Typography learnings

Communication Design, Semester 4

Documentation by Priyanshi Mehta, NIDJ/202021/0092

Guided by Sutirtha De
Faculty : Titu Mili
CONTENTS
• Strokes 01
• Composition with strokes 03
• Letterforms on a grid 05
• Developing a sense of space 13
• (Monoline words)
• Monoline Paragraph 16
• Alphabet - Capital 18
• Alphabet - Minuscule 22
• Monoline on grid
• Alphabet automatic pen
• Rhythm exercise
• Alphabet - Italic 29
• Alphabet - Gothic 32
• Course Takeaways 35
STROKES
The objective was to free the hand, develop an understanding of how the medium works and practice strokes
as they are the fundamentals of lettering with an automatic pen
Tools used : Automatic pen, fountain pen ink 2
COMPOSITION WITH STROKES
The objective was to create a block made entirely of horizontal, vertical and diagonal strokes
Dimension of the composition : 16 cm x 20 cm
Tools used : Automatic pen, fountain pen ink 4
LETTERFORMS ON A GRID
The objective was to gain a better understanding of the proportions of each letter form
Dimension of each square grid : 8 cm x 8 cm
Tools used : HB Pencil, Pencil Colours 6
8
10
12
DEVELOPING A SENSE OF SPACE
The objective was to understand spacing between any two letters in a word and how they can be balanced
Width of each line : 1 inch
Tool used : HB Pencil 14
16
MONOLINE PARAGRAPH
The objective was to learn how spacing works between words in a paragraph
Tool used : HB Pencil
Reference for paragraph : Fyodor Dostoevsky, The House of the Dead 18
ALPHABET - CAPITAL
The objective was to sensitise ourselves to the Capital letter forms
Tools used : 4mm nib pen, parallel pen, automatic pen, fountain pen ink
20
22
24
Few practice sheets 26
ALPHABET - MINUSCULE
The objective was to derive the ratio of minuscules and sensitise ourselves to their forms
Dimension of each grid : 2 cm x 3 cm x 2 cm
Tools used : HB pencil, 4mm nib pen, fountain pen ink 28
The objective was to understand the rhythm of letterforms and their spacing

30
Few practice sheets Few practice sheets 32
Few practice sheets 34
ALPHABET - ITALIC
The objective was to understand how a 7 degree tilt in the grid changes the ratio and form of the letters *Done on a gateway sheet
Ratio of the grid used for Italics : 5:3
Tools used : HB pencil, 4mm nib pen, fountain pen ink 36
38
ALPHABET - GOTHIC
The objective was to understand the skeleton of Gothic letters and sensitise ourselves to their form
Tools used : 4mm nib pen, parallel pen, fountain pen ink
40
42
TAKEAWAYS Monoline paragraph :
How the space between two words has to be just perfect. A little more than the optimum spacing would make the paragraph seem as though
white rivers are flowing through it. A little lesser would make it look cluttered and compromise on its ease of readability.

Strokes : Alphabet - Capital :

The initial exercise of making strokes at angles of thirty and fourty five degrees helped me in freeing the hand. A practise of the same regularly I became significantly more aware of the fact that we are designing negative space just as much as we’re designing the positive space. The
would inculcate muscle memory. two are not mutually exclusive. I also realised what it means to let the pen decide where there will be a thin stroke and where there would be a
thicker stroke. Every letter is a composition of its own.
Composition with strokes :
Making shapes with strokes taught me how to connect them. I realised that the shapes were a basic geometric breakdown of letters and Alphabets - minuscule :
hence how in composing shapes, one can compose letterforms. My attempts at deconstructing a letter to derive the ratio of minuscules sensitised me further to the form of the letters and their relative
proportions.
Making letterforms on a graph paper :
This exercise enabled me to understand the relative proportions of letters. They can be categorised in different families of their own based Alphabets Italic :
on their form. It helped me revisit my type anatomy. Viewing letterforms as objects that have gravity acting on them aids in associating the I learnt how variations of a typeface can be created by changing it’s grid. In this case, by converting the square grid to a rhombus by tilting it’s
principles of balance with them. It was during this exercise that I realised that type design is full of optical illusions and corrections. There is a axis seven degrees to the right. I learnt how to distort a grid and manipulate the letters.
difference in what is there on paper and how our eye perceives it.
In conclusion,
We naturally tend to perceive circles to be smaller than squares despite them being of the same height. Thus while designing a typeface, the I realised that the process one undergoes while practicing typography teaches patience, endurance, composure, keeps you gronuded,
round characters would have to be perceptibly taller than the flat ones, so as to make them appear of the same height to the human eye. increases your focus and observation skills. It has increased my respect for typographers exponentially. I am also more informed with respect
In order to make letters appear more stable and balanced, we make them visibly smaller at the top and larger below. Horizontal lines appear to the tools used in typography and what tool would be best suited for what purpose.
thicker to the human eye than the vertical ones, despite them having equal line width numerically. Hence, while designing a new typeface, the
vertical lines are kept measurably thicker, to make them appear the same. Until this course commenced, I always saw letter forms as lines put together at some angle, with some junction, as things that enable me
to communicate and express. But now, I see them as characters with life of their own. I view each alteration as the character undergoing a
Geometric breakdown of the letterforms : change in its personality. I have begun sensitising myself to latin letter forms more than I ever did before.
This exercise helped me understand how one can derive the optimum kerning and how it varies with shapes. Geometric breakdowns are
necessary as they are the fundamental basis of construction. It would also play a role in determining the characteristics of letterforms when
designing a new typeface.

Developing a sense of space :

The optical end of a letter is always before the letter actually ends. I realised that space is everything. It affects where the readers eyes
are being directed, stands for sophistication, has a psychological impact on ones mind, can be used to connect and disconnect different
characters and are essential in creating harmony in a composition. I also realised that letters are organic and cannot be treated too clinically.