Graphic Design assignments - Part 2
The following compositions are assignments I did as part of the course "Introduction to Typography".
This is course 2 of the specialisation "Graphic Design" taught by CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) on coursera.org.
The following compositions follow precise guidelines from the course.
Nothing more, nothing less.
1 - Typefaces & their stories
Research about a typeface amongst a given list. I chose DIN.
DIN 1451 & FF DIN: from metal to design
DIN makes its 1st official apparition in Germany in 1936 as DIN 1451. It was developed by the DIN, “Deutsches Institut für Normung”, i. e. the German Institute for Standardization. This DIN 1451 was later re-designed by the designer Albert-Jan Pool and turned into a digital typeface, known as FF DIN, in 1995. Since then, it has led to more variants, such as DIN Next.
The design of DIN 1451 comes from the use of the “IV 44” type sheet by the Royal Prussian Rail Administration (the “Königlich Preußische Eisenbahn-Verwaltung”, or KPEV), since 1905, in the railway system. Because of its functional and utilitarian aspect, what became known as the “KPEV typeface” started being used widely in Germany, outside of the railway system: on buildings, furniture, books, art… It was welcomed as a direct and factual typeset, adapted to the modern machine era. When the German Institute for Standardization started working on a universal lettering in 1917, their aim was to establish a standard of quality and efficiency, reflecting a uniform Germany. DIN 1451, which was directly inspired by the KPEV typeset, and also based on a grid system, was officially released in 1936. DIN 1451 was then used on all German public lettering, such as road signs and buildings. It was used on all German military objects. It then also spread to countries invaded by Germany during WWII. Nowadays, FF DIN is used around the world in a wide variation of situations, because of its clean, modern, straightforward and neutral aspect.
DIN has no serifs at all - it is a sans serif typeface. It has a consistent stroke. It can have a light or medium weight. It has nearly no modulation at all. Its axis is vertical. It can be regular or condensed. It has a relatively large x-height.
DIN 1451 is classified as Square Sans Serif, Grotesque Sans Serif, and Technical Display. FF DIN is classified as Geometric Sans Serif.
DIN is connoted as a very neutral typeface. DIN 1451 is functional, utilitarian, adapted to the machine world. FF DIN was slightly re-designed to add clean, modern, matter-of-fact, neutral aspects to that.
Prepressure - https://www.prepressure.com/fonts/interesting/din
Eleven - Seventeen - http://eleven-seventeen.com/thinking/type-notes-din/
fonts.com - https://www.fonts.com/font/fontfont/ff-din/story and https://www.fonts.com/font/linotype/din-1451/story
typedia - http://typedia.com/explore/typeface/din/
2 - A simple presentation
3 - A poster
