Class Info

  • Date: Tuesday, November 7, 2023
  • Meeting Info: In person, Pearl 116, 8:30 to 11:00am, followed by Professor’s office hours from 11:00am to noon in Pearl 116.

Topic

  • Presentations of Project 2. Starting at 9:00am.
    • Students will present in alphabetical order by last name.
    • REMEMBER: TIMELINESS AFFECTS YOUR GRADE.

Objectives

  • Learn to present and describe work—and to give fellow students constructive feedback.

Activities

Activity 1

Type Hero (TH). Zuzana Licko (pronouced “Litchko”). Write a post about Zuzana Licko, who built Macintosh bitmap fonts in 1984 when she was 23 years old. First, read the material quoted below as well as info in the links provided. Post in Student Posts>Type Hero. Filename: Lastname_TH_ZuzanaLicko_110623

In Class 19, we touched on typefaces that were designed to look like pixels.

The above screenshot from Adobe Fonts shows Zuzana Licko’s Lo-Res Fonts, which she designed as four different fonts in 1985. Those fonts were released as the Lo-Res family around the year 2000. Licko wrote, “Each size group of bitmap designs is on a different grid structure, which relates to its resolution; the number in each Lo-Res font name indicates the number of pixels in its body or poem (pixels per em).”

For an exhibit at Poster House that ended on November 5. Steven Heller wrote:

As an early adapter of the Mac, Licko designed custom-bitmapped typefaces (letters made from squares or pixels on a grid, similar to filling in boxes on graph paper) for the magazine [Emigré]. VanderLans used them in layouts that rejected Swiss modernist rigidity in favor of improvisation . . . By exploiting the limitations of the computer, they also developed a typographic language that challenged many established tenets of typography, including readability and legibility.

Steven Heller, in THE DAILY HELLER

Have a look at these two images, below, from Poster House.

Image from an Instagram post made by Poster House to publicize an exhibit about typefaces from Emigré and Fuse.
From Poster House
An image from a post by Poster House publicizing an exhibit about ground-breaking typography from equally-groundbreaking designers.
From Poster House

Also in addition to the quote above, read Steven Heller’s entire text about Emigre.

Finally, do some research about Zuzana Licko and the fonts she designed. Read about Zuzana Licko not only on the Adobe site but also in interviews in magazines such as eye and other online sources.

For your Type Hero post:
1. Include comment Zuzana Licko has made that you find inspiring . . . or at least interesting.
2. Choose a font Licko designed that you find arresting. Say why.
3. Show an images the font in use.

Remember to always credit the source and the designer.

Student Posts>Type Hero>
File name: Lastname_TH_ZuzanaLicko_110623.

Activity 2

  • PRESENTATION. Starting at 9:00 am and ending at 10:45am latest. Alphabetical by last name.
    • 7 minutes per presentation, including 2 minutes of feedback.
  • Presentation Discussion Prompts:
    • Pages 1 and 2. Expressive Typography using a typeface. Why did you choose and use these four words? What was the challenge in creating the words? What was the most fun AND the most useful thing you learned from this assignment?
    • Pages 1 and 4. Sketches. Did you find it difficult to come up withconcepts or sketches?
    • Page 5. Expressive Lettering—ideally—without using an existing Typeface. Describe how you created your word. What challenges did you overcome? Did knowing a bit about typography from earlier classes help you devise your Expressive Lettering? What else do you feel you need to know?
    • Page 6. Expressive Lettering on a 3-Dimensional object. How did seeing your work on an object make you think about type?
    • Page 7. Legibility on patterns as well as word associations. How do type and image work together?
  • Feedback from fellow students: Offer OBSERVATIONS and SUGGESTIONS. You are respecting your fellow students by observings, reacting, responding, suggesting, encouraging and PARTICIPATING.
  • Type Scavenger Hunt (for Class 21). CHOOSE ONE OF TWO.
Branding by Mario Eskenazi Studio, exhibit for a 25th anniversary.
Type Directors Club. Type Drives Culture Conference,
Ezhishin Conference on Native North American Typography.

  • Post in Student Posts > Type Scavenger Hunt. Name with:
  • lastname_TSH_110723

Assignment / To do before next class.

  • Make any suggested adjustments or changes to Project 02. THIS IS DIFFERENT FROM COMPLETING THE PROJECT ON TIME.
    • Save as: Lastname_Proj02_REFINED_110923
  • Type Scavenger Hunt.
    • Post in Student Posts > Type Scavenger Hunt. Name with: Lastname_TSH_110723

As noted at the beginning of the semester and after Project 01, ON-TIME work and PARTICIPATION and ATTENDANCE affect your grade. Of course, QUALITY is also a factor.

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