Public Typography

Course Objectives &amp; Goals:
• Recognize the impact typography has on public spaces

• Promote and strengthen visual thinking skills

• Explore the relationships between text, image, and other elements of visual communication

• Recognize and describe key figures and movements in graphic design

• Acquire basic design and typographical grammar

Course Syllabus
[subject to change]

Location: Merill Living Room, ASH lab (126) 

W January 6th

 * READINGS: A Layperson's Guide to Graphic Design
 * In Class: Screen clips of Helvetica, discuss reading, go over basic typography vocabulary.  What IS graphic design?  What IS typography?  WHY should we be studying them?

Th January 7th

 * READINGS: Verdana: Ikea's flat-pack font Ask Not What Your Typeface Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For Your Typeface [skim comments too, just as interesting as article itself]
 * In Class: Look at your alphabets.  Fun typography games/puzzles!  When do fonts matter?
 * DUE: Alphabet Assignment &gt;&gt; Create an alphabet out of found objects or original photographs. See link to found alphabets below for inspiration.
 * Alphabets by the students of Public Typography:

T January 12th

 * READINGS:
 * In Class: Designer presentations, Introduction to InDesign workshop.
 * DUE: 2-3 minute presentation about an influential designer. Include their design style and philosophy and 2-4 examples of their work.  (see list of designers to choose from below)

W January 13th - 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

 * READINGS: No More Rules: Graphic Design and Postmodernism, by Rick Poynor. Preface &amp; Introduction, pages 6-17.
 * In Class: Watch more clips of Helvetica. Talk about modernism/postmodernism in fonts.  Start brainstorming ideas for final projects.
 * We wonder: why do we have different handwriting styles? What are the essential shapes of each letter and how are we able to read each other's handwriting?  How do different pens effect handwriting?  What is the deal with cursive?  We do an experiment to see what this looks like:
 * [[Image:QuickBrownFox Handwriting.jpg|265x163px|QuickBrownFox Handwriting.jpg]]

Th January 14th - 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

 * READINGS: Civilian Typography: The Power and The Fury, Pizza Flyers: The Height of Good Graphic Design?
 * In Class: Discussion of typography in the public realm. How does type persuade, manipulate, influence, embellish?  Importance of visual anthropology, urban planning, community development in graphic design.  Figure out details/roles for final group project.

T January 19th - 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

 * READINGS:
 * In Class: Work on final project.

W January 20th - 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

 * READINGS:
 * In Class: Work on final project.

Th January 21st - 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

 * READINGS:
 * In Class: Finish and present final project – Roberta's Cookbook.

&gt;&gt; First day of class
What we want to know/questions: InDesign/layout What makes a design good (or bad?) How to get into the design industry Photoshop Are there scientifically universal laws that apply to design? Psychologically or otherwise? How to design fonts Why do fonts matter? What do letters MEAN? terminology Is typography an art or a science? Multi-lingual/international typography Why do people like ugly fonts?! How do we assign value judgments to something so subjective? Are there any universals (obviously, not quite)? Where can I get free fonts/graphics? How many things about a font can you change without making a new font? What's the difference between fonts and typefaces? How much of good graphic design is talent-based VS technical skill? How do you get past a blank page?

What we know: Comic sans is fugly. (Don't forget Papyrus!) Fonts matter Simple is often better, though complicated can be fun Typography is character-set-dependent – partially (greek conforms latin, but the rules are not quite the same) Like everything else, fonts are loaded with associations and connotations – often/always subjective Also, why design matters - it carries meaning Punctuation is great! Graphic design is important and makes money There are 26 letters in the alphabet and an infinite number of ways to use/represent them The quick brown fox... Lorem ipsum...

Why this is important/relevant: "Selling" ideas Draws attention/interest to a person/idea/concept/need/opportunity Can be aesthetically pleasing/improve quality Ideas are important; design can't get in the way As an art, it's how we say the most important things It makes a statement and gets your attention Communicates the aesthetic/representation of a place, space, production, design, etc. Support VS distraction Clarity Communication Context The inverse to "reading between the lines" perhaps as important

&gt;&gt; Last Day of Class
What we want to know/questions: Still more about using other character sets/their histories/etc What do letters mean? How to design a font (the software, not the rules) more InDesign! More everything! Principles of layout, font matching Web design - differences, difficulties, etc

What we know, and have learned: A little bit of InDesign A lot of InDesign A little more Photoshop HELVETICA IS AWESOME About several influential designers &amp; their aesthetic and working styles Where to get layout &amp; font ideas I learned that InDesign exists (and how to use it!) The difference between a typeface (family) and fonts All sorts of resources that allow us to further explore design on our own Some good historical information which informs design What font you use matters! The people in the Helvetica documentary are crazy (sometimes in a good way) Where to get free fonts, and that some fonts cost money, and why that is Leading, kerning, etc.

Why this is relevant/important/useful: It influences decision making Design is everywhere! (And it would be great if all of it was good!) Everything is designed! This is all stuff we have to see &amp; deal with, so we should know how to interpret it, have some theoretical background Design can affect change

Class Resources
List of Graphic Designers to do presentations on

Found Alphabets that Molly has collected, for inspiration for your alphabet project

Roberta's Cookbook our class final project!

Useful/Interesting Websites
Curious about interesting things Molly has found lately on the interweb? Check out her typography bookmarks.

Cardon Copy (thanks Liz) - Dude who takes generic street posters (lost cat, room for rent) and redesigns them super fancy/pretty

We Love Typography- image bookmarking site for type, typography, lettering, and signage

David Airy - this guy has a pretty good blog and some good articles about design, branding, marketing, typography, culture, art, etc.

The Untitled Project - a guy did a project where he took pictures in a number of cities and public spaces, and then digitally erased all the logos/text/desgin. Fascinating!

Smashing Magazine - excellent tutorials and visual inspiration, free downloads and resources

Social Design Notes - fantastic blog about graphic design, public practice, culture, social justice, urban design, sustainability, etc.

How to Design a Font, Part 1: Get Inspired!

How to Design a Font, Part 2: Draw up a storm!

How to Design a Font, Part 3: Make it digital!

How to Design a Font, Part 4: Finishing touches

FontStruct - a fun, easy, online tool for designing a font!

Good list of InDesign Tutorials

Additional Recommended Readings
Do we need more fonts?

The Value of Empathy

Rock Thee Well: On Fonts and Class

Type Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry

New Black Face: On Fonts and Race

The 2012 Olympic Logo Ate My Hamster

&gt;&gt; Anything on Design Observer!!