Publishing Print Media: Exercise 1, Text Formatting
October 07, 2017Lectures:
Week 1:
Mr Patrick hosted a refresher class for us to review and relearn some of the aspects in InDesign as well as teaching us some new skills such as how to manage columns and images in In Design, as well as how to import text.
Week 2:
We did an activity in class which was to create a magazine spread layout with the topic and visuals of our choice. Mr Charles briefed us on the module and what we would be expected to do and learn in this module.
Week 3:
Ms Lilian introduced herself to us as we had not had class with her before. She also asked us to introduce ourselves to each other and to her. We went through our magazine spreads and she gave us some comments and feedback and we discussed our work as well. Then, we proceeded to work on the first exercise.
Week 4:
We submitted our Exercise 1 on font combinations and Ms Lilian went through them and advised us on how to proceed further. We also began our work on Exercise 2, the grid layouts.
Instructions:
The Brief
Exercises.
Duration of Assignment
Continuous, throughout the semester
Description
To develop your understanding of the practical employment of typography, a series of exercises will be implemented. Students will apply what they have learnt from lectures and discussions in these exercises, which will be assessed and contribute to the overall mark of the module. It is important that students work on these exercises with commitment in order to fully understand the design principles involved. The knowledge and skills developed will be applied to the accompanying projects.
All exercises prescribed are to be completed and documented (labelled, clean, clear & concise) in your e portfolio and hardcopy portfolio respectively.
The exercises are as follows:
1) Text formatting
2) Grid system variation
3) Brochure folds (8pg)
4) Magazine publishing online
5) Masthead design
Requirements
To complete and to showcase mastery in the exercises prescribed in its various forms. The work
is compiled chronologically in an A3 Folio and documented on the students’ e portfolio.
Submission
1. Exercises to be documented chronologically in an A3 Folio. The works must be labelled
and dated.
2. E portfolio posts for every exercise labelled and dated.
Objectives
1. To develop students theoretical understanding via practical means.
2. To develop students grasps to the components of the module.
3. To develop students explorative and innovative spirit.
4. To develop students practical application of the design process.
Research:
I did some research on various font combinations and I found this article to be very helpful. It has a list of suggested best font combinations for headers and bodies.
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| LIBERTY HEX: Magazine spread |
Design Process:
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| First combination |
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| Second combination |
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| Final combination: bottom left (starred) |
Feedback:
Week 1:
None
Week 2:
None
Week 3:
Interesting design. Good direction for the visuals in the magazine spread layout, the pictures lead the eye across the page. First page is a bit empty compared to the second page. Could possibly make it more minimalistic. Good choice of typography.
Week 4:
Good sense of font combination. Can play around with different types of font within the font family for the headers and sub headers to create a differentiation between headers and subheaders. Final combination should be Univers bold header x Caslon 10/14 body text.
Reflections:
Experience:
My experience of this class so far and the exercise done has been quite an enjoyable experience. We have learnt a lot of interesting and useful skills. We tend to do most of the work during the class time which I find is helpful for my productivity and time management. I learnt a lot about typography and which types of fonts work well together and how to play around with line spacing and letter spacing to achieve a desirable effect.
Observations:
I noticed that it is absolutely necessary for me to write down notes on my feedback or things we need to do or I will forget it almost instantly. I seem to enjoy using InDesign, it seems easier for me to get the hang of it than Photoshop/Illustrator/After Effects in the first semester. 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.
Findings:
I find that it is really important to choose font combinations wisely and to do lengthly experiments with point size, letter spacing, line spacing etc. to be able to customise the fonts chosen for a desired effect. Also, I found that it is important to know your fonts well and be able to be able to know and recognise the different types of fonts available rather than always wasting time scrolling through the textbox tool for options. I need to be more familiar with fonts and be able to choose them faster and have a selected few favorites I can work with.
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