Project 3&4

Project 3: Spread

As we just finished up our poster project, we learned that posters are meant to attract the audience from large distances. What makes a person stop and engage with the poster? Maybe it’s large type contrast, compelling imagery, or vibrant colors. But what makes a person want to read a spread from a magazine? When flipping through a magazine, a person is much closer to a spread than a poster, and they engage with it longer.

In this typesetting project, I was assigned to make a spread about the typeface Arvo. I learned how to improve readability for body text by exploring leading, type size, and column width in the context of a spread as well as create a cohesive layout across the two pages.

Typeface Research

I began by annotating things I’ve noticed about the letterforms and their relationships among the characters.

1. The widths of the slab serifs varied from letter to letter (the height stayed the same)
2. There was some interesting shapes of negative space (i.e. the open counter in the y looked like an arrow)
3. the space between the serifs in the h is more narrow compared to the y
4. there is a tall x-height and and large counters
5. Koovit took inspiration from pixels on his inkjet printer
6. Arvo was intended for clear legibility on mobile and print.

Online Research

• Arvo was created in 2010 by Anton Koovit for Google Fonts
• Anton named it “Arvo” because it translates to “value, number, worth” in Estonian and is also a common Estonian male name
• Arvo’s font family includes regular, regular italic, bold, and bold italic

Some questions I emailed Anton Koovit

Online, there wasn’t a lot of research on Arvo, but I found Anton Koovit’s email on his website, so I reached out with a few questions.

1. Why did you create Arvo?

When designing typefaces for broader use the choice is 80% of time sans-serif. Back in 2008 when i was researching and drawing U8, i had seen handful of very nice, but forgotten German slab-serif typefaces. Back then there weren’t that many monolinear slab-serif fonts, so maybe that also was a factor.

And when i proposed it to Google fonts library (it was 8th release there), the reaction was: “perfect, we have have no slab-serif yet”.

2. When creating Arvo, which contexts did you imagine it being used in? How does this compare to where you have seen Arvo used today?

I was about 70% aiming at screen typography, especially websites. Around year 2009 whole webfont genre started opening up, before that it was “web-safe” to use only about 8 fonts: Arial, Verdana, Trebuchet, … and Courier was one the slab-serif of choice.

I have seen it throughout the years on many logos, perfumes, fashion brands, manifestation flags, political parties and a lot of websites. Pretty much in all media. I am happy people like the font.

3. In a few adjectives, how would you describe Arvo?

Sturdy, geometric, stable.

4. What makes Arvo distant from other slab serifs?

The pixel-serifs. Especially C,G,S

5. I read that Arvo means “number, value, worth.” Could you please elaborate on your reasoning for the name?

When i was designing Arvo, computer screens had no retina screens. In order to achieve legible text fonts had to be hand-hinted.

While hinting the font family i quickly understood, that manually even with help of friends it will take several years. So i asked Microsoft to get the special “Visual Truetype” program, the notorious VTT. And learned how to program the VTT-talk. It is considered type engineer’s job. Funnily after releasing Arvo i started getting type engineering assignments. One of my long-term clients was Dalton Maag and 5 years i did font-programming in LucasFonts.

It was fun. Lots of logic, numbers, coding. It taught me what is quality in type design and how far it is possible to go with honing each single glyph.

Terminology learned when researching

1. Slab Serif: thick, block serifs
2. monolinearish: vertical and horizontal strokes of the same visual weight
3. x-height: height of lower case
4. ascenders: height of top of character
5. descenders: height of bottom of character
6. baseline: line that sits at lower case, curves (like a p) are slightly below. leading is also from baseline to baseline

50 Word Statement:

Arvo, designed by Anton Koovit in 2010, is a geometric slab serif that prioritizes readability due to its tall x-height, large counters, and monolinear letters. The slab serifs create a geometric, heavy feel. It is commonly used for headings, navigation bar menus, CTAs, advertisements, posters, billboards, and quotes.

Arvo Adjectives:

1. Geometric
2. Bold
3. Stable
4. Reliable
5. Static
6. Heavy
7. Monolinear
8. Confident
9. Industrial

Essay

For my essay, I broke up the narrative into two sections: the Industrial Revolution’s history with the slab serif and Arvo’s history.

C Studio: Typesetting Principles

Typesetting: the practice of arranging letters, numbers, and characters on a printed or digital space. Good typesetting creates no strain on the reader’s eye

Legibility: the clarity of the characters

1. x-height: height of the lower case letters. taller x-height = more legible
2. character width: average overall width
3. stroke contrast: thin strokes can be challenging to read when too small or for lots of text
4. counters: smaller counters = more challenging to read, difficult especially for heavy weights

readability: clarity on how type is arranged, or typeset, and therefore is controlled by the designer

1. type case: All caps harder to read for larger bodies of text
2. leading: Avoid leading greater than 10 points above your type size. tighter leading on narrow columns, large leading on wider columns
3. rag: A poor rag creates distracting shapes of white space in the margin.Slight adjustments in point size or column width might work as well. Bad rags: stacked words, weird shapes of space

Studio Class 11/11

Exercise: Given three sets of bodies of text, Spoorthi and I identified the difference between pages and identified what makes the text the most readable.

Set 1: hyphenations, ragged left vs justified

This set had 3 iterations that varied in alignment and hyphenations. Spoorthi and I agreed that although justified text looks visually nice, ragged right is easier to read due to no rivers and gaps. Hyphenations also create disruptions in the reading.

Set 2: type size

In this set, 9 different variations changed based on the type size. Spoorthi found that 32 type was most comfortable for her, but I preferred type 34. Interestingly enough, we found that this aligns with our reading preferences on our laptops — I tend to zoom in when reading text, whereas Spoorthi likes when there is a lot of text on the screen. Type 32 had 50 characters per line, and type 34 had 39. According to Vicki, the optimal range should have 45–75 characters per line. When practicing, we should start with 10/12 and 11/13.5.

Set 3: Leading

This set had 7 iterations of leading. As the leading increased, there is a large proximity, making it hard for the eye to find a place to rest. In the largest leading, you can fit another line of text in the negative space.

November 15

Ruminating on: How can the placement of text compositionally fit with the placement of the title?

Before working digitally, I created a few thumbnails of possible layouts with an intention of making an interesting layout where the typeface name, body text, and image work together. Early on, I realized that since “ARVO” is so short, I wanted to include the whole name prominently. However, I think it is overwhelmingly large for a spread, and may need tone it down.

Out of these thumbnails, the bottom left is my favorite. Because Arvo is a sturdy font, I thought the placement would make sense at the bottom. Arvo enlarged and across the two pages and makes it feel weighted and reliable.

I think I had more fun with layout of the two pages and the placement of title than the readability of the paragraph, so I went back and explored type size, alignment, and hyphenations to improve the readability.

Here, I explored the amount of columns, column widths, hyphenations, and type size. I was having trouble with being sensitive to what is “readable.” When comparing my different iterations, it is difficult for me to decipher improvements in readability. I am not too sure how to change the rags. However, I preferred the line breaks over the indentations — there was a more clear indication of when the new paragraph starts.

Imagery

Next, I looked for imagery that may compliment Arvo. I was looking for images of buildings/industrial feels to it that were bottom-heavy to show the slab serif’s history with the industrial revolution as well as the stability/heaviness of the typeface. I found some interesting photos that captured a modern feel through color yet historical through the characteristics of the buildings. I also looked for modular patterns that looked similar to pixels. I wanted to emphasize Arvo’s pixel serifs in the G, C, and S.

For these iterations, I tried playing with the size of the image, the placement of the title, and the readability of the body.

November 16 Studio + Critique from Vicki

When showing Vicki my three iterations, she noticed there was a lot of opportunity to align the text with the leading lines in the image. She also suggested to reduce the size of Arvo — it does not need to be bold for a spread. Since I was struggling with fixing the rag of my bodies, she helped me with the readability. The issue was that I was using hard returns to solve my issues when it should be the last resort. In order to create better rags, I have to try different typesize/leading ratios and column widths. We found that 8.75/10 worked well. She also noticed to have a drop cap to bring the viewer’s eye to the beginning of the body.

Some changes we tried out during our critique

November 16 Lab Notes

Overlay text on top of an image that is around the text:

1. Command B
2. check ignore text wrap

Image Wrap inside Text

1. select text →type →create outlines
2. place image on text

Column Break (use for widows or send beginning of paragraph to next column)

1. Type →insert break character

Kerning

1. start with optical kerning
2. can try out metrics if it looks better

Adjust rag:

1. make paragraph text box smaller
2. look for small words at the beginning of lines and shift enter to send to previous line

window →types+tables →paragraph

place image in text frame →right click image →command shift to resize image

fitting →fit →frame proportionally

image within columns of text

1. window →text wrap → wrap around bounding box

Conveying Arvo in my spread

strength →bottom heavy text in the layout

structured, 90 degree angles

Printing

print visible guides and baseline grids

check spreads

marks and bleeds → crop marks

setup: vertical orientation

papersize: tabloid oversize

Some More Explorations

Here, I used the ratio of the slab serifs on the characters to create a frame/pattern and drop cap of these rectangles. Although I think this was a clever idea that features an important feature of the time face, I found that there it was not an overall interesting composition — nothing makes me want to read the text.

Still playing off the rectangle slab serif ideas, I introduced circles to play off the letters like G, O, and C. I thought an enlarged G would work well for this composition because it has a slab serif and circle within it. I liked how I approached the text on the right (title, quotation, and body), but still wasn’t really excited about the visuals.

Straying away from the slab serif pattern, I started trying out the pixel imagery. Because the image isn’t actually pixels, it may be kind of a stretch.

I thought this image captured Arvo better. Since architectural/industrial, yet modular like the glyphs. However, due to the minimal color and minimalist feel, it has a sense of classiness to it, which overall doesn’t capture Arvo well. I do like the visual style, though.

This was a really fun exploration. I took some of the negative space from the letters that had some interesting shapes to it. These shapes bring a sense of playfulness and curiosity, which demonstrate how I felt when first studying Arvo, but I wouldn’t call Arvo playful.

At the end of the explorations, I went back to my original image. Some main changes from my previous iterations include:

1. I enlarged the image to take up the entire left page
2. I played with text size and on the image
3. I added a long rectangle by the introduction of the body
4. I staggered the two columns of text, so there is a more even distribution of negative space

Critique from Vicki

• try richer orange — not yellowy orange
• bring supplemental information away from the text
• text should align (dont create x shape with it)
• get rid of the one liners in the body — it looks like widows
• have something to emphasize the counters in the “Xx”

Post Critique Refinement

After the critique, I moved up the right column to align with the baselines with the left column. I also explored the placement of Arvo (in the sky or in the shadow of the building — there was more contrast and higher readability when in the shadow) and the placement of the additional information (integrated in the text or separated from the text).

Final Spread

Reflection:

I think I am happy with my final spread. In the beginning of the project, I struggled with the distinction between poster and spread, but now I am more comfortable with using negative space, adjusting rags, and creating a cohesive visual language. Although my spread is not perfect and I could have broken from a more traditional approach, I am content with my work given the time constraints.

Project 4: Kinetic Type

Project Brief:

After researching Arvo for my typeface spread, how can I communicate this information in an animation? For this project, I create a 60 second kinetic type animation focusing on timing of information and rhythm to create a strong narrative.

Sound

I began my project by searching for background music. For my music, I knew I wanted something with strong beats to portrait Arvo’s strength/reliability.

I went to https://freemusicarchive.org/ for exploring music options and went to the soul/rnb/instrumental music and downloaded 6 audio clips out of the 50–70 that I listened to. The next day (because I could get a fresher reaction to the chosen songs), I re-listened to the downloaded songs and ranked them.

When showing these songs to Yoshi, he found that Makaih Beats was strongest — Springdale by Audiobinger reminded him of Youtube vlog music.

Storyboard

Next, I created a rough storyboard to get myself familiar with how I can play around with composition of scenes and how I can imagine myself animating the letterforms. I used a royal blue as a primary color to represent Estonia’s flag colors. Something that I noticed with my storyboard is the amount of words on each slide — I may need to change my script over break up the text into different scenes. The animation may be easier consumed if there is less to read at once.

Vicki’s critique:

When showing Vicki my storyboard, she noticed that I can have a stronger color palette (blue is okay, but play around with different blues). Because of this, I went back to my typeface spread and selected colors from the image.

Because my storyboard was so wordy, I referenced my original 50 word statement again and made adjustments. Instead of writing it in a paragraph, I broke it up into bullet points of information.

Original 50 Word Statement

Arvo, designed by Anton Koovit in 2010, is a geometric slab serif that prioritizes readability due to its tall x-height, large counters, and monolinear letters. The slab serifs create a geometric, heavy feel. It is commonly used for headings, navigation bar menus, CTAs, advertisements, posters, billboards, and quotes.

Script Iterations

I had a few ideas for what information I wanted to include in my animation. Did I want to include the background information with the industrial revolution? Should Arvo be introduced in the middle or the very end? At the end, I decided to keep the industrial revolution information because I wanted a clear timeline in my animation (1800 →1810 →2010). I also found myself continuing to adjust my script as I iterated on my animation.

More music…

After creating the first 30 seconds of my animation, I was starting to feel frustrated with my music. I realized that beside the first 5 seconds, the song was too repetitive (it was the same 5 beats repeated throughout the minute). I found that I wanted more variation in the music and clear beat drops to reflect my script + emphasize certain information.

I went back to the drawing board (sigh) and listened for more songs. This time, I looked at Spotify playlists (instrumental hip hop) and really enjoyed Downtown by BouBou. It was upbeat and had four distinct sections: 0:00–0:25, 0:25–0:35, 0:35–0:45, 0:45–0:60. Because of this, I adjusted my script so the most important information would be at the beat drops/transition between sections.

C Lab After Effects Notes

Iterations

For my visual language, I wanted to play around the position and scale of a rectangle that serve as a transition between scenes while also playing off the timeline that is seen throughout the animation. I was also able to reference the rectangle in my spread (to lead the viewer’s eye to the beginning of the body copy) which I was very excited about when first achieving the transition.

Iteration 1.mp4

Notes:

• text and music are not synced at 0:45–50
• add more information after 0:50

main_1.mp4

Here, I ended up removing the letters from the first five seconds. My original intentions was to give a hint that this animation was about letterforms while not being obvious to what the letters were. However, I thought removing the letters looked a lot cleaner (the letterforms seemed like fluff to me)

Critique with Vicki:

• change metric to optimal kerning
• better use of color compared to Estonia blue
• change pacing of information during “a new font was needed / bolder / expressive”

Based on Vicki’s feedback, I provided a pause before “a new font is needed” and had “bolder / expressive” follow a second after. I found that this timing makes it easier to read because the pause allows the reader to rest for a moment and the sequence of text that appears is more appropriate.

Additionally, I pushed my introduction to “ARVO” to the very end. I thought the hidden letters in “ANTON KOOVIT CREATED” had a greater impact, so having it as a final reveal as a conclusion would create more emphasis (having more information come after would make it feel awkward.

Critique with Vicki: decrease vertical spacing to improve readability(i.e. at “intended for web, perfect for print”)

main_4.mp4

Here, I made subtle refinements (adjusting text size and composition) and added a page effect during the “less broadsheets / books” scene. I also reintroduced “ARVO” in the beginning too as a little teaser, and I think there is a nice cycle since Arvo is only mentioned in the beginning and the end.

• 0:35–0:45 needs improvement — not totally synced

ARVO_Dang_Michelle.mp4

Reflection

I enjoyed this project a lot more than expected and am happy with how it turned out. In the beginning, I struggled with being confident in my music, which led me to really doubt my progress and restart/try new music + motion ideas. However, I think Yoshi’s advice of going straight into After Effects really helped. I learned a lot of technical After Effects skills with Andrew, and also developed a refined sensitivity to how quickly (or slowly) information is read and how motion and sound play a role together (almost like a ballet).

I really enjoyed the C Mini — I felt like I have learned tangible content and also walked away feeling genuinely the most proud of my work compared to past semesters/classes. I am able to approach posters, spreads, graphics, and text with a better eye — I can view media understanding how grids are used, what content is expected to be read first, and how text and visuals go hand in hand. I believe that because the structure of this class was so rigid/incremental, the foundation of understanding these design elements will allow me to approach my communications work more intuitively. I am excited to take the next C studios with the knowledge that I have acquired from this class :)