Reading discussion
We’ll discuss our two readings from last week, to help set the tone for our first unit.
Further reading
Throughout this first unit, you are also expected to complete these additional readings at your own pace. (Some are lengthy. Pace yourself.) While we won’t have an in-class discussion, they are to serve as additional reference and fodder for your project and classwork.
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The Principles of the New Typography
Jan Tschichold, 1928 -
Detail in Typography
Jost Hochuli, 1987 -
The Elements of Typographic Style
Robert Bringhurst, 1992
Our first project
Let’s discuss the project and its requirements in detail.
We’ll take our break here, again for about ten minutes. Please be back on time!
Getting into typography
We’re going to go through a quick history of typography, and what to look for as you begin to work with type.
An exercise in type hierarchy
We’ll do a quick walkthrough of Figma (you should have already made accounts). We’ll talk about how to set up frames (artboards) and the basics of type. Everybody should join our team:
And then follow along in our design file for today:
Once we’re done, pick one of our past two readings—The Crystal Goblet or A Handmade Web—to create five different type explorations (in your own files, use your first name). Create these in our project (folder) for today:
These explorations should follow the example in our demo—laying out the reading’s title, author, and first paragraph in different visual and hierarchical explorations. You should consider how each visual exploration will be perceived differently and each direction should be distinct from another. (We don’t want to see five different layouts all in Helvetica… unless you could make them very unique within that limitation.) Use only type, color, and spacing to achieve this.
For next week
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Download Visual Studio Code, which we’ll use as our text editor for the course. Have this installed on your machine by next class.
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Also download GitHub Desktop, which we’ll use to manage our code. Sign in there with your GitHub account (which you should have already created). Make sure you have applied for the student benefits.
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Finish your type hierarchy exercise, if you didn’t already in class. By next session, submit your explorations with a link to your Figma file:
Please organize your frames and link us directly to where we need to be.
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Select your text for Project 1: Manuscript and add it this list:
We’re not going to allow any duplicates, so pick your text early!
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Read your text (or a chapter if it is lengthy—ask if you are unsure) and write a short response. You’ll use these both as the content for your project. Add a link to your response, above.
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Sketch five different directions for laying out your text and response. Be ready to present these in class next week—we will select some folks at random. Submit your Figma links for these, as well: