Brief 1 - Logotype Crit

Logotype Crit
Attended a Crit to evaluate my idea and approach to the word, along with rough logotype designs. Overall, the Crit went really well, the concept to have my word represent VR Goggles was approved by the group and my range of rough logotype Ideas. With my development work, I played around with kerning and slicing the letters to connote a form of separation, and the escapism VR goggle give you. 

Notes Taken down:
1)    Experiment with 3D, looking at the shape of the Goggles
2)     Play around with colour – Red and Blue to connote 3D Reality
3)    Look at Hieroglyphics
4)    Play with the product and the meaning, and infuse into your logotype
5)    Mirror effect – play with ‘Aeumlriality’ to create a mirror/reflecting effect to echo the purpose of the product, creating two worlds.

After following the critique given, I approached some of the ideas given, to deepen my typographic approach. When using grid paper to create a bold 3D typeface, the final outcome looked rather old fashioned and retro, like an arcade game font. The idea of using that font could be a possibly idea, bringing back an old style to brand something that’s innovative and new could create a strong juxtaposition and almost form an ironic and iconic look. However, this could also become a dated design idea, It also won’t portray how high tech and refined the product is.

Brief 1 - Chosen Word

Chosen Word

My Chosen Word : Aeumlriality

The word Aeumlriality revolves around the keywords of air, atmosphere, and dream. For this project, I will be creating a logotype to represent the product name of Virtual Reality Goggles, as the concept of using VR, taking you to a some what other world, relates well my chosen word.

Rough key aspects of my approach to the Logotype design:

- Target audience will be Teenagers and up

- The product is High Tech and created in a contemporary design

- Something that can be associated to companies such as Apple, Samsung and Sony.

Kern Down (for what)

Kern DownFor this task, we were looking at the power and impact of kerning with logo type. We were given the same set of letters in groups, and in 30 seconds had to demonstrate our knowledge of how kerning would be used for different companies/industries.

Luxury Car Brand

Evenly balanced kerning, making it easy to read, look smart, and professional. The subtle use of kerning, reduces the look of the logotype being cluttered. The smooth easy read transition to each letter (due to just the right amount of kerning) gives the impression that the company is professional, smoothly functioning and adds to connotation of Luxury. 

Low Budget Supermarket

Tight Kerning, easy to read and simplistic - connotes the cheap and friendly/ approach of the shop. Sometimes in lower case (no lower case letters given in this exercise to use) is often used, this adds to the friendly approach the logotype gives, giving a cheap and cheerful overall look. 

Condom Company

Tight kerning, to represent intimacy, relating to the brand and its product. However, after further reflection on the task, and comparing everyones approaches, the idea of having the wording with really tight kerning may give off a less friendly and trustworthy appeal. 

Indie Band

Spaced out Kerning and experimental letter composition, inspired by the CHVRCHES logo, creating a unique and interesting look. The rather comical/quirky composition of the logotype reflects on the unique and alternative style of Indie Music. 

IT Company

Small Kerning, like the Luxury Car Brand layout, making the logotype look professional and easy to read, also a play on mathematics/science placing the c like a square root.

Overall, this was a really great exercise, just goes to show how impactful kerning can be through Logotype, I will definitely be taking this into account with my Logotype Project. 

Study Task 01 - Punctuation, Ligatures & Emojis

Punctuation, Ligatures & Emojis

The main focus for our first project was Typography, looking at the key elements of Typefaces, fonts and ligatures. To showcase our newfound knowledge, we were given our first Studio Brief, called Punctuation, Ligatures & Emojis.

For this project we were told to design and develop a new character for a typeface of our choice in groups or pairs. The new character was to be designed as a response to a pre-identified problem. This allowed us to Explore the use of negative space, silhouettes, angles and shape, along with the use of abstract and representational forms. The aim of the project was to create characters within a typeface that would work effectively on a range of scales from large too small.

The first stage of the design process was to come up with an existing problem that we face through communication, especially in our more technologically developed world. In my group, we wanted to approach a rather interesting and new concept to this project, rather than playing safe with just exploring existing abbreviations, we wanted to create our own abbreviation and then further expand on the word, to form a ligature. One thing my partner and I both agreed on is that sarcasm is so often used, and so often misinterpreted as the truth forming conflict. So we decided that we would create a ligature that symbolised sarcasm, which can be used to allow people to identify what is being said in text is sarcastic, and not derogatory. 

Figure 1

Inspired by the formal and slick look of the Ampersand, we decided to play around with the wording of the word Sarcasm, cutting it down to Sarcy and then Sarc. Following the design concept of the ampersand, we the roughly sketched ideas of the combination of the letters s, a, r, and c (see Figure 1).  We also began to break down the word even further, taking into account body language and facial expression when sarcasm is used, we noted down how the action of eye rolling conveys the use of sarcasm (see figure 2)

Figure 2

Through rough sketch development, and experimenting on Illustrator with many typefaces (to gain a better idea of layout and overall look) we finally created a ligature representing Sarcasm using the Baskerville typeface (see figure 3).

Figure 3

Through experimentation of typefaces, we found that Baskerville gave the ligature design a slick and sophisticated look, something that was to combine all letters in a interesting creative way, yet still allowing the finishing touch to look professional and flow well. When thinking about how this ligature would be used in text, we decided that it could be a replacement of the full stop when sarcasm was used in the sentence. However, the idea of using the ligature at the beginning would allow readers to identify the following text being sarcastic, on the other hand, having it placed at the end would allow the reader to process it as an insult, and then finally realise it was all sarcasm; which through verbal communication is how it is naturally conveyed, a bitter sweet joke.

We wanted to further develop other ligature ideas to broaden our approach to this project, our second design (see figure 4) also followed the concept of the Ampersand, combining the letter s, a, r, and c. The final outcome, also comes across refined and sleek, however the composition of the merged letters forms an identifiable J and S, which would make in hard for readers to convey as a ligature of sarcasm. Also, my partner and I agreed to how the outcome almost looks like a logo design rather than a ligature, making the Baskerville ligature design more effective and successful. 

Figure 4

I really liked the idea of looking at the body language and facial expression revolving around the word sarcasm, that being the eye rolling action. I wanted to approach this initial idea on Illustrator, which when combining the use of brackets and circles to form eyes, proved quite successful (see Figure 5). Experimenting with the size of the irises proved quite interesting, and allowed me to identify how the slight change in the circle size and position could easily change the emotion of the design. The final outcome proved rather playful, and would be easy to use as simple brackets around the sarcastic text. 

Figure 5

We decided that our final outcome would be the Baskerville ligature; it formed well and conveyed our initial ideas with further development. The overall design had more substance and meaning compared to the other two designs. On the final day of development, we were to then follow the process of a Final Crit, allowing us to explain our design concept, and hear people’s opinions on where we succeeded in our creative process, and where we could improve. The overall response to our work was positive and they liked how the letters of the ligature were combined and refined, we then discussed the idea of how the r could be more identifiable by lowering the upper bowl of the s, to form an easy to distinguish a lower case r. When showing our thought and development process, members of the Crit took a liking towards the eye brackets (see figure 5), and went on to explain how that design was more successful than our chosen final outcome. They went on to explain how they liked “the simplistic style of the brackets”, and that it was “something that can be easily used in a text format”. 

In conclusion, this project was a great way to broaden my understanding of Punctuation, Ligatures & Emojis.  It allowed me to realise that to an extent typefaces are international, and that there are no language barriers. This further goes on the teach me that I should always broaden my ideas and not confine myself to the idea of having to stick to the rules (e.g. using all the letters of sarc to form a ligature). 

Other notes that I picked up on:

-       Further research in the meaning of the word – e.g. because – is a connective word, maybe the word could illustrate a form of connection like chains.

-       Take into account emotion – in line drawing, harsh thick lines could represent anger and curved could convey a friendly happy emotion.