DVB201: TYPOGRAPHIC DESIGN
Week 11 - 13
Zine Project
Task 7
Zine Research
3 Examples + Reflection
First Zine / Girl's Zine
Girl’s Zine by Hayley Peacock is a collection of feminist quotes, illustrations, and photography. It utilises two typefaces. One is a handwritten font, used for backgrounds. It varies in point size and line weight from page to page. The other is a sans serif font, which is capitalised for headings, and sentence case for body text. The headings are larger than the body text, and there is consistency in point size and line weight across the composition for both elements. The fonts work well together because they are highly contrasting, each one drawing attention to the other. The zine utilises two different colours, black and pink, on a white background. Black and white is professional, elegant, and creates a sharp contrasting effect, while pink as an accent colour brings softness and femininity to the design. It is a good example of using two flat colours, minus the images and various shades of colours. It utilises some images of a young girl within the composition. The typefaces, colour palette and images work together to wield a youthful and rebellious style as well as acting to reflect the nature of the content.
Second Zine / As a Wife Has a Cow: A Love Story
As a Wife Has a Cow: A Love Story by Liron Ashkenazi Eldar is an experimental typographic zine reflecting a poem by Gertrude Stein of the same name. It utilises a different decorative typeface across each spread, with each typeface significantly contrasting the one prior. Stein’s poems mess with language, so the presentation of the typography mirrors this action. The typefaces are extend over the centre fold of the spread, which demands attention without the aid of other typographic elements. As a result, some of the typefaces are difficult to follow, and it is easy to be distracted by the intensity of some of the typography. The designer creates a deep contrast utilising only black and white across the entire composition. These colours help to emphasise the highly detailed typography, and are eye-catching, bold and dramatic. There are no images used in the spreads; it exploits typography as the sole element. The decorative typefaces, striking colour choice and no use of images draw attention to the typography, which accurately compliments the subject matter of the poem.
Third Zine / The Noisy Girl's Club
The Noisy Girls Club by Liah Moss and Angela Kirkwood is a risographed zine created for The Noisy Girls Club event in Edinburgh which showcases young female talent. It employs two typefaces. The first is a sans serif font used for headings and subheadings, and the other is a serif font mimicking that on a typewriter. The headings are much larger than the subheadings and body text. The headings range in point size and case, have a thick line weight and are coloured pink. The body text is a small point size, light weight, and is coloured navy blue. The typefaces pair well together because the rounded sans serif headings and subheadings offset the narrow, typewriter body text. The composition is mainly type oriented and utilises columns to organise information and make it easier to digest. The zine applies a simple and contemporary colour palette of white, pink and navy blue. White is used in the background, pink is used in the headings and subheadings and navy blue is used for body text. Some pages are coloured light pink. Pink and navy are soft and romantic, yet also preppy and playful, perhaps reflecting the diversity of the event. It incorporates some illustrations, yet no photographic images. The typefaces, colour combinations and illustrations work well to present an interesting and visually appealing design.
References
Ashkenazi Eldar, L. (2015). As a Wife Has a Cow: A Love Story. Behance.
Moss, L., Kirkwood, A. (2017). The Noisey Girls Club. Behance.
Peacock, H. (2016). Girl’s Zine. Behance. https://www.behance.net/gallery/44402209/GIRLS-ZINE
Zine Concept Description and Thumbnails
For my zine, I decided to explore the concept of font size. I was attracted to this topic because font size is a foundational feature that presumably, every person considers when designing a document. Thus, I saw an opportunity to make a zine that showcased my typographic skills and was educational or of use to the general public. Throughout the zine, I wanted to highlight the importance of choosing the correct font size, its impact on readability and legibility, as well as how it can impact the visual cohesion and hierarchy within a design. I wished to create it in a fairly minimal style, so as to draw attention to font size across the spreads. As such, I was mostly influenced by the second zine analysed, As a Wife Has a Cow: A Love Story.
Zine Content: Text + Images
Page 1
Text: 'Font Size' repeating, by Danielle King.
Image: As above.
Page 2
Text: The font size or text size is how large the characters displayed on a screen or printed on a page are.
Image: None.
Page 3
Text: Font size is denoted in points (pts). Points dictate the height of the lettering. There are 72 points in 1 inch.
Image: Inch and points scale.
Page 4
Text: 'Font Size' mirrored.
Image: As Above.
Page 5
Text: Text is not measured by the size of the letter. It is measured by the size of the bounding box.
Image: 12pt not in bounding box and 12pt in bounding box.
Page 6
Text: From Microsoft to Adobe, most software has the same default font size menu.
Image: Typographic scale 6 - 24, with triangular scale along bottom.
Page 7
Text: They all follow a typographic scale that has its roots in the very old days of typesetting, whereby sizes are linked to each other by a common ratio.
Image: Typographic scale 36 - 72, with triangular scale along bottom.
Page 8
Text: Choosing font sizes from this typographic scale is essential for creating consistency, harmony, and contrast in a typographic work.
Image: None.
Page 9
Text: Example text box using sizes from typographic scale, and example text box using sizes not from typographic scale
Image: As Above.
Page 10
Text: If text is too big, it can be overwhelming.
Image: 'Overwhelming' in oversized letters.
Page 11
Text: If text is too small, it can cause eye strain.
Image: 'Eye strain' with Gaussian blur applied.
Page 12
Text: Each of these variations of the word 'size' have been typed in the same points size, yet they differ in x-height and width which alters their apparent scale.
Image: None
Page 13
Text: 'Size' typed in different fonts at the same point size.
Image: As Above.
Page 14
Text: First, you will read this. And then, you will read this. Next, you will read this. Lastly, you will read this.
Image: As Above.
Page 15
Text: Different points sizes can help to establish visual hierarchy. Bigger = more important. Smaller = less important.
Image: None.
Page 16
Text: 'Font Size' repeating
Image: As Above.
References
Computer Hope. (2021). Font Size. Computer Hope. https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/f/font-size.htm
Free Code Camp. (2020). Ultimate Guide to Typography: Point Size, upper vs Lower Case, Em and En Dashes and More. Free Code Camp. https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/typography-in-detail-point-size-em/
Krysinski, M. (2017). The Art of Type and Typography (1st edition). Routledge.
Mortensen, S. (2021). The Typographic Scale. Spencer Mortensen. https://spencermortensen.com/articles/typographic-scale/
Online Printers. (2021). The Basics of Font Size. Online Printers. https://www.onlineprinters.co.uk/magazine/font-sizes/
Powell, K. (2018). Using a Typographic Scale. Kevin Powell. https://www.kevinpowell.co/article/typographic-scale/
Practical Typography. (2021). Point Size. Practical Typography. https://practicaltypography.com/point-size.html
Saltz, I. (2019). Typography Essentials: 100 Design Principles for Working with Type (Revised and Updated). Rockport Publishers.
Spec Network. (2021). Typographic Scales. Spec Network. https://spec.fm/specifics/type-scale
Strizver, I. (2021). Type Sizes. fonts.com. https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fyti/typographic-tips/type-sizes
Task 8
Zine Design
Zine First Draft
Zine Final Version
