Task 1 / Exercises: Typographic Systems & Type & Play

 Task 1 / Exercises: Typographic Systems & Type & Play

21 / 04 / 2025 —   12 / 05 / 2025 ( Week 01 — Week4 )

Yang Yang 

0363575

Advanced Typography / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University

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LIST

1. Lectures

2. Instructions

3. Task 1 : Exercises

4. Feedback

5. Reflections

6. Further Reading

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Lectures:

Week 1

Advanced Typography: Typographic Systems

There are eight different design principles that can help designers be more organised and logical when designing typography.

variations are as follows:

• Axial
• Radial
• Dilatational
• Random
• Grid
• Modular
• Transitional
• Bilateral

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Axial:

The design technique is to organise all the elements to the left or right of an axis, which may have twists and turns or intersections, but does not look cluttered as the typeface is still arranged in a regular manner.

Fig 1.1 Example of the Axial System week 1 (2025/04/22)

Radial:

In this design principle all elements are extended from a focal point, like a ‘ one point of perspective’.

Fig 1.2 Example of the Radial System week 1 (2025/04/22)

Dilatational:

In this design principle, all the elements from a central point of the ring, usually more than one ring set up so that the arrangement of the text has a more hierarchical sense, but also to enrich the picture, on the basis of this can also be from the middle of the ‘truncation’ of the text so that it produces an overlap effect.

Fig 1.3 Example of the Dilatational System week 1 (2025/04/22)

Random：

In this design principle the fonts are not arranged in a fixed range or pattern, or the arrangement is partially randomised by taking several other types and combining them together, which is a risky design approach.

Bilateral：

This design principle is also similar to grid, but the difference is that this frame does not have the design of the outer frame, so in the text of the love column may be more soft and casual.

Grid：

This design principle is more structured and usually categorises text and information in a similar way to a nine-panel grid, as well as giving the screen a neater look.

Fig 1.4 Example of the Grid System week 1 (2025/04/22)

Modular：

This design principle is somewhat similar to the grid system, but in this design principle each ‘grid’ is relatively independent and separate from the others.

Transitional：

This design principle presents a wave-like arrangement and is more suited to softer content and fonts.

Fig 1.5 Example of the Transitional System week 1 (2025/04/22)

Conclusion：

Through this class, I have a more systematic understanding of typeface typography, even similar skills in the use of different ways of presentation, the same way, even if it seems very simple and easy to understand the design principles can be used to make the picture complex and good-looking, which lays a solid foundation for my understanding of the basics of typeface typography, which makes me feel very benefited.

Week 2

AdTypo_2_Typographic Composition

In class, we learned that design composition relies on principles like:

• Emphasis

• Isolation

• Repetition

• Symmetry & Asymmetry

• Alignment

• Perspective

These are often used in imagery, but can feel a bit abstract in typography. Still, by applying them thoughtfully, we can make text layouts more clear, connected, and visually effective.

Principles of Design Composition

Design principles like emphasis, isolation, repetition, symmetry/asymmetry, alignment, and perspective are essential for building strong compositions. While they’re often easier to apply to imagery, using them in typography can be more challenging—especially with complex or text-heavy layouts.

Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds helps structure a composition by dividing it into three equal rows and columns. Placing key elements at the intersections creates better balance and visual interest—even in typographic layouts.

Fig 1.6 Example of rule of Thirds week 2 (2025/05/01)

Typographic Systems

We explored eight typographic systems in class. The most practical is the Grid System, rooted in traditional letterpress printing. It may seem rigid, but it’s flexible and reader-friendly, offering structure and clarity.

In contrast, postmodern typography embraces randomness, asymmetry, and even chaos. While bold visually, it often challenges readability. The best designs find a balance—clear enough to read, but visually compelling too.

Week 3

AdTypo_3_Context&Creativity

Influence of Tools and Materials

The look of handwritten letters was deeply shaped by the tools and materials used. Tools like bones, charcoal, brushes, and pens affected stroke style and texture, while writing surfaces—clay, papyrus, palm leaves, vellum, and paper—led to different visual outcomes and techniques.

Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Egyptian hieroglyphs were an early blend of writing and art, combining pictorial symbols, phonetics, and relief carving. They laid the groundwork for the modern alphabet.

Three main types of hieroglyphs:

• Ideograms: Symbols that represent what they look like (e.g., a leg means "leg")

• Determinatives: Added at the end of words to clarify meaning or context

• Phonograms: Represent sounds to spell out words

Instructions

 

Excersise 1：

In this exercise we need to create eight posters based on the eight text layout systems we learnt about typography in Lecture, putting them to proper use.

First attempt：

Fig 2.1 First attempt at making a poster week 2 (2025/04/29)

Process:

Fig 2.2 Process 1 week 2 (2025/04/29)

Fig 2.3 Process 3 week 2 (2025/04/29)

Fig 2.4 Process 3 week 2 (2025/04/29)

Feedback:

Mr.Vinod answered and reminded me after going through my work and at the same time I realised through looking at my classmates' work that I had misunderstood the requirements of the assignment itself and that I had not been clear enough in my understanding of the eight-text layout system, which made me frustrated but at the same time I found the right direction to go in.

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FINAL SUBMISSION:

Fig 3.1 Bilateral System week 2 (2025/04/29)

Fig 3.2 Axial System week 2 (2025/04/29)

Fig 3.3 Radial System week 2 (2025/04/29)

Fig 3.4 Transitional System week 2 (2025/04/29)

Fig 3.5 Dilatational System week 2 (2025/04/29)

Fig 3.6 Random System week 2 (2025/04/29)

Fig 3.7 Modular System week 2 (2025/04/29)

Fig 3.8 Grid System week 2 (2025/04/29)

Fig 4.1 Final week 2 (2025/04/29)

Fig 4.2 Final ( Grid ) week 2 (2025/04/29)

Reflection:

In this exercise I had a basic understanding of the eight systems of typography and applied them, there were some frustrations in the process of creation, but when Mr.Vinod suggested me I quickly found my own problems and found ways to improve, through systematic practice and theoretical study of my typography than before there is a clear progress, at least not anymore! At least it is no longer limited to a single placement, but with the addition of some theory and logic as the basis of support.

At the same time, this exercise has also enabled me to become more proficient in the use of InDesign software, and to have a more comprehensive understanding of some of the tools, I believe that these skills will lay a solid foundation for my future Typography studies.

Excersise 2：

Letterform Extraction:

I chose the image of a flame as the prototype for the typeface because I love the way flames burn and the meanings they represent. Flames are a very important element in all cultures, and there are a lot of different ways they can be represented in a typeface.

Fig 5.1 Fire week 3 (2025/05/11)

Process:

Fig 5.2 Copy week 3 (2025/05/11)

Fig 5.3 Franklin Gothic Heavy week 3 (2025/05/11)

Fig 5.4 First Try week 3 (2025/05/11)

Fig 5.5 Second Try week 3 (2025/05/11)

Fig 5.6 Third Try week 3 (2025/05/11)

Fig 5.7 Fourth Try week 3 (2025/05/11)

Fig 5.8 Final Design week 3 (2025/05/11)

Fig 5.9 calligraphic style week 3 (2025/05/11)

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Board:

I designed a total of 5 fonts and got the final chosen font design based on Mr.Vinod's suggestions and iterations.

Fig 6.1 Board week 3 (2025/05/11)

Fig 6.2 Board PDF week 3 (2025/05/11)

I didn't choose the same image I originally used for the font design as the background for the poster because after trying it out I decided that it was a slightly cluttered background that wasn't suitable for adding fonts to a poster, so I re-photographed a photo with the same elements instead.

Fig 6.3 Fire photo week 3 (2025/05/11)

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Exercise 2 Final Compilation

Fig 7.1 Digital letter week 4 (2025/05/12)

Fig 7.2 Final Board week 4 (2025/05/12)

Fig 7.3 Overall Process week 4 (2025/05/12)

Fig 7.4 Reference font week 4 (2025/05/12)

Fig 7.5 Final Letterform week 4 (2025/05/12)

Fig 7.6 Final poster week 4 (2025/05/12)

Fig 7.7 Final poster PDF week 4 (2025/05/12)

Fig 7.8 Final board PDF week 4 (2025/05/12)

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Feedback:

Week 5 :

In today's class Mr.Vinod gave us suggestions on how to revise our design and the central idea of designing word marks, and also gave me some ideas on how to make and explore it further.

Week 4 :

In this week's class Mr Vinod has been checking and advising us on the posters that we have made, so that we can improve on what we have done and have a clearer idea of the qualities that are needed in a poster design.

Week 3

In this week, we designed and found some letters through the forms of natural objects and made them into posters. Mr.Vinod gave me some suggestions on how to modify my work, which helped me to understand more about designing fonts.

Week 2

This week Mr.Vinod went through my first week's exercise and pointed out some of the errors in my understanding and taught us how to make our typography more beautiful.

Week 1

During the week we prepare for the subsequent lessons, and after going through the LECTURE to understand the basic typographic principles we have a more concrete understanding of the subject. We were also asked to apply what we had learnt by making eight posters.

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Reflection:

In this exercise, I got a much deeper, hands-on experience with typeface design. What really stood out was having to create a typeface almost from scratch—it pushed me to understand how certain typefaces have evolved over time. I’ve seen lots of posters where designers take real-life shapes and turn them into artistic letterforms, but actually doing it myself was something totally new. I used flames as my reference shape, which added a really dynamic and expressive feel to the design. It felt really fresh and eye-opening. It also helped me shift my perspective—from just thinking of fonts as text, to seeing them more as patterns or visual elements that carry their own energy and mood.

Further Reading:TypographyBasics

                                         

Fig 7.1 TypographyBasics week 3 (2025/05/11)

Letters of the design of the upper line and lower line is very important, in order to make the design of the font neat and good-looking, a unified standard is very important, no matter how the internal changes, as long as in the unified range will not appear high and short or very confusing, of course, the width of the letters is also the same reason, just generally take the lead in paying attention to the height of the line.

Spacing between letters is actually a small detail that can greatly improve the perception, many people will ignore this small detail, but in fact this is a very good way to make the article become neat and compact, or remove some times because of the capital letters or some special letters of the width of the letters to be greater than the letters behind, which will lead to the formation of some unattractive gap in the middle of the time, this time the This time the designer needs to manually adjust the range of the gap to make it look less abrupt.