W1 - 9/1
  For next week...
  1. Read The Idea of America by Nikole Hannah-Jones.
  2. prepare for your presentation.
W2 - 9/8
  For next week...
  1. to come
W3 - 9/16
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W4 - 9/22
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W5 - 9/29
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W6 - 10/6
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W7 - 10/13
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W8 - 10/20
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W9 - 10/27
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W10 - 11/3
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W11 - 11/10
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W13 - 11/24
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W14 - 12/1
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W15 - 12/8
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Typography is the core of graphic design. We are familiar with the use of written language to exchange ideas with other people. The practice of typography is to give this language a visual form, material, and method of distribution. In this course, we will learn the fundamentals of type such as typefaces, type sizes, leading, kerning, grids, guides, composition, space, color, etc.


For three studio projects, you will be given parameters with which to learn tools, historical and contemporary references, and formal vocabulary of typography. As Robin Kinross states in Modern Typography, “design is understood not as a noun but as a verb: an activity and a process.” We will continuously build upon the work of previous weeks in order to develop conceptual ideas, a strong understanding of typographic rules, and playful ways to address constraints. We encourage you to take risks, make mistakes, and be open to the critiques of your instructor, classmates, and visiting critics. This is how we learn.


This studio course will also build technical and practical skills towards a fluency in setting and manipulating type within a contemporary digital environment. Students will use fonts and software to create and analyze typographic prototypes for both print and screen.



See full syllabus ⤻

→ Project 1: Booklet

Assignment

Let’s read The Idea of America by Nikole Hannah-Jones. You will use this as the content of your booklet, or you may also pick another essay from the New York Times’ 1619 Project. What is the tone of the writing? Who is the intended audience? What is the purpose of publishing the material (to instruct? to entertain? to put forth an opinion?) Is there a casual or formal attitude in the writing? Is it accessible or dense? Are the ideas modern or historical? Or both?


Purpose

  1. to learn about the finer points of typesetting
  2. to work with a long body of text
  3. to understand the components of a multi-page publication
  4. to gain practice using typesetting tools in InDesign

Software

InDesign


Parameters

Each week, you will create ten sketches. Each sketch has at least three pages with these five components:

  1. title
  2. body text
  3. pull quote
  4. colophon
  5. metadata

Schedule

All text must be in Arial or Helvetica, black and white. Each week, we will reduce the constraints:

  1. W1 - one point size
  2. W2 - two point sizes
  3. W3 - three point sizes, bold or italics
  4. W4 - one accent color
  5. W5 - no constraints

Final Specifications

  1. Orientation: portrait
  2. Size: 5½ x 4¼ in.
  3. Output: Printed booklet

→ Project 2: Poster

Assignment

Design a typographic poster for a fictional event. The poster should communicate your desired tone as well as deliver practical information (like location, schedule, descriptive text, etc).


Purpose

  1. express the meaning of the text with typography
  2. use typographic contrast and composition to present complex information in a legible way
  3. work with type at a large scale
  4. use typographic contrast and composition to control the way multiple messages are revealed when presented simultaneously: hierarchy (or lack thereof)

Tool

Illustrator


Brainstorm → Sasha’s randomizer

  1. As a group, let’s make a list of places.
  2. As a group, let’s make a list of events.
  3. Students will randomly be assigned to one place and one event.
    4. This will be the foundation for your fictional event.

Instructions

  • What’s the title? Be creative, but concise. This should be short and memorable.
  • Include some secondary information. This would be details like a description, time, date, etc.
  • Sketch 10 ideas in pencil.
  • Translate your sketches digitally. Create layouts and final files in Illustrator based on your pencil sketches. Create 20 versions. This seems like a lot… but it’s not! In Spring 2020, Tracy Ma of the New York Times Style section gave a lecture in Design Seminar about the value of rapid iteration.

Final Specifications

  1. Orientation: portrait
  2. Size: 18×24 in.
  3. Output: Printed
  4. Presentation: Pinned on the wall

Remember…

Type is your only visual matter for this poster. Experiment with different ways that the type can engage and occupy the frame. Think of scale, white space, orientation, etc.


→ Project 3: Online Publication

Assignment

Let’s read 10 Rules for Students, Teachers, and Life by the designer and educator Sister Corita Kent and modified by the musician and conceptual artist John Cage. Together we will create an online publication. Each student will make one page with one of the rules in the manifesto that links to other students’ pages.


Purpose

  1. to understand the internet as a space for publishing
  2. to understand how the typography online differs from typography in print
  3. to understand how to create compositions that are flexible, responsive, and reactive
  4. to understand how your design works in a series
  5. to learn how to load webfonts
  6. to learn fundamentals of websites, like HTML/CSS, FTP, and hosting

Tools

  1. HTML/CSS
  2. Text Editor (like Sublime, Atom, or VS Code)
  3. Cyberduck
  4. Google Fonts

Page Requirements

  1. number of the rule
  2. statement of the rule
  3. previous and next links
  4. metadata that includes your name

→ Exercises

→ Presentations


Each week, one person will present on one artist or designer and their use of typography. For inspiration, check this list.


Presentations requirements

  1. 15–20 minutes
  2. Add your link next to your name below
  3. 25% of the slides should include contextual information
  4. Where are they from? When did they work? What did they do? etc.
  5. 25% of the slides should include examples of their work
  6. 50% of the slides should explain how their work connects to yours
  7. Please include a slide of citations for the references you used