Character Creation - Critical Analysis

The creation of a new character required a commonly used phrase or word that could be abbreviated and then re-designed into a single character. It was necessary to consider the negative spacing that could be created, the silhouettes and the shapes that could represent the phrase that was being considered. The research of commonly used phrases and abbreviations lead to a long list, but ‘what the hell’ was the chosen phrase to use in this project as a character for this phrase would be useful when wanting to express this feeling efficiently and quickly.

Figure 1

Figure 1 shows the slides from the powerpoint we presented to the group.The idea behind the design was that each of the letters would be represented in someway within the symbol. The ‘w’ is resting on the baseline and from the left it form the ’t’ and from the right it forms the ‘h’. The ’t’ is found in the left ascender and the two horizontal lines represent the stroke in a lowercase ’t’. The ‘h’ is essentially the main form of this character and is fairly obvious to see when looking at this character. 

The most successful element of this design is that all three letterforms have been incorporated into the character, but it does venture away from their obvious forms enough to make it unique and interesting. This is similar to the ampersand which is made up of the letter ‘e’ and ’t’. It is not initially that obvious, but after explanation and taking it apart slightly, it leads to the understanding that those were the two letters that it is made up of. The concept of this letter overlapping and slight distortion is a concept which I think has been used within the of the character for the phrase ‘what the hell’.

Figure 2

The personality that the symbol expresses is important. Figure 2 shows the steps taken to get to the final decision of the symbol showing anger and passion. Figure 3, 4 and 5 illustrate how the characters would look if they were to appear next to normal letters in the alphabet and how it would rest on the baseline and where the x-height would be. Despite this, it was decided that the least successful element of this character design was the personality thought to have been illustrated, as it was actually seen to be different to what peers would consider it to have been trying to express.

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

The main point that was raised in the interim crit session was that the character appeared to be elegant. This was a problem because the phrase suggests that the personality of the character should be fairly bold and aggressive. The elegance could be removed by straightening the ascender and also making the top of it a straight line and not a dipped curve. The section resembling a ‘h’ could also be made more squared and less rounded so that the aggression and speed in which the character would have been written would be shown in the way the character is constructed. Figure 6 shows the sketchbook page responses to the critical feedback showing how the idea could be developed if it was to be improved in the future.

Figure 6

In future projects the research would be a larger focus point to help to improve the meaning that the final design could hold. The etymology of a word is something to consider as it could lead to the use of different letter anatomies as they would have developed over time. The research could also help to develop further understanding of how to express different personalities within a character. This is something that needed to be improved with this character, as the personality wasn't exactly as clear as first anticipated. 

Stress

The discussion today was on the stress and anxiety that may be felt throughout the creative career we are hoping to pursue. The nature of the industry makes it deadline focused, increasing stress and anxiety. There is also the added pressure of presenting ideas to clients and the comparison to others and subjective opinions can impact our mindset and confidence. 

Negative bias is the notion, commonly felt within the design industry, which refers to how someone will focus on the negative comments and forget the positive ones. The comments may have been given in an equal and balanced manner, but the negative ones still become the main focus. This is demonstrated in the book 'The Stress Report' by TheDO Lectures. There is a simple black dot in the centre of the white page and when asked what they see, people often respond with 'a black dot'. This response is an example of negative bias, as those who are not as strongly negative bias will say 'a lot of white space'.

Stress: a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances. 
Anxiety: a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.

The group activity was to answer the questions and compare the similar answers. The questions were:

1. What negative thought have you had today?
2. What scares you?
3. What stresses you out?

4. How do you de-stress?

We all had to answer anonymously and then lay out our answers on the table. There were a few different patterns occurring in the answers. 

1. focused on consciousness and body image

2. focused on meeting deadlines and the large workload

3. focused on comparing their work to others and not being good enough at graphic design

4. films, socialising, exercise were the main ways in which people de-stressed

We then had to each select 3 of our favourite quote from each section, so we had a total of 12. We could then make a haiku out of them. 

TOMORROW

I don't look good today

I have too much work today 

watch a movie ... try again tomorrow 

Everyone's stress Haikus 

Helvetica documentary

Helvetica is a documentary produced by Gary Hustwit, focusing on the typeface Helvetica, but also looking at typography, graphic design, and global visual culture as a whole.

The design intentions were explained, how the typeface has been used commercially and the meanings the typeface can represent about a brand/company.

Rational 

The design of Helvetic was based on the desire for better legibility from a typeface. The letters should not look the same as that becomes an 'army', but there should be an element consistency throughout the design with slight variations in each character. People are individual and they will engage more with a typeface that is also. 

It was decided that ornamentation was not a necessary feature in this typeface as the sole focus was function. Typeface needs rhythm and contrast, usually deriving from human handwriting. This idea was maintained, but the visual appearance of human hand writing was completely removed and the font was designed based on the underlying grid system, allowing the creation of order.

As a modernist, Crouwel was impressed by Helvetica because it displayed a neutral personality, allowing it to be used in a variety of contexts. 

Wim Crouwel: 

“A face shouldn’t have a meaning in itself, the meaning should be in the content of the text.” 

Universal

Modernism focuses on the social equality and designers are expected to consider themselves to have a level of social responsibility. The modernist design of Helvetica comes with many positives and negatives.

The rational typefaces naturally start to build up a set of expectations that viewers will hold.  Helvetica is neutral, efficient, transparent, accountable, reliable and safe. The typeface can still be adjusted for context such as the font change to bold, italic, light etc. but the connotations will still be maintained.

The associations with Helvetica such as

In some opinions, Helvetica has become a 'visual disease' as it appears to be used everywhere as a safe option. The nature of a rational typeface means it is simple, clean and powerful. This was the case when it was first introduced, but the over use may have caused it to be simple, clean and boring. Spiekermann's opinion clearly states that as designers we may have become reliant on Helvetica as the answer to all design problems. 

Erik Spiekermann:

"It's air, you know It's just there. There's no choice. You have to breathe, so you have to use Helvetica."

Communication 

The point that legibility should not be confused with communication is important. A typeface holds a lot of personality and is associated with numerous things. Helvetica was designed to be the most legible typeface, but along with it it has developed associations such as reliability, equality etc. and can work in many different contexts.
There have bene many attempts to better the typeface Helvetica, but there has not been a successful attempt yet. 

Neville Brody:

"The way something is presented will define the way you react to it. So you can take the same message and present it in three different typefaces. The response to that, the immediate emotional response will be different, and the choice of typeface is the prime weapon in that communication."

Brands using Helvetica:

NARS sticks to a monotone colour palette to keep the focus on the colour of the makeup and not to limit the styles and ranges they can sell as a company. The type is Helvetica Light which has been slimmed down further and overlapped. The fashion/beauty brands often use very thin line weights, so NARS has stuck to this tradition and association, but the overlapping moves them away from conformity and makes them unique. and appealing.

American Apparel uses the regular Helvetica, tightening the kerning to make it appear more playful. It is a good font choice for the fashion brand as it focuses on equality for those making and selling the clothes. Helvetica portrays this equality as it is part of the modernist movement. The tight kerning shows the playful side of the brand as it sells vibrant coloured clothes, but the neutral font choice keep in with the moral of the company. The fact that it is not all capitalised removes any threat or power as the brand must create a welcoming environment for people to trust and want to purchase the clothes.

This font being italic represents a forward motion, constantly moving and a sense of energy, all factors you would expect from a battery. The designer may have approached this design with the intention to illustrate the personality of the products being sold.

Reference - Helvetica documentary 

Mk Gallery - modern branding analysis

"Style is a different thing to caring about the visuals. I try not to have a style, although I have one! That's why collaboration is important." -Sara De Bondt

Milton Keynes Gallery underwent a rebrand in 2009 run by Belgian designer Sara De Bondt.
The static identity of something is usually made up of a set colour palette, typeface and logo. Sara De Bondt wanted to rebrand the gallery without any of these things in the attempt to show design flexibility and visual variety; all elements found in the Gallery.
The website changes colour and typeface with every refresh, but the layout remains the same. The typefaces used are the 6 system fonts on both Apple and PC This concept is very engaging and as a viewer you would be interested as to why this design decision was made. 

The name was changed from 'Milton Keynes Gallery' to 'MK Gallery'. The grid-square system present throughout a lot of the galleries new design was used to reflect the way Milton Keynes as an area was designed as a grid system. 
The new design follows a framework, but with flexibility such as when the boxes of information fill up, they just fall onto the next line etc. . The word 'MK' on each of the different webpages stays in the same place and the 'M' and 'K' have been designed to form a single letter.

The design communicates the fact that a static identity is no longer needed for people to recognise a brand and that moving away from this tradition could make the brand more powerful.


Reference: http://www.mkgallery.org 

Gentlemen of Letters

The gentlemen of Letters is a short film showing the work of sign painters in Dublin and how the tradition builds a significant part in the cities heritage. The documentary looks at the history of sign painters over the years and the importance they have to businesses, impacting the way visitors judge the quality of services and products they expect to receive.

The main points in the video:

• Signage = communication 
• Signs can be found and used on trains, aeroplanes, boats
• People take a lot of notice of art and signs. It is thought that the human touch is more valuable.
• Signs give a good or bad impression for tourists of whether to go into a shop or restaurant and what level of quality they are expecting to experience/receive.
• The spacing (kerning) needs to be even or it would lack the professional finish that is needed to give a good impression to those viewing the sign.
• Communicates atmosphere

The F.X. BUCKLEY sign is thought to be the best sign on the street in Dublin. 

The handprinted signs shows the quality of the butchers and that it should provide a very personal and good service. The hand painted sign also suggests an element of tradition which is often highly valued by many customers as all food categories are commonly all placed in the supermarket.

When taking photos in villages/towns/cities, they should never be deleted as in a few year to come, a particular sign of shop may not be there any longer. The hand-painted signs are part of the Heritage to Dublin and create a lot of the history within the city. 

“you make your mind up really quickly when you visit a city. Where you want to eat, where you want to sit…”