22.06.2024 - 21.07.2024 | Week 10 - Week 14
Maisarah binti Mohd Sufian | 0358458
Interactive Design | Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Task 3: Type Exploration & Application
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LECTURES
Week 1 - 3 here
Week 4 - 5 here
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TASK 3 - Type Exploration & Application
Instructions
Fig. 1.1 Module Information
For this task, we must use our knowledge from exercises, lectures, and software experience to complete this final task. We must experiment with a novel idea, working with unique materials. The end result, defined by ourselves, could be a designed font or an experimental output in any format: animation, 3D, print, projection, music video, etc.
1. Research
Going into this, I did not have much of an idea of what to go with, but after referring to Mr Vinod's lectures, I initially came up with the idea to create a typeface inspired by a lost Malay script, called Rencong. During my proposal presentation, Mr Vinod urged me to create a typeface of the script itself, alongside latin letters. After having my proposal approved, I moved on with further research of Rencong. I made notes to have a very thorough understanding of the script.
Fig. 1.2 Proposal (22.06.2024)
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| Fig. 1.3 Rencong notes (24.06.2024) |
My references:
- Mr Vinod's lecture
- Youtube Channel Razali Rejang & Rencong
- Prof. Dr. Solehah Yaacob on Facebook
2. Sketching & Exploration
I practiced writing sentences, and tried writing out the letters with various kinds of pens, to see which one I liked most.
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| Fig. 1.4 Tool exploration (24.06.2024) |
I decided to go with the style of the 3.0 calligraphy pen. My initial idea was to create a typeface that had disconnected strokes where they would overlap, however as there was not much time left to the assignment, I slowly scrapped that idea while working on the base shapes. To further decide on the grid for my base shapes, I sketched the letterforms in different ratios, I decided to go with the 5x3 ratio.
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| Fig. 1.5 Testing ratios (24.06.2024) |
3. Digitising & Refinement
I imported my sketches into Illustrator and experimented even more, using different strokes and angles.
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| Fig. 2.1 Exploring variations (29.06.2024) |
I decided to go with the slightly slanted letterform as I felt it best represented what the name of the script meant, which is crooked. I based the stroke widths on how they are written, with them being thin going up and thick going down.
I used strokes and expanded them, I also added a 28 degree slanted edge to the ends of the strokes, with diagonal bars following the same angle. Straight strokes were tilted at 88 degrees.
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| Fig. 2.2 Rencong process (08.07.2024) |
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| Fig. 2.3 All constructed glyphs (08.07.2024) |
I then moved on to the Latin letters, I was honestly a little lost on how to do this, but I wanted to create a typeface that could compliment the Rencong script. I followed the same stroke pattern, with up strokes being thin and down strokes being thick, following the same stroke widths. I used Univers LT Std 93 as a reference to proportions. I also made the x-height of my Latin letters equal to the cap height of the Rencong letterforms, and i maintained the width of each letter.
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| Fig. 2.4 Rencong LatinRegular Process (09.07.2024) |
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| Fig. 2.5 Rencong LatinRegular (11.07.2024) |
I did the same with numbers and punctuation.
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| Fig. 2.6 Constructed punctuations (12.07.2024) |
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| Fig. 2.7 Constructed numbers (12.07.2024) |
4. Fontlab
I used Fontlab 8 to build my font. This is where it started to get tedious, and a bit tricky. Since there are no glyphs to support Rencong script, I created 2 fonts within the same font family. One for Rencong, and one for Latin letters.
I uploaded my Latin letters, and the process for this did not take long as it was fairly simple.
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| Fig. 3.1 Rencong LatinRegular Fontlab 8 (13.07.2024) |
I then moved on to my Rencong letters. For this, I tried making it as true as possible to how the script would appear written, but instead using latin letters on a keyboard. I did this by assigning each keyboard key to a letter, referencing how the letter would sound. The problem was, the Rencong letters went by a, ba, ca, da instead of a, b, c, d, and an extra letterform would have to be added if the letter was not attached to a vowel.
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| Fig. 3.2 Rencong Regular Fontlab 8 (18.07.2024) |
So, I had to do some programming, and I used the rlig feature to assign a new glyph to a pattern of letters. For example, by typing nga, instead of the glyphs for n, g and a appearing, it would appear as a single glyph. I assigned PUA Unicodes and other unused unicodes to these new glyphs.
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| Fig. 3.3 Rencong Regular Fontlab 8 Programming (18.07.2024) |
I continued to do this until I had 277 lines of script. There are a few flaws, as I did not have time to completely perfect the font. This is because there is a crazy amount of variations for a single letter, based on how it were to be sounded out, such as nggai, nkau, etc. and the same letter can be sounded out in different ways, such as a and e, and é and i, and o and u. A problem I first ran into was with the letter e, because no one writes é on a keyboard, so the only way to have type a word with an e sound is to type it as a. As stated, these problems can be resolved with changing a few letters when typing out a word, for example words ending in ai can be typed out as ay and those ending in au can be typed out as w. Another drawback of my Rencong font is that there is no character assigned to q and x, as these letters do not exist in Rencong script. To avoid confusion, I decided to get rid of them entirely. Another thing to mention that due to these features, my font must be downloaded as an .otf file.
Obviously, due to time restrictions, this may be as good as it's gonna get. ...however I am interested to continue developing this over semester break and learning different features to resolve these issues.
5. Application
Mr Vinod gave me the idea to create a worksheet with my Rencong font, like those aimed to teach kids how to write the Alphabet. This further gave me an idea to create some objects where you would typically see the alphabet, but instead with Rencong letters. Despite it being an ancient script, I did not want to do anything traditional, as I wanted to prove that the script could look modern and timeless. However, to maintain the Malaysian spirit I used a colour palette using the colours of the Jalur Gemilang.
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| Fig. 4.1 Colour Palette (19.07.2024) |
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| Fig. 4.2 Type Application Process (20.07.2024) |
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| Fig. 4.3 Type Application (20.07.2024) |
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| Fig. 4.4 Type Artwork (20.07.2024) |
Submission
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| Rencong LatinRegular (Uppercase) |
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| Rencong LatinRegular (Lowercase) |
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| Rencong Regular (A-Z) |
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| Rencong LatinRegular/Regular Numbers + Punctuation |
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| Font Presentation #1 |
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| Font Presentation #2 |
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| Font Presentation #3 |
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| Font Presentation #4 |
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| Font Presentation #5 |
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| Font Application #1 Workbook |
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| Font Application #2 Eye Chart |
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| Font Application #3 Workshop Directory Sign |
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| Font Application #4 Workshop Banner |
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| Font Application #5 Study Guide Book Cover |
Font download link here.
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FEEDBACK
Week 10:
Specific feedback:
1. understand the letterforms, tools used and the current possibilities.
2. analyse the script, does it descenders? ascenders? etc.
3. try writing the script using different tools.
4. put aside the latin text, and focus on the original script.
Week 11:
Specific feedback:
1. the counter space for nja is too tight, the angles for sa is too sharp, counter space for ca too small,
2. the letter frame can become wider/taller.
Week 12:
No feedback given.
Week 13:
Specific feedback:
Mr Vinod gave me the idea on creating a worksheet as my type application.
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REFLECTION
Experience
To be honest, I didn't expect myself to be able to complete this within the timeframe that I did. I presented my proposal about 2 weeks late, which now I realise is the time that would've been very beneficial to me. Nonetheless I am happy with how my typeface turned out. What started out as a last minute idea turned out to be one of the most enjoyable and satisfying tasks that I have done for this semester. I think my font application and artwork could've been thought out better, and I worry that the outcome is disappointing for the potential it could've had, but I am still proud of it regardless.
Observation
One of the main hurdles I faced while completing this assignment was programming, I had somewhat had an idea of what I was getting myself into, and I did not fully comprehend the extent of it. At first, I thought it was very tedious, but overtime I found the progamming part quite enjoyable, and a part of me lit up every time one of the scripts worked. There are many features, and I would like to continue exploring them.
Findings
I now have a deeper understanding of typography, including letterforms, spacing, and proportions. There are various intricacies of font design and how different elements contribute to readability and aesthetics. I've deepened my understanding of typographic principles, such as kerning, tracking, and leading, and how these factors contribute to the overall readability and aesthetics of text.
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FURTHER READING
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| Fig. 5.1 Typography Basics, 2003. |
I remember reading this in Semester 1, and it was still useful to me for this assignment. This book really helped me get an idea of how my typeface could turn out, and gave me some direction on how to construct it.
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| Fig. 5.2 Fontlab User Manual, link |
This manual helped me in understanding the features while programming in Fontlab.
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