OUGD403 - Studio Brief 02 - Final Crit Evaluation

Initially, I thought that my typeface resembled an old typewriter font due to some strokes breaking up when the font is enlarged a certain amount because of the extremely thin weights used. I felt that this would therefore be appropriate for use in newspaper publications in relation to this typewriter effect. The high contrast between different weights highlights this point, as it could almost resemble the unevenness of ink on paper as sentences are being typed on a typewriter or the grainy effect you typically get in newspaper publications. This was agreed on during summative feedback with some comments suggesting the typeface would be suitable for headings in publications or as a display font.
However, it was also suggested that the use of sharp serifs on some letterforms, such as T, L and E make the typeface look quite scary and more suited towards horror film titles.
Despite this, my design decisions and intentions were mostly understood, and it was felt that my typeface generally communicated the idea of flimsiness well due to the visible differences in stroke weights and its lightweight feel which is emphasised through the use of serifs. Others believed that the word ‘flimsy’ did not spring to mind immediately on first viewing my typeface and is more suited to the word ‘fragile’. The word fragile is a synonym of flimsy, which is what I focused on more than the chosen word itself, as I felt 'flimsy' was quite a generic word and that I gained more in terms of research and ideas when looking at it’s synonyms. This is therefore why my typeface can be considered more reflective of other such words, but this is what I also wanted to communicate in my work so in this sense I feel that my typeface has worked.

It was also suggested that the paper-thin look of my typeface gives it a sense of elegance and of being a delicate material, which contrasts to the suggestion of the typeface as being quite eerie.

In my design, I kept the strokes fairly straight and structured as to not abstract the letterforms too much, however in terms of relating this to the word ‘flimsy’ it can be seen as almost too structured. As a development, it may have been interesting to experiment with alternative methods of manipulating the letterforms, such as moving the image whilst being scanned to visually communicate a ‘wobbly’ and unstable effect which may have better communicated my chosen adjective.

My final typeface has changed a large amount from my initial rationale and ideas for my desired typographic style. I originally intended to fold letterforms as if they were made of thin material, like a flimsy piece of paper or to completely break apart letterforms. This is not so evident in my final design, but uses similar elements which link back to this idea of being a lightweight material as some of these ideas still formed part of my development work. Overall, I feel that my final typeface correctly communicates the word 'flimsy' but if I were to continue developing it I would try to reduce the 'scary' elements and experiment more with manipulating the letterforms through various different processes to break up the type even more. And in terms of my aim in creating a typeface which goes against Muller-Brockmann's belief that "what is feeble is never good" I feel as though my work has reflected this in that Caslon no longer has a strong, solid structure in which to balance on.