COMD1167 Type & Media, SP2018

Project #3 – Magazine Spread

April 25, 2018 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

The last major project of the semester is the magazine spread. During the last class, we learned about the anatomy of a magazine layout. Please download the handout if you didn’t get one in class.

Here is the assignment:

Design a magazine article: 4 pages, 2 spreads
The trim size is 8.5″x11
Topic
Choice A: snowboarding – the text and photos have been provided for you.
Choice B: a topic of your own, but it must be approved by the instructor first. You will be responsible for providing the text and photos for the assignment.
Requirements include use of grid, headers, subheads, dropcaps, indents, columns, page numbers, images, captions, margins, gutters.

This project will be done is phases. The first phase will be your brainstorming and research to determine your topic. You will then sketch ideas for a possible layout. After that we will do a style guide and begin the first draft layout.

Due Monday, April 30:

Your topic and rough sketch ideas for your layout. Begin to collect your text and imagery if you will be doing your own topic. You would be ready to begin your style guide
Find two pages from a same publication. These must share a grid, but have different layouts
Bring in examples of 2 different magazine spreads. These must share a grid, but have different layouts

Here are a few links to information we looked at in class:

Creating a Magazine Style Guide: Design

Hierarchy of Typography

Project #2 – Design a Poster

April 4, 2018 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

We are now working on our second project. This project should be fun and give you an opportunity to incorporate all that you’ve learned so far about typography and basic graphic design. This project will be graded on those points. If you didn’t get the design assignment in class, download a copy here.

On Monday, April 9, 2018, be prepared to present your initial sketch ideas. We will do this first thing when class begins, so don’t come to class and begin to do your sketches for the first time. Not having computer access will not hinder your ability to do the sketches. You should have a full page of thumbnail sketches and then another page that has 3-4 sketches of your best ideas. From those 3-4 sketches we will be able to determine which will make a better design layout for your project.

One of the main emphasis of this project will be use of the grid system and hierarchy. Here is a video what may give you more insight into developing hierarchy in your poster design.

In case you’re still a bit unsure about doing thumbnail sketches, here is a video that previous students have found to be helpful. Please note, the tutorial is done on a computer for the sake of recording, but you will be using pencil or pen and paper.

The Type Book: Assembly Instructions

April 4, 2018 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

If you didn’t get the handouts with the instructions for the type books, here they are again. Every type book exercise is to be included. All of the exercises are listed below and should appear in your book in this order. The titles are based on the assignment sheets. Some of those handouts included more than one exercise. Hopefully this list is clear. If you have questions, please ask for clarification. Use the handouts as a guide for the number of pages included for each exercise

Front Cover
(Create a cover page that includes, the title of the project, your name, Type & Media, COMD1167-D146, Spring 2o18, my name.)
Anatomy
5 Families (5 pages)
Variations (6 pages)
Alignment
Alignment 2
Leading (2 pages)
Tracking (2 pages)
Kerning
Type on a Path
Legibility (in color)
Hierarchy
Grid (2 pages)

Your type book is to be printed out (8.5″x11″ pages) and bound along the left edge where we left space for such details. The book is printed horizontal. Use a clear vinyl (acetate) front cover and a black vinyl back cover with spiral binding along the left side. You can print the pages out in class, in lab or on your own printer. The only page printed in color is the Legibility: Type Color page. The spiral binding is done at Staples or FedEx Kinkos. Don’t wait until the last minute to get this done because they may require that you pick it up the next day.

The finished books are to be submitted no later than Monday, April 9, 2018. All projects submitted late will have lowered grades by 5%.

Homework – Due Mon 3/12

March 11, 2018 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

Complete the following Type Book pages:

Typebook – Type on a Path

Typebook – Legibility

Class 11 – Legibility, Readability, and What Not to Do

March 10, 2018 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

Some of the things we covered during the last class included some we should not do when dealing with type;

Don’t use horizontal scaling
Don’t use vertical scaling
When using colored type on a colored background, make sure the colors of the two have a good contrast.

Classes 9 & 10 – Tracking, Kerning and Type on a Path

March 7, 2018 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

Tracking and Type Alignment

We took a look at how to digitally control tracking and the different type alignment options. We were able to see what happens when tracking is too tight or too loose. We also took a closer look at what happens when we use justified text alignment. I discovered that one of the advantages of using justified text is that it can save space when a lot of text is used. We also saw a disadvantage that is awkward or bad word spacing that creates too much white space in paragraphs. Sometimes we see streams of this white space, which we call rivers (rivers of white space).

This is an example of what can happen when text is justified. The paragraph can end up with rivers–indicated by the red lines.

Homework – Due Wed, 2/28

February 27, 2018 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

Homework – Due Wed, 2/28

Type Book—Weight & Variations exercise that was handed out in class. You can download an extra copy here.

Class 8 – How Text and Paragraphs are Affected by Different Alignments

February 27, 2018 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

This class was dedicated to the variations in type styles that are available. We discussed the differences in type — width, weight, posture, stress, serifs, and contrast.

width – condensed or extended

weight – light or bold

posture – italic or oblique (fake italic)

stress – vertical or diagonal

contrast – extreme or medium or low/none

serif – bracketed or unbracketed

Class 6 and 7 — Multiple Pages in InDesign and a Review of the 5 Families of Type

February 24, 2018 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

We have discussed the five families of type since the early days of the semester. Sometimes these are referred to as type categories. Make sure you learn to identify the differences.

Here is quick review:

Old Style: Garamond
(15th-17th century)

designed in France in 1615 by Jean Jannon (Claude Garamond was
given credit originally)
designed in a time when inks and paper were coarse and type
technology was still rather rough
relatively thick strokes and heavily bracketed or curved serifs
emulated classical calligraphy

Class 5 — Introduction to the Grid, Templates and the Type Book Project

February 17, 2018 / Prof. Mary Brown / 0 Comments

Here’s a brief recap from Wednesday’s class. We had a quick introduction to the grid system and templates as they will be used with InDesign.

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. We will go more in depth with grids a little later.

In InDesign we learned 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.