#modular typeface

[csa-brown]

Modular Typeface : Final Design 

Following on from my sketches of my modular typeface , I created it digitally using my old reliable , affinity photo. Originally I did try to use Fontstruct to create my font , but it didn’t give me the same amount of freedom which affinity photo or sketch would give me. 

When creating my design on affinity photo I experimented with even more shades of blue and the opacity of my shapes. I toyed around with the shades and different opacities until I was happy with my design. Finally I added in my orang background. I went for a slightly darker orange than in my sketches as I felt that it worked slightly better with the different shades of blue than the previous lighter orange background did.

Overall I am pleased with my modular typeface , I found this a very difficult task as there are so many typefaces out there , it is hard to do something which hasn’t bene done before. I feel as though I made my typeface unique to me with the structure of my letters , different opacities and shades of blue. 

[csa-brown]

    Modular Typeface : Initial Design , Colour & Background colour

After completing some research on Modular typefaces and finding inspiration on tumblr and from books such as Graphic Design : Into the Realm by Emigre , I began to sketch out my own modular typeface using graph paper. I didn’t focus on accuracy , I was more focused on the shapes I was using to create my letters and whether or not my letters were readable. 

After sketching my typeface out , I then decided to experiment with colour. I decided to go with different shades of blue as I felt it would work well with different opacities when I created my typeface on affinity photo.

Next after focusing on colour I decided to try out two different shades of orange as my background. The reason I chose orange was because orange is a complementary colour to blue. I decided to go with the lighter orange as it contrasted well against the different shades of blue. 

[csa-brown]

Plane: Modular Typefaces

Zuzana Licko

I have decided to look at the work of Zuzana Licko for inspiration for creating my modular typeface. Zuzana Licko is Czechoslovakian , she emigrated to the U.S.A as a child. Zuzana has a degree in graphic communications from the university of California.

Along with her husband , in 1984 , Zuzana started the design company Emigre. Emigre is well known for its self published magazine and type foundry which were inspired by the new technological possibilities offered by the macintosh computer.

Emigre has been awarded with the 1994 Chrysler award for innovation in design and the 1998 Charles Nyplels award for excellence in the field of typography. I have included some examples of Emigre’s work above which I will be looking towards for inspiration when creating my own modular typeface. 

[piyamura]

Modular typeface created in 2017 inspired by the great sci-fi films.

Modular typeface design called ‘Dank Space’. Created with a grid on paper first, was inspired by the block typeface used in Star Wars. I worked with a partner to create this typeface, we had issues with kerning and the sizes, but altogether, we enjoyed creating a nerdy, sci-fi inspired typeface.

[sarahcupples]

Utili

I present Utili.

This typeface has been made entirely on FontStruct, and while it did present with some difficulties, I am very pleased with the overall outcome. I have designed Utili as more of a bold, display font, and many of its properties would likely classify it as a geometric typeface.

I attempted to maintain consistency in my typeface by first creating a system to adhere to. For example, the main body of each letter is 2 in height in order to create a basline for the entire typeface. I have also ensured that letters such as 'a' and 'e' were 2 in height, whilst letters like 'b' and 'f' would be 3. The point of implemeting this system is to create consistency and flow across all letters before making any aesthetic changes. Therefore, after establishing and incorporating this system I went back and updated some of the letters, namely 'f', 'g' and 'y', which looked stunted and and too condensed. To improve each of these letters I extended the descender of the 'g' and 'y' letters by one, and extended the 'f' below the baseline by one.

[sarahcupples]

Reference Sketch

After sketching out a few ideas and prototyping some of the more difficult letters on FontStruct, I've finalised the design of my modular typeface. I'm hoping that when it comes to making it, I won't have to make too many changes. However, I will have to reduce the scale at which I have sketched the typeface out at in order to ensure that it will not look stretched or take away from the overall flow.

[sarahcupples]

Les En-Fonts

Reading 'The Geometry of Type' gave me a clear idea of what goes into making a successful typeface, however I did not get as much inspiration in terms of the style as I had hoped. Therefore, I took myself to the library in search of more inspiration.

Les En-Fonts was published by Ulster University and is filled with typefaces created by students of the university. I thought this book in particular would be incredibly helpful as all the fonts were created using FontStruct, the very same program I will be using. This book is filled with incredibly clean and wonderful typefaces, and contains an array of stylised fonts. I was particularly drawn to the likes of 'Billow', 'Adont' and 'Alejandro', as I feel that the rounded and more absract approach is incredibly effective and wonderful to look at. Therefore, within my own typeface I will attempt to hone in on using more rounded and clean shapes, which I feel will give it more flow and tie the letters to one another.

[terajimakentaro]