Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Adobe Tips - Free!

Lynda.com is one of the best places to learn techniques/get tutorials for Adobe products-however, it costs money.  Adobe has their own free podcasts where you can learn about new tools in Illustrator and Photoshop.  Check it out!

Assignment 11

Back in my typography class, I created all my type by hand.  For assignment 11, you're going to practice this technique as well, learning more about the style and integrity of a typeface.  Using Caslon, you will write your first and last name (in the traditional format, no all uppercase or all lowercase letters).  If time permitting, I will show you how to make a ligature in your name.  After writing your name, you will scan your name and clean it up in Photoshop-showing you some of the basic tools.

This is the format you should follow:




and this is the typeface you should use:



Steps:
  1. Create two horizontal lines 2" apart.
  2. From the bottom line (descender), measure 3/8" above, and make another horizontal line (baseline)
  3. From the top line (ascender), measure 1/2" below the line and draw another horizontal line at that mark (x-height)
  4. Begin writing your first and last name, do it as neatly as possible and as closely resembling the Caslon typeface.
  5. When you are complete, I will help you fix any additional letters
  6. Then, trace the name and fill in pen
  7. Scan the work and begin to clean it up in Photoshop.  
Both your final inked name and the cleaned up version in Photoshop will be submitted for a grade!

Here are two examples prior to cleaning it up in photoshop:









Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Which Type Are You?










The geniuses at Pentagram have come up with a quiz to find out which typeface you are.  Simply type in "character" as the password and discover your inner typeface.  You will find the quiz here .  

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Typography Vocabulary Quiz on Friday

As stated previously, there is going to be a typography vocabulary quiz on Friday, January 8th.  I have uploaded my presentation (that reviews the handout you received in class) that will help you study for the quiz.