Assignment 3: Type Specimen Poster
Futura. Paul Renner (1927)
Futura is known as a geometric sans-serif typeface developed by Paul Renner. The goal of Futura is to give off an appearance of efficiency and was considered to be a modern model for fonts. Renner was inspired by designs from Bauhaus and used many simple shapes such as circles, triangles, and squares. Before working on the type specimen poster for Futura, we first tried to understand typography and it’s anatomy by learning the concepts that go into making a font.
Exercise 1
From this exercise, we learned the basic concepts that built a font. For example, some characteristics such as ascenders, height, and joints/stems make fonts unique from one and other. Kerning is also unique to fonts to change the spacing between certain characters. Characters within a word can be kerned to fit more cohesively with the word as a whole.
Exercise 2
Word 1
With this exercise, we were taught to utilize space and position to convey the meaning of that word in unison with that specific typeface. I initially chose the word beauty and wanted to both exemplify the meaning of the word and challenge the meaning. I began by experimenting with fonts that showed the word beauty and innately looked beautiful. Then, I positioned the word in an almost graceful manner while not obstructing the viewer.
Then we were instructed to represent the word in a way that seemed to challenge the word using both the positioning of the word and the font chosen. I chose to first arrange the words vertically instead of horizontally because it seemed to give a more jarring appearance. I then made every word a different font size to give off the idea of randomness and no order within the composition.
Word 2
For the next word, I chose loud and to exemplify the word, I wanted to choose fonts that gave the word emphasis. Therefore, I chose fonts that were heavily weighted and bold.
I ended up choosing the Impact font because of its natural font weighting that in a way made it fill up the canvas. I placed the word in the middle to make it be the only thing the viewer sees immediately. Similar to how a loud person in a room would naturally attract attention immediately.
To challenge the meaning of the word loud, I chose a more light font and reduced the font size. I also positioned the words in the corner to be hidden from the viewer. Even with many repeated uses of the word, it doesn’t stand out as much as the first example of loud.
Exercise 3
For this exercise, we were given a list of words that were only separated by newlines. We then would have to modify the font, spacing, and size of the text to make it more readable to the user. After several iterations of how to space the words, I came up with this poster. Spacing the dates of the events was the most important feature because originally, it was almost impossible to distinguish which date corresponded to which event. I think it was also very important to highlight the fact that the event was free so I bolded that specific word.
Type Specimen Poster (Futura)
After doing these exercises, we were prepared to apply these skills to a poster about the fonts we were assigned. I was assigned Futura, a geometric sans-serif typeface that was created based on basic geometric shapes such as circles. After researching the font more, I found that Renner took many ideas from Baohaus to express his modern models and reject previous sans-serif designs. With this new knowledge, I began to draft ideas and create several iterations after.
I initially began my design process by creating sketches that didn’t involve any color. I believed adding color would only distract me from the overall impression I was trying to create. My initial sketch was very simplistic but had all the requirements of a type specimen poster. I wanted to emphasize the first letter of the word Futura to bring attention to the poster. After this first sketch, I looked at designs from Baohaus and knew I should create a design that didn’t wouldn’t flow like the norm. That was why I decided to place the font and words on a slant and defy the standard for a poster. From this basic idea, I then began to mess around with where certain elements such as the author and year should be placed complement the font name.
After much experimentation, I saw that adding a gradient to the letters of the alphabet created a more free-flowing representation. I tried to place the letters in different locations and ultimately ended up placing it at the bottom of the poster. With an initial critique, I wanted to experiment with placing the letters in Futura at different angles and shapes. This seemed to work but after adding too many colors, I realized how messy and unreadable the poster had become. With the critique, I also found the importance color had in exemplifying certain features such as the name of the font, Paul Renner. Since it was in color, there was no point in making too big because the color itself already brought emphasis. I also found adding a gradient to the word Futura made the poster more interesting by bringing leading the eyes across the poster.
Overall, I through the project was a great way to learn about how to design with the viewer in mind. After the many critiques, I learned to step back from your design and have a higher-level view. If I were to do this project again, I would love to experiment with the angles of certain letters in Futura as well as other elements to create a more intriguing design.