Through the application of letterforms as text, words, sentences and paragraphs, they inherently create their own objects (blocks of text, as well as absence of text creation of space). Setting text into grids and spreads widens the scope of what type is and where it exists (and it introduces more issues with legibility and form) and it is an extension of the use of typography that zooms out into a new level of type application. For this project we were to re-format an article using Adobe InDesign and in doing so, create a new layout of grid and spreads.

I chose to re-format an article out of ChemMatters, an educational magazine associated with the American Chemical Society that my high school classmates and I would be given on days when our teacher was absent. These articles usually had sections that were difficult to distinguish, graphics that would break up text, and other distracting factors. Many of us ended up skimming through the already-short articles to find the answers to the questions rather than actually reading and taking away anything from the article.

I wanted to make the information communicated in the article more meaningful and straightforward by dividing the sections with bars and increasing the scale of the typeface. I also wanted to include sections for the students to take notes, and have a more cohesive framework for the information overall.

Some other challenges were to avoid the creation of widows, orphans (left-behind text) as well as lakes and rivers (shapes created by the negative space of text spacing). If I were to go back and edit my document, I would pay more attention to the measurements of the layout and spacing. Even if they are off by a little bit, it is still noticeable, and it would be helpful to establish a consistent rule.

This project had two parts: creating our own typeface using FontStruct (a free, online applicable font builder) and then presenting the typeface on a type specimen poster.

After experimenting on the FontStruct platform, I decided to create a font where each letterform exists in the negative shape of a rectangle. The forms themselves were inspired by paper cut-outs and origami animals, the song “Paper Tiger” by Beck, and the Chinese-originated definition of “paper tiger,” something that seems threatening but is actually ineffective and futile. I wanted to create something that seemed bold, but that was actually delicate and playful. For other symbols (such as parentheses and periods) I created more illustrative elements that would represent periods, quotation marks, and the @ symbol. And like one of the typefaces I found in the Matchy Match project, Eklipse, I wanted to see if I could  “defy limits of legibility” and symbol interpretation.

In order to present this typeface on a poster, I began to separate the page for different parts (the typeface name; the typeface used in a quote; all numbers, letters, symbols; typeface used in email address). My poster became more of symmetrical layout with disrupting, overlapping, dissymmetric background illustrations and elements.

I had difficulties with how I wanted to lay out and communicate all of the elements I had in mind, and developing certain hierarchies through scale and color also became a challenge. I think the poster turned out a little cluttered and irregular because it has many differing elements happening all at once (such as different colors/shades, overlays/opacities, scales). However, I do think the poster was in the high-spirited and dynamic direction that I had envisioned. If I were to work on it again I may want to decide on different colors (maybe a more monochromatic or limited color scheme), take out certain recurring elements (such as a few of the bands of text that go across the page) and refine the layout altogether in order to make it a clearer and more cohesive poster.

This project tasked us with searching for and finding established typefaces that matched the letterforms we found in the environment. This assignment caused us examine which fundamental elements of particular letterforms made them distinguishable as their own typeface (such as its width, height, boldness or shape, use of serifs). I enjoyed finding the matching typefaces, and in some cases I found multiple that could apply to the same environmental letterform and had to choose which fit the best (which is where the fundamental elements part came in).

In the end I think I found typefaces and families that matched my environmental letterforms really well (I think the ones I found stayed true to the original images’ overall shape and character). I saw this as sort of translating these abstract shapes and raw ideas into applicable, vectorized typefaces (or finding the language to do so). I also found it interesting to also research the typefaces’ designers, publishers, as well as the inspiration, processes and backstories that went into their creation. These backgrounds helped me understand the reasons why the typefaces looked the way they did as well as the scope and range of the typefaces’ purposes.

We as humans can interpret symbols from parts of everyday things, such as plants, buildings, horizons, trinkets–everything has a sort of shape. These shapes may form familiar, symbolic objects (such as the alphabet, numbers) and inspiration for letters and symbols can hide in plain sight.

For our first Typography I assignment, our professor challenged us to take pictures of any letterforms that we could distinguish in the environment. Our professor encouraged to find the whole alphabet, numbers, and even other punctuation and symbols. We could not capture pre-designed type (such as on signage or posters) and rather had to explore our interpretations of the natural and architectural environment around us. This project challenged me to visualize letterforms in alternative ways and reminded me of the countless ways each of the letters can be and have been composed (for example, there are many ways to write and recognize a capital ‘E,’ not just the way kindergarten writing books and common typefaces on computers show how they are written).

Through this project I was able to expand my understanding of the creation of symbols, and how lines and shapes relate to one another in order to create something recognizable in an otherwise unintended circumstance. When I first set out I think I went to the more obvious places (things that would immediately catch my eye as a certain letter), but as I continued to search I began to look at more specific forms that could form many different letters if I changed my perspective. I also began to look not at just the positive space, but also at the negative space that could possibly inspire letterforms, which caused many instances of “that could be an E, or better yet a very interesting W.”