Typography and Fonts

I understand the importance of typing with a good font for good typography. I understand the importance of typing with a good font for good typography. I understand the importance of typing with a good font for good typography. I understand the importance of typing with a good font for good typography. I understand the importance of typing with a good font for good typography. I understand the importance of typing with a good font for good typography. I understand the importance of typing with a good font for good typography. I understand the importance of typing with a good font for good typography. I understand the importance of typing with a good font for good typography.

Welcome to my BLOG!

 Hello, this will be my graphic design experience. I am presently

really getting into art and graphic design. I love to paint and combine my creativity with computers. I have chosen to study graphic design and will share that experience.

I have not had a blog before but I know this is a great way to reach out to people

Mailer for MOCA Museum

On January 2024 we visited MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in Downtown LA.  After looking at the pieces of several artists, we chose the one that caught our attention the most.  

Seeing pieces live is a completely different experience than seeing them online.  When they are in your presence, you get the sense of relative proportion plus the impact of real life size and scale;  the power of colors as well as the several textures and the effects of light.

 However, our project was to choose an artist to be featured on MOCA's virtual tours to be seen online, and design a Mailer Card advertising this. 

The piece that caught my attention the most was "Untitled (it's our pleasure to disgust you)", 1991 by Barbara Kruger.  It was a photographic silkscreen on vinyl of very large proportions.

 Barbara Kruger is an American conceptual artist and collagist, mostly known for her, usually,  black and white photographs, overlaid with declarative captions using mostly white-on-red Futura or Helvetica text.  Her most common topics are sexuality and consumerism. 

We submitted 3 different versions of the mailer card, created using Adobe Illustrator and InDesign.  As a premise for the project, asides from the museum logo and the social media icons, only text and shapes could be used. No use of photography was allowed. 

During the course of the class, we went through the Gestalt Principles of Design and these were to be taken into consideration when designing our cards. 

At a broader level, these principles refer to human perception of shapes, elements and patterns. 

Even though visual hierarchy is not specifically one of these principles, it is based in Gestalt psychology as a way in which the human brain organizes elements in a coherent, digestible way.

When it comes to designing material that is meant to transmit a message or call for an action, hierarchy should be one of the main things to consider.   This means deciding what should catch our attention first, what should be our focal point, and how once we are caught in the main message, we navigate through the rest of the information in the order intended, without loosing interest. 

But before we even start designing we have to get acquainted with the rest of the artist's material, as well as who is the audience that is being targeted and will lean on to taking this particular virtual tour. 

On the case of Barbara Kruger, some things were already decided for me. I knew I wanted to use flat, bold colors and the fonts that were called for were Futura or Helvetica, since these are the ones the artist uses on her own work. 

As for the selection of colors, even though the work at the museum didn't necessarily use this scheme, the rest of her work is heavy on black, white and red. 

The focal point on this case should be Barbara Kruger, MOCA, and Virtual MOCA.  The rest of the information would be taken once the viewer is already navigating the image.  Therefore these were the elements I wanted to highlight visually.  I believe that since the artist's name is the only one that uses the background color as a box color and it is not entirely symmetric, it jumps to us first, along with the main logo.  But, even though the two words are separated, being close to each other and having the same treatment helps us group them together. 

Our eyes will also group by color and by the use of similarity for the red boxes for text. 

It was challenging to design a composition that seemed playful but at the same time organized and with a clear reading path.  On my case, being new with this software, the technical aspect of it was also an issue. 

I like the possibilities both Ai and Id offer and I'm looking forward to being more comfortable with them so what I have in mind can translate more accurately. 

As a sort of footnote, the principle of past experience at its most basic level, could be seen on the social media icons.  We all know and are familiar with what a camera looks like or a play button, etc. They are universally understood shapes. For them, we don't need to get into details since our audience would pick it up immediately. 

TYPOGRAPHY

The main purpose of Graphic Design is to convey a message in an easy, effective and appealing way.  Usually, although not always, the message is transmitted via text.  
This is when words become design elements.
Not only they need to be clearly legible, but they have to work in harmony with the other elements in the composition. Sometimes making words not so legible could also be a design and creative choice.
Having the knowledge on how to manipulate text helps us reinforce, for example, a brand identity.
Words can be beautiful too and they have the power to transmit their own message independent of the message they are conveying. 

Proper use of typography not only has the ability to communicate a message but we can tweak it to establish visual hierarchy, harmony, balance, and a visual path to navigate our composition. 

The use of a specific font in a specific way can lock in a brand perception, through-for example- a logo or a packaging aesthetic.  It is the visual tone of voice with which a corporation talks to its audience. 

Typography refers to the way in which we style and arrange type.  It includes decisions on typeface, font, size, weight, alignment, spacing, etc.  It's not just the selection of a font, of series or fonts. This is only one aspect of typography.  

Typeface is a particular style of lettering. 
This could include, for example, whether a letter has serifs (stroke at the end of the letterform), as well as the shapes and forms of it's different elements. 
Going into the Anatomy of a typeface, this could include the characteristics of it's different components, such as tails, brackets, Cap and x- heights, etc. 

Font refers more to what typeface we have chosen.
There's also different characteristics within a same font, such as bold or italic for example.  But we can also add weight and size. 

Theres's 3 basic typefaces: serif, sans-serif and script. 

Serif features a decorative line or "flick" at the end of the main strokes of different characters.  Amongst the most known serif fonts we find Times New Roman (which is the font I'm using). As an example, we can see the extra strokes embellishing the "T"s.

Sans Serif as you can deduce, means with no extra strokes. They tend to look more modern and are easier to read. 

Script mimics handwriting and makes us think of calligraphy. Since they are harder to read, they are mostly used as decorative elements.  I also believe that our eyes have strayed away from reading these types of fonts.  I learned how to write before computers were a thing. We were taught calligraphy and how to hand write and read in cursive.  Our eyes were more adjusted to this type of reading.
As technology evolved and our written lives changed,  typed fonts on phones and other screens became the norm and our eyes lost some of that training.   I used to work at an Apothecary. We sold herbs by the oz that we would bag in a recyclable paper bag. We had to write on pencil the name of the herb and below the instructions. I used to write the name in cursive. I believed it looked "cute" and soft.  I was surprised when some young kids called the store asking what they said, because they couldn't read cursive.  Especially characters like capital "S", "G" or "H".   This thought on education made me sad. But that's a whole different discussion !

One of my favorite fonts is Helvetica.

It is a Sans-Serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann. 

It is very powerful and easy to read. The x-height is taller than your usual font and the spacing is relatively tighter which gives it a bolder or rather more solid look. 

It is such a recognizable font that it caused a bit of a funny incident when the sign installer mistakenly used Helvetica Black instead of the usual Helvetica Bold for certain Washington Metro stations (WMATA). This created an enraged and comical discussion amongst design oriented metro users that lead to apologies and re-dos from that department. 

As a fun fact LA Metro uses DIN Engschrift

Elements and Principles of Design

 The elements of design are the main ingredients used by visual creators to achieve a successful  composition.  The principles is how we use them.  Elements are the main basic tools to create a certain mood and transmit a certain message that will be read appropriately by the desired audience.  They create harmony (or intended chaos !) amongst elements, to transmit a message and or idea. 

ELEMENTS

Line.

Line is what connects two points regardless of their direction. They help create not only order and visual guidance, but also emphasis to elements or areas, unity or division.  The character of a line can also be altered by controlling it's weight, texture and other properties.  The proper use of line work can bring something to the foreground or make it recede.  It can add relevance to elements as well as moods.  Lines don't need to be straight or clear.  Sometimes we may need squiggly lines, sometimes these might be curved or patterned, thin or thick. 

Color.

Color helps create moods, emotions as well as unite or separate a series or composition. The proper use of a color palette can take us to different visual worlds.  Knowing color theory and how to properly use a color wheel is fundamental for any and all arts. 

Shape.

At it's most basic definition, a shape exists when a line encloses an area.  It is mostly an outlined two dimensional area.  Shapes can also be divided into organic (occurring in nature), geometrical (mathematically consistent) and abstract. 

The psychology branch of Gestalt goes deep into shapes and what and how our eyes read graphics.  Two shapes of exact same size might seem different to the eye depending on their placement and values.  Our minds tend to finish closing a shape with missing lines.  This is most likely what we do in human interactions as well. But this is a whole different story !

Texture.

Texture refers to the perceived surface quality of a two dimensional image.  It implies a feeling, it's connected visually to touch and it aids in creating a sense of realism.  It can also help in the creation of moods. For example, something smooth vs something rough. 

 Size. Scale. Form.

How does the shape occupy space? This section refers to it's actual dimensions on one hand, but also how they relate to their original value as well as relative to the other elements on the composition.  The perception of a certain form can be tweaked by the use or suggestion of light, shadow, positive and negative space and objects around it. 

Direction. 

Direction goes in hand with movement and how we lead the eye of our audience on navigating our composition.  As an example on the most basic level,  verticality usually implies formality, while something horizontal gives us a sense of peace and something oblique will make us think of movement and action. 

PRINCIPLES

Principles could be understood as a set of rules or a guide on how to use elements to achieve our purpose.  If elements were ingredients, principles would be recipes to create a solid, strong balanced dish. 

Balance

Refers to the distribution of the elements in a pace.  It provides stability and structure and- pun intended- it is heavily linked to weight.  Desired balance or intended lack of can be achieved by correctly manipulating elements like color, size, texture, symmetry (or intended lack of), etc. 

Proximity 

Where objects are situated within each other helps create unity and continuity as well as directing the viewers visual journey to our intended focal point. 

Alignment 

Alignment goes in hand with balance and proximity,  providing order and organization between elements. Depending on the objects (or subjects) a composition could be symmetric or asymmetric.  And sometimes symmetry of certain elements can also give a sense of asymmetry in concept.  Knowing what the rules are helps you bend them or break them in favor of the message we desire to transmit. 

Repetition

Repetition is linked to organization,  helping connect individual elements.  It can be done by repeating colors, or repeating shapes.  This is the basics of patterns and in a bigger scale with logos and brand identity. 

Contrast

"The difference in visual properties that makes one object different from another or others". 

Contrast helps elements "pop".    On this case I used the most basic way to create contrast, by using a solid background that is simnifically different from the main objects, making them easily stand out. 

But even though, this is the most basic and simple use of this principle, contrast can be achieved by manipulating all the other elements in a more complex way. 

Designing a Life of Design

 

Life, like design is a balancing act. 

The watercolor above is of a self portrait I've painted around 10 years ago. 

There is so much we have to juggle with on a daily basis.  

Sometimes it's hard to prioritize, keep everything together, and prevent the pile to crumble and make us fall. 

I've been painting since I was 6 years old. My upstairs neighbor was a an oil painter and he taught classes on our rooftop. I learned how to paint, before I learned how to write.  I would always write the letter "S" backwards ! The painting below was my very first one. 

I stopped painting on my teenage years and focused on music. 

I've been playing in bands since then. 

I got back into painting, when I moved to the US, 15 years ago. 

Since I couldn't afford actual art supplies, I would paint on cardboard or wood, with bad quality  brushes and paints. 

I realized afterwards, the importance of proper tools, but not having this as a resource also taught me how to make things work with what you have and to not make excuses.

Since then, art has been a fore-front passion.  

I took some more classes at ELAC and devoted countless hours on canvases.  

Learning is a never ending journey. When I look back to something I created years ago, sometimes it makes me cringe. But this only shows that I've gotten better from that point. 

I'm grateful for the opportunities I've had to work on murals and children's book illustrations. 

I like to work mostly with acrylic and oil and the themes I'm drawn to are mostly whimsical.  

I also keep a sketchbook, which I use in a cathartic way to express the stages in life I'm going through. 

I also enjoy sculpting, molding and casting and everything that involves creation. 

Asides from the random classes i've taken, I'm mostly self taught, but I do value the knowledge and discipline that is acquired in a classroom setting.  

When it comes to the digital world, I have long ways to go. 

I'm quite ignorant when it comes to vector based software, but I recognize its relevance. 

There's a lot of catching up for me to do.  

We are stepping into the world of AI and I aspire to have confidence on this as a tool. 

I've started taking elective classes at LATTC with the goal of completing Sign Graphics. 

Ive done some signs for businesses in the past and I've always been attracted to this craft. 

However, my main source of income comes from bartending, which involves late hours. 

Going to sleep at 4 or 5 am, and waking up at 6am to go to school every day is quite a challenge that I have been postponing for a decade.  Sleep is, after all, a human need.  I long for the day in which speed lightning human chargers,  replace sleep. We'll just have to figure what to do about dreams. I feel we need those too !

When it comes to blogs, my experience is also not quite there. I'm more attracted to tutorials on YouTube or the like, but I do recognize it's relevance. 

On my case, I believe I will be using it more as an archive for my learning journey.