Overall Evaluation

Prior to this module I had never given much consideration towards typography, it has always been something I have used but I have never put much consideration into. I have always stepped away from using old traditional fonts as I thought it would be hard if not impossible to make them look modern however I now know that with the use of kerning this isn’t the case. I found the kern down task really beneficial for this as it showed how the same 5 letters in the same font could be altered to represent completely different brands.

After the briefing we had for Studio Brief 1 I was a bit worried about it as it was unlike a brief I had ever had before, especially because of the fact it was typography related which was an area I really wasn’t confident in. However looking back I can see the benefit in stepping out of your comfort zone. I now feel much more confident when it comes to typography and am starting to pick up certain typographic terminology and I’m able to use it when describing my work.

From previous tasks such as creating ligatures I had been made aware of the importance of research as it was an area I was lacking in at the time. From then on I made sure research was the first part of my design process, for this brief I learnt so much from watching the Helvetica documentary and reading the Vignelli Canon. I found it interesting to listen to multiple people’s opinions on certain typefaces and to see how passionate they are about them, this was a big wake up call for me as some of them were typefaces that I have so often taken for granted.

I have also become much more confident with using illustrator as it was a software I strayed away from using during my foundation course as I found Photoshop much easier to use. However I pushed myself for each project and forced myself to use illustrator as I knew the outcomes would be much clearer especially because I was working with typefaces.  

Another thing that I have learnt is that it doesn’t matter how well you have design something, if you don’t have enough research and evidence to back up your design decisions then there is no point doing it. Every bit of your design should be considered and not done purely because it looks good. I really saw the benefit of this during studio brief 2 where I carefully chose to use the colour green as it is seen as a satisfying colour, this is something I found out after doing research. As well as making the type specimen a square as this would make it look more satisfying. Both of these factors really influenced the design of my typeface specimen and without them I don’t think I would’ve produced anything anywhere near as good.

Overall I am very pleased with the work I have produced so far and the skills I have managed to pick up on the way. The illustrator techniques I have learnt will benefit me a lot when it comes to other briefs and I hope to develop them further throughout my time at college. I also think my new knowledge about typography will really influence my designs in the future as I will be much more considerate when choosing a typeface to suit my work.