Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
1
Project 01: Mail Call KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
Typographic principles No double space, Double prime =/= quotations mark – Sam won’t be happy Hyphen - a single dash (only for line breaks or word pairs) Endash - Longer dash (only for durations) Emdash - longest dash (only for an abrupt change in thought) Don’t make ellipses with three periods, use special character ellipse Don’t Underline, use italics for emphasis All caps difficult to read- readers take visual cures from ascenders and descenders- add tracking for all caps Kerning, adjusting spaces between two letters Tracking, adjusting spaces for all letters Never track lowercase type Widow, paragraph that ends with fewer than seven characters- adjust rags Orphan, last line of a paragraph is pushed to the top of the paragraph Never have three hyphens in a row Keeping proper nouns and ideas together 120% of type size for leading- 10 point type, 12 points leading Line lengths exceeding 75 character are hard to follow
KU Spring 2022
01/19
Type pairing One serif and one sans-serif
2
Guideline Finding proper concordance help define hierarchy and nuance
Old Style - curved strokes, normally inclined to left, nondramatic stroke weights, bracketed serifs Transitional - 18th century, representing old coming into new, vertical stress, weight contrast is higher than old-style, bracketed serifs, Neoclassical/Didone Serifs - Very high contrast, unique terminals (ball terminals), bracketed serifs, fancier, dramatic, inspired by the Pen (calligraphy) Slab Serifs - Heavy serifs, with minimal or no brackets, vertical stress, geometric, controlled Clarendon Serifs - Serifs are longer, slanted terminal serifs, evolutions of slabs, and vice versa Glyphic Serifs - Triangular shaped serif,
Stay in the same type of family Combining serif and sans-serif Same classification X-height Superfamilies Characteristics Dadaism - emerged from the brutality of World War I, Artists left disillusioned and weary. Combat corruption of political powers and against western culture ideas embraced the absurd, satirical, and nonsensical,
Grotesque Sans serif - vertical stress, faces are mono weight, slight weight stress, stacked two-story g Square - based on grotesque traits, definite and dramatic square shape of curved strokes, limited to display design Geometric - strict monoline, less readable, made of geometric forms Humanistic - type meant to read in body, replicate serif type, cut off terminal, strong calligraphic style Formal Script - based on 17th-century formal writing Calligraphic - mimic writing Blackletter & Lombardic - manuscript lettering Casual - suggest informality, artistry (sign painting) Decorative - popular for signage, strong typographic statement, evoke meaning beyond
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
01/24–31
3
Typography
Cultural Appropriation
Hard and soft skills
Legibility =/= communication
Angel DeCora, late 19th century + early 20th-century artist, The Indian’s book A native of Nebraska and Ho-chunk tribe Sent to assimilation schools and taught under Dwight Williams (tonalist painter) Inspired by his compositions Inspired by her culture Went to the Drexel Institute of art Took note from Native American art Art preserving heritage and fighting to share
Hard Skills- learned abilities acquired and enhanced through practice, repetition, and education
David Carson: self-taught, revolutionized type, art director of Raygun magazine, took in grunge typography Let go of some of the rules Marian Bantjes: intricate typography Futura: made by german type, Paul Renner; popular typeface, commissioned by Bauhaus, geometric San serif, new Frankfort project, new modern age- mechanization, energetic Distinctive for long ascender and capitals, great for body copy Used on a plaque on Apollo mission
Jessica Harlo Works on furthering the work of DeCora Osage Typeface Sharing of knowledge is significant Cultural appropriation The unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of customs practices ideas of people or society by members of another a nd typically more dominant people or society
Soft Skills- personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people 4Cs - Concept, Confidence, Clarity, Contrast ConceptHoodzspah Design: Luca (Disney) type treament Time period, where their from, who they are ConfidenceGeorge Lois - 50s ad man (asshole) Greek-American art director, designer, and author. Known for 92 covers with confidence Controls the Narrative ClarityClear message Francoise Mouly - editor, art director for New Yorker Draws, how, and renders inspiration Provides provocativeness ContrastArchie Boston, Jr. - political design
KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
01/26
4
Type Collage KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
Mildred Waltrip KU Spring 2022
02/07
5
Born in Madisonville, Ky in 1911, Mildred worked as a mural painter and graphic designer for the Federal Arts Project. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1926 to 1933 in Fine arts and after, travelled to Paris to study under Fernand Leger. Waltrip worked at Marshall Field in their Advertisment Department from 1936 to 1937, where she illustated children’s books. After her career at the FAP, Waltrip transitioned as commerical artist and worked on many George Barr books from the 1960s to 70s. She was also known for her murals where she needed as special scaffolding due to her leg brace caused by Polio. Many of her murals illustrated many fictional and historical figures, such as Robin Hood or the history of aviation, but few remain. Her mural “The Process” in Oak Park, IL was removed in 1995 due to a racist portrayal of Africans in loinclothes and spears. Besided her mural work, Waltrips design work centered around advertisments and promotional posters.
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
KU Spring 2022
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/07
6
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/07
7
Design Explorations KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/07
8
Preliminary Sketches KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
KU Spring 2022
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/07
9
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
KU Spring 2022
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/07
10
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
KU Spring 2022
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/07
11
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
KU Spring 2022
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/07
12
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
KU Spring 2022
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/09–14
Art styles
Soft and Hard Proofing
Non-objective- Create something from the imagination Naturalism- Faithful reproduction of forms in all their details; photographic quality Representational- artwork reminds the viewer of real-life scenes or objects Contour line- line that describes the edges Abstract- summarize, take away, or remove- reduce form to simples character Economy- distill image to essentials Stylize- to alter a form so that visual accuracy becomes subordinate to the idea or feeling to be conveyed. Distortion- purposeful changing or exaggeration of form to more forcefully convey or expression of ideas
soft- skimming over content and info Proofing copy, check grammar, create strong visual language, test your visual language Hard- Checking graphic details irl Press checks, find paper samples Verify colors, notice spacing, check legibility, feel/ understanding output Hidden characters- special text characters that are invisible but affect the quality of print Pilcrows - paragraph breaks- hard and soft Soft - shift+return Line width- optimal line length for body text (50-60 characters width ideal) Ligatures- something that is used to bind Small caps- lowercase characters with glyphs that resembles uppercase letters. Hanging Quotes-
13
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
Design Slam! KU Spring 2022
02/09
Mildred Waltrip: Vintage Childrens book Dry brush Lithograph Mural painting Dull colors Tan Elongated type Science experiments Simple linework Incomplete contours 70s Americana Little animals Environmental scenes
Imagiantion Childhood Science class Science class PSA Depression era work WPA Limited color palettes Futura Bookman Stylized environments Education Zoo Learning Chicago Vintage patterns
14
Natural forms Sports games Grandma carpet Old school house Fashion illustration Cross-hatching
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
KU Spring 2022
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/09
15
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/14
16
First Draft + Notes KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/14
17
Found a gouache work that was visually compelling to me. The illustrative lines and the personality the people in the scene had really drew my eye and wanted to do something similar after that.
KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/14
18
- Move Spencer logo and date to top of page to ground design - Find better resolution image - Move “Lawrence, KS 66045” to side of address - Have illustrations interact with type in a more compelling way - Bottom text leading is too wide - Don’t use, Sam likes the green better : /
KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/14–15
19
- Make Spencer Logo smaller and move towards corner - Integrate Date into poster, water motifs? - Pull Name of artist and exhibit title down - Make opening panel more expressive, Illustrative elements? - Improve leading and have type interact with image
KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/15
20
Revised Background Illustration - Cleaned up lines - Added more visual flair-- A Hippo! - Added date with water motif - Made resolution improvements - Tried to make look complete
KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/16
21
Draft Revised KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
KU Spring 2022
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/16
22
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
KU Spring 2022
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/16
23
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/21
24
Final Deliverables KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
KU Spring 2022
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/21
25
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
KU Spring 2022
VISC 302
Sam Yates
02/21
26
Project 01: Mail Call
Tim Do
VISC 302
Sam Yates
Reflection
02/21
27
This project was definitely a challenge for me both conceptually and technically. In terms of the creative process, I struggled to find an approach that is reflective of the designer and one that I like. It’s probably good though, in the field I won’t get much say into what projects I’m assigned and the type of things people want. Designers need to be creative and flexible! With the past few projects, I had some freedom to explore and found this sort of comfort level that wasn’t what the assignment needed. Maybe taking more risks and exploring breathe properly could alleviate it? I also remember putting a lot of pressure on myself to make something good without having a goal set in mind and trying to impress people/compete with people. Very toxic in hindsight. I think for next time, my goal is to try to make something good and something I’m satisfied with. Over the project, I also was constantly overthinking about smaller details and looking for new inspiration so I’d freeze up before taking the next step. I talked to an advisor about this creative overthinking and she was like “enter robot-mode” and that helped to get the work done, but I still had this internal dialogue that ate away at my confidence. Maybe robot-mode is an appropriate measure for next time. In the end, I do like the direction I went with and my mailer design but I still have lots to learn! Very excited!
KU Spring 2022
Project 01: Mail Call