Study Task 1 - Punctuation, Ligatures and Emojis

Punctuation, Ligatures and Emojis

In pairs, the aim of the brief was to produce a ligature for a typeface of our choice that was designed in response to a pre-identified problem. Initially my partner and I looked at words that are commonly used in texting. This format of communication is quick and direct, and lends itself to the use of abbreviations for words and phrases. Creating a ligature for an abbreviated word, we decided would be more interesting and appropriate to the format than just a pair of letters commonly used together.  Greetings we found were a frequent occurrence within texts however ending a conversation tended to be much longer than the beginning of one. Many people text late into the night, and get tired towards the end of a conversation so we decided to focus on the concept of ‘goodnight’ or ‘night’ as a way of finishing a conversation in a succinct but tasteful way.

Goodnight - 'gn' designs

Night - 'nt' designs

Copies of some of Lucy's designs - mixture of  letter variations

Initially we worked with both words and abbreviated ‘goodnight’ to ‘gd’ and ‘night’ to ‘nt’.

Lucy's digitalised night designs

We continued with ‘night’ as a ligature because we felt the serif typefaces were working well in creating a soft and flowing feel within the work. Night as a concept is quite dreamy and calm which we thought was being reflected more in the ‘nt’ serif ligatures. 

Digitalised night and goodnight designs

The abbreviation for ‘good night’ leant itself to ligatures that were easy to physically write but when digitalised had to be in sans serif. This immediately made the designs look more like logos and it was hard to capture the smoothness of the intended drawn designs.

Examples of the ligature in relation to other letters in the same typeface

Examples of the context the ligature would be seen in

Overall I think the final design works well as a complete ligature. The letter forms flow nicely from one to the other creating a natural looking form. The extension of the ‘t’ sits at the same level as other descenders which provides consistency throughout the typeface. I also think the design could be developed to work in sans serif format by emphasising the distinct curvature of the ligature.

Final night design

Feedback, Thoughts and Ideas from Crit

• Try inversing the colour too white on a black background – this will emphasise the concept of the dark
• Could we refine it more by reducing certain parts?
• Could we incorporate moon imagery into the design?
• Try removing the serif on the ‘t’
• Do further experiments with the sans serif ligature – extend ‘t’ like in serif design

Design strategies and things to question in future briefs

• Research the meaning of the word to gain more insight into its context e.g. other languages, etymology etc.
• Simplify designs – how far can it be reduced?
• What is the personality of the typeface? What does it ­portray?
•  Can symbolism be introduced into the design?