Monday, 17 February 2014

VISITING PROFESSIONAL//DALTON MAAG//OUGD602

visiting professional: dalton maag.
Today we had a talk from a visiting professional at Dalton Maag, Stuart Brown.  I knew this was going to be all typography based, which is something within my own personal practice that I am not hugely keen on, however I was still interested to see how the technicalities of type in a professional environment.
Type made with love at Dalton Maag (London)
International typeface designers, international offices, international clients.  Hong Kong design team, Brazil design team, London design team.

Four categories:
library fonts
logo refinement
font modification 
custom fonts

library typefaces have to work in different languages!

process of creating a typeface
custom fonts - draw pen to paper - get your ideas down! then scan in and work digitally
italics - removing the distortions of a slant - when you start the curves will distort

when you're completely happy with the spacing you can move onto kerning 
kerning - very much part of the design process 
-hinting - controls how your font will behave on screen 

type: 200 core shapes that solve most of the problems

Dalton Maag design team in Brazil are currently working on the Rio 2016 Olympic games logo

I found the talk to be interesting in terms of getting an insight into the way a typeface would be created professionally, however this is something that if I was unsure about now, it has definitely confirmed that I have no interest in working with type in this way.  I don't think I would be patient enough for the whole process of creating a typeface and have no real interest in trying to do so.  Type is something I've struggled to completely understand since starting the course.  Even though I love working with type and text and read a lot to influence my work, I have no interest in the technical ability to design a typeface or be so heavily involved in a typographic project.

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