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Spring 2021 ︎︎︎ SUNY Purchase ︎︎︎ (DES3440) Typographic Investigations

Project #2: 
Calligraphic Conversion


 






Background

I know that people sometimes don’t enjoy Fontstruct (or find it restrictive) but hopefully it gave you some sense of the satisfaction of creating an actual font which you can use on your computer.

This project will be less “creative” as we’ll be introducing both calligraphy and Glyphs / Birdfont component of the class and there will be more technical components to get acclimated to. This is mostly to make sure that you understand both components and can demonstrate that knowledge.

I think the main thing to keep in mind here is to give yourself over to the process. That is to say be disciplined about setting up lines for calligraphy, and holding your pen properly and to really appreciate the differences between a program like Glyphs and Illustrator. Taking the time here will give you greater sensitivity and agency as we move forward.

Objective

Demonstrate your understanding in our first forays into calligraphy and Glyphs / Birdfont. 

Final Submission 

    • A .PDF, .PNG, or .JPG documenting your best pangram in Roman Capital calligraphy
    • A .PDF, .PNG, or .JPG documenting your best pangram featuring Foundational Hand calligraphy
    • A .PDF, .PNG, or .JPG documenting your best pangram featuring Blackletter calligraphy
    • A font (.OTF, .TTF) made in Glyphs or Birdfont featuring one case (A-Z, or a-z) this will be based on one of the types of calligraphy we do in class.
    • documentation showing the development of all the characters in your font (as separate .PDFs, .PNGs or .JPGs)
    • A poster (.PDF or .PNG or .JPG) your font which must feature a pangram of some kind.

Relevant Dates

(Please note that this may shift depending on when everybody has everything. For this project upload your progress by Monday evening, I’d like to annotate things before class such that you have feedback to work from).

    • 02/16/2021 ︎︎︎

      • Introduction (this)!
      • Download Glyphs / Birdfont. 
      • Receive or pickup notebook and calligraphy pen.

    • 03/02/2021 ︎︎︎

      • In class: Calligraphy (Roman capitals)
      • Knitting Circle: Intro to Glyphs/Birdfont (interface and basic drawing)
      • For next week, create (condensed, sans serif) capitals I, L, H, E, F, T, A, V and Y out of modified in simple rectangles. Output a font (.TTF, .OTF) of your progress.
      • For next week, create 3 pages of Roman Capital calligraphy, focusing on pangrams of your choice.

    • 03/09/2021 ︎︎︎

      • In class: Calligraphy (Foundational hand, “lower case”)
      • For next week, create (condensed, sans serif) capitals W, M, N, Z, U out of modified in simple rectangles. Output a font (.TTF, .OTF) of your progress.
      • For next week, create 3 pages of Foundational hand calligraphy, focusing on pangrams of your choice.

    • 03/16/2021 ︎︎︎

      • In class: Calligraphy (blackletter)
      • In class: Q & A on basics of drawing in Birdfont and Glyphs. Discuss using Font Forge (for Windows peeps).
      • For next class: Practice the calligraphy we have done thus far. Do at least three pages of practice on blackletter, and refine the previous alphabets we looked at before.

    • 03/23/2021 ︎︎︎(no class)


    • 03/30/2021 ︎︎︎ 

      • In class: calligraphic decoration and blackletter majuscule options
      • In class workshop Fontforge/Birdfont and Glyphs. Check in on progress with calligraphy and font conversion.
      • For next week, start a font based on one of the calligraphy options we’ve already done. Start with (at least) 5 letters. Choose from among H, I, L, E, T, F, O, G, V, and A for Roman Capitals as an example. Output a font (.TTF, .OTF) of your progress.
      • For next week, take a version of one of the forms of calligraphy we have previously examined and create a more finalized piece of writing from it featuring decoration or embellishment of some kind. Please use Photoshop here to refine the best versions of letters you have and to remove dots and guide lines. It is okay to embellish digitally as well.

    • 04/06/2021 ︎︎︎

      • Review of all calligraphic outcomes pt.1
      • For next week, continue a font based on one of the calligraphy options we’ve already done. Complete the remaining letters. Output a font (.TTF, .OTF) of your progress.

    • 04/13/2021 ︎︎︎

      • Review of all calligraphic outcomes pt.2
      • Review all font outcomes pt.1

    • 04/20/2021 ︎︎︎

      • Review all font outcomes pt.2


No Shuriken Mode Challenges

(Please note that, doing these do not guarantee a better grade or extra credit by any fixed or demonstrable amount, but if you’re doing or approaching these things, you’re probably doing well. The point is that, like not using shurikens in Shadow Dancer, it is more difficult, and increases your proximity to the material. All this being said don’t hurt  yourself and consider your other assignments and mental and physical health. Additionally, if you are not feeling challenged by the class or an assignment, and these suggestions are not sufficient for you, please le me know.)
  • Work with a type of calligraphy that we didn’t talk about, uncials, more detailed blackletter capitals, etc.
  • Convert multiple types of calligraphy into a font.
  • In your font have a related upper and lower case. Add other characters like, numbers, punctuation and diacritics.
  • Do something animated with your type in AE. 

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