Type Specimen Poster: Didot
[Research] For the type specimen project, I selected the typeface, Didot. From my initial research I learned that the distinguishing features are
- extreme contrast between thick and thin elements
- verticality of the letters interferes with the text’s horizontal rhythm, leading the eye up and down rather than across the text. Creates feeling of unhurried, calm, and in control
- exaggerated the height and verticality of the ascenders and descenders: creating architectural grandeur and flourish
- created for printing, and currently used in magazines, high-end sales, and architecture
[Sketches 1] So I began my sketches, thinking about what it meant to draw and hold the eye in an unhurried, stately way. I wanted to accentuate the thick verticals and the thin horizontals. I brainstormed how I could create vertical structures with the name and characters. I experimented with working in strict columns compared to vertical elements placed more organically.
[Sketches 2] I then experimented with stacking “didot” vertically, and accentuating the thin horizontals with single lines of text. I tried to push the idea of “grabbing your eye and holding it” by placing text in the characters, by densely placing text with generous whitespace, and characters spaced out to disrupt horizontal flow.
[Sketches 3] I then pushed the idea of building vertical structures out of the letters further by vertically stacking, and fitting together like puzzle pieces. On the right, I experimented with the idea of creating a magazine spread. The most famous use of didot currently is in Harper’s Bazaar so I drew inspiration from 2 fold magazine spreads with flourished images and large titles, then subtext beginning an article. I experimented with using magazine margins or inserting a binding fold. These sketches contrasted my former ideas with more curved and flourishing elements, compared to the rigid verticals.
[Digital Iterations 1] Using Adobe Illustrator, I first experimented with creating a vertical structure, suggestive of architecture. I looked for characters with straight uninterrupted verticals, trying the “1”, “l”, and “I”. I chose the vertical to be black to be bold and immediately grab the eye. The white letter in the center then holds the eye, with the black background acting as barriers. I then played with placement and outlining to explore the relationship of the “didot” name to the background. Of these iterations, I liked the letters hanging off the edge of the “I” columns and blending with the white background, using of gestalt to finish the letters.
[Digital Iterations 2] I then began to place the body text, experiment with color, and stagger the elements to create create movement. I was inspired by didot’s use in publications to create thin columns of text about the size of a magazine column. To create hierarchy among the elements, I experimented with an accent color to call out the creator name and date. I chose purple to suggest “high end” or “royalty” at about 50% opacity as to not compete with the strong black “didot.” Layering the elements and keeping the titles large created energy and a glamorous feel, similar to large flashing signs or old movie theater. From the top 2 to the bottom 2 I worked to strengthen the relationship between the “fermin” and “1781” to the poster. I like the effect of layering the body text behind the black columns because it created some z dimensions (in addition to the layered faded purple). I also like the texture it created, however I was aware the text was impossible to read.
Playing off the energy creeping into the design, I explored more use of color. Inspired by didot’s grandeur and use for high-end goods, I decided to pair purple and gold, suggesting royalty or money, and red and grey, evoking posh magazines like Vogue. I experimented with emphasizing the thin slab serifs, using an accent color to bring brightness to the poster. They created a rail effect, like train tracks, and the largest white space remained it the middle, calling more attention to the typeface name. I was concerned that it appeared too busy and did not effectively communicate the information since much was covered.
[Digital Iterations 2] I also expanded on my sketches that created repeated structures from the letters in “didot.” It was an intriguing image but difficult to read the typeface name. I tried extending the “d” and “t” as the only letters with ascenders, and extending the thing slab serifs with single line of text matching the serif thickness. However the thin, staggered lines did not create the strong, stately feel of didot.
[Digital Iterations 3] Finally, I experimented with creating a 2 fold magazine spread style. I formatted the information paragraph like a magazine body text in 2 columns of justified text. I placed the date at the beginning of the body text like a drop cap and the character set in italics under the main image, suggestive of a sub-header on a magazine feature. I As an accent color, I used red to contrast black and white, and again, suggest fashion or style. I placed the name “fermin” above didot to create the name Fermin Didot, using didot as the creator’s last name and the typeface name. Fermin is in italics to give personality and motion, further distinguishing the meaning as a name of a person rather than the name of the typeface. Magazine spreads typically feature dramatic flourishes that follow the 50 feet, 5 foot, 5 inches rule. At 50 feet, an image can be seen that grabs attention and suggests the content of the article. I chose the “&” as a decorative character that features the most extreme thick to thin transition, featured in a character with large curves and flourished accents, sharply contrasting, and therefore emphasizing, the solid straight columns. As to not compete with the black didot, I chose this ampersand to be the same red at 60% opacity. The end of the & relates to the didot by extending the top horizontal line. Then the bottom flourish leads the eye into the body paragraph. The movement of the & really helped draw a path for the eye to follow in the piece from the didot, to Fermin, to 1781, then following the curve forward to the body text.
[Draft 1 Feedback] At the first design crit, I brought 2 versions.
Version 1: Feedback I received included liking the use of gestalt to finish the letters, the use of transparency, The class though the poster was busy and confusing for the eye to move through and that the paragraph text was difficult to read.
Version 2: Classmates said they liked the colors scheme, and negative space. Someone commented on a clear hierarchy, emphasizing the “didot” then observing the fermin and 1781 due to color, then following the flourish down and right to the character set and body text. Others were distracted by the rivers in the paragraphs and the tracking on the bottom word, and wanted the character set to have more relation to the piece.
From this crit, I needed to cut down the word count to 100, format the body text to be justified but track to avoid rivers, study my final image with the 50', 50', 5" rule, keep the body text small around 12 pt font, and be conscious of the relationship between all elements, avoiding awkward moments. I also needed to consider the purpose of each element. The extended yellow serifs for example, added little meaning.
[Digital Iterations 4] Based on the positive feedback of the successful visual hierarchy, I decided to pursue version 2. Studying the poster, I thought there visual weight of the poster wasn’t balanced. The black and red pulled tipped the poster left and gave it heaviness. The & did not emphasize the most important information. The first thing I experimented with was rotating the “&”. I thought the motion and thickness added to communicating the hierarchy well. The thick sections surrounded the title, didot. It then thinned as it moved the eye to the less important information to the right. The funnel shape of the serif opened dramatically to lead into the body paragraph. I continued to experiment with weight and balance by changing the scale of the black didot columns and bolding the “&” at various sizes. I like how larger curving and flowing & contrast the the straight stiff “I,” calling even more attention to the stiff black verticals.
Building off the feedback from the crit (such as the character set appearing tacked on), I adjusted the elements to create relationships between each. I placed the character set, fitting pleasingly between the & flourish. Didot is a very orderly, stately font so to match the personality, I worked to make sure the elements were deliberate and a bit predictable. For example, emphasizing an item by breaking the grid would not have matched the personality of the typeface. Rather than layering the 1781 on top of the text and obscuring it, I was inspired by a magazine drop cap to create a step to sit the date into the text. However, I did not fulling surround it in text and left it sitting more left and up of the rectangle to balance the larger, smaller body text with the larger, red date. And, the red date accent color created cohesion between the Fermin and the embellishment, drawing the eye diagonally to end at the text. I made sure the & flowed through the 4th serif, and up into the 1 of the date to create the flow between elements without crowding the elements.
I wanted to maintain a “margin” on a white glossy sheet to maintain the magazine-spread inspiration. I thought the white background made the black and red pop, and that the color scheme gave it a glamorous feel. To add a warmer, and therefore softer, background color and stronger and competing background color that created tension did not match the typeface style of assuming and dignified, but unhurried.
Next, I focused on the character set because I still did not think it complimented the piece well. I had been using the character set in the order of the keyboard, and realized this visual chaos created by irregular sizes and kerning was distracting from the piece. I experimented with right, center, and justified alignment and with reordering the characters to alphabetic order, and numbers, lowercase and uppercase grouped together as the typeface is defined. Also removing the symbols (all non-letters) created the order I was looking for and fit on 2 lines, which relieved some of the visual weight and chaos. I looked for how the symbols could complement and the piece. I ordered the symbols in terms of height and weight and saw that they would mirror the dramatic shift from thick to thin in the didot typeface.
I continued through and removed all awkward moments, such as like the sight offset of the “o” from the red to the black, adjusted the leading of the body paragraph to perfectly match the lines and size of the “&” serif, opening into the funnel. I adjusted tracking to avoid rivers in the paragraph body.
Finally, reformatted the falling symbol decoration to more exactly follow the curve of the &. I liked the grey scale texture it brought to the right side of the poster, it leads the eye from thick to thin downwards to the body paragraph, and transforms the awkward, irregular (and unwanted) symbols into an elegant element of the piece, matching the tone.
[Final Poster] The color of the final poster printed a red, orange, black and white. Some feedback received was that the red and orange were too similar to read the “1”. I also felt that the orange was slightly completing with the black verticals. I would have liked the color to print as a less opaque rose color, rather than the stronger orange. However, I think the orange and red commanded attention in a dignified way, characteristic of didot, and draws people in from 50', especially against the stark white background.
Others commented that they liked the visual hierarchy, and that the eye flowed well through the piece. The eye starts and lingers with the didot, solidly in the black columns, then moves to the red accent color. It follows the curve down to the contained character set and then finished the curve as a funnel opening to the paragraph.
Finally, Kaylee asked if the structural “I”s featuring the letters in didot could be pushed to have more meaning in the context of the poster. This is important, as I was focusing on making sure every element in the piece had a communicative purpose. And, here they are helping to communicate the personality of the font. I explored earlier on creating structures from the letters in “didot” for example. I chose the “I” as a symmetrical, solid, and stately character such that it would be standing tall to accentuate the most distinguishing feature of didot: the thick verticals and thin horizontals. The symmetrical letter also builds a strong architectural image, and be drawn and held by its homogeneity. I like how the straight, stiff lines contrast with the curving & in the background, bringing the flourish. The “I” columns serve as guidelines to print a “didot” with very wide kerning. Didot’s strong verticals and thin horizontals disrupt a horizontal flow left to right, breaking a reading rhythm. With wide kerning, it takes the brain an extra second to process the typeface title.
