DES 115 | Process Book

PROCESS book christine okazaki des 115 fall quarter ‘16

TABLE Of CONTENTS 5

project 1 minimal letterforms

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project 2 type hierarchy

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project 3 design and the play instinct

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PROJECT 1 minimal letterforms “This project requires the close examination of the form and function of letterforms. We will investigate the unique visual characteristics of a specific typeface and the aspects of composition—including juxtaposition, contrast, form/ counterform, symmetry, and balance.”

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CROPPING TYPEFACES We were given the option of choosing from six typefaces. The first step was to create 25 1x1 inch squares, focusing on the visually striking parts of each letter and cropping just enough so that it appeared “minimal�. I was drawn to the heavy weight and thick serifs of Memphis; as I sketched, I tried to think about white space and how much of the area the letter took up.

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CROPPING TYPEFACES (CONT.) I also wanted to experiment with Bodoni, thinking that the bold contrast between the thin hairlines and bold strokes would create a very striking composition.

SKETCHES As I sketched out compositions, I struggled with how to connect the letterforms in a way that was both unique and still made visual sense. I ended up with sketches that would draw the viewer’s eye to the white space. Going forward, I noted that I had to think about all the components together: both the individual quadrants, and the piece as a whole.

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BODONI / LOWERCASE

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MEMPHIS / UPPERCASE

HELVETICA / LOWERCASE

REFINED DIGITAL SKETCHES In the sketches I had done on tracing paper, I had a lot of closed white space. As I continued onto the refined digital sketches, I tried to create more dynamic movement throughout the four quadrants. I also tried to implement balance by using similarly shaped letters in

opposing quadrants. I also wanted to experiment with other typefaces that I had not gotten a chance to trace over. I was able to produce three different sketches with lowercase Bodoni, uppercase Memphis, and lowercase Helvetica.

I focused more on the composition as a whole, looking at how the letters connected to each other

throughout the entire piece. After critique and examining the quadrants individually, I realized that I had to focus more on making sure each quadrant did not have empty or awkward white space. Looking at my refined sketches, I saw that one side flowed better than the other, so going forward, I tried to fix this.

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FINAL COMPOSITION: BODONI / LOWERCASE For this final composition, I only edited one section. I switched out the “k” from the draft for an “s”, which created more fluid movement from the top of the quadrant. However, I also struggled with connecting the serif of the “s” to the middle of the “w”, because the further I moved it over, it looked as though the “s” was emerging from the corner of the quadrant, rather than the top.

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FINAL COMPOSITION: HELVETICA / LOWERCASE I had originally wanted to stay away from Helvetica, as I thought the letterforms were too simple and did not offer anything visually striking, like the serifs of Memphis, or the thin hairlines of Bodoni.

However, this ended up being the composition that worked the best. As I looked at my refined sketch, I realized that the right side of the composition did not flow together as well as the left side. I switched out the “u” from my draft into an “h”, and brought it down to the center in order to eliminate the awkward white space that had resulted from it originally being in the upper right hand corner. I also moved the “s” further up, so that all the letters created movement from the center. The “a” and “s” also act as symmetrical forms diagonal from each other, as do the “h” and “q”.

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PROJECT 2 type hierarchy “This project uses a provided set of information to explore compositional alternatives. You will begin with one size and weight of Univers, and as the assignment progresses, you will be given additional elements and variations of type to make the problem more complex.�

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SET 1A DRAFTS For the first poster, our constraint was to only use one font, size, and weight, and arrange the information in such a way that the hierarchy would remain emphasized.

I focused on separating the lecture title from the lecturers and location, in order to make the hierarchy more clear. I kept the latter information in groups to keep it clean and organized, and to make it easier for the viewer to distinguish the information.

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Visible Language A lecture series exploring the relationship between form and content Orientation and disorientation Ruedi Baur Nicholas Felton Richard Saul Wurman Thursday, December 3 6pm UC Davis 135 Walker Hall More than just a love of letters Zuzana Licko Jonathan Hoefler Tobias Frere-Jones

SET 1A FINAL

Thursday, December 10 6pm UC Davis 135 Walker Hall Matter/anti-matter/does it matter?

Stefan Sagmeister Andrew Blauvelt Marian Bantjes Thursday, December 17 7pm UC Davis Design Museum Lectures are free and open to the public

My final version was not too different from one of my drafts. I wanted to create movement to keep the poster visually interesting, which I achieved by positioning each lecture block diagonally. I also opened up the leading in-between the lecture title and the lecturers, to maintain the hierarchy. Finally, I balanced out either side of the poster by anchoring the title of the lectures series and the subheading at the top right corner and bottom left corner, respectively.

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SET 1B DRAFTS For this set, we were allowed to use two weights and one font. I struggled a little with thinking of layouts that weren’t too similar to my first drafts. I tried to brainstorm three layouts that were fairly different in structure: one with three vertical columns, one with rows, and one grouped together.

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Visible Language A lecture series exploring the relationship between form and content Ruedi Baur Nicholas Felton Richard Saul Wurman Orientation and disorientation Thursday, December 3 6 pm UC Davis 135 Walker Hall

SET 1B FINAL After critique, I decided my drafts didn’t quite work well enough, so I played around with them more. I felt like angling the copy might cause the hierarchy to get lost, so I decided to create diagonal movement instead.

I wanted to keep the lecturers together and the location, date, and time together, as it seemed most logical. This time, I split them up and placed the lecture title in the center, opening up the tracking in between to give more emphasis. I also wanted to add tonal value, which I accomplished by putting a heavier weight on the last names of the lecturers, and certain parts of the date and location.

Zuzana Licko Jonathan Hoefler Tobias Frere-Jones More than just a love of letters Thursday, December 10 6 pm UC Davis 135 Walker Hall Marian Bantjes Andrew Blauvelt Stefan Sagmeister Matter/anti-matter/does it matter?

Thursday, December 17 7 pm UC Davis Design Museum

Lectures are free and open to the public

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Ruedi

Baur Felton Richard Saul Wurman

Nicholas

Orientation and disorientation December 3 6 pm 135 Walker Hall

Thursday,

UC Davis

Zuzana

Licko Hoefler Tobias Frere-Jones

Jonathan

Visible Language A lecture series exploring the relationship between form and content All lectures are free and open to the public

More than just a love of letters Thursday,

December 10 135 Walker Hall

6 pm

UC Davis

Stefan

Sagmeister Blauvelt Marian Bantjes

Andrew

Matter/anti-matter/does it matter?

Thursday,

December 17 Design Museum

6 pm

UC Davis

SET 2A DRAFT + FINAL Set 2A allowed us to add a smaller font size. My final piece (right) ended up not being too different from my draft, aside from the subheading, which was initially at the top but moved to the bottom. I chose this composition becase it was more unique than the one pictured above.

The addition of the smaller font size lead me to consider what information should be in bold, or a smaller size. I angled the text so that it would be more visually interesting, yet not more difficult to read.

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As the assignments had less constraints, I found it more difficult to decide which size and weight would highlight the text more. I wanted to include various weights and sizes to create contrast and emphasis, without it looking too disconnected. Eventually, I was able to create the balance I wanted. In my final piece (left) I chose to put the lecture title and lecturers at an angle, but keep the date and information straight, to anchor it and make it less predictable. It ended up being very similar to my first draft of it, aside from the subheading, which I moved from the left side to the right.

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Lectures are free and open to the public

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Matter/anti-matter/does it matter?

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Andrew

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SET 3A DRAFTS Given the opportunity to use rules, I had a strong desire to use them at different angles, to create a sharper layout that would remain readable. I felt that the layout on the right was too cramped, so I worked on making the layout on the left clearer.

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Visible Language A lecture series exploring the relationship between form and content

All lectures are free and open to the public

Orientation and disorientation Ruedi Baur

Nicholas Felton

Richard Saul Wurman Thursday,

135 Walker Hall

December 3 6 pm

UC Davis

SET 3A FINAL

More than just a love of letters Zuzana Licko Thursday,

Jonathan Hoefler

December 10 6 pm

Tobias Frere-Jones

135 Walker Hall

Matter/anti-matter/does it matter?

Stefan Sagmeister

Andrew Blauvelt

Marian Bantjes

Thursday,

Design Museum

UC Davis

December 17 7 pm

UC Davis

I made minor edits to my final version. Rather than keep the copy and rules at an angle, I chose to make them horizontal again, to make it easier for the viewer to understand where to look. I felt like the lines were distracting from the information, but I wanted to keep them both as a guide and as visual interest. By making them thinner underneath the lecture lines, it drew less attention there, and more to the lecture titles. I also made the line for “Visible Language� thicker, and placed all the rules on the baseline of the copy, rather than the middle.

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SET 3B DRAFTS Since we were allowed to do anything we wanted for the last set, I really wanted to enlargen the title of the lecture series and play with the type. Above, I positioned “Visible Language” so that it would bleed off the page, keeping it and the rest of the copy at an angle to draw attention.

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Here, I wanted to incorporate rules in a more subtle way. Seeing the similar angles of the “V” and “A”, I lined those two letters up and connected a line to make it seem as though they were extending.

SET 3B FINAL

VISIBLE LANGUAGE

For my final piece, I played around more with the draft that had the single rule. After critique, I tried deleting the line going through the “A” and “V”, as it seemed unnecessary when I already had the copy lined up diagonally. Gale then suggested that I invert the title, to further emphasize the hierarchy.

I think this was my most successful layout out of all six, because it draws the attention of the viewer in a unique way without compromising readability.

a lecture series exploring the relationship between form and content

all lectures are open and free to the public

ORIENTATION AND DISORIENTATION reudi baur thursday, DECEMBER nicholas felton 6 PM richard saul wurman 135 walker hall

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U C DAV I S

MORE THAN JUST A LOVE OF LETTERS

zuzana licko thursday, DECEMBER jonathan hoefler 6 PM tobias frere-jones 135 walker hall

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U C DAV I S

MATTER/ANTI-MATTER/DOES IT MATTER? stefan sagmeister thursday, DECEMBER andrew blauvelt 7 PM marian bantjes design museum

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U C DAV I S

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PROJECT 3 design and the play instinct “Typography and image in a grid system layout -- Using the text and images supplied, develop and utilize a grid system in the layout of in grid system layout a book using the following process. Work only in black, white and grey, plus one spot color if appropriate.�

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paul rand

DESIGN PLAY INSTINCT and the

design and the play instinct

paul rand

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DE SIG N

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When I began brainstorming covers, I looked at many examples of Paul Rand’s work to find inspiration and learn more about his style. I noticed that he was either very playful with his type -- using various sizes and bright colors -- or very simple, using only one typeface with a black and white color palette. I wanted to try several approaches as I digitally sketched out ideas. Originally, I was very drawn to the concept of a horizontal layout, with very playful type, and one spot color. However, the more I played around with the actual grid of the book, I found that my designs were more successful for a simpler version.

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designand the

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paul rand

COVER INSPIRATION The cover I ended up using was inspired by the serif typefaces I saw on Paul Rand’s website and on several of his book covers. I enjoyed the balance he was able to achieve by using a serif font and only a few spot colors on an otherwise plain cover. I wanted to incite the same feel with my book.

I incorporated a bold-italic weight to highlight the word “play”, and further emphasized its importance by creating a paintbrush stroke in Photoshop (which I also used as my repeating element throughout the rest of my book).

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the tangram The Tangram is an ingenious little Chinese toy in which a square is divided into this configuration.

It consists of seven pieces, called tans: five Here [left] is one possibility. Many design problems can be posed with this game in mind, the main principle to be learned being that of economy of means—making the most of the least. Further, the game helps to sharpen the powers of observation through the discovery of resemblances between geometric and natural forms. It helps the student to abstract: to see a

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Similarly, there are badly stated problems in basic design that stress pure aesthetics and free expression without any restraints or practical goals. Such a problem may be posed in this fashion: arrange a group of geometric shapes in any manner you see fit, using any number of colors, to make a pleasing pattern. The results of such vagaries are sometimes pretty, but mostly meaningless or monotonous. The student has the illusion of creating great art in an atmosphere of freedom, when in fact he is handicapped by the absence of certain disciplines which would evoke ideas, make playing with those ideas possible, work absorbing, and results interesting.

The basic design problem, properly stated, is an effective vehicle for teaching the possibilities of relationship:

harmony order proportion number measure rhythm symmetry contrast color texture space

SET 3A FINAL I used the paintbrush strokes throughout my book to add a playful element to the type without it being overbearing. I tried to bring the elements of the pictures out to interact with the text as much as possible, to make it more exciting for the viewer. Most of my pages are similar to the originals, aside from the kerning and tracking.

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