07.11.2018 (Week 11)

There was no lecture this week as it was an E-Learning Week. 

14.11.2018 (Week 12)

There was no lecture this week. Mr Vinod and Mr Shamsul proceed to further explain the final project to us.

21.11.2018 (Week 13)
There was no lecture this week and we continue working on our final projects.

28.11.2018 (Week 14)
There was no lecture this week as we proceed to wrap up everything we had done this semester.

Week 11 - Week 14

  For the Final Project, we have to create an A3 poster typographically to express a social issue in Taylor's community. We should only work with the 9 type families that Mr Vinod has given to us and we should only use (very) minimal graphics in our design. 

  The social issue I chose to work on is to be silent in the library. 

  As per told by Mr Vinod, I started out by doing research on various typographically designed posters on the net as well as on books. After that, I started sketching out different compositions that I could work with on a piece of paper.

  I've chosen to use the word phrase 'STFU' to work on my social issue as I think it has greater impact towards the younger generation rather than just words like 'silence' and 'keep quiet'. Something powerful is needed in order to reach the best impact and outcome to the students.

Fig 1.0 Various sketches done to experiment with different compositions.

  After finishing the sketches, I started doing the poster digitally with Adobe Illustrator.

Fig 1.1 First attempt of the poster.

    After letting Mr Vinod to have a look on my first attempt via Facebook, he commented that it was too harsh and that I have to explore on more combination. Then, an idea of having volume-like sound waves at the back to show the volume would be nice. I also change the arrangement of the letters so that more space on the canvas is occupied.

Fig 1.2 Second attempt on the poster.

  As for the second attempt, Mr Vinod said I shouldn't highlight the 'F' as no one would want a poster that will have it's main focus on foul word in the library. He also suggested to change the typeface of the volume into a bold condensed typeface.

Fig 1.3 Experiments on trying to let the 'F' doesn't stand out as much.

   During the class, Mr Vinod suggested I can change the opacity of the letter 'F' as well as increasing the height of the volume, so that more space on the canvas is occupied. Other than that, the letters forming the volume should be changed into all caps in order to have a stable shape.

Fig 1.4 Third attempt on the poster.

  Later, Mr Vinod suggested that the 'F' should be as vague as possible. He recommended me to darken the parts on the volume to create a silhouette of the letter 'F'.

Fig 1.5 Attempt of darkening parts of the volume to create a silhouette of the letter 'F'.

  After that, Mr Vinod thinks the phrase 'Keep quiet in the library' could have been place on another part of the composition and not in the center. I thought of putting the phrase as part of the silhouette of the letter 'F'. Other than that, Mr Vinod thinks I can add some gradient for the volume . I achieve it by feathering the text of the volume.

Fig 1.6 Attempt of putting the phrase in the silhouette of the letter 'F' and highlighted with yellow.

  After that, Mr Vinod allowed me to start exploring using colors for the composition.

Fig 1.7 Experimenting with colors.

  After trying out with a few colors, I think yellow is nice as it isn't too powerful yet soothing at the same time. After letting Mr Shamsul to have a look, he suggested me to use red for the letters 'S', 'T', and 'U' as well as for the phrase. I didn't dare to use the color red as I think it will be too powerful. However, Mr Shamsul said that using red shouldn't be much of a problem as the message that I wanted to convey through the poster is something that should be powerful.

  On the other hand, Mr Vinod suggested to add the words 'Taylor's Library' on top of the 'T'. At the same time, Mr Shamsul also said that I should manually adjust the width of the 'T' so that it matches the width of the 'U' below, in order to have them balanced.

Fig 1.8 Final outcome of the poster.

  After creating the poster, we have to have subtle animation for it as a gif. The animation can be done in Adobe Photoshop.

  For my poster, I decided to animate the volume of the poster as to show it gradually becomes a lower volume.

Fig 1.9 Screenshot of artboards done in Adobe Illustrator as frames for the animation.

Fig 1.10 Final outcome of the animated gif for the poster.

Week 11

There was no feedback this week as it was an E-Learning Week.

Week 12

Mr Vinod suggested me to use up all the spaces on the canvas. He gave an example of putting the letters 'S T F U' on each corner and with small letters 'Keep quiet in the library' or something like that at the bottom. He also suggested that I should sketch my ideas out first before doing them digitally. The choice of typeface will also affects the impact I want to give out through the poster. Mr Shamsul also suggested that I should use sans serif typeface as it would be more bold and stable.

On Sunday, I asked Mr Vinod for a feedback for my first attempt on the poster via Facebook. He said that I should explore different compositions and the current one is very harsh looking. He asked me to sketch other possible combinations. 

Week 13
Mr Vinod commented that the 'F' should be as vague as possible. Other than that, the letters used to formed the volume should be in all caps to have a better visual shape. On the other hand, the word 'Taylor's Library' should be smaller. 

Week 11

After I chosen my social issue, the first word that pop into my mind was actually 'STFU'. I was confused whether I could use such words in my project.

Week 12

Everything felt rushed and that time isn't enough. But I'm sure I am able to pull it through. I actually felt motivated after the talk given by Mr Vinod by the end of the class. For some people, it may sound too harsh but it kind of boosted me to strive harder.

Week 13
Even though Mr Vinod went to the studio earlier so that we can start our class earlier and get feedback from him, but I was reluctant to enter the class as there was other students from other class using the studio. However, in the end we still enter the studio as Mr Vinod caught us at the E-Quarium and asked us to go to class. It was overwhelming when the poster is finally approved to be printed.

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Week 11

I noticed that doing further reading helps a lot, especially books that comes with visual examples. This is because some of those you can't really see them on the net and it really inspires me. 

Week 12

I notice that using different typefaces will give out different expression even though it's the same content. Each typeface has it's own character and using it wisely will make the composition turns out better.

Week 13
I noticed that the lecturers seems to like the frames from Ikea a lot, as another group of students under him is also being told to have frames from Ikea as well. Other than that, I noticed some classmates have a hard time figuring out how to compose their poster. 

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Week 11

I found out that doing research beforehand really helps to give me more inspiration and have a clearer idea of what a poster that is designed typographically looks like.

Week 12
After what Mr Vinod told us by the end of the class, I realized that even though this is a hard module, but it's not just me who is having a hard time with it, everyone does. I am not sure whether what Mr Vinod said is the truth or just to motivate us to break our limits, but after the talk I really have the urge to break my limits.

Week 13
Designing a poster typographically is not as easy as it seems. Everything needs to be taken into consideration, from the choice of typeface to the balance of the whole composition, all while having be able to have the message conveyed to the audience.

Week 11

Typex: Typography: A Teaching Experience by Herman Ordonez

Fig 2.0 The book cover for 'Typex: Typography: A Teaching Experience'.

Chapter: Typography Poster
  In this chapter, it introduced us to the most important type families, for example Helvetica and Futura, the socio-historical context in which they are conceived, and their functional and constructive aspects. Concept is not specifically related to typography, but still related to design, such as hierarchical structuring, form and counterform, rhythm, visual harmony and visual tension, symmetry and asymmetry, composition and balance.

  Various examples of typography posters is shown in this chapter. I was able to gain more inspiration as I analyze the usage of typography to create a visual impact.

Week 12
Typography Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Using Type in Graphic Design by Timothy Samara

Fig 2.1 Book cover for 'Typography Workbook'.

Chapter: Poster
 
  In this chapter, it introduced us to various posters designed created with typography. I pick up this book because I think the various examples included in the book may be able to open me up a lot more to the world of typography. It is often that typography dominates in the design of poster, whether as the headline or the details of an event or an issue.

  A short interview was done with Leonardo Sonnoli, an Italian graphic designer regarding his design in posters. Through the interview, I realize that it is very important to understand the content that you are working on to convey the message appropriately, whether through the design or through the typography. The consideration Leonardo has when designing a poster is that a poster has two reading levels. The first level intrigues the viewer, fascinates them, while the second level is informational and supports the first level with explanatory text.

Week 13 - Week 14
An Essay on Typography by Eric Gill

Fig 2.2 Book cover for 'An essay on Typography'.

Chapter 5: Of Paper and Ink
  I pick up this book from the library because the pages are very different from other books about typography. The book smelled good too, like the novels I read during high school. The way the author phrase the contents is also like reading a novel instead of just explaining what typography is.

  In this chapter, it talks about the type of paper and ink used for printing. For paper, it is generally admitted for whats 'hand-made' is the best, with it's rough edges that can be trimmed. Handicraftsman normally preferred handmade paper. For machine pressed paper, there's no used if it is used to imitate the roughness of hand made paper. The same goes to ink. Ink is not a raw material, but the colors and pigment used are. It is up to the handicraftsman to know the proportion of mixing them out to create the black. Of course there alternatives out there for industrial used, which lead the hand made ink as a luxury.