ISC 100: Final- second half

Typeface

The design of a set of characters

-aesthetic and visual form

Ex: Helvetica or Garamond

Font

The variation in weight, size, and style of a typeface

-enables the use of a typeface

Ex: 10 pt Helvetica or 24 pt bold Garamond

Type Foundry

Where people design and produce typeface (and font)

-used to be a physical type

-now designed for your computer

Sort

A piece of moveable type representing a particular character

Case (don’t only use small caps)

Uppercase, lowercase, etc.

• CAPS

• SMALL CAPS

• Sentence

Weight

Boldness of the stroke

• ultralight

• Medium

• Bold

Posture

Relationship of vertical axis to baseline

• Roman

• Italic

• Oblique

Font family

All a font’s variation and styles

Ex: Myriad Pro: Light

• Light Italic

• Regular

• Italic

• Bold

• Bold Italic

Type Anatomy

Ex:

• bowl

• Stem

• Terminal

• Title

• Bracket

• Serif

• Closed counter

• Open counter

Axis

Describes the posture

(Draw a line through the thinnest part of a letter)

Stroke variation

Change in thickness

Measuring type: Fournier & Didot

Devised a point system (mid 1700s)

-two units of measurement

Measuring type: Points

Heights of letters, space between two lines of type

Measuring type: Picas

Length of lines, column depths, margins, space between columns of type

12 points=1 pics

6 picas=1 inch

72 points=1 inch

How is type measured

Type is measured from ascender to descender

-type can be larger than what you measure, but never smaller

⭐️x-height matters

Measuring vertical space: Line spacing

Vertical space occupied by a line of type plus the space between the two lines

-measure in points from baseline to baseline

-line space-type size=leading

Measuring vertical space: Leading

Space separating two lines of type

• measure in points

• Most design programs including Adobe

Measuring vertical space: Needs more leading when

• large x-height

• Strong vertical stress

• Sans serif

• Small type size

• Longer line lengths

⭐️10/12

Type size/line spacing

• ten on twelve = 2 pt leading?

Measuring horizontal space: Wordspacing

Space between words in a line

Measuring horizontal space: tracking

Consistently manipulates the space between ALL letters

Measuring horizontal space: kerning

Reducing the space between specific letter pair

Type Classification

“Typography exists to HONOR CONTENT.” - Robert Bringhurst

⭐️typeface matters

Classifies type=when to choose it

Type Classification: Blackletter

Based on the decorative handwriting of monks

-used by Gutenberg (1450)

-never in all caps/never body copy

Design: heavy, thick letters

Ornate/sharp diagonal lines

Connotations: history, traditional, classical, dangerous, ominous

Ex: Fraktur, Cloister Black, Old English

Some common uses: newspaper, beer labels, motorcycles

Serifs

Also called Romans

-based on the carvings of the ancient Roman’s

-all have serifs, some degree of stroke variation and an axis

Old style serifs: design

Stroke variation: yes, but not as distinct as others

Serif: heavy with rounded ends

Brackets: yes

Axis: oblique

Other: rounded letters

Connotations: history, mellow, friendly, traditional

Ex: old style, Garamond, etc

Common text: long printed text (newspapers, books, magazines)

Does it lean? =

Transitional serifs: design

Stroke variation: obvious difference

Serif: wider, sharper serifs with flat bases

Brackets: yes

Axis: vertical or almost vertical

Connotations: strong, stylish, ubiquitous (everywhere)

• innocuous (not harmful, modern, historical, everywhere)

• Ex typefaces: Times New Roman, Baskerville

Some common uses: paper, long text

Does it have brackets? =

Ex: Olay ad

Modern Serif: Design

Stroke variation: strong difference

Serif: hairline unless bold, flat

Brackets: none

Axis: vertical

Connotations: structured, elegant, modern, cold, severe

Ex typefaces: Bodoni, Didot

Common use: arts & culture application

-not good for body copy

Is it super thin, vertical? =

Ex: vogue, pottery barn

Slab Serifs

(Also known as Egyptians design)

Stroke variation: none (or almost none)

Serif: thick, block-like, heavy

Brackets: none

Axis: vertical

Connotations: authoritative, friendly, pitch of quirkiness, Wild West, wanted posters

Ex: Rockwell, Stymie

Common use: ads, posters

Sans Serif

Sans=without

More modern (Carlson in 1846)

Humanist Sans Serif: design

Stroke variation: some variation

Serif: none

Brackets: none

Axis: mostly vertical

Connotations: warmth, personal, friendly, human, odd

Ex: Optima/Gill Sans

Common use: long reading + small text

(Online + print/body copy + headlines)

Transitional Sans Serif: Design

Stroke variation: none

Serif: none

Brackets: none

Axis: none

Connotations: unassuming, modern, no nonsense, ubiquitous, innocuous

Ex typefaces: Helvetica, Arial

Common use: transportation, technology

O=oval

Ex: T-Mobile Billboard

Geometric Sans serif: design

Stroke variation: none

Serif: none

Brackets: none

Axis: none

Other: based on geometric shapes

Connotations: modern, stylish, objective, analytical?

Ex: Century Gothic, Avant Garde

Common use: science, architecture, branding

O (not oval) = o (circle)

Scripts

Looks like handwriting

Never in all caps/never body copy

Design: - formal or informal

-connecting or non-connecting

Connotations: personal, human touch

Ex typefaces: brush script, zapf chancery

Common use: headlines or display type

Decorative

Everything else

-rarely in all caps/never body copy Design

Design- varies

Connotations- varies

(Bad) example typefaces- hobo/curlz/papyrus

Ex: Papyrus used in avatar, SNL Papyrus Ryan Gosling Clip, Great Gatsby Movie Ad

Why we use type anatomy?

• to classify type

• When to choose it (connotations)

• Know how to pair it

Type relationships: concordant

One font family

-quiet/calm/formal/can be dull

Type relationships: contrasting

Typefaces are clearly distinct

Visually appealing/exciting

Type relationships: Conflicting

Typefaces are similar but not the same

Disturbing/distracting/should be avoided

Type pairing tips

+ Bad Ideas

-classic mistakes

Art not science

+similar typefaces, typefaces from the same classification (or sub-classification), more than 3 typefaces in a layout

-two decorative typefaces, two script typefaces, two script typefaces, detailed script + serif, script + italic

Type pairing good ideas

+classic combos

• one font family

• Two different classifications

• Very different typefaces

• Distinct + neutral

• Just two typefaces

+

Serif + sans serif

Script + sans serif

Decorative + sans serif

• never forget that your point is to communicate

• Combining different typefaces should enhance the communication, not confuse it!

Legibility

The ease with which one letter can be told from the other when reading

• related to the design of typeface and the shape of the characters

• Controlled by the type creator (chosen by the designer)

Readability

Refers to how the font is arranged (or typeset)

• factors include: type size, type case, line spacing, line, length, readability

• Controlled by the designer

How we read

We read in saccadic jumps

(Clusters of words & sentence fragments)

• these jumps take in about 5-6 characters at a time

• We depend largely on the shape of words when we read (particularly the shape of the upper half of the word)

• These shapes are called “coastlines”

• We don’t want too many or too few jumps per line

-it’s annoying (hurts readability)

Line length

50-75 characters (including spaces & punctuations)

Alphabet 2-3x ?

(Side note: this is also a good rule of thumb for online reading - although type is a bit more complicated)

Other mistakes: widows & orphans (help them)

Widows: left alone at the end of type

Orphans: left alone at begging of type

Hyphens

+

Hanging Quotes

Pay attention! (Don’t want to have too many)

+

So pretty

❌ “ Lallla….”

✅ “Lallla….”

Good Rags

(Tight rags ✅)

So clean

(Loose rags❌)

• all caps where it doesn’t belong

• Poor line length

• Windows & orphans

• Bad hyphens

• Not hanging quotes

• Bad rags

• More than one space after punctuation

• Incorrect quotation mark

• Incorrect apostrophes

• Wrong dashes

• Underlining

CMYK

Cyan, magenta, yellow, key

-subtractive

-print (magazines, books, newspapers…)

• remember you can’t print white!

• (White is a absence of ink, Black is subtractive - getting darker as more ink is added)

Rosette Pattern

Magenta 75

Cyan 15

Black 45

Yellow 0

• angles

• the beautiful, flower-like texture formed when halftone dots of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black inks overlap at specific, different angles (e.g., 15°, 75°, 45°, 0°), creating the illusion of continuous color and depth in printed images

• (CMYK) which subtracts light to create colors

RGB- red, green, blue

-additive

-light (computers, phones, TV, projectors…)

-mixing of light (white) - additive!

• light colors are added together, starting from darkness, to create a spectrum of colors on digital screens, with full intensity of all three resulting in white

Spot color: Pantone Matching System (PMS)

Reproduces images or type in a single, specific color

• pre-mixed ink

• Recipes for mixing inks

• Guaranteed accuracy

• Ex: McDonald’s Pantone: Yellow 122 C, Red 485 C

When to use Pantone

-no full?

-color photos + uses only 1 or 2 colors

-need a color that cannot be accurately reproduced W/ CMYK (ex: logo color)

-need multiple color consistency

-need even coverage over a large area

-need more vibrant colors than CMYK inks produce

-need specific effects such as metallic or fluorescent

-limited on technology?

Why does color model matter? Color Gamut

The range of colors that can be produced by any given process or device

-almost infinite number of colors possible

Human eye= 1mil-10 mil

Chickens=more than humans (they have an extra cone)

CMYK= 4000 colors

RBG=even more

9% of men have some degree of color blindness

Less than 3% of women have color blindness

Things to disagree w/ from book

CMYK ❌=RGB

they are similar but, not the same

• don’t work in RGB if you need CMYK

• work in your designed color mode, switching can drastically change colors

Denotation vs. connotation

D: the strict dictionary meaning of a word

Ex: cheap=doesn’t cost a lot

Bargain= doesn’t cost a lot

Vs.

C: the emotional and imaginative association sounding a word

Ex: cheap=low quality

Bargain= a good deal

Color is culturally dependent

Different meanings in different cultures & simulations?

Red= eastern cultures= prosperity, happiness, good luck, worn by brides

Red= South Africa= Mourning

Red= Communism

Red= AIDS Awareness

Red= Finance= Loss

Red= Engineering = hot or danger

Red= medical field= danger or emergency

• a good designer knows the difference

Red

Blood, fire

-cures hunger

-raises blood pressure + respiration

Connotations: anger + violence, love + passion, Cupid + devil, importance + elegance, danger

Seeing red= mad

Orange

Autumn, fire, fruit

Connotations: energy, cozy, safety, vitality, zest, change, happy+ cheerful

Ex:) Orange Fanta ad

Yellow

Sun, warnings in nature, quickly noticed, highest reflectivity

Connotations: happiness + cheerfulness, hope, positivity, caution, deceit + cowardliness

You’re yellow=coward, chicken

Green

Nature, spring, money (US)

Connotations: new beginnings + growth, environmental, abundance + wealth, jealousy, poison

Ex: she’s green=young, green w/ envy= jealous

Blue

Sky, sea

Connotations: sadness, calm + tranquility, responsible + corporate, technology, strength, masculinity

Ex: feeling blue=feeling sad, Great Gatsby, Surgeon Scrubs teal=complementary of red!

Purple

Wine, grapes

Connotations: sensuality + decadence, royalty + luxury, creativity

Black

Darkness

Connotations: evil + ominous, unknown, mystery, elegance

Ex: black sheep=odd one out, black magic, black mail

Gray

Urban, storm clouds

Connotations: impersonal, modern, technology, conservative, drab, elegant + formal

Ex: a gray day=bleh/okay day

White

Cleanliness

Connotations: purity, virtue, lightness

Max Wertheimer

1880-1943, father of Gestalt psychology

-what you see, not always what it is

Ex: movie billboard light, stroboscopic

Gestalt

German word for form

-a way of organizing visual information

-the whole is different form and more important than the sum of its parts

• Gestalt explains how the eye and brain organize elements into patterns & patterns into a whole

• Based on what objects look like … not what they are like

OLHEW

Individual elements in a design can be separately evaluated, analyzed, and considered

-each element has its own meaning, but the meaning of the whole is different and greater

Whole vs. whale

• we call this the click factor

Vs.

• it means that changing one part forces a reorientation of all parts & changes the whole

Laws of Gestalt: 1.) Law of Pragnanz

Law of symmetry and order

Pragnanz=German for good figure

-our brains organize patterns in the simplest manner possible (our brain is programmed to recognize faces)

Ex: the Olympic rings

Laws of Gestalt: 2.) Law of Figure & Ground

Deals w/ positive and negative space

Figuer: (positive space) = object that stands out from the field

Ground: (negative space) = background or field behind the object

-cannot be seen simultaneously only sequentially

-people look at figures first

Figure/ground relationship: stable figure/ground vs. unstable figure/ground

Stable figure/ground: undercharging relationship of object against background/figure and ground are clear

Vs.

Unstable figure/ground: relationship is ambiguous interpretation alternates between figure and ground

Figures

Have more meaning and power in design

-are seen as having boundaries (ground is boundless)

-have shape and form (ground doesn’t)

-appear closer to the ground

-occupy less area than ground

-are seen in simpler shapes before complex ones

-are seen in symmetrical shapes before asymmetrical

-are seen in brighter areas before dull ones

Laws of Gestalt: 3.) Law of Similarity

We visually group similar objects anomaly- an object can be emphasized if it is dissimilar to the others

Laws of Gestalt: 4.) Law of Proximity

Visually group objects that are closer together

Laws of Gestalt: 5.) Law of Continuation

Elements placed close together w/ few interruptions will be perceived as moving in the same direction (implied lines)

-also at work as we read

-jumping the space from word to word

-an element in the opposite direction creates tension

Ex: Coke Giraffe ad

Law of Gestalt: 6.) Law of Closure

We group nearly complete familiar shapes so they form complete shapes

Ex: absoluto?, Fed Ex (figure ground), NBC (figure ground, closure)

-in image (brain wants you to say triangle)

Semiotics

Study of signs

Father(s) of Semiotics

-Ferdinand Saussure

-Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914)

Sign vs. signified vs. signifier

-anything that stands for something else

-meaning that is made

-thing that makes meaning

Ex: you stopping=signified, stop sign=signifier

Interpretant, representation, object

I: (the mother realizing the baby is hungry)

R: (crying baby)

O: (the baby’s hunger)

Sign Types: iconic

The sign resembles the object it stands for

(Photo of apple means apple)

(Photo of smoke is smoke)

-cross cultural boundaries

Ex: American Flag: Flag

Apple iPhone Logo: Apple itself (the logo/company)

Sign Types: Indexical

The sign suggests a logical connection to something that can be figured out

-cross cultural boundaries

-a smile means that you are happy

(Smoke on this level represents fire)

(Footprint a symbol for something that made it)

Ex: American Flag: America

Sign Types: Symbolic

The sign’s meaning must be learned

(Two fingers means peace)

-don’t cross cultural boundaries

Ex: Apple iPhone Logo: expensive, product itself, factory

Ex: American Flag: Freedom, service, lack of acceptance, 4th of July

The legal slide of ethics in advertising

United States: self-regulated, minimal regulations, internal ethics

European Union: government regulated, more regulations, external ethics

Federal Trade Commission (US)

Purpose: works to stop deceptive ads

-claims to be truthful cannot be deceptive or unfair must be evidence-based

Special Rules: influencers/endorsements/reviews, environmental marketing, made in USA, health claims, children

Non-compliance: periodically monitors the internet for deceptive claims + violators can be fined

Advertising Advertising Federation (US)

Purpose: (clubs+lobbyists)

Legislative Comments & Testimony: provides comment and testimony on legislative and regulatory issues affecting the advertising community

Government Reports: provides a brief overview of advertising - related policy and legislative developments on the federal, state, and local levels

Advertising Ethics: Institute for advertising ethics (US)

Purpose: independent body (non-profit) to address the urgent and complex issues of ethical standards and practices across all aspects of advertising components

⭐️know what they stand for + what they do!

Practices & Principles: “The one constant is transparency and the need to conduct ourselves, our business, and other relationships w/ consumers in a fair, honest, and forth-right manner.”

ethical practices: is it legal?, is it ethical?, what kind of images should we take, share, tell? (ex: UK healthcare Rock Climbing Ad)

Portrait Painting

Henry VII - Anne of Cleves

• deceived by the portrait (didn’t want to marry)

• Napoleon Crossing the Alps Painting (tall, strong, horse rider) vs. actual: short, couldn’t ride a horse, didn’t have a hand

Photo Manipulation

Started by the first photo take

-it’s not new but its everywhere

Ex: Camille Clifford: posed in front of blank backgrounds, people drew a small waist

Photoshop

Thomas and John Knoll

-sold the distribution license to Adobe System Inc in 1988

Digital Image Manipulation

Adding, cropping, changing (lighting/angles/makeup/filters/AI)

-it’s everywhere but is it ethical?

Ex: JCREW & Vans AI ad created ad, Coke AI ad, Wisconsin (fake) diversity shot, OJ Simpson Time Magazine Cover, Lady Gaga Versace

RYB

Red, yellow, blue

-subtractive

Pigment: (paint, crayons, markers)

Color Wheel

Sir Isaac Newton (1704)

-working with prisms

-assigned a musical note to each other

-helps us understand color relationships

-allows us to pick color palettes that work

Primary Colors

Colors we can’t make

-red, blue, yellow

Secondary Colors

Mixing two primary colors

-orange, green, purple

Tertiary Colors

Mixing primary + secondary colors

-red-orange, red-purple, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-purple

The color wheel has:

3 primary

3 secondary

6 tertiary

Warm colors

Have red and yellow as base

-fall, fire, sunrise, and sunset

-energizing, positive, and passionate

-come forward