Introduction

Our task and aim for this piece of assessment was to create an original typeface for use in print and digital media. After touching on important
factors such as the shape of letters, how alphabets are created and organized on a page and how text behaves on screen, we began
work. Reflecting upon this process I have become aware of useful strategies to deal with arising issues and acquired a number of skills that
will help my design capabilities into the future.

Creative Process
As Bringhurst R. (2012) observed; In a world rife with unsolicited
messages, typography must often draw attention to itself before
it will be read. As such I wanted to create a typeface that stood
out and coaxed the reader to look closer.

I have always loved the use of 3D text since I first saw the
beauty of clip art as a primary school child and as such decided
to direct my efforts toward a 3D typeface. Far from my interests
in clip-art design practices exists a love of minimal and simplistic
graphic design. The use of negative spacing and lines to create
illusions is something I find very interesting. My initial typeface concept
arose from playing around with a flat nib calligraphy pen in the week
1 tutorial. The illusion of depth it gave the letter was something I
wanted to explore further whilst modernizing the technique.

I browsed over a number of fonts online and examined the character

traits I liked about them. One font that caught my eye is known as
Tischold from 1929I. I decided to focus my typeface towards a
minimal 3D reflection of this sans-serif font using simple lines and circles.

Design Process
Beginning my design process I started sketching out several ideas. A fair chunk of inspiration came from black letter typefaces,
which I have always found interesting and wanted to revisit despite its age and heritage and as Poyner (2003) quoted;
The only way to go forward might be to go back. I started with basic 2D letters then played around with different aspects and
angles to see which had the most convincing 3D illusion. These can be seen in the drafts attached.
As I wanted to create a modern font I kept to the sans-serif glyph type.
I experimented with different mean lines and bar heights to see which
gave the best impression of depth when duplicated and positioned
slightly off center.I also trialed different x heights to find out which one
was best suited to the overlay style.

"

I then took these ideas into Illustrator. As Robertson et al. (2012) highlighted;
Practices change over time, often in response to opportunities provided by
new technologies which was evident from the advantage the software
provided throughout my design process and refinement.
After experimentation with circles, lines and duplication in Illustrator I had
a better understanding of the final product I was hoping to develop.

The only way to

go forward might
be to go back.

"

Digital Drafts

Draft Scans

Final Concept
As Kunz (2010) described; modernist design principles can offer simple solutions that look fresh and unexpected in the visually chaotic
environment of today. My final concept is a simple, sans-serif headline typeface that focuses on the use of capital letters in larger point
sizes for posters and digital media illustrations. The finished typeface was constructed using only circles and lines which were duplicated
and layered upon each other, then spaced so they gave an illusion of 3D text connected through negative space.

The qui ck brown foxjumps over the l a zy dog

THE QUI C K BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER
THE LAZY DOG
1234567890 !@#$%^&*()_+

ABCDEFGH
I J KLM N O PQ
RSTUVWXYZ
1234 567890
! @#$ %^&*( )+' . < >=

Poster Design
To showcase my font and communicate its purpose effectively I wanted to create a simple and minimal poster design. To stay on theme
I played around with different 3D shapes and effects. I initially encased the words TRIPPY in pyramids made from 8 simple lines.
After some reflection this was too basic and wasnt visually stimulating nor captured the effect I was going for. After more experimentation
I finally decided upon surrounding the text with diamonds. Again these diamonds consist only of lines, which create an illusion of
three-dimensional space, further showcasing the use of lines in creating 3D images.

Reflection & Conclusion

Upon reflection there are a number of things I would have done differently.
The line stroke size played a deceptively large part in projecting the 3D illusion.
I realized there was a very fine line between too thin and too thick. If the line
weight is too fine, the legibility diminishes in lowercase loops and shoulders.
If too thick, the 3D effect is lost on some characters. Some letters also appear
thicker in smaller sizes around bowls and stems.
Another important lesson I have learned is saving illustrator files before
applying any major changes. Not doing this resulted in my need to re-illustrate
my entire alphabet costing valuable time.
Had I the chance to redo this project I would have certainly transferred my font
into the font lab studio much earlier in the project to allow more time to pick
out trouble characters and work on spacing and kerning. A number of strange
incidences occured, such as the bowls of characters like lowercase
Es filling solid. This affected the final quality of the font and I am not as happy
as I could be with the finished product.
This process has been a very helpful learning experience and has certainly made
me more critical and aware of the importance that typography and typefaces play
in the design world.

Inconsistent illusions
occuring on some stems
and strokes

Yg jA
Arcs of stems appear overly
bold in smaller points

References
Bringhurst, R. (2012). The elements of typographic style. Vancouver: Hartley & Marks.
Retrieved from: https://idp.qut.edu.au/idp/profile/SAML2/POST/SSO
Carter, Rob, Day, Ben and Meggs, Phillip (2009). Typographic design :
form and communication, (pp.73 - 90). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Frutiger, A. (1998). Signs and Symbols: their design and meaning, Numerical Signs pp. 205-212 ; London: Ebury Press.
R. Poynor, (2003) No More Rules: Graphic Design and Post Modernism, (Laurence King Publishers).
Robertson & Simonsen 2012: Challenges and Opportunities in Contemporary Participatory Design
https://blackboard.qut.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-6243548-dt-content-rid-5756470_1/courses/
DXB302_16se1/ROBERTSON_2012__ParticipatoryDesign_DesIssues.pdf
W. Kunz, (1998). Typography: Macro and Microaesthetics, Verlag Niggli AG,