Typography - Task 3B: Type Design and Communication

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3/11/2021 - 10/11/2021 / Week 11 - Week 12
Loke Yeanne Tung / 0343853
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Typography / Task 3B: Type Design and Communication (15%)


LECTURES


INSTRUCTIONS



Task 3B: Type Design and Communication

1. Research
We had a list of festivals we get to choose from, I chose "Happy Mid Autumn Festival".

Fig. 1.1 Sticker references, Week 11 (1/11/2021)

✧.*    Keywords: Lantern, Moon, Rabbit, Mooncake    *.✧
  • It's a reunion time for families, just like Thanksgiving.
  • Second most important festival in China after Chinese New Year
  • Also called: Mooncake Festival, Moon Festival
  • Why it's celebrated: To worship the moon and celebrate the harvest
  • Must-eat food: Mooncake
  • Celebrations: Family gatherings, admiring the full moon, eating mooncakes, lantern lighting, etc.
  • Greetings: "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival" (中秋快乐 'Mid-Autumn happy').

Fig. 1.2 About mooncakes, Week 11 (1/11/2021)


2. Font Selection

Fig. 2 Font selection, Week 11 (1/11/2021)

These are some of the fonts I picked out from the 10 typefaces given. I chose the best from each typeface and compared which suits best when I digitalize my sketches. I decided to go with ITC New Baskerville and ITC Garamond.


3. Sketches

Fig. 3 Draft sketches, Week 11 (1/11/2021)

#1: Mooncakes are a must-eat delicacy during Mid-Autumn Festival. A full moon symbolizes prosperity and reunion for the whole family. So I thought it'd be a good idea to incorporate it into my sticker.

#2: According to a Chinese legend, there is an osmanthus tree on the moon, it has become the best flower for people to appreciate with a full moon.


4. Digitization Process

Fig. 4.1 B&W sticker drafts, Week 11 (3/11/2021)

The mooncake shape in my sketches are slightly wasting the space when it's in 3D shape, so showing only the top could help make use of the space given. Traditional mooncakes have an imprint on top consisting of the Chinese characters for "longevity" or "harmony". Imprints may surround the characters for additional decoration. So I made use of the Taylor's logo and made it as the imprints normally found on mooncakes.
Fig. 4.2 Colored sticker drafts #1, Week 11 (3/11/2021)

I decided to use the "happy" without the smiley face because it kinds of disrupts the message. I used a traditional mooncake color for the background, so people can resonate with it easily. 


Fig. 4.3 Sticker drafts #2, Week 11 (3/11/2021)

I made some changes according to Mr Vinod's comments, I changed the placement of the Taylor's logo and added geometry lines for it to resemble mooncakes even more.




Fig. 4.4 Abandoned attempt #1, Week 11 (3/11/2021)

Abandoned: This is not what I sketched, but I wanted to try and warp text into a circle to resemble a moon. The text got very distorted so I abandoned the idea.



Fig. 4.5 Abandoned attempt #2, Week 11 (3/11/2021)

Abandoned: Based on my sketch, I tried making the ascender of "d" a pair of rabbit ears, but I realized it's relying too much on graphics so I again abandoned the idea.


Fig. 4.6 Sticker development progress, Week 13 (15/11/2021)


Fig. 4.5 Screenshot of stickers in Telegram, Week 13 (15/11/2021)


5. Animation Progress


Fig. 5.1 GIF animation timeline, Week 13 (15/11/2021)



Fig. 5.2 GIF animation, Week 13 (15/11/2021)

I don't know why but after I export the GIF from Photoshop, the gradient isn't smooth.


Final Task 3B: Type Design and Communication
Fig. 6.1 Final Task 3B: Type Design and Communication B&W - PNG, Week 12 (9/11/2021)


Fig. 6.2 Final Task 3B: Type Design and Communication Sticker - PNG, Week 12 (15/11/2021)


Fig. 6.3 Task 3B: Type Design and Communication - PDF, Week 12 (15/11/2021)



Fig. 6.4 Final GIF animation - GIF, Week 13 (15/11/2021)


FEEDBACK

Week 11
Specific Feedback: Make use of 512*512 pixels, try to cover all space in the given format.

Week 12
Specific Feedback: Make it feel more like a "mooncake" by adding lines. For the imprints, maybe exclude the parenthesis. Use lines instead? Play with highlights to show contrast.

Week 13
Specific Feedback: The borders deco could have been given a debossed feel (to create the look of a depression in the cake). Thickness of the outer line and inner border deco needs to be somewhat similar in size. Other than that relatively good. Good progress on the e-portfolio.


REFLECTION

This project was slightly tricky in terms of expressing the words "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival" in typography, I had trouble matching colors to see which fits better. After a few abandoned attempts, I found what works and what did not.

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