Museum Poster Comps

Rule of Thirds

Elements of Typographic Style (The State of the Art) Questions

Elements of Typographic Style Questions
 179-197 (The State of the Art)

1.     What is Unicode? What is included in it? What are some of its standards?

Unicode is the first version of a standard set of characters of the size 2^16=65,536 created in the 1980’s and published in the 1990’s. What is included in Unicode is being embedded in computers and major digital founders have adopted it for the new encoding standard. Some Unicode standards are the global glyphs/characters for other languages such as Latin, Arabic, Chinese and many others. It now has 1,048,576 characters.

2.     Give an example of a manual, random, and programmed variation in type. What is the difference?

An example of a manual variation in type is the standard font that was originally used. Manual variations include extra glyphs for certain characters. An example of a random variation in type is if the user chooses their own variation of the type. For example, if the user is using physical materials such as pen and ink (hand printed), wood, and other materials. This is an older and more distinguished variation. An example of a programmed variation in type is the software that uses single glyphs. This is the most common method of achieving typographic variation. The difference between the three is that they can be used in many different kinds of ways. Each variation is unique from one another.

3.     What is the difference between a bitmapped and Postscript/TrueType font?

The difference between a bitmapped font and Postscript/TrueType font is that a bitmapped font is defined by the addition and subtraction of pixels. It is also defined by scalable outlines. A Postscript/TrueType font uses outlines as well, but the letters have more splines that can be perfectly adjusted to the user’s needs. There are fewer mathematical points. Postscript is used by Adobe systems, while Microsoft uses TrueType.

4.     How does printing influence type? List several ways working with the printer can help type's appearance.

Printing influences type in many a lot of different ways. When designing a page, that page is assuming what you are designing is for print. It influences that margin width, and the overall shaping of the pages. It also influences the font and typeface choice. All of these factor into how the page will print and look. Working with the printer can help the type’s appearance by making sure that the printed version will be the best that it can be. The final printed version of anything will be more composed and correctly thought out if it is well planned out before by using the correct kinds of ink, paper, margins, etc.

5.     In the last page of the chapter, it says "One good typeface is better and more useful than fifty thousand poor ones. Here as always, good means several things." Explain this statement (without directly copying from the book).

The statement means that when you pick a font you should be sure the letterforms are perfectly contrived and convincing. Making sure the glyphs are well sized and formed also makes for one good typeface. It also needs to look “good” printed as well as digitally. It needs to be aesthetically pleasing as well as technically perfect.

Museum Poster Inspiration

 
 
 
 
 
 

Interactive Poster Design and Grid Analysis

In the first poster, the Cahaba River Fry-Down, the design is well held together without needed to fill all of the white space. A textured/light colored background helps to make the page feel less empty and minimalistic, but does not distract from the design. The color and texture also suits the outdoorsy fish fry contest theme. The grid is set up so that there is a lot of breathing room around the images, and all the text fits in perfectly with the grid. It only utilized the two middle columns in the four-column grid, and this works well because the minimalistic image provides a lot of breathing room in contrast with the tight text below. The hierarchy is handled well. Using an eye-catching image the draws your eye into the title makes the title and image stand out the most. Used as an accent, the blue color really draws the eye around and gives it a pop of color, as well as a break from the black and white colors.

 

In the second poster, the blue Lisa Randall poster, there is a lot of well-used negative space. There is a lot of space given around each element of the design to separate each element. There is a five-column grid horizontally and vertically. The pops of color draw in the lips draw the eye around, but don’t overpower the text. What makes this poster really work is that all of the text and images are carefully placed into the grid. Lisa Randall is the most important element of the page, so it is the biggest and right in the center of the third column. The sub-header below is also capitalized to make it stand out, but not too much. Although each text element is separated, they all work well together through the integration of the five-column horizontal and vertical grid.

In the third poster, the Work For Free poster, there is a lot of negative space that is well used. The page does not feel empty at all though, because the negative space has a color, as well as a slight texture. It also has a different colored border, and an interestingly integrated design that blends into the border. The five-column grid helps align everything. The pop of red color also helps draw the eye throughout the poster. The shredded paper really draws the eye all throughout the poster and makes everything come full circle. The main element of the page is the image, and you eye goes there first, and then in drawn all around the page, making it work hierarchically.


Below are the drawn out grid structures for the three posters. 

Caslon Final

Type Poster Comps

OMFS