Blog post 5: Helvetica

Having watched the film ‘Helvetica’ which I thoroughly enjoyed, I aim to extend my knowledge of the designers which intrigued me the most. From the film I learned much information that I did not know previously. It has also furthered my knowledge from studying certain designers in class. Furthermore it has allowed me to think about how I feel about the use of Helvetica throughout the world of design.

I learned that Helvetica came to life around 1975. It was a neutral typeface which was legible. It is a font where the context does the talking and not the letterforms of the type. It was used largely in the Swiss style of graphic design my many infamous designers. Some of this information in the film, I previously knew due to a recent project. The two designers I studied Massimo Vignelli and Experimental Jetset (a group of designers) where largely talked about throughout the film. I discovered knew information about these designers. Vignelli talked about designers curing visual disease. I really liked how he described this, meaning there is so much ‘ugly’ design out there that designer’s aims should be to design beautiful timeless design. Experimental Jetset mentioned how design is in the blood and that it is how you use the font that makes it. This was interesting as solely plastering Helvetica on the page does not make good design.

I was quite surprised to find out that Helvetica has been booming for about 50 years. Also I found it surprising how since the release of Helvetica, no other font has been released and been such a big hit with designer and the public alike.

Throughout the film there were certain moments that were very comical. One in particular has stuck in the back of my mind. One designer talked about looking at older styled designs then re branding them in the Swiss style. He was over dramatic and used a metaphor as though the old design was like walking through the desert then the new was the glass of water at the end. The dramatizing of this was quite funny but has made me think about it deeper and start to understand what they were getting at.

During the film new designers to me appeared and I found them very interesting. Wim Crouwel a Dutch designer, who actually was inspiration for much of Experimental Jetsets designs. The designers that appeared in the later half of the film were oppositions to the use of Helvetica. These designers such as Carson, Scher and Brody all designer in very different ways from the Swiss style and this caused much upset. There designs were much more busy and used communication in a different way than the Swiss. However I found both exciting.

I feel that after watching the film I have not changed my view on Helvetica. In particular I like how Experimental Jetset use  it as it has an edge and is playful but in keeping with a crisp clear visual message. That is not to say I do not like the work of Scher and designers alike but I agree with the feeling that Helvetica is neutral where the context does the talking. I plan to use Helvetica where appropriate in briefs but I will remember that in some projects there are fonts that in themselves convey an expressive meaning without the context being understood.

Blog Post: That font sure is saucy.

Bellow is my salacious headline, I have used a fluid serif font to try and create a sense of beauty and elegance which can mislead the reader into thinking the line will be something good.

Bellow is my good headline. With this one i have tried to use a variety of fat, heavy and ungainly font. This aims to give the positive headline a negative appeal. It will hopefully make the reader not feel what was intended in the headline due to the font choice.

Blog Post 3: Getting Around.

Stagecoach Return journey ticket.

The font that appears to be used in this ticket is a serif typeface in bit map form? It has a ragged and dotty appearance which leads me to believe this. A contrast in light and bold have been used to create hierarchy. Tight leading and a small Pt. size creates a 'mash' of the information making the font quite difficult to read. The font's message does not convey a luxurious and comforting mode of transport but a rough and uncomfortable travel experience. However, this specific type of font may have been used due to the compact printing device installed on buses.

The hierarchy on the ticket is quite crazy and doesn't seem to have been taking into much consideration as certain bits of information appear unnecessary. Areas of less importance seem to have been made larger and bolder than the important areas. A variety of alignments are used and it creates a confusing jumble of information.

In terms of usability it will be hard for people with bad eye sight as even the public with near perfect eye sight find it hard to read the information on the ticket. Overall the ticket is usable in terms of size it slips into a wallet or a purse to keep for the return journey. 

In order for the design to be improved a few changes should be made in terms of hierarchy, Font size and overall information on the actual ticket. 

Bellow is my edited and revised version of the bus ticket.

Blog 2: Ampersands

Above is my chosen ampersand from the font 'Coming Together.' A font created entirely from ampersands by many different designers for Font Aid IV.

The humanist letterform can be distinguished clearly from the calligraphy/script like strokes. The weight of the stroke varies from a extremely thin to a relatively thicker stroke throughout the lettering. The fluid like serifs curve naturally like buds of a flower. In terms of size and scale the ampersand looses its elegance (identified in the fluid serifs) when produced in smaller sizes. It is better suited to a larger font sizes.

The ampersand is clear in its distinction of the 'ET' as identified as the universal language off and, in the 'Just My Type' book. This specific ampersand appears quite delicate and ornate yet it has a sense of elegance and beauty. The variation of stoke thicknesses distinguish this very elegant appeal. The delicate appeal is created through the fluid serifs and the ornate through the sort of 'blobs' of thicker detail at the end of these. It in some ways has hints towards the French Art Nouveau movement in its very organic shaping. It can be imagined in the heading of an elegant magazine or holding two designer's names together in their artistic design agency (The feeling of permanence identified by Simon Garfeild.) The joining of the 'ET' in this ampersand is from the 'e' to the 't' in a very natural curve, the whole design is very organic and does not hold any geometric properties. 

Exercise 3: Alignment