Work on your type illustrations!

You are expected to use class time today to work on your type illustration projects. Take advantage of class time to ask me for help and to bounce ideas off your classmates. You are expected to WORK while in class, so keep conversations to a minimum! If you aren't working and are disturbing other students, your grade WILL suffer!

Work hard on these during class and I will give you Monday to finish them. If you goof off, they will be due on Monday.

HOMEWORK:

• Keep working on your type illustrations!

• Finish your Alphabet drawings. They are due first thing on Monday!

Illustrating with type

It's time to use your knowledge of type, and how to manipulate it, to create something new. I want you to come up with a phrase and create it using only type. You must CAREFULLY choose the font you want to use. If the font's feeling doesn't go with the phrase, or idea you are trying to convey, it will ruin this project. Take your time coming up with a phrase, saying, riddle, statement or whatever. Have it mean something to you. Have a personal connection to it.

Once you have your phrase, start looking for type that "fits" the feeling you're going for. You can check www.dafont.com or other free font websites to find these fonts. BE SURE TO SAVE YOUR FONT with your document or it will not open properly on my computer when you turn it in. As a rule, if you use specific fonts (or photos, or anything) in your designs, you MUST include them when turning them in, taking them to a print shop, etc. Otherwise, they will not display or print correctly.

Next, using Adobe Illustrator, I want you to create an 8.5x11 document for your phrase. You may use different colors, or perhaps a background or other subtle design elements to create your message or phrase, BUT the typography MUST be the main component of your design. If I feel you placed too much emphasis on your other elements, and let your typography suffer, you will get a bad grade on this assignment! To be safe, you should at least *try* to create your design without using any other graphic elements. What you CAN do is use Illustrator to ADD elements to your type to turn your type into an illustration!

We will work on these during class on Monday, September 26th and Wednesday, September 28th. Use your class time wisely. If I see goofing off, it will deduct points off your grade!

HOMEWORK:

• Come up with your phrase

• Sketch some ideas of how you'll illustrate it

• Start working on designing it

Kearning, Tracking and Leading, OH MY!

You've spent some time learning about letterforms, so now let's learn more about how to put those letterforms together. The space between letters, between words and between paragraphs can (and should) be fine-tuned.

Have a look at Thinking with Type and check out the TYPE section. Read over all the TEXT topics at the top of the page: Kerning, Tracking, Line Spacing, Alignment, Stacked Type and Hierarchy.

In class we will be downloading Lorum Ipsum text (it's actually, the Hipster Ipsum I have linked on the class blog) and using it to test out what you've learned.

HOMEWORK:

Part 1

• Copy/paste 2 paragraphs worth of Hipster Ipsum text into an Illustrator document.

• Make the 2 paragraphs 12 point, Times New Roman.

• Copy those 2 paragraphs three more times (for a total of four.)

• Give the first set line spacing (also called leading) of 5 points and set the alignment to Justified.

• Give the second set line spacing of 12 points and set the alignment to centered.

• Give the third set line spacing of 20 points and set the alignment to flush left.

• Give the fourth set line spacing of 30 points and set the alignment to flush right.

Part 2

• Pick ONE word out of those paragraphs and make it 60 points tall.

• Copy that word two more times (for a total of three.)

• For the first one, play with the kerning between each letter. Don't make them all even!

• For the second one, play with the tracking of the entire word. Use large numbers to space it out!

• For the third one, make the word into stacked type and align it to be centered.

• Save this document using the naming structure: lastname_text.pdf

You will turn this in on MONDAY. Don't ask to turn it in today. Be responsible and bring it with you to class (or better yet, save it to your network drive!)

Quiz: Type anatomy

You should be all brushed-up on your type anatomy by now so it's time to show me your stuff! Be prepared for a quiz in class that will challenge your type knowledge! It isn't going to be open notes and it isn't going to be easy. So STUDY!!

The rest of the class period will be reworking your alphabet project. Use your time wisely!

Learn the type. Love the type.

Have you studied your type anatomy? The handout I gave you wasn't just for fun (but it IS fun, isn't it?) You also have to LEARN it! There will be a quiz on the anatomy of a typeface on Monday, so be prepared! It won't be easy, so STUDY your sheet AND the stuff I put on the board during class this past Monday!

Take the rest of the class period to start working on your REwork of a set of typographical alpha-numerics. You may choose to re-do the typeface you chose the first time - OR - you may choose to try a different one. Pick one from the three typeface handouts I gave you in class and get to work. Remember, take your time, work hard and get these down pat. I will be grading these VERY hard, and if you fail to do a good job this time, you will have to do them again.

HOMEWORK:

• Keep working on your alphabet! Make it GREAT!

Anatomy of a typeface

Tonight you will learn about the different parts of a typeface. Just like an automobile, a typeface is built from a collection of parts that both create the typeface's aesthetic as well as make it functional. You will learn these parts and be able to tell me what they are. That means, there will be a QUIZ on the different parts of a typeface. There are websites that will give you some of the information, but you will receive a handout during class that will aid your studying. Make sure you know all the parts on the handout, not just the website!

We will be looking at your hand-drawn type during class and discussing it. I want to know what you've learned about the font you chose to reproduce. Surely after drawing the alphabet and numbers, you have a better understanding of your font.

HOMEWORK:

• STUDY for your quiz on the anatomy of a typeface!

• Quiz will be during class on Wednesday

Understading and recreating fonts

The time has come to start to understand fonts better. You have learned about the origins of some early fonts (in your papers about famous typographers,) and now you will learn more about the characters themselves.

Today, I am handing out examples of three different fonts. I want you to pick your favorite one and reproduce it. On 11x17 paper (I will provide,) recreate the font of your choice. This will probably use more than one sheet of paper. That's o.k. I have more. :)

USE PENCIL TO CREATE THESE!

Take your time! Pay close attention to the details in the letterforms. Once you are sure they are correct, and as close to the original font as possible, I want you to GO OVER THESE IN INK. Do NOT erase your pencil marks as I want to be able to see them!!!

You will have all of today's class period today to work on these and you will finish them for homework over the weekend. If you are caught tracing letters instead of actually drawing them, you will FAIL this assignment and be forced to complete TWO more to make up for it. Don't take the easy path and try to trace these.

HOMEWORK:

• Complete your recreation of ONE font on 11x17 paper I've handed out.

• These are due at the beginning of class on Monday!