Design Production for Print- Type Workshop.

Today we had our first Typography Workshop, with head of Visual Communications and Typography specialist tutor, Graham. An interesting session- we looked at the way that the spoken word is visually communicated, and the affect that type can have when spoken or emoted.

As well as dicussing the psychology of type, we discussed the history of type, printed press, and how they have revolutionised econimic, political, and social change, along with design practice.

The next four typography sessions will determine our choice as to whether persue the 'design' (type) or 'image' module at a later date in the year. 

If design is chosen, typography will be criticised, evaluated and an extensive knowledge will be developed- both in visual language and in software skills- learning the 'Quark Express' software.

We then went on to look at several excercises. The first was to type our names in a typeface we felt visually represented ourselves. I chose uppercase Futura Medium (I would usually have chosen bold- but unfortunately it wasn't downloaded on the iMac system at Uni).

I chose Futura Medium to reflect my precise, considered and uniform design process, and personality- very rational- with everything planned- perfectly reflected in this geometric, stylish typeface. I also feel that the uppercase setting reflects my confidence and ambition.

We were then told to represent the word 'dog' as a "shy dog". A small point size and scale, as well as being in the corner of the page represented physical shyness- whilst the serif typeface reflected a more cold, "sharp" emotion- the feeling of anxiety that comes with shyness.

Then, to visually represent an angry dog. I chose the uppercase typeface 'Impact'- a bold and "serious" typeface. In hindsight I feel that it would have been better positioned in the center of the page- for more of a direct focus, and to "attract attention".

And finally, we had to represent a "pissed off" dog. I chose an Italic sans serif font in uppercase to visually represent a sarcastic, apathetic mood- a little bit anarchistic, with hints of angry and bluntness.

An interesting session, I look forward to finding out more about the anatomy and structure of type in future lessons- and to find out a little bit more about the history of specific typefaces as well.