Typography - Task 2: Typographic Exploration and Communication
27/10/2025 - 14/11/2025 / Week 6 - Week 8
Janice Cheah Pei Ern / 0376497
Typography / BDCM / Taylor's University
Task 2
LIST / JUMP LINK
LECTURES
Week 5:
Understanding Letterforms
Uppercase letter may suggest symmetry but it actually isn't, close examination will show that width of the left slope is thinner than the right stroke such as the picture below:
Figure 1.0 Univers 'A'
This is to show a more internally harmonious and individually expressive optically.
Maintaining x-height
x-height describe size of lowercase letterforms. However, curved strokes such as in 's', must rise above the median (or sink below baseline) to make it look like same size with other letters
Figure 1.1 x-height
Form / Counterform
Form: the solid shape of the letter strokes
Counterform: negative space that defines the letter's shape
Figure 1.2 Form & Counterform
Counterform can improve readability. To understand the form and counter of a letter, best is to examine the existing fonts in close detail to better plan your new letter design in the future.
Contrast
Figure 1.3 Close-up view of letter
Basic design principles apply directly to typography. Contrast is one of the most powerful dynamic in design as it can produce many variations.
Figure 1.4 Types of Contrast
INSTRUCTIONS
TASK
Task 1: Exercises - Typographic Exploration and Communication
We were given 3 articles to choose from and I decided to go with "Bauhaus: The Movement That Changed Design" as I think there are enough things to explore and play around with the title.
As the title has suggested the Movement principle, I tried to apply it into my title using Illustrator and make my text move.
Inspiration:
Figure 2.2 & 2.3 Bauhaus Inspirations from Pinterest
Figure 2.0 & 2.1 Wavy Text on Path from Pinterest
Figure 2.2 & 2.3 Bauhaus Inspirations from Pinterest
Applying the inspirations I got into the title:
Figure 2.4 Title Designs in Illustrator
Afterwards, I also worked on arranging the body text of the article. Before using both Illustrator and InDesign, I tried to draft out the arrangement first using iPad.
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Figure 2.5, 2.6 & 2.7 Drafts of Text Arrangement
Afterwards, I brought over the titles I designed and body text into InDesign. I also made some tweaks to make it look better.
Figure 2.8 1st Design
Figure 2.9 2nd Design
Figure 2.10 3rd Design
However, after letting my tutor checked, she mentioned that I need to improve on my layout. I also thought that it may looked a little too basic overall. So I redesigned it and add some elements to improved on them.
I decided to go with my 6th Design as it is the better option among the other designs.
Figure 2.11 4th Design
Figure 2.12 5th Design
Figure 2.13 6th Design and Final Design
Figure 2.14 Final Design PDF
Figure 2.15 Final Design PDF with Guides and Baseline Grids
HEAD
- Font/s: Univers LT Std 59 Ultra Condensed (Main Heading & Sub-heading)
- Type Size/s: 180 pt (Main Heading) / 48 pt (Sub-heading)
- Leading: 0 pt
- Paragraph spacing: 0 pt
BODY
- Font/s: Gill Sans Std
- Type Size/s: 12 pt
- Leading: 14 pt
- Paragraph spacing: 12 pt
- Characters per-line: 50 - 60
- Alignment: Justify with last line aligned to left
Page Margins
- Margins: 10 mm (Top/Bottom/Left/Right)
- Columns: 4
- Gutter: 5mm
FEEDBACKS
Week 7
General Feedback: Overall needs better layout
Week 8
General Feedback: Chose the better version among the others despite it not being the best
Specific Feedback: Make sure the text doesn't intersect with the middle between two pages
REFLECTIONS
Experience
It was tough when I was trying to figure out how to start arranging the title and body text, drafting out really helped and further developed my design from there. This task was slightly more smoother than Task 1 as I have already tried out some basic text arrangement in Task 1.
Observations
Throughout the task, I observed that making the body text readable and compatible with the overall design can be quite challenging. My first few designs were quite static and basic despite being readable, further developing the designs really made it looked better.
Findings
I need to take note of my overall layout and some inspirations can really make the process better. I will also need to make sure my body text doesn't go in between the middle of two pages as it reduce readability if it gets printed out as a booklet.
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