Advanced Typography: Task 3 Type Exploration & Application

on


9/6/2025 - 13/7/2025 / (Week 8- Week 12)

Chika  Clarissa Widjaja / 0378636

Advanced Typography / Bachelors of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Task 3- Type Exploration & Application





TABLE OF CONTENTS


  • INSTRUCTIONS
  • TASK
  • FEEDBACK
  • REFLECTION
  • FURTHER READING


INSTRUCTIONS


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TASK



On week 8, I created a slides presentation to showcase my ideas in class. For the first idea, I wanted to expand my typeface that I made inspired by Cobwebs from Task 1 because most fonts that are inspired by cobwebs are very exaggerated and unrealistic. With my design, I hope to make a usable font inspired by cobwebs. For my second and third Idea, I wanted to improve the Fruktur and font because it wasn't readable and had issues. In the slides, I attempted to improve them.


Fig 3.1 Task 3 Presentation Slides, Week 8 (13/06/25)


Uppercase Letterforms Digitalization

After receiving approval to do the first idea from Mr.Vinod on Week 9, I started working on all uppercase letterforms.



Fig 3.2 Letter B Dissection, Week 9 (20/06/25)


First, I created a grid with a height of 1000 and measured the width of my letter to use as a template for the other letters. To keep everything consistent, I used the letter B as the base. For example, I separated the stem of the letter B using the knife tool and used it to create other letters such as I, G, K, and so on. I also dissected the upper part of the letter B and used it to construct the rest of the letterforms, with some minor adjustments. Some letters were easier to make, like P, where I simply removed the bottom part of B, or F, where I just removed the bottom part of E. The ones I struggled with the most were O, Q, and D. Mr. Vinod told me to make them rounder, but when I tried, it didn’t turn out well. I also found it difficult to make D look different from O, as they appeared too similar. There were also letters that needed to be slightly bigger for visual balance, like S and X. I made the upper parts smaller so they wouldn't look too stiff or unbalanced.

Fig 3.3 First attempt uppercase letterforms, Week 9 (20/06/25)


Finally, I placed them all together to make sure they look consistent as a whole. I also added cobwebs in some letters, not all, because with all letters containing cobwebs, It'll look too much and overwhelming. Some letters however goes a bit beyond the grid, like the letter O , M, and W, as they need to be a bit bigger to look proportionate and balanced. 

Fig 3.4 Improvement on letter Q and O, Week 10 (25/06/25)

After receiving feedback from Mr. Vinod to make the letters O, Q, and D more rounded, I decided to use more lines on the O instead of just four, similar to how I structured the letter D to show roundness. I tried expanding the O, but it looked distorted and affected the width. So instead, I used the letter D as a base — I removed the straight line using a knife tool and duplicated the curved sides to give it more structure. With this, it looks more rounded instead of square-ish and I can continue to work on my lowercase letterforms.


Lowercase Letterforms Digitalization

Fig 3.5 Making Of a, b, c , p, q, g, Week 10 (27/06/25)

When making lowercase letters, I first started by determining the x-height and working with letters that share the same fundamentals, using my letter O for the bowls and adding a stem from my capital letter. I did this to maintain consistency throughout. I applied the same approach to all of the  letters—for example, I used the letter n as a base to create m. However, I didn’t simply double the n. Instead, I condensed it slightly to keep it balanced and prevent it from looking too wide. I also made sure to have my capital letters beside me to make sure they still look similar. As for letters like Ss, Zz, Kk, and Vv, where the lowercase didn’t differ much from the uppercase, I resized them and made slight modifications.




Outcome

Fig 3.6 Lowercase Outcome, Week 10 (27/06/25)


Punctuations Digitalization



Fig 3.7 Making of Punctuations, Week 10 (28/06/25)


After I completed the lowercase letterforms, I moved on to the punctuation marks. I rewatched the video on how to create punctuation to refresh my memory. I started with the period, comma, and so on. For the period, I used the dot from my lowercase 'i' and resized it 2 points bigger. For the comma, I made it slightly smaller, stacked two periods on top of each other to check the height, and took the tail from my 'S', just like in the video. The rest was easier—I just had to reposition the dots to create the colon and semicolon. As for the dash, equal sign, and similar marks, I used a stroke from one of my letters to keep the stroke weight consistent. The placement was a bit confusing though, because the video didn’t clearly explain where to position them on the grid, and when I looked online, the references didn’t look quite right either.


Fig 3.8 Making of &, Week 10 (28/06/25)

Making the ampersand was the most challenging for me and took the most time. I used the number 8 as a base since they look quite similar—and there was no way I was going to make it from scratch. I made the upper bowl smaller, reduced the size of the middle connecting part, and added a tail. I spent a lot of time modifying it to make it look natural, since my style is usually more rigid, so creating a flowy punctuation like this was really difficult.


Outcome
Fig 3.9 Punctuations Outcome, Week 10 (28/06/25)

As for the @ symbol, I resized my letter 'a' and placed it inside the letter 'O', then connected them together. The hashtag was made using two slightly straightened '/' strokes. For the percent sign, I used a diagonal stroke with two zeros, and for the asterisk, I doubled the plus sign and rotated it.


Numerals

Fig 3.10 Making of 6, 8, 3 , 9, Week 10 (28/06/25)


Like the rest of my letterforms, I used the letter O as a foundation and built the rest of the characters from there. For example, the number 6 is an O with a stem, while the numbers 8 and 3 are made by stacking two O’s, with the upper bowl resized smaller and the 3 cut in the middle. As for the number 0, I made it more squarish to differentiate it from the letter O.



Outcome

Fig 3.11 Numerals Outcome , Week 10 (28/06/25)

Fontlab7

At first, I generate my font into FontForge as it was free and there was a tutorial that Mr.Vinod gave. However, there were a lot of complications as we cannot expect too much from a free app and it took me 3 days to complete. In class, Mr Vinod told me to not use FontForge because there is no kerning and told me to do it in the computer lab where they had free Fontlab.


Fig 3.12 Fontlab Left and Side bearing, Week 12 (09/07/25)

First, I opened the tutorial Mr.Vinod gave from semester one as I had previously done it before. I Imported all my letters, making sure to not round it, and set both the left and right bearing to 50. As 50 was too apart, I changed it to 20. I did this all to the numbers, punctuations, small letters, and big letters. 



Fig 3.13 Fontlab Left and Side bearing, Week 12 (09/07/25)

After deciding on the side bearings, I began individually kerning some letter pairs that were too far apart, as shown in Fig 3.15, where I fixed the letters "T" and "a" that had excessive spacing. I applied the same adjustments to other combinations like "V" and asked chatgpt for suggestions on letter pairs that might look off, to ensure my kerning was consistent. I also double-checked to make sure no letters were too far apart and that similar combinations had consistent kerning. Finally, I made sure the spacing between words was correct as well and exported my font.


 Font Presentation

Color Scheme


Fig 3.14 Color Scheme, Week 12 (11/09/25)

Since my font is inspired by cobwebs, I went with a dark/neutral color scheme to further enhance its identity, as I feel like colors that are too bright or contrasting like orange, blue, doesn't match my font.



Fig 3.15 First Presentation design, Week 12 (11/09/25)

For the first presentation design, I use it as an opening or introduction for my font. I included my font name, where I use the 3D and Bevel effect in Adobe Illustrator (inflate) to emphasize the title, and included my small letters, capital, numbers, and a dummy text paragraph using my font to showcase how it'll look like. I also included my name, and the year above the lines.


Fig 3.16 Second Presentation design, Week 12 (11/09/25)

For my second design presentation, I kept the layout simple by using a textured black background to create visual interest without distracting from the font. I placed the font name in the top left corner and added a long version of the word "webs" to better showcase the kerning. To enhance the appearance, I applied a 3D effect using the Inflate style under 3D and Bevel, and chose the "Comet" material, which added depth and personality to the text, making it stand out more effectively.
Fig 3.17  Third Presentation design, Week 12 (11/09/25)

I started with a cream background from my color palette and added a grain effect to give it texture and warmth. To make the layout more dynamic, I included a layer of low-opacity text in the background. As the focal point, I showcased the letter "E"—one of my favorite letters in my font—alongside an exclamation mark, which I included mainly to emphasize the "E." I then applied a 3D effect using the 3D and Bevel settings, and chose the "Natural Buccata Snake Leather" material to add rich texture and more color variation. Finally, I fine-tuned the contrast and saturation to enhance the overall visual impact.




Fig 3.18  Fourth Presentation design, Week 12 (11/09/25)


For the other letter showcase, I decided to use the small letter k and created a simple observation with lines. This was a pretty simple one as it was straightforward too.



Fig 3.19  Fifth Presentation design, Week 12 (11/09/25)

For the final font presentation, I was inspired by designs I saw online where letters were formed using isometric perspectives, so I decided to explore that approach. I used the 3D and Bevel effect with the "Rotate" option and adjusted each element using different isometric views like top and left. This part took the longest, as I had to carefully construct each word and ensure the angles looked consistent and intentional. To complete the composition and balance the layout, I added text to the top and bottom areas to fill in the empty space.


 Font Presentation Final Outcome


Fig 3.20 First Presentation design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)




Fig 3.21 Second Presentation design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



Fig 3.22 Third Presentation design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



Fig 3.23 Fourth Presentation design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)




Fig 3.24 Fifth Presentation design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)




 Font Applications



Fig 3.25 First Application design, Week 12 (11/09/25)

For my first font application design, my concept was to create a poster about a movie rather than a traditional movie poster. I began by cropping half of an image of a spider with an eyeball as its body (https://pin.it/6yG4DDpZT), and connected it to a camera lens that had a similar color and border to the eyeball—symbolizing the idea of the spider watching. I left extra space at the top of the composition to place text later on. To create visual harmony, I turned both images black and white and adjusted their tones so they shared a similar value. For the title, Between the Strands, I applied a color shift halfway through the text to improve readability. I also included additional elements like the director and actor names in the top right corner to balance the layout and fill negative space.




Fig 3.26 Second Application design, Week 12 (11/09/25)

While scrolling through a mockup website, I came across a vinyl cover template and thought my font would work well in that context. I imagined a concept for a band whose mascot or symbol is a spider, which made the font feel especially fitting. I used an image of a spider (https://pin.it/599eqv4Hv) and placed a set of circles behind it to create a layered, graphic look. I cropped the circles around the spider to give it space to stand out and added small dots around the composition to fill in the gaps and add detail. For the finishing touch, I included the band name "The Strokes"—a real band and one of my personal favorites—because I felt it paired well visually with my font.




Fig 3.27 Third Application design, Week 12 (11/09/25)

For the third font application design, I chose to create a book cover. I began by placing images of spiders within a grid of squares, then added solid-colored squares over some of them to create variation and visual contrast. To highlight a different aspect of my font, I used a number as the book title—since I hadn’t showcased any numerals in my previous mockups. I completed the design by adding a simple synopsis and the author’s name.




Fig 3.28 Fourth Application design, Week 12 (11/09/25)

For my fourth font application, I designed a billboard layout to showcase my font in a bold and straightforward way. Initially, I planned to use a white background, but after experimenting with darker colors, I found that the font stood out much better against a dark backdrop. I also explored different text placements to see which composition felt the most balanced and impactful. In the end, I chose the second layout, as it best highlighted the strengths of my font in a large-scale format.




Fig 3.29 Fifth application design, Week 12 (11/09/25)

For my last font application, I designed an invitation poster for a Halloween party that would be placed on a signboard. I wanted to give it a vintage and old-school vibe, so I started with a border and added cobwebs in the top left corner to make it feel more Halloween themed. Then, I placed the main text like the event name, location, time, and date. I made the word “Halloween” the biggest and gave it a 3D effect with texture to make it stand out more. Lastly, I added a skull image in the middle for decoration and to add a creepy touch—I had removed the background earlier in Photoshop so it would fit better with the overall design.


 Font Applications Final Outcome



Fig 3.30 First Font Application design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



Fig 3.31 Second Font Application design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



Fig 3.32 Third Font Application design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



Fig 3.33 Fourth Font Application design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



Fig 3.34 Fifth Font Application design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)




Task 3 Final Outcome

I decided to expand this font from my previous assignment is because I believe it has the potential to be usable. Most cobweb-inspired fonts I’ve seen online rely on exaggerated cobweb elements in the letterforms, which often affects readability. With the font I’ve created, I wanted to break away from those stereotypes and design something that’s still inspired by cobwebs, but remains functional and legible while keeping the cobweb's soul.




Fig 3.35  Finalized Letterforms PDF, Week 12 (11/09/25)





Fig 3.36  Fontlab7 Screengrab, Week 12 (11/09/25)






Fig 3.37 First Presentation design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)




Fig 3.38 Second Presentation design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



Fig 3.39 Third Presentation design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



Fig 3.40 Fourth Presentation design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)




Fig 3.41 Fifth Presentation design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)


Fig 3.42 First Font Application design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



Fig 3.43 Second Font Application design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



Fig 3.44 Third Font Application design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



Fig 3.45 Fourth Font Application design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



Fig 3.46 Fifth Font Application design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)

Fig 3.47 Fifth Font Application design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)


Fig 3.48 Fifth Font Application design final outcome Week 12 (11/09/25)



HONOR SUBMISSION PROOF


Fig 3.49 HONOR  Submission Week 12 (11/09/25)

FEEDBACK


Week 9 (18/06/25)

General Feedback:  Blog has to have the same font and size and has to be consistent in terms of everything. Turn the animation to gif instead of video.


Specific Feedback: Im okay with it but rethink about the letter O, it doesn’t have to be squarish also the other font dont have to be squarish




Week 10 (25/06/25)

General Feedback:  -


Specific Feedback:  Continue but try out more round-ish forms of D, O, and Q




Week 11 (2/07/25)

General Feedback:  For the font presentation see the samples and use that as basis and can use colors to use as an identity but don't use weird colors.  Design the clock and the background can be the same from your presentation. Show proof you submitted the competition in the e portfolio. 


Specific Feedback:  The dots and comas are too small, and the brackets are problematic. After that you can move on to fontlab.



Week 12 (09/07/25)

General Feedback:-


Specific Feedback: Dont use fontforge because there is no kerning, you can go to D7.04 right now to do it in fontlab



Week 13 (09/07/25)


General Feedback:


Specific Feedback:

REFLECTION


Experience
In my experience, this final task was very hard and time-consuming. In semester one, we only had to create, I think, around six letters, but now, we needed to create almost everything on the keyboard. Not to mention, I had other projects to juggle as well. Luckily though, I have pretty good time management, so this assignment was doable and I got to revise everything a few days before class. The process was hard, yet the final outcome was satisfying—especially when my font was finally usable after I spent DAYS trying to set the kerning and left bearing in FontForge, only for it to end up not usable and having to redo everything in one day in the computer lab. That aside, this typography module has been surprisingly more fun than the first semester, and it really surprised me how much I could learn about something in just a few months. It also made me appreciate letters and typography more. 


Observations

There were a lot of things that I observed in this class and through this assignment, so I don't know where to start. If its about observing what Mr.Vinod doesn't like and like, then I can talk a lot. But I guess I'll talk about the assignment. I observed that punctuations and letters has a lot of rules to it? When making my letterforms and punctuations, I had to look at a reference from another font, like I had to place a letter and a punctuation beside each other to see how big it is, how tall it is, does it go below the baseline, and etc to make it accurate. Before this I didnt know that letters had a lot of rules to make it look nice and readable.


Findings

One of the things I found out when doing this whole module and assignment about myself was that I need to work days before the deadline to check and revise everything. Since this assignment was hard, it pushed me to start even earlier, which helped me develop a useful schedule or routine to follow every week. I dedicated Thursdays and Fridays to typography, and worked on other subjects on the remaining days. Another finding I got from this assignment is that sometimes, simplicity is better. When I tried to do something too complex, it often didn’t work—but when I took a step back and approached it with a clearer, more relaxed mindset, simpler ideas ended up looking much better. I think that’s an important finding because from this, it shows that overthinking doesn’t always lead to better design. Sometimes stepping back, trusting the process, and keeping things clear and focused can create stronger, more effective outcomes. It’s something I’ll definitely carry into future design projects.

FURTHER READING


Week 9 (18/06/25)

Website : Material Design Type Properties 

 m1.material.io+3mdc.almoamen.net+3international.binus.ac.id+3.

Typeface = letter collection
A typeface is built from shared patterns—even though letters are unique, they follow common shapes, weights, and strokes

  • Grid and spacing matter
    Material uses a 4 dp baseline grid, so every text baseline and line-height must align to it. This keeps vertical spacing consistent

    Font anatomy terms to know:

  • Cap height: height of flat-topped capitals
  • X-height: height of lowercase x, affects readability
  • Ascenders: strokes above cap height; descenders: strokes below baseline. 

  • Baseline: where text sits.


  • Tall x-height helps small text
    Fonts with taller x-heights are more legible at small sizes since the shapes inside letters stay clear

  • Optical overshoots for circles
    Round letters (S, O, A) slightly overshoot cap height and x-height so they visually appear the same size as flat letters.

  • Stroke weight options
    Typically 4–6 weights (Light, Regular, Medium, Bold…). Thickness determines emphasis and readability

  • Type classification: Serif vs Sans-serif
    Material prefers sans-serif for UI, but serif is fine for titles or display if used thoughtfully



Week 10 (25/06/25)

Website: "Punctuations and Special Characters in Typography"
https://app.uxcel.com/courses/typography-basics/punctuation--special-characters-285

  • Punctuation & accents actually matter
    They're not just little details — they need to match the style of the font (like weight, angle, etc.) or it’ll look off.

  • Different countries use punctuation differently
    British vs. American stuff isn’t always the same, so it depends who you're designing for. Might need to follow a specific style guide.

  • Only one space after a full stop
    I always thought it was two lol but apparently that’s old-school typewriter style. Now it’s just one space.

  • Hanging punctuation makes the margin look nicer
    Like quote marks or dashes can hang a bit outside the text block so it looks more aligned. But don’t do that with taller stuff like ! or ?

  • Em dash (—)
    Super useful — can replace commas, brackets, or even a colon.
    Used like: “The layout — especially the spacing — looked clean.”
    No spaces in books, but online it’s okay to leave spaces.

  • En dash (–)
    Shorter than an em dash.
    Use it for ranges like dates or numbers → “1–10” or “July–August.” No space around it.

  • Ampersand (&)
    Basically a fancy “and.” Fun fact: it came from squishing “e” and “t” together (from Latin).
    Common in brand names like M&S or H&M. Usually designers go wild with the styling here lol.

  • Exclamation mark (!)
    Good for excitement but don’t overdo it. Like one is enough — more than that gets annoying real fast.

  • Curly quotes vs straight quotes
    Curly ones (“ ” and ‘ ’) just look better and match the typeface.
    Straight quotes (like " or ') are for code or stuff like 6'0".

  • Accent marks (aka diacritics)
    Like in café, naïve, etc. They’re not optional — they’re part of the letter.
    Some fonts have them built-in, but sometimes you gotta make them manually.


    • Week 11 (02/07/25)

    Creating a Font Using FontLab 7
    FontLab 7 – Getting Started Tutorial (Official)

    • Font creation in FontLab 7 starts with creating a new font file and working from the glyph window.

    • The glyph window displays character slots; initially only the .notdef box is visible.

    • Drawing tools are used to build letterforms, with a strong emphasis on Bézier curve control.

    • Glyphs can be edited individually, and spacing (side bearings) and kerning adjustments are made directly in the app.

    • FontLab includes real-time preview features, making it easier to see how glyphs interact with each other.

    • The font can be exported in various formats like OTF and TTF for testing and use.

    • Understanding the interface and workflow is key before diving into full font development.


    Week 12 (09/07/25)

    General Typeface Creation Process
    “How to Create a Font From Scratch” – TypeType.org

    • Typeface design usually starts with defining the goal: type category (serif, sans, etc.) and purpose (print, display, etc.).

    • Most processes begin with sketching—either digitally or by hand—to work out proportions and stylistic details.

    • Designers often begin with a basic character set, focusing on essential letters (e.g. H, O, n, o) to establish consistency.

    • Digitizing involves importing sketches into font software (like FontLab, Glyphs, or FontForge).

    • Vector refinement focuses on maintaining smooth curves, clean joins, and optical balance.

    • Spacing and kerning are major steps—fine-tuning how each glyph sits next to others.

    • Final output includes generating font files and testing the typeface across platforms and sizes.

    • The article also stresses that creating a usable font takes time, patience, and multiple rounds of revision.


    Week 13 (/07/25)

     Typography Competitions – Honor-Level Work
     Communication Arts Typography Competition 2025

    • The Communication Arts Typography Competition recognizes excellence in typographic design.

    • Categories include typeface design, calligraphy, lettering, and typographic applications (e.g. posters, packaging).

    • Open to both professional and student work, as long as it was created or published between Sept 2023 and Sept 2024.

    • Winners are published in the Communication Arts Typography Annual and online gallery, offering significant industry exposure.

    • Submissions are judged by leading designers, making this a well-respected competition in the design community.

    • Additional competitions to explore: TDC (Type Directors Club) for both type design and typography-focused design work.



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