Nikita Petrova n10009256
DVB201 Assignment 2
June, 2023
Design Process
The topic typeface of this assignment was Didot! For the overall feel and aesthetic I wanted to make reference to how it is both classic and modern, creating the perfect blend for timelessness. I explored many styles of zine and poster layouts, paying attention to layouts and grids on how to adapt them for my very own zine. Because Didot is more of a display font due to its high contrasting strokes I wanted to find uses for it to stand on its own as intended, this is where attention to layout was important. I used simple and structured grids to direct the gaze of the viewer and establish a hierarchy to be followed. My grids were broken into 3s, 4s and 5s to suit the content for each page spread.
Colours
I experimented with various colour combinations for my zine but eventually landed on this peach-pink and cherry red combination. I believe these colour well encompass the essence of classic timelessness, the same way Didot does. Red is a colour as old as time; bold, dramatic and striking. Pink; soft, delicate and minimal. Both communicate the different structural elements of this typeface in a visual way. I softened the tone of the text from a black to a dark charcoal as well. Although it has a minimal effect I believe it works nicely to soften the tone of the zine.
Shapes and Effects
I had some fun with finding creative decorative elements to incorporate into the zines layout. I used gradients and line work to emphasis the contrast and unison between thick and thin. I played with repetition and balance between my spreads, as can be seen in the planning and final spreads. The only page that has lost some of its structure was the 'FY(t)I' page. It still roughly holds its initial structure of a 4x3 grid but due to its artistic nature I couldn't fully contain it, its more of a loose 4x2 structure in its final form but i do believe it was worth it for the experimentation and such a creative result.
Zine Written Content
Feature Article
DIDOT. High stroke contrast, flat serifs, vertical emphasis, neoclassical. Created over the span of 27 years in the late 18th and early 19th century this typeface is classed as a modern or neoclassic. This typeface is predominantly used for display due to its extreme stroke contrast. Thick lines dominate and take control over fine lines constructing an eye-catching typeface made for luxury. Simplicity and elegance are at the forefront of this typeface’s design, drawing from neoclassical ideals and ancient Greek and Roman tradition whilst rejecting popular and grandeur Rococo styles. Five years into the creation of this typeface the French Revolution broke out, disrupting aristocracy and religious elitists, the aesthetic of Didot matched the ever-changing world of people and design, from decadent and dramatic styles to the open and minimal style of Didot. Inspired by Baskerville, Didot pushed the limits of contrast to create this typeface, the large distinction between thick and thin making it difficult to print unless using the highest quality materials or printing it at large sizes. This led to its popularity being overtaken by typefaces such as Bodoni, and even a combination of the two known as Didone. Only later in the 19th century did it return to its popularity when technology advanced, allowing for its elegance to once again reach eyes.
Designer Profile
Firmin Didot was a caster and cutter of letters used for printing, and also the inventor of stereotypography. The Didot family had a profound impact on typography within their family businesses in printing and publishing in France throughout the 17th century and onwards. The family was renowned for creating inexpensive, illustrated classical works, as well as, scholarly texts, breaking the barriers between royalty and aristocracy to offer these texts to a wider audience. Firmin Didot later took over the family business and was appointed as the Director of the Imperial Typefoundry. On top of creating the well-known, self-titled typeface, Didot improved upon the way type was measured by abandoning classical size names and moving into a point-based measuring system, as well as, introducing a high-quality paper inspired by that used by John Baskerville, both changes in favour of printing his highly contrasted typeface. His inspiration from John Baskervilles's self-titled typeface led him to his own creation, which became regarded as the first Modern typeface due to the high contrast strokes. Didot has gained more and more popularity as years have passed and type and print developed, eventually leading to the digital era. Didot is now a leading modern typeface that has inspired others and has been modified itself for various elegant and luxury works. Some famous examples include Vogue, CBS, Harper’s Bazaar, Modern Family and Elle Magazine.
The unique features that make up the Didot typeface offer many opportunities to push artistic boundaries as seen with many current trends within typography. In the ever-changing world of design trends, this elegant and timeless style of type will always remain. Designers have taken the striking contrasted features of the modern type style and adapted them to have romantic and artistic curves. Just like Didot, these modern adaptations are designed for titles, headings and large works, allowing them to be the star of the show, giving their artistic qualities the opportunity to do their job and pull gazes. Although these typefaces are a modern adaptation, it is clear that these classics styles will always refer back to their origins with inspirations from Art Nouveau, Baroque, Rococo and more, as seen within the various line work of these trending modern inspired typefaces. These new-age type trends have managed to keep the strength of the contrasting and tall structures whilst managing to add personality with loops and curves to create the perfect blend of strength and elegance, as portrayed amongst original modern fonts such as Didot.
FY(t)I
Possibly the most iconic element of the typeface is its high contrast between thick and thin line world, which classifies it as a modern style. Powerful down strokes which hold the structure of the characters and accenting up and horizontal strokes offer this typeface a point of difference from other serif styles. Most serif styles have a slight decrease in line weight with the direction of the strokes but what makes modern style typefaces so unique is just how far that boundary has been pushed. The letters of this typeface don’t flow across the page like other more classical styles of serif which don’t make it ideal for reading larger bodies of text. However, this isn’t a negative, the characters of Didot flow vertically instead of horizontally which gives the effect of tall, elegance and a statuesque, calm, control. The dramatic contrast of strokes makes modern styles like Didot ideal for headings and similar large works because of the power it emanates from its qualities. This typeface was born to be large and in charge.
About The Zine
The inspiration for the design of this zine stems entirely from different elements of the Didot typeface. From the structure of the characters, the emotions it evokes to the effect it has on modern design. Each page aims to encompass both the strength and boldness of the stems whilst also maintaining the minimal aspects of the serifs and finer strokes. The two juxtaposing elements blending together to appear graceful, balanced and bold. The colours of this zine; a peach-toned pink and a cherry red both complement and offer insight into the timelessness of a typeface such as Didot. A modern colour combination but two colours that couldn’t be more timeless, a combination that compliments and contrasts.
The typeface Georgia was used for bodies of text, another classic typeface to compliment Didot, however, it was created for the purpose of reading due to its minimal stroke contrast. It complements the topic typeface but allows the viewer to read comfortably.
Grids were used to offer structure to the pages so as to direct the eyes in different engaging ways. Most often split into thirds or quarters or fifths and the use of rules of threes to establish when the viewer should look. The general aesthetics were pulled from various modern posters and zine inspiration. I did not want to limit my inspiration to traditional and classic aesthetics that may typically be seen for a zine inspired by a typeface such as Didot, so I explored many styles and refashioned the designs to suit my own purpose. With the numerous options for design inspirations, my greatest task was to adapt each idea in a way that might look unified in my own zine. In my initial research on zines inspired by Didot, my results found the aesthetics to be quite dated in appearance, so all in all, I believe I found a way to show off the timelessness and adaptability of this classic typeface through my design. Should I do this project over I would definitely like to put an emphasis on more creative uses of type in imagery and shape, but for now, I hoped you’ve enjoyed DIDOT.
REFERENCES
Bear, Jacci H. 2019. Here’s How to Classify Modern Font Types. https://www.thoughtco.com/modern-typeface-1079102
Britannica. 2018. Didot Family. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Didot-family
Farley, Jennifer. 2009. The Modern Typeface. https://www.sitepoint.com/the-modern-typeface/#:~:text=Modern%20is%20the%20term%20used,no%20slant%20on%20the%20letters.
Fussell, Grace. 2023. What Fonts Are Trending Now and Font Trends for 2023. https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/what-fonts-are-trending-now-and-font-trends-for-2023--cms-93197
Hart, Dana. 2015. Firmin-Didot: A French Legacy. https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/in-circulation/2015/firmin-didot
Harvey, Amanda. 2016. Didot Typeface. https://medium.com/@redheadedmandy/didot-typeface-d38ee7c02c4c
Openlab. N.d. Focus: Modern Typefaces. https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/clarkeadv1227/type-history/focus-modern-typefaces/
Samara, Timothy. 2017. Making and Breaking the Grid, Second Edition, Updated and Expanded: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop. Second Edition. The USA. Quarto Publishing Group USA. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/qut/reader.action?docID=4926459&ppg=22
Typeroom. N.d. Firmin Didor: 10 Things to Know. https://www.typeroom.eu/firmin-didot-10-things-to-know-about
99designs Team. 2022. 8 Alluring Font Trends for 2023. https://99designs.com/blog/trends/font-trends/#:~:text=For%202023%2C%20font%20designer
