Studio Brief: Task 2 : Typeface design

On Monday we were set an assignment to create are own typeface based on a word we picked out of a bucket, the word which I picked was 'quaint', we then had to choose a font based on one of Mueller-Brockmanns  classic and lead typefaces, these are the typefaces of choice: 

1. Garamond 

2. Caslon 

3. Baskerville 

4. Bodoni 

5. Clarendon

6. Berthold

7. Times  

8. Helvetica 

9. Univers

Once given the typefaces, we then had to search the word we got given, mine was 'quaint' so I bhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quaintegan to search to try find different meanings of the word. This is what I've found during my research: 

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quaint

• Having an old-fashioned attractiveness or charm; oddly picturesque.
• Strange, peculiar, or unusual in an interesting, pleasing, or amusing way.
• Something Skillfully or cleverly made.

Source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=quaint

• Attractive because of being unusual and especially old-fashioned
• Quaint can also be used to show that you do not approve of something, especially an opinion, belief or way of behaving, because it is strange or old-fashioned

Examples: 

•  ''A quaint old cottage''
• "What a quaint idea!" she said, laughing at him.

From finding some information out I began to sketch a spider diagram, so I could put all the different meanings I found together. 

Once sketching the spider diagram, I then began to look at the typefaces that we were allowed to use, I now knew that I was looking for a unique, old-fashioned typeface that was preferably a serif font. So I began by listing the typefaces down and looking the types up online looking for the most old-fashioned type that had unique qualities. 

As you can see I have marked crosses at the end of the type names that I did not think would be suitable to use as my type. The main reason why I did not choose these is because they were far to modern and were not serif fonts. The reason why I am after a serif font is because I find that serifs look older as they have Brackets on the end of them which we see in old victorian writing. 

After analysing the fonts that were not going to be suitable for my project I then began to focus on searching for the type that would be suitable, so I made a list of the typefaces that were remaining. 

From this I then researched the images again and printed them out to write notes and compare all the fonts which were left. 

Garamond, which is the font in the top left hand corner had the following features:

• It is a serif font.
• It usesBrackets at the end of the letters.
• It doesn't have anything unique about the font. 
• It looks to modern due to the simplicity and lack of uniqueness in the font.

Bodoni, which is the font below the Garamond font had the following features: 

• It is a serif font. 
• It uses brackets.
• The letter 'G' has a tail which is placed in a sophisticated manner 
• On letters such as 'r' and 'c' at the bottom end of the letters they curve off, creating a smooth elegant flick at the end of the letters. 
• It's very slim and elongated, which makes it look like it would be used in fashion logo designs and designer shops.

Times, which is the font below Bodoni has the following features: 

• It is a serif font 
• It uses brackets 
• A tail is uses at the end of the letter 'Q', which makes the type look more formal.
• On letters such as 'J' and 'S' at the bottom of each letter the tails seems to flick off in an unusual manner.
• Due to the width of this font I do not think that it would work, as it looks to chunky. It also lacks unique qualities and only has a few.

Baskerville, which is the font on the top right hand corner, has these following features: 

• It's a serif font.
• The use of the tale on the letter 'Q' is very unique and different, personally never seen a flick like that before it makes the type look more formal.
• It uses brackets, this makes the type look victorian. 
• It has defenders on the letters 'q' and 'y' this also gives a sense of formality. 
• The thickness of the main body of text is just the right thickness.
• I almost feel that this typeface looks like a modern version of a victorian typeface. 

Caslon, which is the font below the Baskerville font, has theses following features:

• It's a sans serif font.
• It uses brackets which make it look old fashioned/victorian.
• On letters such as 'E' it's bracket is tilted to the side slightly almost like an italic font, which gives it more of an old fashioned look to it.
• It also has a tail on the letter 'g' which again make it formal and historic.
• The thickness of this font is also just the right size.

After analysing the fonts I could choose from, It then came down to two fonts which are Baskerville and Caslon that I thought would work. To decide which font out of the two that would best fit I wrote some comparisons down on my note book. 

From comparing the typefaces, I found that the only difference between them is that the Baskerville font is more modern than the Caslon font and therefore Caslon would fit better for the word I was given 'quint'. Caslon fit's well with my word as it uses some unique flicks on the tails of letters,it's a serif font which most old fashioned victorian fonts use and the thickness is not to bold or to much of a statement just like old victorian text. 

From this I then started to think of the word quient and think of what and where you would call quient. I found that you would find places such as York quient and vintage cafes and sweets shops quient. I then  searched cafes and shop and places and gathered some imagery to see what the typefaces look like that they were using, here are the following: 

From finding this research I then began to create some sketches of the type face and tried to think of ideas in how I could manipulate it as you can see below. 

Once sketching the typeface down I then took It on to photoshop and started digitally experimenting.

In this type below which I manipulated by winding the body type, as during my research I found that in old fashioned type fonts which were used on old pubs or cafes seem to be quite broad and robust. By doing this I found that it didn't work so well as it didn't enhance the other meanings of the word quaint in therms of the fact it does't enhance the idea of it being unique, as it looks to similar to current fonts. 

In this typeface below I stretched it downwards as I also found that characters in other old fashioned typefaces seemed to also look quite long and quite bold. Again I didn't think that this idea worked particularly great as it looks to similar to other old fashioned type and may look like I'm ripping the original font off and I also thought that it didm't look unique or have anything special about it. 

From experimenting the ideas above, I decided that I wanted to keep the font simple as i felt the original font already look old fashioned, so I decided from this I needed to concentrate in making it look more unique. I began doing even more research in to old fashioned type and I saw some similar types used similar ideas using lines. I decided that by adding simple rectangular shapes in the middle of the letters made it look quirky and unique. So far this idea I have created is my favourite as it's old fashioned,quirky and unique. I could see this typeface being used in a cafe or a boutique shop. 

Adding on  brackets 

For this experimentaion I added small rectangular shapes at the end of the letters to make the letters look friendly and not as sharp as they previously. 

From doing this I’ve noticed that it has made the font look bold and easier to read. There for if it was used as sighnage I believe it would be eyecatching and stand 

However I feel that it didn’t look unique and compared to other fonts out in industry today it looked to similar to other fonts that have been produced.

I also felt that the font looks satisfactory and therefore would not make the public intrigued in theboutique shop or cafe. 

I also feel that the font does not look suitable for a boutique storeas it is to bold and looks like it would be used possibley in thriller books and movies. 

I also felt that it lost its heritage look and that it didn’t look Victorian anymore. Overall I’m glad I experimented with this idea as it’s helping me limit down which font i’ve created that I should use.

                                           

Bold 

This is the last piece of experimentaion which I have created in illustrator.

For this experiment I added a heavy stroke to make the font lok bold and stand out. As you can see by doing this it has mad the brackets blunt and less sharp. 

The use of the strokes on the font have also widened the font and made it look very flat, It almost looks like a typewriter font.

Overal I found that this font would not be suitbale for my final outcome, as compared to my previous experimentes  it lacks unique qualites and it also looses the look of age and old Victoruian type. 

Final Typeface  design choice 

I choose this idea for my design because of the following: 

- It still has it’s victorian elements to it with the use of the brackets. 

- It looks diffrent to other fonts out in industry  to this day. ~Due to the rectangles used.

- The use of the rectangles also make it look diverse. 

- This font is also  clear and easy to read and will also work when shrunk down to smaller sizes .

-  The font is also eye catching so when the public walk past it they will be 

interested in the botuique shop or cafe. 

As you can see I've also put my type in context so that we can see what it would look like in a boutique logo type, which I think works nicely. I also added a colour in the background of the type to show how postal colours would probably go best with the word 'quaint' and the type. 

Overall I’m pleased with my choice of font as I feel I’ve designed a succsessful outcome. If I were  to do this task again I would probebly be more pratical and 

experiment  with paints and materials.

Feedback 

• This would work in a boutique shop due to the unique character driven typographic forms which could also be effectively reproduced by a sign, painter/writer.
• Definitely looks good for a boutique store.
• All the Characters are very effective apart from Q and O, which feel too assertive. 
• Good sample in 'Quaint' to show a potential context.

Following from my feedback I thought that it would be worth experimenting with the letters Q and O. As you can see below are the letters Q and O I made this effect by using the pen tool on illustrator which has made the letters look soft and less assertive. 

Colour theory: Study task 02

Today  I was set a study task to use the pantone reference guide to choose one other colour that alongside black and a hue or tone of your 'least favourite' colour, that could word well with a scheme for a simple children's book, which we then had to upload on to are blog. 

Below are some books and posters which show a good example of what combined colours can actually look like:

   

Studio Brief 1 - Logo Type - T.G.I Fridays

Last week I was set a brief to pick a international company which was also in leeds, and rebrand there logo design. We had to choose a company depending on if with thought there current logo was not suitable for their company and change it to what we thought would be suitable. 

I started off my researching  a little bit into T.G.I Fridays as a company and began jotting notes down that may help me into my experiments that I've done. 

During my research I found an image of the first ever T.G.I Fridays which was built in New York city. What I found interesting was that the original building was blue and in no logo design in this century have they incorporated the colour blue which I found odd, considering it's an an American dinner. I did notice however that they used the colours red and blue which have been carried out throughout the time of people re-branding the logo, so it does keep with some tradition. 

The brand which I choose to re-brand was T.G.I Fridays. I choose T.G.I as my re-brand project as, I really want to change the target audience that it attracts at the moment which is families. I would like to change the target audience to teenagers and above from fifteen upwards, the reason why is because that teenagers these days don't really have any chilled and laid back places where they can sit back and have a drink and a bite to eat. 

There current logo which I want to change works with the current target audience being families and children, as i think that the type which has been used is quite playful, yet it is old fashioned from my point of view. From someone my ages eye, currently it's not somewhere I would go. I find the logo tacky and the type used very immature so immediately it limits down types of people that will go there for food and drink. 

During my research I found that T.G.I Fridays has recently been rebranded, but I choose to stick with T.G.I for my re-brand as I didn't find the re-brand particularly pleasing. The reason why I do not like the new re-brand as i think that they, type is to chunky, It doesn't really say america, and I think  overall it's just boring to look at and I wouldn't personally walk past and find the logo intriguing enough to want to go into the restaurant. 

During my research into T.G.I Fridays, I did some research into the interior of the restaurant and found that there was posters, album covers, T-shirts, Guitars. I feel it's almost like it was trying to copy the Hard Rock Cafe interior. 

After researching, past logos, interior I began to research american dinners logos on design website such as Behance i did this hoping that it would give me some more inspiration in what i should start experimenting with, here are some examples of the work which I thought looked good and communicate:

The reason why I think that this communicates well is because how simplistic the design is, and how they've used the colours subtly to insinuate america and haven't complicated the design to make it luck tacky. 

This is another lovely design which I found, this particular design I like the idea of the text being overlaid and how they colours are overlapped it adds texture, and the used of the mono print and colours make it look modern and sophisticated. 

This is another design which I'm not a fan of how it looks and I think it could be better, but the idea of how the type is stacked on top of each other which reminds us of a burger and how it's in a n oval shape and looks like a bun as well because it's yellow. 

From the research which I did I then began to sketch out some ideas trying to take in all the information which I found out over the past couple days and get it on paper. Here are some of the sketches which I have created. 

From my sketches I then began to analyse which typeface would be best for the type of logo I was creating, which is retro and modern, I decided that I would use the font Bebas Neue. The reason I choose this font is because  I found it had a retro feel to it already and it also looked modern due the shape of the letters. 

I felt that the other typefaces that I looked at were rather to thin  or would look slightly old fashioned when I'm trying to make my re-brand modern. 

From Finding the typeface which I would like to use I then started doing some digital experimentation. 

In this piece of experimentation i tried to make my type which i was experimenting with look 3D, so I added another layer of text to try make it seem 3D but I found that it didn't work particularly well because I hadn't used a strong enough colour so you could see the text in the background. In most of my type you will see the colour red, that's because red is a significant colour on the American flag and it's also a bold colour and stands out to a customer. 

This is another idea I came up with, I changed the layout so that legibility would not be an issue when it is shrunk down to a smaller size and also because I think that it looked sophisticated and simple. I then decided I wanted to add all the colours of the American flag so i brought in red and blue thick lines to show that, I also thought that it would work well as the original company used blue on there building so it also brings back some tradition. Although I do like the idea of this design I do not think it is suitable for my brand as I feel due to the colour and usage of the stripes it looks like a buckers or barbers.

This time I changed the colour of the stripes which were going round in the rectangle, I wanted the colour to look more friendly and visually attractive, but i found when you look at it that it doesn't say much about America and the baby blue colour doesn't go nicely against the vibrant red. 

Although I wasn't satisfied by the previous logo designs I came up with, I thought that I would give another go on making the type 3D, I think the use of the 3D works well on this logo design as it's not to much.  I used a darker red in the background as i thought it might give a better 3D impact. I did only stick to one colour scheme in this logo design as  I really liked how it looked. Although I liked how it looked and how smart I thought it looked, again it didn't communicate much about America and to me personally looked like a clothing label.

From learning from my mistakes which I made in my previous experiments, I thankfully had a brain storm whilst trying to think of ideas. I started to sketch these ideas and create a mockup of the idea which i had in my head. 

The idea behind this logo design that i thought of, I wanted to make a logo that looked like the american flag in the most subtle way and also show the idea of food whilst still looking modern and attractive. Following from these sketch's and mockup design I stared to digitally experiment with them properly. 

The idea behind this design was to stack things on top of each other to make it look like a burger in a stubble way and make the american flag stand out, by using stars at the side of the text, the use of the red bars which I have created not only link to the previous traditional colours of my brand but could also relate to the bar which Is in T.G.I Fridays. I really liked this idea that I came up with as it had quite a lot of meaning behind it but I  found the colours to be to bright and immature, and as i said previously i wanted to work on ways in which would make my logo more mature. 

So I started to bring the colour black into my logo idea as when I think of maturity I think of darker colours. Also in some logos it can make your brand look professional, as for my logo design I do not think that it does this. I think that it makes my brand look tacky. I did try to invert the colour of the text to make it look more appealing and also change the colour of the stars but it still wasn't going to look how I wanted it to. 

Learning from my past experimentation I began to start to come up with another idea which was to make my logo look more like a burger, doing  this i created a oval shape which I then coloured brown to look like a burger. I like the idea originally until i realised how chunky and thick that it actually looked and how shrinking down to a smaller size that my logo will look like a big oval brown shape. So I then messed around with the use of colour trying to change to colour to see if the legibility would be better. 

I changed the colour of the burger into a mustard colour, at the time I was trying to think about the colour of a Macdonadl's burger and at the time it seemed like a good idea but looking back at it now it was a bad choice. I still think that when it is shrunk down that the legibility wouldn't be good and the mustard colour would be overpowering. 

In this design Below I tried to stick with the basic shape of the flag again, but this time I added quite a few stars. I didn't like this idea once I had done it as I felt that it looked tacky and that when it will be shrunk down the strars would not be legible anymore. 

This idea above shows an american flag, I thought it would be interesting to make it look really obvious that I wanted people to see it was an American restaurant and actually quite like the design, but as a logo I think it's to big and chunky and would work better on a wall as a big statement piece.

This image below is when I was trying to go back to my similar ideas that I previously had and try to make them work, for this idea below I kept the idea of the 3D text as I thought it worked well and then added the colour blue into it. Once adding the blue to make it look more American I decided that it didn't work. 

 This logo above which i designed I darkened the colours to give it more formality and maturity and made the bars thinner as I thought they looked to thick. I then started playing round again with Typefaces as I was sure if some of the Typefaces that i previously research  now thinking about it would be better. In result to this development I found that I didm't like the type in this logo and started developing again with my original type i decided on. 

Focusing on the the type I originally choose in these two logos below I experimented with the thickness of the type and thinness to see which I thought looked best. In resupply to this I found that the thicker typeface was just to thick, but the thinner typeface was just right. I then also decided to play around with the thickness of the red bars on the logo designs that I created as i felt the rectangles were to chunky, I think the thinner rectangles look better as they look more professional.

Below is the design's of the four logos which I liked the most. But the one which I have chosen for my final piece is the logo at the bottom right of the page. The reason for choosing this as my final logo as I think it communicates best as; It shows the American flag, It uses the American Flag colours, how it is stacked up shows the idea of a burger which is American food, the bars can stand for the bar within the restaurant, the type is modern, simple and retro. The use of the darker colours also make it look more mature and the legibility works well when it's shrunk down to a smaller size. Overall I am happy with my final outcome and think that it fits the brand I have chosen well and the target audience. 

These are some mockups which I have created so you can see what they actually look like on business cards, mugs and windows.