Blog Post 4: Helvetica

There are many documentaries and movies, you just don't want to see again (e.g.  "Art & Copy" (2009)) but the film "Helvetica" definitely isn't one of them. I've seen the film before, yet learned something new each time. I've always liked the font Helvetica, as it is so practical. But I do admit, that it has become some sort of a routine when choosing a font, which was mentioned as one of the problems in the film. I do believe that when choosing a font you need to take the context in consideration and, therefore, I must disagree with Massimo Vignelli, who only considers 6 typefaces to be usable. I do like his "all humanity stripped away" style and approach to design, but as a graphic designer, I feel as if we're obligated to explore and experiment, keeping our options open. If there is a way of avoiding the basic typefaces like Arial, Helvetica, Futura and Gill Sans, I would. Sometimes it just seems impossible, as it is so easy to take the shortcut by using Helvetica and still making your design look bearable. Experimental Jetset was a very interesting example of a group of designers who only used Helvetica in their designs. I liked their concept, but in my opinion they are losing so many good opportunities by just using one typeface instead of looking for other options.

After watching this film it made me love Paula Scher, Erik Spiekermann and David Carson even more. I loved how cool and laid-back Paula Scher was and it was interesting to hear about her art school memories by explaining how she never really quite knew what to do with type and after taking advice from her professor, she started illustrating type. David Carson was my ultimate favorite. He made me laugh out loud (also known as "lol") when he was talking about students writing essays about his work and analyzing some specific details of the work as if they were intentional, when in reality they were just accidental. Also, when he was pointing at some of the words on the wall saying: "this does not look caffeinated!" was hilarious. Erik Spiekermann on the other hand, is quite a personality. I loved his ûberpassionate attitude towards typography and his almost neurotic hand movements and gestures whenever he got a bit excited.  I'm pretty sure I will look more into these designers as they impressed me with not only their talent, but also their lovable personalities.

I don't know whether I have changed my opinion about Helvetica as a typeface. I don't even know if I ever even had an opinion. It doesn't exactly annoy me that it is used everywhere. I wouldn't say that whoever uses Helvetica has bad taste, it always depends on the context. But if the context provided lots of design opportunities and the designer decides to go with Helvetica without even considering another typeface, I'd say this designer either lacks of creativity or is just simply lazy, or both! Whatever the case, I've learned that there are a lot of great typefaces out there. Not just Helvetica.

Blog Post 4: This Font Is Sure Saucy!

"elegant"

"naughty"

Blog Post 3: Getting Around

The original sign

Font Choice: Helvetica Neue Bold (my best guess)

Helvetica Neue Bold is a sans-serif typeface, that was designed to create a neutral typeface that had great clarity and could be used on a wide variety of signage, which is why Helvetica can be seen everywhere. Obviously, the whole point of using Helvetica on street signs is because it's clear and neutral, only communicating the essential, for example, the distance to the nearest park.

Problem: Lacking of authority

The sign I chose is clear, but lacks of authority. As a font, Helvetica Neue Bold is appropriate for this sign, but I would play around with the hierarchy and the layout of the text, in order to strengthen the tone of the sign. For instance, the word "No" is written exactly the same as the rest of the text, making it disappear and thus, making the sign less authoritative. As the word "No" applies to all activities mentioned on the sign, it could be shown more clearly by resizing it, and maybe using a different colour, like the colour red, and all caps. Also the phrase "All games strictly prohibited" could be written in small caps to emphasize the summarized message of the entire sign.

Redesigned sign

 The original sign probably isn't doing a very good job among all skate boarders and mountain bikers, as it isn't intimidating enough to make them obey the message conveyed by the sign. I haven't really seen any skate boarders or roller bladers in that area, but then again, I have barely seen any in Glasgow City Centre. Personally, If I were to be skate boarding, I'd probably choose that area, just to make ridicule of the sign.

Excercise 3: 'The Crystal Goblet'

Beatrice Warde was probably right about printing and typography back in the 50's and maybe some of her rules apply even today (legibility of book texts for instance). However, the world has changed completely after encountering with the technological revolution leading to changing our environment and lives dependent on the internet. Even books, posters and magazines can be now read online, and thanks to multimedia another dimension can be now added to reading a magazine, for instance, by attaching videos or other interactive methods.

Will books and magazines become extinct at some point in the future? I hope not. I rely on the creativity of designers who make me want to buy books and magazines by experimenting with interesting printing and typography solutions. I'm a firm believer in creativity, and I'm sure others appreciate it as well, although they might not completely understand it. Sometimes you read a book, or a piece of text, and that's it. You feel nothing, even though you understood what it meant. It is the designer's job to encourage readers to read in context and think outside the box. The experience of reading a book is of the utmost importance, for example, if one of the book pages was printed on neon green paper, you'd probably feel something; be amazed, shocked or amused, whatever it is, it made you think and feel, and therefore, adding value to your experience of reading the book. So, I'd have to disagree with Beatrice Warde; people WILL appreciate your skills. You just need to use them in the right context.

Excercise 4: Modular Grid

Blog Post 1: &

&

If I were only allowed to describe this ampersand with one adjective, I would describe it with the word 'clear'. 

This might make me seem like a very uneducated person, but before reading chapter 6 of Garfield, I didn't realise that the ampersand is a conflation of the letters 'e' and 't', even though I knew it was pronounced 'et', which in Latin (and French!) means 'and'.

My chosen ampersand of the font 'Coming Together' says loud and clear 'et' with a bold sans serif capital 'E' attached to a bold sans serif lowercase 't' by stretching the E's terminal on the baseline. Its features seem geometric with the same width for every part of the anatomy, for instance, the stem of the capital letter 'e' shares the same width as the stem of the lowercase letter 't'. Moreover, it looks like the glyphs are formed of rectangular blocks of the same width. Therefore the classification for this ampersand is geometric sans serif.

To me, this ampersand looks like two characters living in symbiosis, both benefiting from each other.  A bond so strong, it's almost unbreakable. Without the stretched terminal of the letter 'E', the letter 't' would look like a cross, and therefore sending out a wrong message by reflecting death. The letter 'E' would just look boring and uncreative. That is why both symbionts depend entirely on each other in order to look like a clear, but creative, ampersand.