Advanced Typography: Task 3 Type Exploration & Application

10 June 2025 – 14 July 2025 / Week 08 – Week 13

Sara Patel / 0362876

Advanced Typography / Bachelors in Creative Media Design / Taylors University

Task 3: Type Exploration & Application

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• INSTRUCTIONS
• PROGRESS WORK
• FINAL OUTCOME
• FEEDBACKS
• REFLECTIONS
• FURTHER READINGS

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INSTRUCTIONS

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vzg1EITc2Gm1rrGTWvB48RvMWETfEA1B/view?usp=sharing

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PROGRESS WORK

Exercise Brief:

For the last assignment we were asked to use everything we’ve learned so far throughout our semester to create a unique typeface. We had to choose one of the three options to start working on our project:

• Design a new font that solves a problem or improves something in our area of interest.
• Improves an existing font by fixing its weaknesses or adding value.
• Experiment with type in a creative and original way.

For the Final Outcome we had to complete the font design and generate it into a usable font in (.ttf) format and later present the font along with font applications.

Proposal:

For starting off with this assignment, i came up with these 3 ideas along with few visual references and finally decided on working upon the third idea.

Fig 1.1: Proposal Presentation PDF (17/06/25) 

Draft Works:

For starting off with this font design, i came with a few drafts before coming up with the final font. I used few shapes, the pathfinder tool, pen tool and the curvation tool to come up with the font's outline.

Fig 1.2: First Attempt of Letters (21/06/25) 

Fig 1.3: Second Attempt of Letters (25/06/25) 

Fig 1.4: Second Attempt of Numerics and punctuations (28/06/25) 

Fig 1.5: Overall Progress Work (01/07/25)

These were the initial drafts I created, but after receiving guidance and feedbacks from my tutor, I refined the font and the overall concept. This helped me develop a design that is more aesthetically pleasing and visually appealing with proper progress captured.

Refined Progress Works:

After multiple trials and errors, I decided to start all over again and carefully documented the entire process to develop the final version of the font. The Pathfinder and Curvature tools were really helpful during this stage. I created all the uppercase letters along with numbers and punctuations. To ensure consistency, I used the same set of shapes and consistent grid system throughout the fonts.

Fig 2.1: Final Progress Work (07/07/25)

Fig 2.2: Final Outined Progress (08/07/25)

After finalizing the font design, I began the font generation process using FontLab 7. However, the font started lagging alot when i tried using it on Illustrator due to overlapping paths and high complexity. To resolve these issue, I switched to FontLab 8, where I was able to fix these errors easily. This resulted in a smoother and more easy to use version of the font.

Fig 2.3: Fontlab Progress (10/07/25)

Presentation Progress Works:

After the font design, I came up with a color palette inspired by the cultural elements of Bhil artwork. I then used these colors to develop the font presentation while experimenting and adjusting their opacity levels and adding 3D effects to make the font visually engaging and attractive.

Fig 2.4: Font Presentation Progress Work (13/07/25)

Final outcome of the Font Presentation:

Fig 3.1: Font Presentation 1 (14/07/25)

Fig 3.2: Font Presentation 2 (14/07/25)

Fig 3.3: Font Presentation 3 (14/07/25)

Fig 3.4: Font Presentation 4 (14/07/25)

Fig 3.5: Font Presentation 5 (14/07/25)

Application Progress Works:

For the font application, I came up with two brand names: Bhilar (a short name derived from Bhil artwork) and Bhil Akshar (derived from Bhil artwork and Akshar in Hindi means "letters"). Along with the two font applications of our own, we had to participate in one of the Honors Competitions and come up with four more applications for that

Fig 2.5: Font  Application Progress Work (15/07/25)

Final outcome of the Font Application:

Fig 4.1: Font  Application 1 (17/07/25)

Fig 4.2: Font  Application 2 (17/07/25)

Final outcome of the Honors Application:

Fig 4.3: Font  Application 3 (18/07/25)

Fig 4.4: Font  Application 4 (18/07/25)

Fig 4.5: Font  Application 5 (18/07/25)

Fig 4.6: Font  Application 6 (18/07/25)

Fig 2.6: Honor Submission Screengrab (19/07/25)

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FINAL OUTCOME OF TASK 3

Click here to dowload font: Bhil Font

Fig 5.1: Font PDF (Week 13)

Fig 5.2: FontLab Screen grab (Week 12)

Fig 5.3: Font Presentation 1 (Week 13)

Fig 5.4: Font Presentation 2 (Week 13)

Fig 5.5: Font Presentation 3 (Week 13)

Fig 5.6: Font Presentation 4 (Week 13)

Fig 5.7: Font Presentation 5 (Week 13)

Fig 5.8: Font Application 1 (Week 13)

Fig 5.9: Font Application 2 (Week 13)

Fig 5.10: Font Application 3 (Week 13)

Fig 5.11: Font Application 4 (Week 13)

Fig 5.12: Font Application 5 (Week 13)

Fig 5.13: Font Application 6 (Week 13)

Fig 5.14: Font Preview (Week 13)

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FEEDBACKS

Week 9:
General Feedbacks : Mr V reviewed our Task 3 Proposal and went through how we want to proceed with our letter formations.
Specific Feedbacks : 
After looking at my proposal, sir agreed that i can go with the Bhil art-inspired letterforms. I came up with 3 different letterform ideas to get reviewed from sir.

Week 10:

General Feedbacks : Mr V reviewed our letterforms and asked us to make specific changes. We were asked to complete the illustrated letters by today.

Specific Feedbacks : After looking at progress sir explained me how i can improve my work. I updated my google sheet and started working on my letters all over again according to what sir suggested.

Week 11:

General Feedbacks : Mr V reviewed our letters and numerals individually and gave us feedbacks. He also explained us how can we make the punctuations consistent.

Specific Feedbacks : After looking at letters sir said there is not enough process word for my letters so i need to redo the entire thing along with recording process work. I updated the sheet and starting working on the letters all over again deleting all the previous work.

Week 12

General Feedback : Mr. Vinod gave us an overview of the Honor competition and asked us to create 3 honor application along with 2 presentation showcasing our font.

Specific Feedback : I was still working on my designing so i had to speed run through the completion of the designing, generating the font, coming up with the font presentation, applications and completing the blog for submission.

Week 13 : Mr. V went through all of our progresses and gave us one more week to complete our task 3 and submit it along with the final compilation blog.

Week 14 : Submission

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REFLECTIONS

Experience: During this assignment, I faced many challenges as it was our final project and we also had other final submissions due for other modules. Even though it was very stressful and chaotic, by the end it turned out to be a great learning journey. I started by exploring different ideas for letterform designs and after researching on a few concepts, I decided to create a typeface inspired by Bhil art as I felt Bhil artwork doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. I really enjoyed working on this idea, but it took many drafts and constant improvements to finally come up with a somewhat consistant letterform. Throughout the project weekly feedbacks helped me a lot to stay on track and keep on improving.

Observations: While working on this project, I realized how important it is to follow the process and document it properly as i had to redo the entire process just because i forgot to document it properly in details. I learned how useful being consistent is especially when aligning grids, shaping letters and designing numbers and punctuation marks. I made a few mistakes, which wasted alot of my time in some parts, but these mistakes helped me learn and do better. I also noticed that every small design decision like shapes, sizes and spacing affects the whole font drastically. Paying attention to detail really improved my final outcome.

Findings: Apart from the practical problems, one of the biggest technical problems I faced was when I exported the font using FontLab it was lagging alot in Illustrator. That made the process difficult and time consuming, but I still managed to finish everything within the given deadline. I also worked on creating a color palette, font presentation and font applications, which were fun and creative tasks. This part was my favourite as i got to explore around with my font. This taught me to manage time while still keeping consistant quality. Overall, this assignment helped me bring together everything I learned this semester. It taught me how to think creatively, accept feedback, solve problems and reflect a culture through my font design.

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FURTHER READINGS

For this assignment, I read the book named Typographic Design by Rob Carter, Philip B. Meggs, Ben Day, Sandra Maxa and Mark Sanders as it was suggested by Mr. V to better understand typography theoratically.

Fig 6.1: Book Cover

Firstly I understood the main purpose of typography like calligraphy which is to communicate ideas and imagination clearly and effectively without losing the meaning or message the author intends. It emphasizes that typography is not meant to be decorative or beautiful just for the sake of aesthetics, but rather to serve the clarity and expression of thought. Good typography helps readers understand the message by guiding them smoothly through the text.

Fig 6.2: Clear Typography

Next i went through how Detrie explored different typographic designs to clearly present a manuscript. He used a sans serif type in different sizes and weights, testing many visual arrangements without using a fixed grid. Instead, he let the structure develop naturally through experimentation. He then created variations by adding horizontal and vertical lines, and used both positive and reversed shapes.

Fig 6.3: Detrie Exploration

Next part explains how Drew transformed various inspirations into the Ludd typeface by using a modular grid to create structure and consistency. This gave it a strong geometric look while allowing for unique, unconventional letterforms. The process involved exploring new ideas and breaking from tradition, resulting in a typeface with a quirky and progressive appearance.

Fig 6.4: Ludd typephase

Lastly it describes how Drew maintained quality and control while refining the Ludd typeface by combining manual craft with technical processes. He created physical test samples using polymer and laser-cut plates, then used letterpress printing to evaluate and improve the type design. By adjusting alignments, ink, pressure and colors during printing, Drew treated it as both a test and final artistic process, encouraging thoughtful experimentation.

Fig 6.5: Combination of mancraft

After completing all these readings, it helped me develop my font and come up with different ideas to design the typeface.This gave me more knowledge about consistency and aesthetics.

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