OUGD 503 - Responsive: Collaborative

Today, I was lucky enough to join the third years during a talk given by Stuart Brown from Dalton Maag. As Harrison was attending a photography workshop, I made sure that I took notes and collected the information that we needed for this project. This was very relevant to the brief that we are currently working on; Stuart talked about the kind of things that Dalton Maag did, including:

• Library Fonts
• Logo Refinement
• Font Modifications
• Custom Fonts

They have created many library fonts, which includes fonts such as Co, King's Caslon and Aktiv (the unofficial typeface of Dalton Maag). Font's typically have to support multiple languages, as the typefaces are not only used within the english speaking language. They are often created in numerous different weights, ranging from hairline to black. 

Aktiv:

Cordale:

Effra:

When modifying a font, they mainly work on fonts that were originally created by them, but do occasionally work on other fonts and typefaces. He also discussed tracking and kerning and its importance within a typeface; he went into detail about kerning, which is the spacing between pairs of letters as opposed to tracking which refers to global spacing, and how this can make or break a font.

He also discussed how drawing the letters by hand initially is vital, which is something that we have already considered. We are creating our own grid to which the typeface will be designed, thus allowing the font to have a personal and honest feel to it without looking illustrative. Overall, this talk has been very helpful in opening my eyes to the various different considerations that need to be taken when working with typeface design. This information will prove very useful through out this project as a guide that we can be constantly referring to if we need.