Studio Brief 2 - Typeface Design - Development

Typeface Development 

Grid development

Using the square grid adapted from the original Univers grid I have begun to develop my typeface.

Bold typeface proportions

Light typeface proportions 

I adapted the grid further to experiment with the ascender and descender heights to see how 'compressed' and square I could make the type without it looking deformed and out of proportion. I found that making the ascender and descender height so it was only one block wide squashed the tails and didn't leave much room for curvature within the tail. Increasing the ascender height and descender height back up to two squares high allowed more room for a proportioned tail with a smoother looking form. The bolder typeface looked a little too blocky and I felt the internal counterforms were being distorted a little too much making it look different to the outside form. The best proportioned letter was from the lighter typeface (top, middle). This I think has good balance between the x height and ascender and descender height whilst also having a distinctive form. The lighter typeface also has more pronounced counters which will aid legibility. 

Designing the letterforms 

Creating the 'a'

Initially I tried to adapt the double storey 'a' from Univers to fit within the square grid, however in order to do this, this meant either reducing the counter within the 'a' or reducing the height of the top half of the 'a'. This meant it was impossible to create balance within the two halves which would make it stand out when alongside other letters. By converting the double storey 'a' to a single storey 'a' this enabled me to mimic the characteristics of other letters within the typeface and increase the internal space making it more legible. 


  

Extending the tails

Within my research I found that by extending tails this created clearer letterforms and helped with character recognition. I applied this to letters such as 'f','t','l','j' by creating a sharper curve and straighter and longer terminal. Tails in descenders such as 'g' and 'y' were rounded fully to curve back upwards which creates distinctive letterforms.

Making letters such as the the j,l, t, f half size

The j,l,t and f were created in a grid that was half the size of the other letters, which followed similar proportions in Univers. 

Adapting the 'k' to be like the 'x'

Creating the k within the square formation led to the same difficulties as the double storey 'a'. To rectify this I was influenced by the Univers 'k' form and inspired by the look of my 'x'. I combined both of these ideas to create a distinctive 'k'. However I am not sure how legible this may turn out to be so it may need some work later on.

Creating the 'x'

To create the 'x' I continued the curved formation from the rest of the letters. This I think gives the 'x' a distinctive quality whilst still being recognisable.

Creating the 'm' and 'w'

When creating the 'm' and 'w' I wanted to reflect the same form in both. The general structure of the typeface was to remove the connections and straighten the shoulder to the stem. I applied this to the 'm' and 'w' however it looked very odd with the mixture of straight and curved shoulders. To rectify this I decided upon creating 'rounded' shoulders with no straight edges as I thought this fitted best with the overall type. 

Adding spurs to aid legibility

In my research on legibility and accessibility I found that letters such as 'b' and 'd' were easily confused. To prevent this I added a spur to the 'd' to create a distinction between the two letters. This was also done on the 'a' and 'u'. The 'a' was quite a rounded shape to begin with which I thought may be mistaken for an 'o' at a distance. By adding the spur this highlights the stem of the letter rather than being a continuous stroke. The 'u' could have originally been mistaken for a 'V' because of the straight edge, however with the addition of a spur it creates a rounded connection to the stem, making it more curved than angular.

Increasing the tittle size 

In my research I found that an increased tittle size emphasises recognition and helps recognition between and 'i' and 'l'. The original tittles on Univers were squares however I changed these to circles and made them larger than the width of the stem.

Adapting the 'r'

Originally I created the 'r' to follow the square grid system however when drawn this looked far to wide and disproportionate when compared with the original Univers typeface. I experimented with reducing the width of the grid used. When I halved the width so it was the same size as letters like j, l and t it looked too compressed and the arm of the 'r' was too short making it seem very narrow. When I made the grid to three quarters of its usual size this created enough extension within the arm of the 'r' whilst being proportionate to the stem.