FS Emeric

FS Emeric

The idea behind this typeface was to create something that stepped away from the classic fonts that were created in the 30's and 50's and form something which is not only contemporary but also has human character. The two main ideas through the design process were "a good letter is one that expresses itself, speaking with distinctiveness and clarity" and "a belief that a font can be personally expressive without compromising its functionality". These are two contradicting idea, the second one  relates to Vignelli's idea that type shouldn't be expressive which is interesting. 




What I like about this typeface is its roundness, all the curved letters such as the c, o and e look almost circular. It is a very clear and easy to read typeface that has no ornamentation or unnecessary decoration. I like how the type specimen features lots of straight lines as detail as they contrast nicely with the curves of the FS Emetic and emphasise its circular nature even more.








It is nice to look at FS Emeric being used in context which is something I hope I have time to do with my own typeface, the mock up is very simplistic which fits nicely with the design of the specimen. When it is put into this sort of context which is clearly news related it gives the typeface a much more serious tone and shows how versatile FS Emeric is. 




Overall I think the typeface works well to create a 'human character' as it feels very friendly and warming but can also represent seriousness as mentioned above.  However I don't feel that the type specimen reflects this. It is very harsh and the colours are very dark and cold which doesn't really relate to the main idea of what FS Emeric is trying to represent. I think this back page would've benefited more from using more red possibly to represent the grids and using the white to print the letters on top of this to make it look more interesting.

Studio Brief 02 - Crit

Before the crit we were tasked to recreate our words in a quick drawing, we then passed our word to another person so that they could do the same. They were then challenged to represent my word 'satisfying' through the letter A, the results are displayed below. I think this task helped a lot because it forces you to become more abstract with the drawings and representations that you create, they didn't have to be typography related therefore more illustrative designs were created yet these could easily be translated into typography when working with initial ideas.



The two ideas I had before the crit:

My first idea was to create a typeface that was based on universe that focused on the smoothness of the letters to give it a more satisfying appearance. The key things I wanted to represent were:
- Sans Serif
- Clean & simple
- Visually pleasing
- Easy to read
- Curvy letters
- Flows nicely
- Used for body

My second idea was to focus on Clarendon and create a typeface that had interesting serifs that were satisfying to look at. The key things I wanted to represent with this idea were:
- Serifs to make it flow
- Intersting serifs
- Nice to look at
- A combination od thick and thin strokes
- Used for display

I wasn't too sure on which design to expand on therefore I asked 3 questions in my crit which were

1. What features would you expect from a satisfying typeface?

2. Where would you use a typeface that is satisfying?

3. Serif or sans serif?

ANSWERS

PERSON 1 

1. even flow, easy to read, even kerning

2. relaxing places such as cafes and spas

3. sans serif because it has a more informal feel therefore is more approachable

PERSON 2

1. equal kerning, all letters on same baseline, using universe may work best as it has the immediate clean and simple look to it. However to make it less typical of what satisfying may look like a serif font may look pleasing. Serifs unbracketed so no curve to make it informed or curve may be in the middle of individual letter forms such as the bar in the H as it may be considered satisfying.

2 Typeface could be used for a magazine or if it was serif then newspaper or film poster.

3. Sans serif is more appropriate

PERSON 3

1. natural, clean cut, fluent, flowing, curved ages, hand written/ script, variation of stroke width, letterforms connected

2. on natural green/ healthy products, food products that are luxurious, magazines

3. Sans serif, serif will look too ordered and traditional, ruin natural flow

PERSON 4

1. aesthetically pleasing, done through spacing or rounded letter forms, clean and minimal, thin equal weights, long letters

2. magazine, posters

3. sans serif more satisfying

Muller Bockmann's typefaces

Müeller-Brockmanns typefacese:

Garamond

• 1530
•  French renaissance punch cutter Claude Garamond
•  Features large counters in a and e
•  Often associated with elegance and readability 
• Suitable for a range of jobs.

Caslon

•  Cropped apex of A
•  High, horizontal crossbar of e
•  C has double serif
•  Italic V,W,A may appear to be falling over
•  Bowl curve of italic p overlaps stem
•  Long serifs on middle arm of E 
•  Long arm on L 
•  Bottom arm longer on Z
•  Narrow c has low stress
•  Large loop on k 
•  T has long serifs tapering out from thin arms, lower at centre

Baskerville

•  tail on lowercase g does not close
•  swash-like tail of Q
•  small counter of italic e compared to italic a
•  J well below baseline
•  high crossbar and pointed apex of A
•  top and bottom serifs on C
•  W and w have no middle stroke
•  long lower arm of E
• Many version feature a calligraphic J
• T has wide arms

Bodoni

• easily recognizable Romantic typeface
• vertical stress
• slight serif bracketing
• cupped top serifs on b,h,l, not parallel to baseline in some versions
• top & bottom serifs on C
• vertical tail of Q
• small upper bowl of g
• usually no middle serif on w
• large ball terminal of c

Clarendon

• Clarendon's very commonly used as a headline font, despite its origins as a text font 
• Its modern redrawings from today's type designers have given Clarendon a far more balanced use between body type, italics and headlines alike. 
• Like other slab serifs it has strong squared serifs but with an added softness from the curved brackets 
• Has a low contrast, the difference in width between the thicker and thinner parts of the letterform. 
• These features are part of what gives Clarendon its strength, they are why it gives off feelings of importance and substance. 
• They make it a typeface that is hard to ignore.

Berthold

• First published Akzidenz-Grotesk in 1898
•  Originally named “Accidenz-Grotesk” 
• originates from Royal Grotesk light by royal type-cutter Ferdinand Theinhardt
•  tail of Q does not cross the circle
• J does not descend below baseline
• weird right-angle bar and spur at base of G (like Helvetica)
• middle of M descends to baseline
• single-story g (no lower ball)
• square dots on i and j
• double-story a
• i is just a straight line
• lacks Helvetica's tail on the R

Times

• 1932
•  created for the times newspaper
•  used ‘monotype plantin 113’ as a basis
•  Used for a classic yet practical look 
• combines legibility with economy
•  Used regularly in books and newspapers
•  Not very suitable for on screen use

Helvetica

• Late 1950’s, 
• the most neutral typeface based on ‘Akzidenz Grotesk’ typeface. 
• Large x height, 
• large counters in ‘O, Q and C’ 
• two-storied a (with curves of bowl and of stem)
• narrow t and f
• square-looking s
• bracketed top serif of 1
• rounded off square tail of R

Univers

• more stroke modulation than Helvetica
• squaring of round strokes 
• two-storied a is the most distinctive letter, with a straight back, no baseline curl, and perpendicular connection at top of bowl
• G lacks Helvetica spur
• diagonal strokes of k meet at stem

Studio Brief 01 - Final Crit & Evaluation

Here are the five final logos I had for my final crit, they have been altered slightly since my previous crit as I reacted to the feedback I was given.

I chose this design because it incorporates the two designs which came out as people's favourites in my last crit. I wanted to keep using the word 'probational' rather than shortening it to 'probation' as I think this seems less luxurious. Also having it in the square design makes it much easier to use in context as it is smaller than having it in a long line. It is also in keeping with the connotations of this word which are things such as prison and being confined which I liked the idea of subtly representing in my logo.

Below you can see some drawings  of this logo in context.









For the shop front I decided to use the longer logo as the square one would look to small in this blank space and wouldn't be visible for customers from a distance. However the square logo works on everything else very well, the sign that sticks out the side of the shop, the bag and the business cards will all feature this as I find it much more striking and intriguing as opposed to the long one. I think the drawings I have done support this and reflect a luxurious and trustworthy brand which is what I was hoping to achieve.









The feedback I got from my crit was pretty positive, everyone in the group said that it did look luxurious which is what I was aiming for. However there was a bit of a divide in the group as to wether the square design that I had chosen was actually the best one. A few people did think that having it in a long line looked more elegant and sophisticated  especially this one bellow, as it was said that the stencil effect gives it a masculine feel yet it still looks elegant and sophisticated.

The ideas I got from my crit if I was to take this idea further was trying a circle rather than a square to represent a watch face, however I am not too keep on this idea as I think the formation of the word being in 3 lines of 3 letters creates more of a square shape which is then exaggerated by the square outline. Another idea was to try putting the word in italics which could potentially work very well if I was to use the design above, I had not thought about using italics previously but I wish that I had.



EVALUATION 

Overall I think the logo I have created for my luxurious watch company is suitable, I wanted it to appeal to men which I think it does well due to it’s use of a block of text sitting in a square which looks very bulky and masculine. Some may say the typeface Bodoni has feminine connotations however I disagree, I think in this context it represents an established timeless brand which has been made more contemporary by using a ligature in it’s logo and displaying it in a square rather than just a straight line like most jewellery do. Through the process I found my word hard to work with due to it’s length as well as the fact I used a spaced out kerning which made the word even longer. This wasn’t usable on its own and had to be made smaller in order to put it in context such as on small shopping bags or on a smaller shop sign, using the word in one long line would make it too small for potential customers to see far away therefore losing their interest where was the square design can be made as big as desired and still fit perfectly on a shopping bag and be visible from far away. In reflection I wish I had the idea to use the ligature on the long shop sign and when this arose in my crit I wondered how it hadn’t occurred to me before. I think using black text on a white background works well and would stand out amongst other jewellers especially the street in Leeds I focused on as the majority used a black background with a white lettering on top. If this idea was to expand I can imagine the design being engraved on the back of watches and think it would work well, it would also sit nicely on top of watch boxes and inside the lids. Despite the majority of people in my final crit saying they didn’t like the box idea (which was the opposite of what the majority of people said in the crit before) I am please with the final outcome and think that if I had possibly put the logo in context more then people would’ve appreciated it more too.

Studio Brief 01 - MK Gallery

Rebranded by Sarah De Bondt of the MK Gallery
The idea behind this rebrand was to try and create an identity without using the stereotypical things that create a companies identity such as: a set colour pallet, a set typeface and a set logo. To achieve this Sarah used a list of 6 system fonts which she used. (Displayed below) The only similarity amongst them is that they all have the 'MK' joined together.



To keep a set rhythm and fluidity throughout the gallery and it's website Sarah established a grid system which is repeated throughout all the branding for the gallery. For example the website home page changed colour and typeface every time it is refreshed yet because of the repeat use of the same squares it looks the same and will probably go unnoticed by many people.


The choice of colour palette is also very clever because they are not repeated yet they look similar, some are just brighter variations of others.

What I like about this rebrand is that it was such a challenging thing to do stepping away from having a set colour pallet, a set typeface and a set logo yet it has worked so well. It is clever how a gird system has formed this galleries identity which is also represented in part of the galleries exterior.

It looks very clean and contemporary which is what you expect from a gallery as well as bright and inviting. Again this use of the 'MK' ligature appears.

Studio Brief 01 - Helvetica

Helvetica was created in 1957 by Swiss designers Miedinger and Hoffman as they saw a need for a typeface that was versatile and neutral. Originally called Neue Haas Grotesk, the name had to be changed to appeal to an american audience, therefore was renamed Helvetica which is a reference to the latin name of Switzerland and is seen as 'the swiss typeface'.

One of the key features of Helvetica is it's interrelationship with the negative space, the creators have evidently focused on the background and the counters as much as they have focused on the actual letter forms. Due to the fact it is so cleverly crafted it is unfixable and impossible to improve upon.

Another one of it's key features is the horizontal terminals on letters such as 'a,e and f'. This gives the typeface a machined appearance and makes all the letters look the same which enforces it's neutrality which is what makes it such a popular typeface, it has no personality prior to use therefore making it easy to use for multiple purposes.

Some might say this is the cause for it becoming overused, it is a safe option as it has no personality.  It has become a default as it is a very simplistic typeface which is very easy to use and can be adjusted to most situations and look appropriate.

It is rational, and doesn't contain any ornamentation which gives it an accessible feel as it isn't too corporate or unapproachable. It also fits into a grid system which gives it a sense of order and uniformity therefore making it easy to use for serious organisations yet maintaining a friendly tone. It is something we don't always notice yet we would miss it if it wasn't there.

3 brands that use helvetica



First rebrand in over 40 years, gone from a very traditional and timeless looking design to something I imagine will date very easily. The logo has gone back to using two separate words therefore no longer needs to use the colours red and blue to separate them, the only colour used is in the logo. I think the previous design worked better as it looks more corporate where as the new one looks unfinished in a way, which could be due to the colour of the font that has been used I don't see how it relates and feel that the logo and the logotype are two separate things.





Here is an example of Helvetica used in an official way. The Environmental Protection Agency must look clean and professional as well as looking approachable and not too corporate. I think helvetica works well for this as it doesn't look too official or serious like it would with a serif font yet it still maintains authority in a friendly sort of way. The blue and green colours used represent this idea of the 'environment' such as leaves, grass, sky and water which relate well to the brand. As a whole I think the brand looks modern as it has used a cartoon style simplistic drawing as well as a simplistic typeface.



American Apparel is a fairly modern brand as it was founded in 1989, however by using such a familiar typeface it seems much more established. Using such a minimalistic colour pallet works well as it seems very contemporary but also represents the minimalistic nature of the brand as all of their clothing is very simple. It also works well in clothing tags as their clothes are usually quite bright in terms of colour therefore the white background of the label will stand out against them and emphasise the black letters even more.

Studio Brief 01 - Work In Reflection of The Interim Crit

From the feedback from my crit these are the two most popular logos I created. The majority of people who left feedback said they preferred the logos I had created which were framed in a box as it gave a prison reference to the designs and could be seen as a cell. However there was a bit of a divide as to whether or not shortening the word 'probational' to 'probation' caused the brand to lose the idea of luxury associated with it. Therefore I focused on designing more logos which incorporated the box which people were in favour of and played around with using probational instead of probation in order to maintain the sense of luxury.

 I decided to centralise the word within the box as I thought it combined the two logos which people said they preferred. However I didn't like this as much as the 'IONAL' on the bottom line looks to bulky. I then went on to trying to combine the 'NAL' into one letter so that there would only be 3 letters in this line which would fit better with the design.


                              


I then tried these designs in illustrator, I like the design on the left best as I think it flows better rather than having the A upside down. I think the design being square makes it more usable as it is more compact, the word probational on its own is very long therefore difficult to put in context on things such as bags, business cards and potentially inside watch faces.

Studio Brief 01 - Burberry Rebranding

Info found on:

http://www.echostories.com/rebranding-burberry-case-study/

http://www.fashiongonerogue.com/burberry-trench-coat-history/

http://www.burberryplc.com/about_burberry/company-history

When the first world war began in 1914 Thomas Burberry (the founder of Burberry) was commissioned by the war office to adapt their existing officer's coats to be more appropriate for the conditions they experience through the war. This resulted in the 'trench coat' being created. After the war, trench coats became extremely popular amongst civilians and when the iconic Burberry plaid was created in 1920, this became the lining of their iconic trench coats. After this sales increased as it became a fashion icon for both men and women. 

In 2001 a new creative director was appointed (Christopher Bailey) as the brand was suffering due to many high street brands creating their own similar yet cheaper versions therefore making Burberry trench coats less special. It also became associated with the chav culture as their iconic Burberry check was used on lots of replica garments. 

To step away from this Bailey made models such as Cara Delevingne and Kate Moss the faces of Burberry. 

2010 Burberry Acoustic is launched to keep appeal to a younger audience which features videos of live acoustic performances by up and coming music artists supported by Burberry. 

What I like about this design (image above) is how contemporary looking it is for such an old and established brand. Their use of a black and white image relates to their minimalistic colour pallet and design which reinforces this element of luxury which is commonly associated with Burberry. 

Studio Brief 01 - Logotype, Interim Crit

                         




Sketchbook developments using this idea of probation and it's connotations with prison I experimented with the box idea to represent a prisons cell and also looked at making the text look like a stencil.



Here are the 5 designs I had for my crit, I have been playing around with the idea of using a stencil effect to reflect the theme of prison which relates to the word 'probational'.

The questions I asked in my were:
1. Which design do you prefer?
2. Should I put a box around it or not?
3. Does it still seem like a luxury brand when I shorten the word probational to probation?

5 people preferred the first design, 1 person preferred the second design and 8 people preferred the last one.

The feedback I got was:

- The box creates a prison feel to the brand as it is like a prison cell

- Box crestes a trapped vibe

- The word 'probational' sounds better than 'probation'

- Probation sounds more short and snappy


- Still seems luxurious even when shortened to probation

- Appropriate font

- Love the box

- Bottom one is youthful and trendy and would easily adapt to a range of products

- Try a more masculine font

- Love the modernistic structure of the bottom one

- Box makes the design feel more contemporary and elegant

- Still luxurious as 'probation'

Studio Brief 01 - Logotype, Crit

The one only work I had produced prior to my crit was this displayed on the left. I had forced most of my time on research as this is what I was really lacking in my previous project. I chose the font Bodoni because I think it represent luxury and reliability within my brand which is essential as clients would be spending a lot of money with my company therefore need to be able to trust it. For each design I made the kerning bigger, when I asked the other people in my crit group which one they preferred they all chose the bottom one with a looser kerning therefore I am going to develop my ideas from this as it maintains the idea of being a high quality brand. The only problem with this is that it is a very long word therefore would be hard to display on things such as the sign that sticks out on front of shops or even the bag which will hold customers purchases in.

Ben came up with the suggestion to break down the word and display it in a box form as this would reduce its length without losing any of the letters which could look similar to a jewellers hall mark.

        

Bellow is some rough ideas I did in illustrator shortly after my crit

I kept the same kerning that people had said they prefer in my crit and tested different line thicknesses of the box around the logo. I decided on a thickness of 3 point as I thought it fitted with the font well. I like the fourth design of having all the text in the bottom left corner formed in a triangle shape. I also like the last two designs and will continue to work out an abbreviation or another way to add the 'AL' to the last design.

Studio Brief 01 - Logotype, Brand Research

After decided that my brand was going to be a jewellers/ watch shop for men I went out into Leeds and took pictures of the ones that exist here.


I like the loose kerning on this shop's sign (referring to image above) as it draws your attention directly to its name 'Berry's' however I think it is quite feminine which could be because of the ways the R's flick. I like the way 'Berry's' is bigger and consists of looser kerning so it is visible from far away, however if you are not familiar with this chain of shops then as you get closer you can see it is clearly labeled as a 'jewellers' which uses tighter kerning and makes the word quite compact so it doesn't take the focus away from the shop name.

 
I think the image above displays a very masculine looking watch shop, it's very simple and straight to the point with it's typeface. I like the fact that all of the letters sit perfectly on the baseline as well as them all having the same x height which allows this invisible straight line to form on the top of the word 'Breitling'. The colour use is also very interesting because most jewellers on this row of shops use black and white therefore this one stands out more, however I think it stands out for the wrong reasons. The yellow glow reminds me of something cheap and is commonly used on shops such as pound land in this case the shop front, particularly the window, reminds me of a betting shop which isn't something I would want to represent with my brand.

 
Again I think the shop has a very masculine look to it. I personally don't really like the way they have used bold capital letters agains a lower case roman typeface I think 'TAG' is too blocky and clunky to sit nicely with 'Heuer' I understand that it is a clever way of joining both words together but keeping them as separate sounds but I think this could've been done in a much subtler way. Having such a difference in stroke thickness is unnecessary

 

What I like about this logo is the symmetry between the O and the G and the M and the A, it makes it very nice to look at. The pointedness of both the A and the M looks quite harsh however it is balanced out by the symbol sitting between them both above the E. This symbol is a hallmark and fits well with the fact that it is a jewellers yet I cant help but find the design quite feminine, I think this is because it reminds me a bit of the pandora logo which is commonly associated with women.


 

The most iconic brand when you think of mens watches is rolex, as it is known for it's high quality watches which come with a huge price tag. Their superiority is acknowledge with the use of a crown above the L which connotes royalty. Their use of a serif typeface also further enforces this as it is more regal looking than a sans serif typeface. I like the fact they use muted tones such as brown, cream and gold on their shop frontage it is not too loud and in your face like the front of Breitling was, this reflects a much more luxurious and subdued shopping experience.


After this research I decided that a serif typeface would be most suitable for my luxury watch company as I think it reflects luxury as well as something that is trustworthy and well established. When you think of a company like Rolex you instantly think of something that's expensive, somewhere you would go not just to buy a watch but to make an investment because some of them are so expensive.


I then found an online company that specialised in luxury watches. I liked their use of Bodoni for their logo, it looks traditional and reputable for this kind of brand.  The loose kerning between the letters also adds to this brand being luxurious and high end as well as their minimalistic colour pallet which only features black and white with hints of gold.

After researching further into these companies I compiled a list of what my company has to represent and provide:
- Luxury
- Experience in the industry
- Customer service
- Classic & contemporary
- Quality
- Advice to clients
- Trustability
- Online and in preson


Bodoni:





Designed by Giambattisa Bodoni in 1789 and was highly influence by the work of John Baskerville, it features a centred tail on the 'Q' and a slight hook on the J. The main identifying characteristic of  typeface is that it is easy recognisable as a romantic typeface with a vertical stress and slight bracketing serifs. It is widely used for displays, posters, headlines and logos especially when it comes to fashion.

Studio Brief 01 - Logotype, Word Research

The word I have been given for this brief is 'Probational'

Definition

LAW

-The release of an offender from detention, subject to a period of good behaviour under supervision.

- A process of testing or observing the character or abilities of a person who is new to a job/ role.

Origin

LATIN: PROBARE: TO TEST / PROVE

LATIN: PROBATIO

OLD FRENCH: PROBACION

ENGLISH: PROVE

Synonyms

Trial, apprenticeship, noviciate, test period, experiment, inquest, proof, inspection, investigation, verification, analysis.

Relates to:

-A set amount of time

-Length of an action

-Trial period

-An event

-Testing

-Experimentation period

-Observation

-Conditional Release

-Depending on something

-Restricted

-Certain terms

I wanted to step away from the connections the word has with law therefore I am focusing on this idea of 'a set period of time' as you are usually on probation for 'a set period of time' therefore it still links back. 

As the word 'probational' is a plosive word I imagine it being used for a company who's main target audience is men. 

Here are my ideas of a brand that has connections to 'a set period of time':

A special time in your life such as a wedding = SUIT HIRE or SUIT SHOP

An event or party =  FANCY DRESS SHOP

Telling the time = CLOCK SHOP

Telling the time = WATCH SPECIALIST