Typography Glossary
Summary
Our project was to design a glossary that held the definitions of certain typographic terms. We did this by doing multiple exercises with certain type terms that were provided to us by our instructor, using indesign to make the pages and layout, and using Illustrator to make the cover.
Goals
Our goals for this project were to create a typography glossary for certain definitions by using visual hierarchy for the definition, terms, and typeface reference. This includes the proper use of fonts, typefaces, and the overall layout. The purpose of this is to help us get a better understanding of visual hierarchy and how to properly format a booklet whenever we step out into the field of graphic design.
Font experiments
Exercise 1
For exercise 1, we had to create multiple design systems that matched different categories. For example, we had to create a design system that matched a design system that worked with the word "solid," and so on. This was to help us have a better understanding of layout and how important it was to make it readable.
Exercise 2
We virtually had to do something similar to exercise 1, with the only difference being that we had to experiment with different font types of our own accord and practice working on widows and orphans, which are words that are by themselves. The purpose of the exercise was to find which fonts worked together to make the visual hierarchy stronger.
exercise 3
For the final exercise, we practiced how to properly format a glossary and used different typefaces to make the visual hierarchy stronger by changing the size, font, and positioning the definition, term, and typeface reference. Another important thing about this was to get rid of the widows and orphans, as they posed a distraction.
Preliminary Glossary Build
The images we used based on which image properly matched the definition of each term, and the positioning of them was what I felt was proper formatting since in glossaries they tend to stay to the left side of the page. To practice my glossary build, the typefaces I have chosen are Arial Rounded MT Bold as the term and typeface reference and Gill Sans for the definition. What made me choose this decision was how strong it would make the visual hierarchy, as bold is usually used for what is important with Gill Sand being a smaller typeface, and to make sure to never center them as it is boring or have ant widows or orphans.
Final Glossary Build
Sketches
Final Covers
Front
I used multiple variations for the front and back cover of my glossary, but for my final choices,I wanted to create a visual tension that had the proper visual weight by making the first letters of each word bigger and go outside the page with the remaining letters being smaller and arranging them in multiple spaces while still making it readable. This was to better make the visual hierarchy stronger.
Printed Glossary
After we printed out our glossary with indesign, We set it up by making the pages a design spread so that they are viewed together rather than a double spread that covers two pages facing together. We stapled it together by folding the paper, marking the areas that needed to be stapled, putting carpet underneath the marks, and then stapling the center marks of the glossary
Knowledge Gained
The learning experience was interesting and worth noting. I have learned how to properly format not just a glossary but also definitions and terms. and to never use the exact same typefaces as they can mess up the visual hierarchy. I know now to always make the header bigger and the terms and definitions the smallest. If an orphan or widow is present, you can get rid of them by pressing shift + return, as all of this information will be helpful as a graphic designer.
