Type &Hierarchy: Part 1

4 min readFeb 7, 2017

Exercise 1: Typeface Tracing

Exercise 2: Typographic Voice

I chose the word “relaxation” to work with different typefaces. For this word, I wanted to find a font that gave off a peaceful feeling through the use of space between characters, but where the letters of the word still flowed together.

For my first artboard, I chose the font Zapfino regular. I liked this font because the letters were slanted and very loopy. The loose way lines and curves were used felt relaxed to me, and as if the font had no constraints. I felt as though this font embodied the “loosening up” aspect of relaxation.

This artboard uses the font News Gothic MR Regular. I chose this font because of the wide spacing between characters, which makes the overall feel of the work less rigid and more relaxed. I also liked the curves on this font, particularly in the “a” and the “n”. The curves in the letter are a little off-center or droopy, which also helps make the typeface feel less rigid and more relaxed.

For my third iteration, I chose the font Shree Devanagari 714 Regular. I was drawn to this because it was similar to the font above, although the lines are thinner, and there is less space between the characters. I associated simplicity with relaxation, and thought the thin lines embodied the simplicity behind the word relaxation.

For my fourth iteration, I chose the font Perpetua Italic. I was drawn to this font because it was a sort of combination between News Gothic MR and Zapfino. It is a little curvy, but has a larger space between characters than Zapfino. It also embodies the simplicity I wanted to convey with the loops ending cleanly, rather than being overly dramatic. The angle of the loops on the “a” and “e” feel loose and relaxed, which I thought fit the word well.

For my final artboard, I chose to use the font Avenir Next Ultra Light. The typeface has clean, simple lines, and I really liked how uniformly thin the lines were. The font also uses large enclosures on letters such as “e” and “o”, which add more air to the typeface, making it feel lighter and more relaxed. I think this is the typeface that I feel embodies the word the best. The typeface overall is very spaced out and the thin lines are clean and simplistic, making it feel relaxed.

Exercise 3: Didot Research

Didot is a group of typefaces originating from Paris in 1784. It is known as a very elegant font, as can be seen through Vogue’s use of the font on its cover since 1955. It is seen as a more “expensive” font, and many uses of the font tie back to its French origin in some way.

Many of the posters for the font feature a capital D, and most make a reference to Paris with some sort of symbolism through the Eiffel Tower. Overall, the posters are very elegantly put together, with clean lines and a simple color scheme. It gives off the sense that this font has great history and is from a rich cultural background.

Exercise 4: Typographic Hierarchy