Logos, Flags, and Escutcheons

Reading "Logos, Flags, and Escutcheons" by Paul Rand brought up many interesting points about logo design. Towards the end he writes "Design, good or bad, is a vehicle of memory." I feel that this is definitely something all designers strive for. In logo design and beyond, creating something memorable is the key to a successful design. He also brought up many other important points about logo design including the idea that simplicity within design is often what is most successful, yet most difficult to achieve.

Typography Definitions

Define weight:

• The density or the lightness of the individual letterforms.
• Example: Light vs. Bold Text 

Define width: 

• How wide a letterform becomes from extending or compressing 
• Example: Compressed, condensed, narrow, normal, wide, extended

Define style:

• Variations in thickness of stroke in letterforms that emphasize the appearance of certain characters
• Example: Light, bold, italic etc. 

Define font

• Font refers to a specific size and style of a given typeface. 
• Example: 12-point Helvetica

Define typeface:

• Typeface describes a complete alphabet including letters, numerals, punctuation marks, accents, special reference marks etc. 
• Example: Every letter, numeral... in Helvetica

Define x-height:

• The height of the lowercase x.

Define cap height:

• The height of capital letterforms. 

Define leading:

• The spacing between the lines of letters (pronounced 'ledding')
• Example: 10/12 Helvetica refers to 10 point Helvetica and 2pt leading.

Define letterspacing (tracking):

• The practice of inserting tiny spaces between words set in capitals or in small capitals to make them more agreeable to the eye. 
• Example: Capitals and small capitals require letterspacing so that they do not appear tightly packed together. 

How is type measured in inches, mm, points or picas?

• Type is traditionally measured in points. 

Define point:

• The unit used for the measurement of letterforms. 

Define pica:

• A printer's unit of type size that is equal to 12 points, about 1/6 of an inch. 

How many points are in an inch?

• A point is equivalent to 1/72 of an inch (0.35 mm) so 1 inch is equal to 72 points. 

If a letter is set in 36 points about how many inches tall is it?

• 1/2 inch tall

How many picas are in an inch?

• There are six picas in an inch. 

How many points are in a pica?

• There are 12 points in a pica. 

Owl Pictures

While working on my word lists and word cluster for my owl project, I came across these pictures of owls. I was inspired by their expressions and I hope these images will be helpful later in this project.

Caspar David Friedrich

When reading for my Modern Art History class I found this painting by Caspar David Friedrich. It is called Cloister Graveyard in the Snow. For some reason it really stood out to me, and I decided I would share it. I also found this video showing some of his other work:

Typography Terms and Definitions

Define the word “grid”

• The grid is an infrastructure upon which to build both complex and austere layouts that enable hierarchy and accessibility through flexibility and consistency. The grid is tied to Swiss Design. A mathematically constructed grid allows simplicity and uniformity in design elements within the layout. 

Why do we (designers) use a grid? What are the benefits?

• The gird is strongly connected to Swiss Design, and designers employ the grid to allow their designs to have simplicity and uniformity. The grid allows different design elements to work together in a cohesive manner within a layout. A major benefit of using a grid is that it allows you to specifically outline design elements for perhaps a project like a corporate manual. Uniformity is easily achieved when using a grid as an outline for a corporate project. 

What is a modular grid?

• A modular grid is formed by the intersections of horizontal and vertical lines. These lines create zones for different pieces of information. 

Margins: The space that surrounds the content of a page.

Columns: A column is one or more vertical blocks of content positioned on a page, seperated by gutters and/or rules. 

Grid Modules: The unit of measurement within the space that are divided consistently from top to bottom both horizontally and vertically. 

Flowlines: The horizontal line that appears on a page that your eye follows. 

Gutter: Empty space between and around columns of type and images on a page. 

Define hierarchy:

• Hierarchy is the arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being above, below, or on the same level as one another. More simply put, it is an ordered set based on importance. 

Define typographic color: 

• Typographic color is the relative lightness or darkness of a block of text. Factors like font size, and the size between letters, and the size between lines dictates the shade of color in a text block. 

What are ways to achieve a clear hierarchy? 

• Hierarchy is achieved within design by consciously emphasizing significant information, while gradually minimizing attention to other design elements. This can be done by exaggerating text or image size, or by isolating certain design elements. Additional graphics can also be used to call attention to a specific feature. 

Define white space:

• White space is the negative space beween images and text that is important to placing objects and achieving a hierarchy. 

Define contrast:

• Contrast occurs by forcing distinction between one thing and another as a way to communicate a message. Contrast can be achieved using size, color, and by using or not using an amount of space. 

Made Exercise for Type

The Owl

The animal I have chosen for our first project is an owl. Not only do owls appear commonly in our society during Halloween and in children's stories as wise creatures, they have commonly been depicted throughout history. Cave paintings of owls have been found in France as far back as 20,000 years ago, and they are also in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Symbolically owls stand for wisdom, death, prosperity, or misfortune. Here are some more facts about owls:

• Owls are nocturnal predators.
• Owls' eyes are fixed in their sockets, forcing them to turn their heads to look in different directions.
• Owls have a long bill, often partly covered by their feathers.
• While most owls do hoot, some do not and owls often make many other sounds as well.
• While some owls have ear tufts they are only for display, and do not contribute to their acute sense of hearing.
• There are approximately 205 species of owls.
• Owls can fly while being practically silent, and have incredible eyesight.
• The owl is Athene's favorite animal in Greek mythology. 
• The Greeks watched over owls, and many owls lived in the Acropolis.
• If an owl flew over an army before battle it implied victory, and they believed the gods favored the owl and gave them the power to see in the dark.
• Romans viewed owls as a creature from the underworld. If an owls' hoot was heard it implied death or doom. 
• Later the English and Irish both viewed owls as unlucky, yet in the most northern parts of England and Scotland owls were viewed as lucky. This is due to the fact that Romans never conquered these parts. 

 

I (Heart) Design

When asked the question "What piece of design moves you?" I was at first overwhelmed by the possibilities. Many things have inspired me to major in design, yet I finally decided on the propaganda posters created during World War II. Even in elementary school I found myself intrigued by the war propaganda that was simply presented to us at this early age. Later in my schooling we learned more about World War II, but these posters simply kept reappearing. I think I am moved by these posters because not only are they often well designed, but they are truly a piece of history. During World War II these posters had the ability to change opinions, and encourage Americans to be patriotic and support their country. I feel designers have a great responsibility to realize how their work can be used to support a cause, or get information across to the general public. Above are a few examples of these posters. I chose a few posters that are less well known than perhaps Rosie the Riveter, but I think they are good examples of why this piece of design moves me.