Typography : Task 3B - Type Design and Communication

08.06.2022 - 24.06.2022 ( week 11 - week 13 )
Len Hoi Yee / 0353430
Typography / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Task 2: Type Design and Communication 

---

Instruction 

Week 11 (06.06.2022 - 12.06.2022)

For task 3B, we are assigned to create typographical stickers with the knowledge and skills we have gained from the precious tasks. 

Things to take note: 

•  Sticker size is limited to only 512x512 px, RGB 
• Modify the Typeface ( if only you're using existing typeface)
• Graphical elements are allowed as long as they do not overpower the letters. 
• Colours allowed: Red, Black, White
• Taylor's University logo has to be included
• White space between words has to be reduced to the minimum

For the greeting sticker, I ended up choosing "Merry Christmas" because it is my favourite festival of all!!

Visual Research

Fig 1.1 Lettering and sticker inspiration, Week 11 (05.06.2022)

While researching letterings and stickers, I was very excited and couldn't wait for designing typographical stickers. These are some inspirations I found online that are interesting. 

Sketch 

Fig 1.2 First sketch, Week 11 (05.06.2022)

#1&#5: These two designs are pretty similar as they have the Christian cross in it. I tried to connect the downward strokes of the letter "R" in Merry and "T" in Christmas, and the other letters sit on the vertical stroke of the cross, both top and bottom.

#2&#4: For #2, I created some curvy lines for the letter "C" and "s", and brought their strokes to come together to the middle as if the other letters are aligned together, and ended the strokes with a small ornament. 

#3: The letter "C" is demonstrating a sleigh and all the other letters sitting within the space. 

#6: I was just playing around with the strokes, and how I want it to curve. 

#7: The words sit on the Taylor's University logo. 

Mr Vinod commented on these sketches are too rough to give suggestion, so I had to do further research and resketch my idea. 

Fig 1.3 Second sketch, Week 11 (10.06.2022)

#1&#2: These two designs are based on an ornament, by using the shape of an ornament which is circular shape, I put the greeting words in the ball and with a little snow inside, #1 is a ribbon on top and #2 is exactly like an ornament. 

#3&#4: These are demonstrating the Christmas tree shape and I added a star or a snowflake on the tip of the tree. 

#5&#6: These two are like a gift box, with ribbon on top of the greeting words, in #6, I connected the downward strokes of the letter "R" and "T". 

Week 12 (13.06.2022 - 19.06.2022)

Digitalisation

Fig 2.1 Graphical elements, Week 11 (11.06.2022)

So I have used Pen tool, Brush tool and Line segment tool to create the graphical elements that I planned to use in my sticker. I used the Pen Tool to trace the sock and the candy. For the ribbon and the snowflake, I chose to use a Brush tool because it's easier to create the strings and Line segment tool for the snowflake.

Fig 2.2 Creating ornament shape using the letters, Week 11 (11.06.2022)

I have chosen the typeface, Bodoni Std, Regular for my letter font. I planned to use manipulate the word "MERRY" into an arch upward angle and the "CHRISTMAS" word into an arch bottom angle, like this it forms a circular shape without a circle shape. 

Fig 2.3 3 variants using the ornament shape as reference, Week 11 (11.06.2022)

So, I have changed the regular letter "T" to the Taylor's University logo. #1, I have made the ornament into a wreath. 

Fig 2.4 4th design, Week 11 (11.06.2022)

Mimicking the Christmas tree. I used the Brush tool to draw the curvy lines. 

Fig 2.5 5th design, Week 11 (12.06.2022)

This design is mimicking the gift box impression. However, I don't quite like the design. 

Fig 2.6 Creating fonts, Week 11 (12.06.2022)

First, I used the Brush tool to write the letters out, then I used Pen tool and Direct Selection tool to adjust the strokes. Some were too hard to adjust but Pen tool helped me a lot. It took me a long time to obtain this outcome(bottom).

Fig 2.7 6th & 7th design, Week 11 (12.06.2022)

After designing the letters, I arranged them. I have extended the letter "C" acting like a sleigh, the candy cane replaced the letter"T", having the other graphical elements hanging below the sleigh, and added some sparkles to spice up the sticker. On the right, the difference is the letter font. 

Fig 2.8 Digitalised sticker design, Week 11 (12.06.2022)

Fig 2.9 Shortlisted sticker design, Week 12 (12.06.2022)

After receiving feedback from Mr Vinod, I decided to go with the design at the bottom as I also prefer those over the other 2 on top, although there are amendments to make, such as the empty space. 

New Design

Fig 2.10  New design, Week 12 (17.06.2022)

I have arranged the letters more compact and nicely together to ensure there is no empty space in between and made the extended letter "C" stroke curvier. The hanging graphical elements are moved within the sticker in between the letters. The candy cane remained its job acting as the letter "t", The sock is similar in shape as the downward stroke of the letter "M", so I put it at the bottom as if the "M" is wearing a sock!

Fig 2.11 Creating sticker outline, Week 12 (17.06.2022)

Then, I used Pen tool to create the sticker outline. 

Fig 2.12 Creating snow on letters Week 12 (17.06.2022)

Now, it's time to decorate the letters so the sticker don't look dull. By using picture from online as reference, I created the snow by using Pen tool and some with brush tool. 

Fig 2.13 Deciding colours for the letter, Week 12 (17.06.2022)

Now here is the problem. I was struggling with the colours of the letters. I was playing around with the shades of red and black colour. The main problem here is it is very messy and the letters can't be seen clearly regardless of what colour I used. 

Fig 2.14 Different size , Week 12 (20.06.2022)

On the left, is the old design with a smaller letter size and on the right, I enlarged the letters to make the sticker bigger and the letters more visible. 

Fig 2.15 Different variants that differ in colour , Week 12 (20.06.2022)

Again, I tried out many many colours to make the sticker look appealing. 

Fig 2.16 Shortlisted sticker design, Week 12 (20.06.2022)

Week 13 (20.06.2022 - 26.06.2022)

After receiving Mr.Vinod's feedback, I have added some white lines to the lettering to enhance the lettering's dimension. 

Fig 3.1 Before and after creating dimension, Week 13 (24.06.2022)

Final Outcome

Telegram sticker download link: https://t.me/addstickers/TUChristmas

Fig 3.2 Final Task 3B: Type Design and Communication BnW Sticker , Week 13 (24.06.2022)

Fig 3.3 Final Task 3B: Type Design and Communication Coloured Sticker,
Week 13 (24.06.2022)

Fig 3.4 Sticker on Telegram, Week 13 (24.06.2022)

                Fig 3.5 Final Task 3B: Type Design and Communication BnW Sticker -PDF ,
                                                          Week 13 (24.06.2022)

            Fig 3.6 Final Task 3B: Type Design and Communication Coloured Sticker -PDF,
                                                          Week 13 (24.06.2022)

Feedback 

Week 13 (22.06.2022)
Specific feedback: Like the little snow caps. For #2, the white font is too white, maybe add some dimensionality in the "M". The #1 is fine, add a little bit of highlight to the lettering, that will give u extra dimensions. 

Week 12 (15.06.2022)
General feedback: Avoid using typefaces directly.

Specific feedback: For #2, the circular shape can try to make the leaves or the flower impression instead of the circular shape, if it has the grass or bush shape looks more like a wreath than an ornament since you plan to make the wreath impression. change the ribbon to mistletoe.Don't use typeface directly, you can use the typeface but you have to draw it out. 

For #3&#4, suggested that I should not use the typeface directly and also the negative space should be reduced. The letter "C" should curve more, it will still look like a sleigh even if you curve it a little. 

Week 11 (08.06.2022)
General feedback: When u design, must be aware of the cavity spaces and how you intend to fill them. A typographical sticker occupies as much space as possible. The sticker doesn't have to be a square, you have space to utilise and optimise the space u have.You are allowed to use graphical elements as long as the typographical text is strong and more obvious than anything else in the design. 

Reflection

Experience 

It was a very time-consuming task, I was struggling with the colours the most. For my design, I had to make sure that it doesn't look messy by arranging the letters close to each other and also the colours used do not clash with each other. The snow on the letter gave me a headache the most because I want the snow on the letters to make it special but it always clashes with the colour of other text or the outline. I spent a lot of time adjusting the colours and at one point my eyes are too tired to look at the screen because of staring at the screen. 

The limited space(512x512 px) has limited me to design my sticker wider, considering the word 'Christmas' is so much longer than 'Merry'. I had to adjust the word 'Merry' appropriately, and made sure that no negative space was left between words. 

On the bright side, this task allowed us to design our sticker to our liking and creativity, which has given me an opportunity to think out of the box rather than having many restrictions that restrict our potential in designing something. 

Observation

I realised that colours do make a difference, for example, to make the sticker pop, I have to use a sharp and bright tone to catch the attention, and the least focus elements shouldn't overpower the text, which should not have a brighter colour or colours that stands out from the text. 

Finding 

At first, I had no idea how to start this task, because I had never designed a sticker before plus given a limited space. Even though I searched online, I had zero idea. However, the more I explore, the more I do rough sketch, and the ideas start popping up. It was frustrating when dealing with the colours, I had to experiment many many colours on a same layout in order to get the perfect match colour. 

Further Reading

Fig 4.2 English is not Chinese, Week 12 (22.06.2022)

I totally agree. I realised that when English text is set like Chinese, the readability of the text is harder and everything is not coordinated. The letters have different width causes distraction and decrease in readability, unlike English text, Chinese text has the same width and sometimes I find it sophicated when writing Chinese text from top to bottom.

Fig 4.3 Headlines within text, Week 12 (22.06.2022)

Having headlines within a text not only provides text hierarchy but also creates tidiness, especially in documents. It gives a clean break within topics in a section, reducing reader's confusion, just like us taking a breath when talking for a long time without stopping. 

Fig 4.4 Type as image and information, Week 12 (22.06.2022)

A very good example is the letter 'S' and '$'. It looks similar to the letter 'S' but it symbolises the dollar sign, which is very interesting and creative.