Advanced Typography: Task 2 - Project 1: Key Artwork

21.5.2025 - 11.6.2025 / Week 5 - Week 8
Omar bin Shafik / 0371439
Advanced Typography / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Task 2 / Key Artwork

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LECTURES

Week 5: Perception & Organization

Perception in typography deals with the visual navigation and interpretation of the reader via contrast, form and organisation of the content. The content can be textual, visual, graphical or in the form of colour.

Contrast

There are several ways to create contrast in typography with the methods shown being devised by Rudi Ruegg. 

Fig 1, Methods of Typographical Contrast Rudi Ruegg, Week 5 (21.5.2025)

Carl Dair add two more principles to the mix, texture and direction. He posits 7 kinds of contrast, most of which have already been covered by Rudi Ruegg;

• Size
• Weight
• Form
• Structure
• Texture
• Direction
• Colour

This is Carl Dair's methods for typographical contrast.

Fig 2, Methods of Typographical Contrast by Carl Dair, Week 5 (21.5.2025)

Form

Fig 3, Form Examples, Week (21.5.2025)

Refers to the overall looksand feel of elements that make up the typographic composition. Plays a role on visual impact and first impressions. 

Originating from the Greek words "typos" (form) and "graphics" (writing), typography means to write in accordance with form. It can be seen as having two functions:

• To represent a concept
• to do so in visual form

Displaying type as a form provides a sense of letterforms' unique characteristics and abstract presentation. Below are more examples for the application of form:

Fig 4, More Examples of Form, Week 5 (21.5.2025)

The interplay of meaning and form brings a balanced harmony both in terms of function and expression. When a typeface is perceived as a form, it no longer reads as a letter due to the manipulation of its letterform by distortion, texture, enlargement, and being extruded into a space.

Fig 5, Examples of  Form and Meaning Being Expressed Together, Week 5 (21.5.2025)

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INSTRUCTIONS

Fig 6, Advance Typography MIB (PDF), Week 5 (21.5.2025)

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TASK 2 - A

Fig 7, Mindmap and Moodboard for my Wordmark, Week 5 (21.5.2025)

This is a mindmap about myself and a moodboard of wordmarks I liked that I found on the internet.

Sketches

Fig 8, Sketches, Week 5 (21.5.2025)

Since I wanted to make a pixelated wordmark, I used Aseprite, a spriting program for the initial sketches and used SVG files to transition to Illustrator and Photoshop later in the process. 

For the colours, I just looked through the palettes already available on Aseprite and picked out some colours.

Fig 9, Choice of Colour Palette, Week 5 (22.5.2025)

For animation, I also used Aseprite because it was something I was more used to and more familiar with. 

Fig 10, Aseprite UI, Week 5 (22.5.2025)

Fig 11, Final Animation, Week 6 (28.5.2025)

Final outcome

Fig 12, Black on White, Week 6 (28.5.2025)

Fig 13, White on Black, Week 6 (28.5.2025)

Fig 14, Colours, Week 6 (28.5.2025)

Fig 15, Chosen Colour on Lightest Colour, Week 6 (28.5.2025)

Fig 16, Lightest Colour on Darkest Colour, Week 6 (28.5.2025)

Fig 17, Animation, Week 6 (28.5.2025)

Fig 18, Task 2 - A Compilation, Week 6 (28.5.2025)

TASK 2 - B

Collateral

For the collaterals, I just searched up blank templates of the items I wanted and edited my wordmark on them.

1. T-shirt

Fig 19, T-shirt, Week 7 (4.6.2025)

2. Badge

Fig 20, Badge, Week 7 (4.6.2025)

3. Headphones

Fig 21, Headphones, Week 7 (4.6.2025)

4. Black and white Photograph

Fig 22, Black and White Image, Week 7 (4.6.2025)

5. Pattern Expansion

Fig 23, Pattern Expression 1, Week 7 (4.6.2025)

Fig 24, Pattern Expression 2, Week 7 (4.6.2025)

Instagram Page

Link: Instagram

Fig 25, Instagram Page Screengrab, Week 8 (11.6.2025)

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FEEDBACK

Week 5:

General:
A good key artwork is timeless, it should look good no matter how much time has passed. A thing you could do to find good balance in the wordmark is to draw a box around the shape and look at how much it fills up the box. Make sure the wordmark is still recognizable even after all the modifications.

Week 6:

General:

have equal counterweights in the shapes. Make sure its readable. Make sure the gaps in between the letterforms are different.

Specific:

Make it all uppercase. See Paul Rand's and Alan Fletcher's designs for inspiration/help.

Week 7: 

Specific: I used the wordmark Mr. Vinod recommended and proceeded with making the collateral.

Week 8:

absent

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REFLECTIONS

Experience

This task was pretty fun to do, I experimented with using Aseprite to make the wordmark because it was easier to use to make pixelated images. Since I have had experience spriting, it was easier for me to use aseprite rather than illustrator to make the pixelated wordmark.

Observations

For this task, I really wanted to make something pixelated which just further solidified my decision to use Aseprite. For the more detailed processes, I transferred the files by using the SVG format and continued work in Illustrator and Photoshop.

Findings

During this task, I found that work could proceed much smoother, if your workflow is good. Using something familiar could make tasks much faster and easier to do.

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FURTHER READING

Grid Systems

Fig 26, A Type Primer by John Kane, Week 14(23.7.2025)

I read A Type Primer by John Kane, on the chapter about grid systems. 

The main components of a grid system are:

1. Text page

2. Margins

3. Folios

4. Headers

There are also terms for how grids are constructed, which are referred to as Fields and Gutters.

The book itself was made using a 24-field grid system.