Typography : Week 1

14/1/2016 (Week 1)
JOSHUA LOW WAI PENG (UIU 300 414 734)
Typography

Lecture: Basics and introduction of typography
 the first lecture session given by Mr. Vinod was about the general introduction of what typography is all about and also discussing the assignment outline with fellow students in the classroom. On that day itself, Mr. Vinod gave us our first task of assignment which is having the spare time to watch a 2 hour documentary on the history and the origin of alphabet. Also, students are required to design a 27^th letter and also write up a 250 word explanation behind the letter created.

Task 1 (5%): No 27.
Instructions: Your first task is to understand the written letter, its origins and evolution over time. You will complete viewing the following youtube video, understand, analyze and reflect on the knowledge in your e-Portfolio under the reflection tittle. Please view the sample e-portfolio to understand how to write your e-portfolio (and reflection).

After viewing the video and other videos of your own finding (please document the other videos you watched in your e-portfolio under the lecture title) design the 27th alphabet. You will present this new letter to the class and describe your thinking or reasoning for its introduction.

Please draw the final 27th letter on an A4 graph paper using black marker or ink. Ensure that the letter is centered within the A4 graph paper and does not exceed 7cm in height or width. Please document the entire process; research, explorations, trial and errors, thoughts and epiphanies in your e-portfolio.

Marking criteria: You will be judged on your creativity: the rationale (in writing 250 words) behind the 27th letter and the argument for its consideration. The aesthetic appeal of the shape of the letter and the process work behind the outcome. It’s visual and logical relevance when compared to the other 26 letters.

Main research:
 my primary source was following back or going back to the basics where all I take the 26 letters as my references. In the video that the lecturer provided, I notice that each letters was then simplified into a square box or half a square box to keep it tidy and in order. I also notice that the last few alphabets such as “W, X, Y, Z” does not have any curve patterns, hence I tried to follow so the continuity of the pattern is present.

Below are the sketches that i did before proceeding in choosing the final outcome.

             

top left- diagram 1
top right- diagram 2
bottom left- diagram 3
bottom right- diagram 4

Other research done:
I tried to think outside the box by referring and getting some inspiration from the alphabet used in the movie “The hobbit” created by J. R. R. TOLKIEN. The language he creates was referred to as the “Elvish” language. As you can see, the tolkien language's alphabet was also created using the same concept which is writing in the "box". some of the alphabets takes up half of the box, some occupied fully. it may seems easy to write one of these alphabets, but it may not be easy to understand and memories at first glance.

diagram 5 shows that the respective alphabet created by Tolkien to replace the roman letters.

Final outcome:

I chose this as my final 27^th letter design because with just a few strokes, you are able to write it out. It also stays within the concept of writing in a “box”. It was perfectly align and utilizing almost the full box. Reason of choosing this as my finalize letter is because of the patterns that maintain the continuity of the letter “Z” which did not have any curves in the letter itself. I tried to keep it as simple as possible so that the pattern can be easily recognized and to remember about it.  In terms of the pronunciation of the letter, I came out with term “zie”. When the pronunciation is being projected, it may start with the sounding of “Xha”. Maybe this can replace letters that starts from Z but has sounding like X”. For instants, ZIG-(xha)ag. This is by far a concept of what I’ve been trying to accomplish.

FEEDBACK:Joshua, your research was ok, could do with a little more, do look at Derry's eportfolio as an example. The letterforms you created in my opinion was to complicated with too many strokes. Your rationale underpinning the letter may be acceptable.

Reflection
Experience: it was very challenging to create the 27^th letter as we are already dealing with 26 letters since the day we are born. When creating a new letter, everything looks the same, or it shapes up really weird and you don’t really like it, this doesn’t really fall in place.

Observation: I never knew that thinking and creating a new letter will crack my head so hard in thinking and exploring different types of patterns and strokes because I have to keep in mind that it has to be simple, in the “box”, and pattern recognition is easy for people to remember. But once I drew the “right” one, I felt it suits the place as the 27^th letter. So, I went with the design that I finalize. It just feels right for me. Through the process of drawing and sketching out the letter, I notice that I like to draw things until I get it perfect, then only I will proceed to color the letter.

Findings: I found out that my brain storming method needs improving and also needs more broaden perspective and not just sticking on one side of the page. Also, i need to practice on sketching to further improve my free hand drawing and not relying on tools.