Exercises || Calligrapghy

Figure 3: Vertical lines

Figure 4: Horizontal lines

Figure 5: Circles

Figure 6: Initial practice

Figure 7: Writing alphabets

Figure 8: Writing alphabets

Figure 9: Writing alphabets

Figure 10: Initial alphabet practtice

Figure 11: Initial alphabet practice

Figure 12: Initial alphabet practice

Figure 13: Initial quote practice

Figure 14: Initial quote practice

Figure 15: Final work (There is no evil in sorcery but only in the hearts of men -Merlin BBC)

Exercises || Lettering

We were asked to design a typeface for our name- like a sort of personal logo. First, we drew sketched it out manually.

Figure 16: Sketching out our name lettering

I came up with a few but eventually went for the crystal themed one. We then traced it in Illustrator, first as a still image (Figure 17).

Figure 17: Name lettering

We then were taught to animate it first in In Design, and then in Photoshop. Mr Vinod and Mr Shamsul eventually recommended us to use Photoshop's frame animation as it was more suitable for this exercise. In class, this was the animation I produced:

Figure 18: Initial name lettering animation

I was not entirely satisfied with this and since we were told to improve it at home if we needed to, I worked on it by adding some details to the "A" to have a more crystal-like "shine" to the wordings and animate it in a motion that seemed more pleasing and fitting. Hence, the animation below:

Figure 19: Improved name lettering animation

Figure 2: Refined final name lettering animation

I changed quite a number of components in my animation. I made the crystals "shimmer" by alternating the lines with black and light grey for a flickering effect, added shine lines to the letter "I" as well for a more balanced look as there was unnecessary emphasis on just the "A" before. I also changed the way the lines appear for a more lively and dynamic look. I also made the shine lines pulsate to emphasis the shine of the crystals. Finally, I scrapped the one-by-one letter entrance as it was quite common and Mr Vinod told us it wasn't necessary to make the letters move all over for our animation to be effective.

Exercises || Type Expression

Figure 23: Sketching the six words

Figure 24: Digitalising our sketch

Figure 25: Throw artboards 1-9

Figure 26: Throw artboards 10-16

Figure 27: Fart artboards 1-9

Figure 28: Fart artboard 10

Reflection ||

Experience:
This class has been different from others so far in the sense that we do most of our work and assignments in class under the supervision of Mr Vinod and Mr Shamsul. This is helpful as we can receive help and feedback immediately and have a lesser workload to take home.However, the six hour long class is extremely taxing and exhausting. The workpace we are expected to keep up with is fast-paced to say the least. If I were to say more I'd say it often makes me feel I've been shoved into a fast-forward time machine.

Observation:
I noticed that it is absolutely necessary for me to write down the steps for whatever new Photoshop or Illustrator magic we learn or else I will forget it almost instantly. I noticed that I can get a lot of work done in the six hour period, probably because there are not many distractions in class.However I noticed my productivity plummets quite drastically once we get to the fourth hour and close to zero during the fifth hour, probably because I'm tired already and can't work and think as effectively.

Findings:
I find that I need to be better with time management so I won't have to stress out doing last minute work, which affects the quality of the work I produce. I also need to label and record my work consistently.

So far, I find Typography to be a really interesting subject and I particularly enjoyed calligraphy, as I expected to be bad at it (as I have horrible handwriting and am not the neatest person around) but in the end my work turned out pretty well and received positive feedback.I feel that I have learnt a lot about lettering, calligraphy and typography that will be very useful in future design projects.

Books:

Figure 31: Design: Type by Paul Burgess/Burge Agency

I borrowed this book Design: Type by Paul Burgess/ Burge Agency from the university library for reference to enhance my technical knowledge of typography. It was a captivating book and I learnt a lot of things such as:

• minimal designs/typefaces are often the most effective
• it is very important to consider the purpose of  the type and if it would be suitable for the purpose and audience or not (eg. kids' books, corporate work, album art covers, etc)
• one should try to follow the rules of typography and know them well before breaking them and experimenting; however it is necessary to eventually break the rules with something groundbreaking to be successful 
• handlettering type is making a comeback in this technological age, giving a human element to previously computer dominated types and reflects the history of typography before computers took over everything
• it is important to study many styles of art but most especially styles and artists relevant to your own work.

Figure 32: Typographic Systems by Kimberly Elam