Studio Brief 2 - Typeface Design - Further Refinement

Further Refinements

To refine the 'a' I have experimented with adjusting the connection between the bowl and stem of the letter.

Sharp curvature

Initially I increased the curvature so it was much steeper however this affected the counter quite drastically making it look very angular which didn't fit with the rest of the forms in the typeface.

Retaining the counterform

By moving one of the anchor points closer to the other this did not affect the counterform but created contrast in the connection. However when this was made bolder I found that this was still not a significant enough adjustment. 

Overlapping anchor points

Through moving the anchor point so it met the other anchor point I created the most reduced form possible. When looking at this in its lighter form it looked too drastic, however when made bolder like the rest of the typeface it fitted much better and made the connection look sturdier.

Increasing the width of strokes

To make the diagonal strokes in the 'v' bolder I increased the width of them from 4 to 5 squares thick which increased the thickness making it a similar weight to the rest of the typeface.

'k' experimentation

When adapting the 'k' I tried to make it into a double storey 'k' using the curves and stright edges seen in the rest of the typeface. This ended up looking completely wrong and looked more like a capital 'R' with an ascender which looked really odd.

'k' experimentation

I wanted to try and create a 'k' that was more like the 'k' used in Univers as I thought this would look more refined than previous experiments. I adapted the 'k' to work within my grid, however I found that it looked to elongated and had very wide angles which looked odd. 

'k' experimentation

To refine this further I decided to reduce the width of the grid to three quarters of its original size, which would mimic the proportions of the 'r' in my alphabet. This I think created a more regular angle in the 'k' which made it look less stretched.

Final typeface 

In response to changing the 'k' I also adapted the 'x' to a normal formation which I think will be more legible for wayfinding. The terminals have been reduced on the 'c' and 'e' so there are larger open counters, which will increase legibility and reduce the risk of fill at smaller sizes.

Looking at scale

The typeface can be reduced to 20pt and still retain its legibility which I think will make it suitable for a variety of applications in wayfinding at both large and smaller scales.