Typeface Design 1.1

Standard typefaces have different families to them with set widths. These include Light, Narrow/Condensed and Bold. A common typeface that use this is Gill Sans Condensed. Designers usually use condensed fonts to save space. Narrow fonts are often used sparingly for large type such as headers and titles because they are often hard to see when small. Looking at examples of publications and designers that use narrow typefaces will allow me to see how they use a narrow typeface in a design context and I can use it as inspiration. Here is an example of where a narrow typeface works:

Design Monsters have used a condensed typeface in order to fit the long title on one line as the title of the page. It's clear that a narrow typeface works on a large scale and the type takes advantage of the space available. However, the subheading is hard to read because it's on a smaller scale.

Galaxians cover photo for their website: http://supergalaxians.com/

Interesting to see a narrow serif type face, the stem is stretched to create more contrast between stroke. I really like the way the serif's are subtle and compact due to the predominantly vertical nature of the typeface. I would like to turn this typeface into a sans-serif if I removed the serifs. 

Using this initial research, I produced some rough sketches and designs for concepts. I decided to experiment with Bodoni and Univers because they were contrasting typefaces and it allowed me to see which would be successful to take forward:

Sketching out the letters by hand was hard because I wanted to accurately replicate the original font styles and then adapt them. I was inspired by Galaxians' header which made me look at Bodoni. This made me think about contrasting different weights of line and I thought cutting into the stem of the 'B' would emphasise how tall the letter is in relation to the width.

I took this concept further using Illustrator because the pen tool allows me to trace around a letter accurately but still manipulate it:

I condensed the font and stretched it vertically so the font connotes 'narrow'. Very subtly adjusted the serif's to make them a bit shorter and cut into the thick stem of the character. I used this subtle technique for other letters to see if the concept was transferrable to different letters of the alphabet:

I chose to experiment with Bodoni because I like the formality and contrast between strokes. Although it's a very old typeface I still think it can be used in modern publications.

This would be a successful typeface if it was printed on a large scale or used for headers or titles online or editorial. The predominant aim of a type face is for it to be legible on small scales such as 14pt and large scales such as 500pt. Unfortunately, due to the narrow cuts into the type, this typeface doesn't work on a small scale:

It is legible, however the cutout's aren't visible and are imbalanced as the 'C' is the clearest character due to a larger section cut out of it. I asked for feedback on this concept and everyone agreed with me and suggested that I use a sans-serif typeface because I am early into the project and I should explore with more concepts. I also feel that I haven't created a bespoke typeface, in the sense that it is extremely similar to Bodoni and I could take things further.

Galaxians' header is a similar typeface to Bodoni when it is stretched vertically, however the serif's are a lot smaller and subtle.

I cut down the serif's and made the stroke of the stem thicker for the A and made the bowls of the B thicker so that it would work better on a smaller scale due to the amount of negative space. 


Out of Müeller Brockmann's typefaces, Univers is only one of two sans-serif typefaces. 

Univers:

Univers Ultra Condensed:

Although the width of line is thinner in Univers Regular, I much prefer Ultra Condensed because it impacts the viewer due to the bolder weighted line, however the actual structure of the typeface is narrower which increases height: 

Depending on the context, this could be an intimidating, powerful typeface that stands over large sections of copy to create contrast. This is a typeface that I will consider to work with in this brief and in the future because I like how tall and impactful it is. I want my typeface to have large stroke, like Univers Ultra Condensed, because I want it to influence an audience on smaller scales so I need to think about structure.

Serif typefaces are usually very imbalanced when it comes to stroke width. It is typical for one stem to be thicker than the other. This isn't as common with successful sans-serif typefaces such as Univers. 

I manually condensed Univers and, using the pen tool, tried to portray the letter being squeezed together which results in cross bar of the 'A' bending. I thought this would accentuate the vertical qualities of the font and stress just how narrow and condensed the typeface is:

I experimented with how the cross-bar should bend. The character on the left reminds me of tweezers, with the cross-bar as the spring, or the Star Trek logo. I much prefer the character on the right because to cross-bar is subtly curved and I think this makes it more recognisable as an 'A' instead of a symbol. 

To see if I could take this concept further I tried using other letters of the alphabet:

B is a hard character to adapt because of its two counters. I traced around the ultra condensed type face and noticed that the bottom counter is taller than the top so I needed to keep this balanced when I manipulated the type. I chose to change the cross bar because it's a bigger width and gives me the best opportunity to bend.

Bent the cross-bar like the A but I realised the joint of the bowls is very subtle and the letter is less curvaceous. I do think this well reflects 'narrow' because it's height is much greater in relation to the width. I decided to test make the cross-bar diagonal to see if a sharper line would connote narrow:

I like how fragile the join of the bowl makes the character look less like an 8 because of the slight break. This was inspired by the Danish alphabet:

We commonly see this character as a symbol to instruct, however the Danish alphabet uses this symbol to change the way the letter is pronounced. I think it would be best suited to use a diagonal line because it is more recognisable and emphasises how narrow it is.

To create the C, I simply reduced the width of the bowl so the whole character is consistent:

Suggests the 'C' has been squashed to make it narrow. I didn't have any cross-bars to adjust so I kept it simple. The typeface is consistent with weight, width and height, however I think the cross bar needs to be more consistent across the all the characters. 

I think a straight diagonal line will be easily legible and recognisable due to its subtle and unique shape. 

I have decided to stick to using Univers 59 Ultra Condensed because it works with my bold, tall concept and it is more effective when I manipulate it.