted the design to also be eco friendly as any educated individual would recognise that sustainability is a large factor that should be considered in any new designs for the future, saving paper, ink and therefore the environment. Any other approach would be ignorant, which is exactly the opposite of what being educated means.

After the interim crit I pitched my designs to the group and everyone agreed that a serif typeface suited the word 'educated' more than sans-serif. 

Everyone also agreed that Educated related more to publications and communication rather than for show as on a movie poster etc. however my first typeface was too formal and wouldn't be as universally relatable or accessible as using a sans-serif font for the starting point. 

A few people suggested looking into fonts that are used for exams at school and also exploring the route of how children are taught to read. The main book I remember from childhood were 'The Magic Key' Series with Biff and Chip for actually learning how to read. This too used a serif font however I couldn't find the exact name of the typeface.

Another book I remembered from childhood was the Very Hungry Caterpillar, which used Bodoni, another serif font. 

After researching into why serif fonts were used in childrens books I found that 'when selecting a typeface for young children, or anyone just learning to read, sans serifs are preferable, as their simplified letterforms are easier to recognize. This can also be relevant when designing for readers with certain visual impairments.'

After this I have definitely decided on creating a serif typeface, using the body of a lead typeface and adding the serif. I want the design to be a light font so it saves paper and ink and is therefore environmentally friendly. 

In the interim crit my tutor recommended looking into petit serifs to add  subtle differentiation between fonts.

Petit-serifs are small serifs which are attached to regular sans-serif fonts. An example of this is used in the London Underground on the Johnston typeface created by Percy Delf Smith.  This was used in some of the early 1930's underground stations. A modern Version is now used by transport London for some historic signage. 

I decided to base my design on Helvetica as it is already a universally recognised typeface, well known for it's legibility. In terms of design the typeface is very neutral, therefore it would be easy to manipulate into new designs, helping it use up less space than other words along a line, meaning it would lend itself to saving ink and paper when used in a light font.

I looked at the different variations of Helvetica but decided quickly that I liked the design of Helvetica Neue Ultralight the most as it had the thinnest line stroke so would lend itself to saving resources such as ink and paper.

I began by condensing Helvetica Neue UltraLight (top) into the version below. Reducing the body width to attempt to reduce the space used on a page and therefore reduce the amount of pages that would need to be used overall, saving paper.

When I was happy with the width of the letterforms I added subtle serifs to various points on the letters, to tie in with the research I had conducted into what was the most legible type of font to use. I didn't want to overdo it by adding too many as that would clutter the design and also use more ink which contradicted what I was trying to achieve in using less ink. 

When I started the design, adjusting the body width made some of the letters look strange such as the capital C, as it made it look too much like a Capital O. Therefore I decided to adjust the aperture, making the opening space between the terminals larger, which helped with its readability. 

I experimented with different serifs on the letters seeing which one would be the most suitable for my design, enhancing the readability in the most subtle way possible. 

For the 'a' I chose the one where I had slightly altered the foot making it more angular (2nd from right) keeping the serif to a minimum.

I also preferred that approach for p, w and r, keeping my design consistent thus further aiding the readability of my typeface (all 2nd from right).

For the 'w' and the 'y' I used the same approach, keeping the serifs subtle so they looked more like the ear on a g than a big in-your-face serif ('y' 2nd from left).

For the upper case I used the same approach, looking for the most subtile solution for clear and uncluttered readability. For the 'A' I simply added 2 little feet (2nd from right). For H I did the same, extending the serif away from the stem to the outside in just 1 direction. For the C I increased the aperture and added 2 small horizontal serifs (far right) For the J I added 1 simple 'half' serif at the top of the stem. For E I shortened the cross stroke so it was shorter than the arms and added small serifs to the top and bottom of the stem and subtle terminals to the end of the arms. 

Once I was happy with my choices I applied the same approach to the rest of the letters in the Alphabet. I feel giving the letters these subtle differences made the design more legible for use in a body text while remaining quite modern and approachable to a wide audience. 

I made sure the bowls of the letters extended slightly over the x height and under the baseline as curved letterforms have a tendency to look smaller when used in body text so to maintain good readability I made them slightly bigger. 

This was my initial design solution for the whole alphabet. I also looked into characters used in other languages so my design was translatable and could 'educate' people in a variety of languages. 

I used the typeface in a pangram to see how all the letters would work next to each other. Although I liked this design, initially reducing the body-width created a larger x height with shorter looking extenders, which I felt could impact on the fonts readability a bit too much so I decided to stretch the letter forms out a fraction more so they were easier to read, keeping the kerning the same. 

This was more legible to read however the kerning still needed some work, particularly in places like the 'ion' in 'questions'.

After more kerning it looked a lot more legible. 

The design is meant for print media, not digital so it is harder to read from a screen but once I printed it on paper I could see that it is easily legible and takes up a lot less space on a page than a regular font. 

When going to draw up the type specimen poster I went over all the words and realised the capital Q was the only letter I hadn't altered. Earlier in the project my favourite part of the Classic Typefaces was the beauitully drawn Q's with their ornate looking tails so decided to play around and add a tail to the Q inspired by Baskerville's. 

Before compared to after:

This is my final type specimen and manifesto.

SUMMATIVE FEEDBACK

In the final crit session I asked my peers a few questions about my typeface to understand peoples opinions on it and get some feedback for my final design. 

MY TYPEFACE IS DESIGNED TO BE USED AS A BODYTEXT. IS IT EASILY LEGIBLE OR DO YOU FIND IT HARD TO READ IN THIS FORMAT?

Good when used as body text but I think it's more legible on a heading

Definitley legible at this scale (on the poster) and smaller as a bodytext.

I believe it is legible. The large counters in the letterforms allow for better readability. The typeface has consistency which allows for good rhythm when reading. 

Yes- Very!

Yes x3

At the size shown (on the poster) the legibility has no problem, however at smaller pt. sizes in a body text the serifs may disappear. 

Yes it is easily legible. 

Very legible, however tracking must be used to make this legible as a body copy. 

Yes it is legible as you can read it on both a large and small scale. 

MY AIM WAS TO USE A FONT THAT USED LESS INK/PAPER OVERALL IN PRODUCTION. SHOULD I HAVE SQUASHED THE LETTERS MORE OR WOULD IT HAVE BECOME HARDER TO READ?

No, the thin weighting already takes away from legibility so anything else would have become too much.

I think compacting the letters anymore would have been risky and probably wouldn't save enough paper/ ink to justify it. 

Maybe squash it a little more.

/i think condensing it further would lose its already get legibility You run the risk of not being able to define the letterforms if so. 

No, it's really effective as it is.

Making this typeface more squashed would have made it a condensed typeface which would make it extremely hard to read in block text. I think you have hit the squishiness limit. Any more would make it too hard to read. A condensed typeface would have made the font completely illegible. 

No, it would negatively impact the readability. 

No, it is a really practical design. 

DO YOU THINK THIS TYPEFACE SAYS 'EDUCATED'? WHY/WHY NOT?

Yes, it works well.

Yes, the serifs add a sophisticated touch whilst also hinting at education.

No, it reminds me of the word light, not educated. 

Yes, the subtle serifs give it a contemporary yet classic feel.

Based on your definition it is educated. The body copy could be used in future educational publications.

Yes, it looks professional and smart and fits your definition. 

Yes, it looks civilised. 

Yes, in a contemporary sense of the word through the light weight of line and serifs.

Yes, looks clean, simple and easy to understand. 

Yes, looks sophisticated and knowledgable- Refers to history because of the use of serifs.

Yes, it connotes intelligence and IQ is a clever name!

OTHER FEEDBACK

I think the use of petit serifs is very successful, finding a good balance between serif and san-serif. The way it has been presented shows how usable it could be. 

It works well with both narrow and wider kerning. It is good that you thought about your context and it works well.

Overall successful.