Studio Practice: OUGD603 - Typeface design

For the design development I was heavily inspired by newspaper layouts, and decided to use them as a constant reference point for the simple editorial design of the specimen. Simple features such as using header and footer lines to give order and sequence to the pages. To get a rough understanding of the basic layout of the specimen I sketched simple compositions, and noted a order for the specimen.

Introduction to type page
- What are the influences
- Doric Order
- Background to Grainger Town
- Images of Grainger Town

Character set
- Letterforms
- Numbers
- Illustration of doric order

Detail
- Ampersand and characters

Type in use
- Quotes

The type has to be large and to the point for it to be able to communicate the aspirations of Dobson. Therefore, I looked over research to source content to include which will help give insight into the type and its influences. Examples include famous quotes about Grainger Town, the year the construction began and famous streets of Grainger Town.

As the type is headline/display type it would be illegible and contradictory to use it as body copy in the specimen. Usually in specimens the only type in use is obviously the type of the specimen. However, I examined other display type specimens and they use a separate type for smaller body copy. Using Dobson to express the feel and intended purpose of the type is fine, but to use it in copy form is not what the type is intended for. So for the body copy used mainly for the introduction to the type I used Mabry. It's a type that is both contemporary and historic, refined and imperfect all at once. Which is what drawed me to pairing it with Dobson, as I want Dobson to be perceived as both contemporary and historic at the same time. Furthermore, Mabry has structured yet delicate letterforms I think correlate nicely with Dobson.

For the front cover design I wanted something effortless to represent the type, but something that doesn't just show the type set on the front cover. So I decided to use the letterforms in a more ambiguous and abstract form to create a composition which highlights the negative space shapes, which aim to represent the features of the Doric Order.

For colour in the specimen I decided to stick with only black because the type is traditional but also due to the production of newspapers. Colours can be printed much differently when using newspaper so I stuck with black as its solid.

The first page introduces the type and its influences while the second page shows the full character set. The layout for the type throughout the specimen is flexible with the margin lines framing the elements. Each page includes a page number and a section name which informs the the user of the content on show.

The 3rd and 4th page show the number set and an ampersand detail which is placed over imagery of Grainger Town. This was used to show the direct link between the type and its influence.

As the specimen continues the use of expanded across both letterform and numbers. A small illustration gives explanation of the Doric Order which allows the visual influence stand out more.