IXD101 – UI Cards and buttons

During class we were asked to each choose a song or album from our favourite artists and to create a UI card for them. I found this task very helpful as we had to upload them to miro which was a great way to see everyones work. I also liked the task itself, I found creating a simple UI card fun to do because the simpler the better. I chose Taylor Swifts new album because I liked the colour palette of greys and whites.

This is my UI card.

I really enjoyed making this, I feel that my colour choice for the icons and buttons worked well with the image I chose, however they text may be hard to see, I look forward to working more with tasks like these and I will be exploring well known UI designers who specialise in this field.

 

A Century of Change

The development of cameras and pictures

To begin research on the century of change it began with the development of the fist images caught on camera. In 1814 Joseph Niepce achieved the first photograph image using a camera obscura.

 

Then in 1837 Louis Daguerre introduced a Daguerrotype, a fixed image that did not fade. In 1851 Frederick Scott Archer invented the Collodion process, which reduced light exposure time to just 2- 3 seconds. During this time Japanese art was taking off and influencing the art world greatly.

Impressionism

During 1750 – 1849 Japanese art had very impressionist views, their artwork was not stiff stances of people. It became more decorative and free.

Claude Monet

Monet was a French painter and was influenced greatly by the Japenese art and Impressionism. In the early 1860’s he discovered that he enjoyed painting landscapes and contemporary life rather than historical or mythological scenes. The term ‘Impressionism’ is derived from his painting ‘impression, sunrise’. Impressionism faced harsh ridicule in France by the conventional art community.

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Monet’s ambition of capturing the French countryside led him to adopt a new method of painting the same scene many times in order to capture the changing light and the passing of seasons.

 

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec

Henri is another artist who depicted French life, he was a printmaker, partner, illustrator and draughtsman. He is best known for his post-impressionist period and his work recorded many details of the late 19th century bohemian lifestyle in Paris.

Toulouse-Lautrec was commissioned to paint and design posters for the Moulin Rouge, these posters were new and never seen before post-impressionism, awarding Henri fame.

 

Arts and Crafts Movement 

I then did some research on artists and designers who had many talents and interests in. may different fields. I found William Morris very interesting.

Morris was a textile artist who was influenced by nature and designed beautiful fabrics and patterns.

Morris was an activist for the arts and crafts movement and was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textiles art, methods and production. He believed that designers should be disciplined inn many media and he taught himself a range of techniques and arts crafts. This was inspiring to me because as young designers we should be learning new things all the time and teaching ourselves new crafts to be equipped for anything our design careers throw at us.

 

Art Nouveau Movement 

This movement was inspired by natural forms and structures.

Some artists known for their work during this period are Alphonse Mucha, who was a painter, illustrator and graphic artist during 1860 – 1939. He is best known for his work of decorative theatrical posters, particularly those for Sarah Bernhardt.

        

I found these posters so detailed and the graphics look very ahead of their time. His choice of colour was very thought out and well executed also, he too was an artists with many skills and abilities in various artistic trades. He seen this job opportunity by chance and said that he could do it, it was for deigning a poster and that landed Mucha a six year contract with Bernhardt, this venture brought him much fame and success.

 

Vienna Secession

Vienna Secession is an art movement close to the art nouveau movement and was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who were in protest against the Association of Austrian Artists for their support for traditional artistic styles. This group was a mixture of architects, painters and graphic designers. The groups most influential architectural work was the Secession building.

There have been many fonts made that have been influenced by the typeface on this building and the architecture, resembling the buildings striking lettering at the entrance. Kolo is a four font family inspired by the lettering of the Secession and is named after Koloman Moser. Kolo has an unusual sans serif which is ideal for a striking font to reflect the Secession.

 

 

Graphic Design. 

Peter Behrens

Behrens was a leading German architect and industrial designer as well as a graphic designer and inventor of the idea of a logo. He is best known for his work on the brand ‘AEG’ and is the founder of corporate identity.

Not only was Behrens ‘AEG’s artistic consultant but he also worked on AEG products for example, lamps, clocks, fans and electric kettles. He took a hand at engineering them himself, so he really was a master of a lot of trades which is inspiring. During the time period of 1907-1910 Behrens also contributed to German typography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gutenburg & Type History

‘Type is clothing for words’ – Erik Spiekermann

During a lecture we were taught about the origin of printing and different types. This was a very informative lecture because I learned all about the importance of typography. Types matter because they have to represent a person or brand or business, for example certain fast food chains wouldn’t use the same type as other professional fine dining establishments. Realising this, I came to understand that type has to be considered in everything and everyday life.

The discovery of Printing

Typefaces originated from ancient calligraphy and the printed manuscripts in China, they invented woodblock printing during the Tang Dynasty. One of the first books ever printed with woodblocks was a copy of the Diamond Sutra (846 AD), a six sheet scroll over five metres long. Chine also invented the first movable type, many thought that it was Johannes Gutenburg was the inventor of mobile type but he was not, the Chinese did. Fast forward to the 15th Century, Gutenberg was a ‘Revisionary’ and built on the work of the Chinese. He invented the adjustable mould and created type made from lead, tin and alloy. Gutenberg also invented the first printing press.

 

 

 

 

 

The Printing Press

The printing press is one of the most important inventions of all time. This cheap, quick and easy distribution would lead to changes in history forever, it revolutionised book making and distribution around the world. The printing press was so important because prier to this invention book making was a painfully long and laborious process and only the wealthy could afford them.

Gutenburgs device enabled the establishment of an early assembly-line production of printed text allowing for the mass production of books at a much cheaper cost than contemporary methods. His first book he produced was the Gutenberg bible and over 200 books were have said to be made and only 22 remain today.

This device had an impact on topics of religion as well for example, before the printing press Europe was predominantly Catholic due to the Church during the time of the printing press creation people again to rebel against the church and they began to reform and this contributed to the Protestant reformation, as people were spreading their own thoughts and ideas with ease because of books.

The Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution introduced printing presses that required 90% less force but allowed for space for double the amount of paper, therefore the industrial revolution helped to advance the printing press and enhance the production greatly.

At the beginning of the revolution, the mechanics of the hand-operated Gutenberg- style press were still unchanged, although new materials in its construction, amongst other innovations, had gradually improved its printing efficiency. By 1800 a press made completely form cast iron was made by Lord Stanhope, this reduced the force required by 90%, while doubling the size of the printing area.

Patented in 1801, a German printer Friedrich Koenig made a stream press, this then let to the production of newspapers, they went on to prefetching this project so it could print on two sides of the paper.

 

 

A brief History of Typefaces & Typography

In professional typography, the term typeface is not interchangeable with the word font because the term font has historically been defined as a given alphabet and its associated characters in a single size. Historically, fonts came in specific sizes determining the size of characters, and in quantities of sorts or number of each letter provided. The design of characters in a font took into account all these factor.

The first font was said to have been developed from the scribes until the invention of the printing press. The first typeface carved by Gutenberg was derived from the hand writing style at the time and was used in the first books, even the bible.

Over time different styles were altered and favoured by the people, for example the classic ‘serif’ or ‘old style serifs’ were popular in the 15th century and was known as the ‘Garamond’ type. In 1934 Rockwell was designed by the monotype corporation and has remained popular to this day.Then there were fonts like Baskerville which was in-between the periods of old-style and modern fonts.

 

The Printing Revolution 

 

These are some of the classic typefaces that have become timeless for example Palatino, this type was made in 1949 by Hermann Zapf and was so popular at its time and now because it is very easily read and still looks sophisticated on the page. Others like Futura, that was designed by Paul Renner and was the font they used for the moon landing, still appears to be a modern style. This typeface is interesting because it was made up of shapes and is still used thoroughly today. Another timeless classic is Helvetia, designed by Max Miedingers in 1957 and is one of the most well known and most used typefaces throughout the world for its neutral qualities and great clarity.

Web Typography 

Web fonts needed to start because people could only access fonts that were on their computers web browser. There was no mechanism for individual web pages to control font display until Netscape introduced the font element in 1995, however the font had to be installed onto the computers system for them to be used. The Cascading Style Sheets specification was published in 1996 and provided the same capabilities. The CSS3 included font downloading and this is increased interest in web typography, as well as the use of font downloading.

I researched modern types and these are some I found that I thought were interesting,

 

 

 

 

Manifesto research – Jessica Hische

Jessica Hische

To improve my manifesto I done some research on Jessica Hische was an American letterer, illustrator and type designer. I turned to her page for inspiration and to see if her work could influence mine in a way. She is best known for her personal projects and her own books that have the most beautiful illustrations and types on them. These are some of my favourites.

I chose her to look at because not only is her work beautiful, she is also very successful in her line of work. She has designed book covers for Dave Egger, has been featured on Forbes for the ’30 under 30′ and together with Fii has designed the well known ‘love’ stamp for the US postal service which ended up selling over 250 million stamps. On her website she states that ‘I specialise in redrafting, reinvigorating, and restoring logos for established brands—enhancing their beauty and legibility through sensitive and subtle updates’. So not only does she create books and illustrations but she is known for her new and innovative logos and type.

From looking at this information I then took to my sketchbook and began recreating her designs and fonts with my manifesto.

 

I wanted to design a manifesto that resembled her bright and eye-catching colour palettes. I think I have achieved this in these designs. I like the text with the swirly tails and elongated curves, this is something I think I can develop and perhaps draw out and scan into adobe xd and use my own typeface.
These are some designs I came up with that have been influenced by Jessica Hische. I like the bright colours but I feel like some of the fonts are not legible, for example the last design, I used the font ‘Affair’, although it is quite like Jessica Hische’s work, I find it too hard to read. I want to continue to use these playful colours like Hische but I need to work on the fonts more.

 

100 Iterations – 9 chosen images

My group chose point, and within this we decided to look at a range of circular objects for example, coins, clocks, oranges and even books on the moon.

These are some of the images I considered and found interesting.

 

Even though I found these points intriguing, these are not the images I wanted to take forward and experiment with. I wanted to focus on one area – coins. I chose coins because they are an everyday object that everyone needs and uses. I find them to be very intricate and the markings to be quite beautiful. Some images I found on Pinterest and Tumblr were rather fascinating and I liked how the background made each coin look different. I like how the placement of a coin can be erratic and can change the look of an image or can tumble a tower of coins. I find it interesting that in these images the where I placed the coin mattered and changes the overall outcome of the image itself. These are some images I liked and I recreated them myself.

 

 

I recreated some of these with the coins I use everyday. I also added in records and c.d’s to add a different element and texture of ‘points’. I found these coins form different places around the world interesting and I loved how they can be made into something else, for example the Mona Lisa. Furthermore, showing that even the most peculiar of ‘points’ can be transformed into something beautiful.

This was my first attempt but I wasn’t very happy with it so I decided to try a different approach. I enjoy drawing and illustration so I thought I would incorporate it in this exercise. I started with sketches in my sketchbook on the composition of my images. I still wanted to go with circular objects, but I wanted to do more than coins, so my narrative revolved around composition.

I wanted to use coins, cd’s and records. I chose these three because I wanted the ‘points’ to be progressively getting bigger and then somehow coming together as one.

IXD101 – Letters

We were asked to chose a letter we found interesting and change/ alter it in some way, for example cut parts out or sharpen the edges to create a whole new look to the letter. I chose a lower case ‘g’ because I thought I could achieve something unique with the lower tail of the g. This is what I came up with,

I liked the look futuristic feel to this g and I like the straight cut I done at the top, I think the sharp edges make this ‘g’ more fierce. Here are some other ones I made.

I didn’t like this letter as much as the ‘g’ because I feel like the space is too wide and I could have made the edges more sharp and striking. I didn’t like the ‘o’ I made as much as the ‘g’ either because I feel like I added too many circles. So what I have learned from this exercise is that less is more.

 

Type size and scale

We then looked at sizing in typefaces and what should be the largest on the page or screen to what should be the smallest. I learned that this all depends on the information and what is most important, what the public need and or want to see first.

We were given a list of information and we were asked to sort this data onto a screen in the sizing we seen fit. I chose to go for a poster design layout because I feel like this suited the information given.

 

What worked – I think I chose the correct font and size for the title ‘Mind over muscle’ because it does stand out.

What didn’t work – I think I could have chosen a more striking font for the dates because I think it looks quite boring. I          also think that the text in the middle doesn’t blend well with the rest of the poster because it is too small.

Overall I enjoyed completing these typography tasks because it opened my eyes to the importance of the type, the size and positioning.

IDX101 – Typography

We were asked to go on Figma and create 5 different letter and combinations. This was to show us how any letter or number can. become something very interesting when joined together in some way. Here is what I came up with.

 

I enjoyed doing this task because I learned a lot, for example, this task encouraged me to look into business both online and in person that use this method of combining letters and numbers to make a logo. These are some I found and liked.

This also made me realise how some numbers when joined with letters, like the 6 and O, merge together to form a new shape, to almost resemble an eye. Furthermore, this task was very useful in helping me realise the beautiful mistakes that can occur when moving letters about on figma.

 

Typeface specimen final designs

Inspiration

I took a walk and found that the Autumn leaves that were changing colour and beginning to fall off the trees were lovely colours. I think that exploring these greens, yellows and brunt orange colours for my typeface specimen would work well and might be interesting.

I then began to sketch using colours like this as the theme of Autumn has inspired me greatly. This is how they turned out.

This is how my Autumn sketches on Adobe XD turned out.

 

I then sketched out my first designs for development, to see what else I could come up with,

From some of these sketches I then made these, I like how they turned out and think colour works better than just black and white.

 

 

Final 3

 

 

Final Design

 

I have chosen this one for my final design, because I like these muted tones and layout.

 

 

IXD101 – Fibonacci sequence task

For this task we were asked to create a range of designs using point, line and plane on a 2 x 3 sequence and we were asked to only use a specific number ratio. We were given the numbers we could use and we had to then use the numbers to design correlating squares. This was quite tricky because every circle and line had to be measured and put perfectly in its’ place.

I found this useful because it gave each design a sense of structure and balance. Here are how mine turned out

Point:

 

Line:

 

 

Plane:

I think they turned out nicely I feel that the ratio is visible. From doing this task I have learned that ratio is very important in design and that everything on the screen should be balanced. I also learned that using a method like this helps to level out the designs and it turn, makes it easier to navigate your way through the design, therefore making it more pleasant to look at. I feel these skills will help me later on, for example, when I am developing my manifesto further.

IXD101 – Manifesto type

For this task we were asked to log onto figma and rewrite our manifesto’s but only use the text, not to include any shapes or additional backgrounds etc. This was to see what size of fonts looks better, we used type scale for help to do this. Here are some of mine.

I think that task was helpful because it is important to focus on sizing as well as the font itself and this task had us try out different sizes and styles to see what would work best for our manifesto. I think I done a good job at experimenting with fonts but I think I could have done better at the spacing between each word to make it look more professional.

My favourite was the one that I used the boldest font. I like how I made the sun and sky larger as those are the words that I wanted to stand out the most.