Category: Class Notes

Class 12: Visual Hierarchy

October 17, 2017 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

In graphic design, visual hierarchy is when elements are arranged in such a way as to imply the order of importance. If you missed the lecture or need a refresher, you can download the slide presentation or view the following videos that were shown in class.

Typographic Hierarchy Explained

Typographic Hierarchy

We also viewed a view on creating contrast with type

Reminder: Mid-Term on Wed Oct 18, 2017

Class 6 — Multiple Pages in InDesign

September 22, 2017 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

Here’s a brief recap from Monday’s class. After doing a review of the grid system, I learned how to create a multiple-page InDesign document, which included a quick introduction to master pages. You need to be familiar with these as you create the next Type Book assignment, the Five Families of Type.

This video will help you with adding and managing pages. We will get more in-depth with some of the things a little later.

Insert, Deleting, and Moving Pages in InDesign

Homework — Due Monday, Sept 25

Quiz #1 – will cover everything we’ve covered so far, through class 6. It will be given at the beginning of class and should only take about 30 minutes, so please arrive on time. Our Google Drive folder will have copies of the slide presentations shown in class.
Type Book – Five Families of Type – You can download a copy of Type Book – 5 Families of Type if you didn’t get one.
Letterform Work Sheet – This was a handout from a few weeks ago so you should have had time to complete. If you need a new copy, Typography Letterform can be downloaded, but you will need to print out all 10 pages to complete the assignment.

Class 5 — Introduction to the Grid System

September 16, 2017 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

Here’s a brief recap from Wednesday’s class. One of the main things we covered was how to work with the grid system.

A grid is a non-printing system of horizontal and vertical lines which help the designer align the elements of the layout. This system of alignment helps to create a more organized layout. In multiple page documents, the grid assists in the consistent placement of design elements. Think of the grid as the skeleton of the layout—similar to the frame that you see on the construction site when a building or house is being built.

Vocabulary used:

text page – the area on a page, within the margins, where text appears.
margin – the area of the page around the text area. It creates a boundary to keep text away from the edge of the page.
folios – the page number. In most instances this is at the bottom of the page below or outside the text area.
header – the area at the top of the page, outside the text area. A running header is a header that is repeated across many pages
footer – the area at the bottom of the page, outside the text area. A running footer is a footer that is repeated across many pages.
gutter – the gutter separates the columns and rows from each other. It is also the area where two facing pages meet.
active corner – the upper left corner of any field in a grid system. This is where the top of the text is aligned.
passive corner – the bottom right corner of any field in a grid.

For additional information on using grids, read the online article 15 Reasons Why A Grid Based Approach Will Improve Your Designs

In InDesign we learned to set up columns for a grid, how to use a template, and how to name files before submission. We did this as we were introduced to the Type Book project.

We also covered using the line tool to create rules, strokes, and arrows in InDesign

Introduction to Project #1 – The Type Book

The Type Book is a typography manual that you will create as we cover the basic principles of typography. Each student will choose a performer/famous person/fictional character who will be used for the Type Book assignment.

Homework Due Monday, 9/18

Complete the Type Book exercise: Anatomy and Letterform
Bring tracing pads and pens.

Do you have any questions about information covered during this lesson? Write them in the comments below.

Class 4 — Controlling Space, Leading, Tracking and Kerning

September 11, 2017 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

We covered three main topics in today’s class that deal with spacing—tracking, kerning and leading. It is important to understand the difference between tracking and kerning.

Tracking deals with the adjustment of letter-space which will affect entire lines or blocks of text. By adding tracking, the letter-spacing, which is the amount of space between the characters, will be increased or decreased. The goal is to have consistently even space between all the characters
Kerning is often confused with tracking but kerning deals with the letter-space adjustments between a specific pair of letters. You only have to be concerned about kerning display or headline text. Certain letter pairs don’t fit well together, so the designer’s goal is to adjust the space so that letter-spacing looks consistent.
Leading is the amount of space between lines of text. It is measured from baseline to baseline. It is important that line-spacing is not too tight or too far apart.
All three of these—tracking, kerning, and leading—are important to the overall look and to make reading easier.

We viewed the following videos to help with clarity:

Kerning and kerning pairs

Kerning & Tracking

Design Principles – Typography, leading

To test our kerning ability we used The Kerning Game, which can be found online: http://type.method.ac

Homework — Due Wednesday, Sept 13

Finish lettering your phrase on the tracing paper. You are to trace a short phrase that is 2-3 lines long. You will have to pay attention to you letter-space and line-space. These will be collected on Wednesday.
Bring 1 or 3 magazines that you don’t mind cutting up.

Class 3 — Typographical Anatomy

September 8, 2017 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

During our third session on Wednesday, Sept 6th we not only covered The History of Typography and the Five Families of Type, but we also were introduced to Typographical Anatomy.

If you missed the lecture on the History of Typography and the Five Families of Typography, you download the slides here.
We learned the parts of type of similar to our body parts. Download the TypeAnatomy sheet and keep it handy to help you identify the different parts of letters.
We watched the following two videos in class:

Typography tutorial: Anatomy: Parts and shapes of type

The History of Typography – Animated Short

We learned about the Five Families of Type, and the characteristics that distinguish them. The following videos will help you will this process.

Type Anatomy and Terminology

Type classification

How to identify Old Style fonts

How to identify Transitional fonts

How to identify Modern fonts

How to identify Slab Serif fonts

Homework — Due Monday, Sept 11

Type Journal

Draw in and label all parts of anatomy of the single word you began tracing in class. Use the Typographical Anatomy sheet as your guide. Label at 5-10 parts. Keep your work neat. Submit on Monday morning.
Search for examples of actual typefaces and their specific use. Find examples of work that use typefaces belonging to each of the five families of type. In what scenario are they used? You can use photos that you take or cut the examples from magazines or brochures. Tape or glue your samples to the plain sheet of paper that will fit in your journal. Be sure the identify the typeface, the family it belongs to and how it is used (headline for an ad, body text for a book, etc).
For example: a typeface that belongs to the Modern classification of type is used on a heading for an ad. Do this for each of the 5 families.

Terminology You Must Know – 9/5

September 5, 2017 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

So far, after the first week, here are some of the terms we’ve learned so far.

leading – refers to the linespace between the lines of type. The term originated in the days of metal type. During hand-typesetting, thin strips of lead were inserted into the lines of type to increase the distance.
sans serif – a typeface that does not have serifs.
font – one weight, width or style of a typeface—the individuals of a typeface, such as Helvetica Bold or Helvetica Bold Italic.
typeface – refers to the whole family, such as Helvetica.
points – unit of measurement in typography: 72 points = 1 inch. All type is measured in points.
pica – typographic unit of measurement: 12 points = 1 pica; 6 picas = 1 inch; 72 points = 1 inch.
kerning – adjustment of the space between two letters to improve the appearance. Kerning is more specific than tracking. Kerning becomes more important with large or display type.
tracking – adjustment of the space between letters for the a whole word, sentence, page or document.

Classes 1 and 2 — Introduction to Typography & InDesign

September 1, 2017 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

So, we’ve made it through the first week. Hopefully everyone is feeling a bit more relaxed and you’ve made some new friends.

Here is a recap of the topics that we covered the first week of class. Hopefully this will be helpful if you need to review.

On Monday, Aug 28 we reviewed the syllabus, and if you need another copy, it can be downloaded here.
At this point, of course, everyone should have access to their City Tech email. This is be the way that I communicate with you. Please check it at least once a day so you don’t miss any important information.
We viewed a video on Typography:

There was a brief lecture, Typography & the History of Letterform. If you missed some of the points in your notes, you can download a copy of the slides here.
We created Biographical Name Tags — Each student should paired up with a classmate and make a name tag for each other, trying to best portray each other using expressive lettering. Afterwards, students introduced each other to the class and described what you were trying to convey with the lettering they drew for their partner.

Homework — Due Wed, Aug 30

Type Journal — Take 20-30 pictures of type in your neighborhood, write a 1 page paper on what that typography tells you about your neighborhood, print it and add to type journal. Use 1” margins all around and double-space.

On Wed, Aug 30 we viewed a few videos to that covered the difference between legibility vs readability, and how to make reading easier.

Understanding Font Legibility

How to Make Reading Easier

Introduction to Adobe InDesign. This introduction covered creating a new document, rulers and measurement, text boxes, adding fonts using Font Book, changing typefaces, fonts, point size, etc. If you need some help getting started with InDesign, view this video:

Homework — Due Wed, Sep 6

Bring you tracing pad and pens to class.