Illustrator fundamental:
http://www.lynda.com/Illustrator-tutorials/Illustrator-CC-One-One-Fundamentals/124100-2.html
Topics include:
- Creating new documents
- Moving, modifying, and resizing artboards
- Drawing with the line tools
- Drawing geometric shapes
- Auto-tracing an image
- Rotating and duplicating objects
- Grouping and stacking
- Erasing and painting selected paths
- Using the Shape Builder tool
- Reflecting across an angled axis
- Placing and flowing text
- Previewing and assigning fonts
- Adjusting type size
- Creating and applying paragraph styles
- Using the Glyphs panel
- Inserting and removing anchor points with the Pen tool
Training:
http://www.lynda.com/Illustrator-tutorials/Illustrator-CC-Essential-Training/122469-2.html
Topics include:
- Understanding vector graphics
- Creating documents for different contexts
- Organizing artwork with rulers, guides, and grids
- Making detailed selections
- Resizing, rotating, and transforming objects
- Creating swatches and color libraries
- Working with fills and strokes
- Using the Shape Builder and Image Trace features
- Drawing and editing paths
- Understanding the difference between point and area type
- Adjusting the appearance of artwork with live effects
- Printing, saving, and exporting artwork
Set a task for 'First year graphic design students' to help them understand and see what they will be expected to do and produce in level 4 BA graphic at LCA.
How to make a logo:
http://www.lynda.com/Illustrator-tutorials/Creating-Adapting-Logo/197936-2.html
Topics include:
- Identifying the brand's objectives
- Sketching a design
- Drawing the artwork in Illustrator
- Selecting the perfect font for a logo
- Adding type
- Choosing and assigning spot colors
- Adding vector-based shading with gradients
- Using photographic details for a more photorealistic look
- Changing the orientation of a logo
http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design-tips/typography-tutorials-1232719
"He acknowledges that it's a bold claim, but Matthew Butterick reckons that if you take ten minutes to learn and follow five simple typography rules then you'll be a better typographer than 95 per cent of professional writers and 70 per cent of professional designers."
this is a bold claim, but i stand behind it: if you learn and follow these five typography rules, you will be a better typographer than 95% of professional writers and 70% of professional designers. (The rest of this book will raise you to the 99th percentile in both categories.)
All it takes is ten minutes—five minutes to read these rules once, then five minutes to read them again.
Ready? Go.
- The typographic quality of your document is determined largely by how the body text looks. Why? Because there’s more body text than anything else. So start every project by making the body text look good, then worry about the rest.In turn, the appearance of the body text is determined primarily by these four typographic choices:
- point size is the size of the letters. In print, the most comfortable range for body text is 10–12 point. On the web, the range is 15–25 pixels. Not every font appears equally large at a given point size, so be prepared to adjust as necessary.
- line spacing is the vertical distance between lines. It should be 120–145% of the point size. In word processors, use the “Exact” line-spacing option to achieve this. The default single-line option is too tight; the 1½-line option is too loose. In CSS, use
line-height. - line length is the horizontal width of the text block. Line length should be an average of 45–90 characters per line (use your word-count function) or 2–3 lowercase alphabets, like so:abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdIn a printed document, this usually means page marginslarger than the traditional one inch. On a web page, it usually means not allowing the text to flow to the edges of the browser window.
- And finally, font choice. The fastest, easiest, and most visible improvement you can make to your typography is to ignore the fonts that came free with your computer (known as system fonts) and buy a professional font (like my fonts equity and concourse, or others found in font recommendations). A professional font gives you the benefit of a professional designer’s skills without having to hire one.If that’s impossible, you can still make good typography with system fonts. But choose wisely. And never choose times new roman or Arial, as those fonts are favored only by the apathetic and sloppy. Not by typographers. Not by you.
In this typography tutorial, Cameron Chapman tells you that yes, designing headers and titles may be more artistic but the set body text is just as important. Here, she explains why with this step-by-step guide.
Combining typefaces can be dangerous business, especially if you mix two that certainly don't belong together. Avoid any upset with this typography tutorial that shows you the importance of contrast and mood.
Now you've got the basics down and you've dabbled in paragraphs and combining typefaces, take a look at how to pull it all together. In this typography tutorial, Cameron Charlie rounds it all up and shows you how to finish in style.
Typography could be considered the most important part of any design. It’s definitely among the most important elements of any design project. And yet it’s often the part of a design that’s left for last, or barely considered at all. Designers are often intimidated by typography, which can result in bland typographical design or a designer always using one or two “reliable” typefaces in their designs.
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This series aims to change that. If you’re intimidated by typography, or even just aren’t quite sure where to start, then read on. We’ll break down typographic theory and practice, starting with the basics (so that everyone starts on the same page).
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This series aims to change that. If you’re intimidated by typography, or even just aren’t quite sure where to start, then read on. We’ll break down typographic theory and practice, starting with the basics (so that everyone starts on the same page).
In this part, we’ll talk about the basics of typographic theory, including the different kinds of typefaces (and how typefaces and fonts differ), as well as the basic anatomy of a typeface. And each part will also offer more resources for delving deeper into typography.
Typefaces vs. Fonts: Difference?
A lot of people use the terms “typeface” and “font” interchangeably. But they’re two very distinct things. Before we get started talking about typography, let’s get our terms straight.
A typeface is a set of typographical symbols and characters. It’s the letters, numbers, and other characters that let us put words on paper (or screen). A font, on the other hand, is traditionally defined as a complete character set within a typeface, often of a particular size and style. Fonts are also specific computer files that contain all the characters and glyphs within a typeface.
When most of us talk about “fonts”, we’re really talking about typefaces, or type families (which are groups of typefaces with related designs).
Classifying Type
There are a number of different ways to classify typefaces and type families. The most common classifications are by technical style: serif, sans-serif, script, display, and so on. Typefaces are also classified by other technical specifications, such as proportional vs. monospaced, or by more fluid and interpretational definitions, such as the mood they create.
Serif
Serif typefaces are called “serifs” in reference to the small lines that are attached to the main strokes of characters within the face. Serif typefaces are most often used for body copy in print documents, as well as for both body text and headlines online. The readability of serifs online has been debated, and some designers prefer not to use serifs for large blocks of copy.
Within the serif classification, there are many sub-types. Old Style serifs (also called humanist) are the oldest typefaces in this classification, dating back to the mid 1400s. The main characteristic of old style characters is their diagonal stress (the thinnest parts of the letters appear on the angled strokes, rather than the vertical or horizontal ones). Typefaces in this category include Adobe Jenson, Centaur, and Goudy Old Style.
Transitional serifs date back to the mid 1700s, and are generally the most common serif typefaces. Times New Roman and Baskerville are both transitional serifs, as are Caslon, Georgia, and Bookman. The differences between thick and thin strokes in transitional typefaces are more pronounced than they are in old style serifs, but less so than in modern serifs.
Modern serifs, which include typefaces like Didot and Bodoni, have a much more pronounced contrast between thin and thick lines, and have have a vertical stress and minimal brackets. They date back to the late 1700s.
The final main type of serif typeface is the slab serif. Slab serifs have little to no contrast between thick and thin lines, and have thick, rectangular serifs, and sometimes have fixed widths. The underlying characters hapes often more closely resemble sans serif fonts.
Sans-Serif
Sans-serif typefaces are called such because they lack serif details on characters. Sans-serif typefaces are often more modern in appearance than serifs. The first sans-serifs were created in the late 18th century.
There are four basic classifications of sans-serif typefaces: Grotesque, Neo-grotesque, Humanist, and Geometric. Grotesques are the earliest, and include fonts like Franklin Gothic and Akzidenze Grotesk. These typefaces often have letterforms that are very similar to serif typefaces, minus the serifs.
Neo-grotesque typefaces include some of the most common typefaces: MS Sans Serif, Arial, Helvetica and Univers are all neo-grotesques. They have a relatively plain appearance when compared to the grotesques.
Humanist typefaces include Gill Sans, Frutiger, Tahoma, Verdana, Optima, and Lucide Grande. These are more calligraphic than other sans-serif typefaces, and are also the most legible (hence the popularity of some of them for website body copy). They’re more calligraphic than other sans-serifs, meaning they have a greater variation in line widths.
Geometric sans-serifs are more closely based on geometric shapes. Generally, the “O”s in geometrics will appear circular, and the letter “a” is almost always simple, just a circle with a tail. They’re the least commonly-used for body copy, and are also the most modern sans-serifs, as a general rule.
Script
Scripts are based upon handwriting, and offer very fluid letterforms. There are two basic classifications: formal and casual. Formal scripts are often reminiscent of the handwritten letterforms common in the 17th and 18th centuries. Some scripts are based directly on the handwriting of masters like George Snell and George Bickham. There are modern creations, too, including Kuenstler Script. They’re common for very elegant and elevated typographical designs, and are unsuitable for body copy.
Casual scripts more closely resemble modern handwriting, and date back to the mid-twentieth century. They’re much less formal, often with stronger strokes and a more brush-like appearance. Casual scripts include Mistral and Brush Script.
Casual scripts more closely resemble modern handwriting, and date back to the mid-twentieth century. They’re much less formal, often with stronger strokes and a more brush-like appearance. Casual scripts include Mistral and Brush Script.
Display
Display typefaces are probably the broadest category and include the most variation. The main characteristic is that they’re unsuitable for body copy and are best reserved for headlines or other short copy that needs attention drawn to it. Display typefaces can be formal, or informal, and evoke any kind of mood. They’re more commonly seen in print design, but are becoming more popular online with the use of web fonts.
Also included among display typefaces are blackletter typefaces, which were the original typefaces used with the first printing presses. Since that time, better, more readable fonts have been developed.
Dingbats and Specialty Typefaces
Dingbats are specialty typefaces that consist of symbols and ornaments instead of letters. Wingdings is probably the best-known dingbat font, though there are now thousands, often created around themes.
Proportional vs. Monospaced
In proportional typefaces, the space a character takes up is dependent on the natural width of that character. An “i” takes up less space than an “m”, for example. Times New Roman is a proportional typeface. In monospace typefaces, on the other hand, each character takes up the same amount of space. Narrower characters simply get a bit more spacing around them to make up for the difference in width. Courier New is one example of a monospace typeface.
Mood
The mood of a typeface is an important part of how it should be used. Different typefaces have strikingly different moods. Commonly used moods include formal vs. informal, modern vs classic/traditional, and light vs dramatic. Some typefaces have very distinct moods. For example, Times New Roman is pretty much always going to be a traditional font, which is why it’s so commonly used for business correspondence. Verdana, on the other hand, has a more modern mood.
Some typefaces are more transcendent, and can convey almost any mood based on the content and the other typefaces they’re combined with. Helvetica is often considered one such font.
Weights & Styles
Within the majority of typefaces, you’ll find more than one style and/or weight. Weights are often classified as “light”, “thin”, “regular”, “medium”, “bold”, “heavy”, or “black”. Each of these refers to the thickness of the strokes that make up the characters:
There are three general styles you’ll find with many typefaces: italic, oblique, and small caps. Small caps are often used for headings or subheadings, to add variety to your typography if using a single typeface.
Italic and oblique are often confused or used interchangeably, but are two distinct styles. Oblique type is simply a slanted version of the regular characters. You could create this using the “distort” function in Photoshop, although sometimes a separate oblique font is included within a typeface. Italics are slanted like obliques, but are actually a separate set of characters, with their own unique letterforms.
The Anatomy of a Typeface
The different letterforms within a typeface share a few common characteristics. These characteristics can be important in determining whether two (or more) typefaces work well together, or clash. Here are the most basic parts of a typeface:
The baseline is the invisible line that all the characters sit on. Rounded letters sometimes sit just a tiny bit under the baseline, and descenders always drop below this line. A given typeface will have a consistent baseline.
The meanline is the height of most of the lowercase characters within a typeface, and is generally based on the lowercase “x” if there are varying heights among the lowercase characters. This is also where the term “x-height” comes from. The cap height is the distance between the baseline and the top of uppercase letters like “A”.
three common parts to letterforms. The stem is the main upright of any letter, including the primary diagonal. It’s could be considered the anchor of the character. The bar is any horizontal part, which are sometimes also called arms. The bowl is the curved part of a character that creates an interior empty space. The inside of a bowl is a counter.
The ascender of a lowercase character is any part that rises above the meanline, such as the uprights on the letters “d”, “h”, and “b”. Descenders are the parts of a lowercase character that drop below the baseline, such as in a “p”, “q” or “g”.
Serifs are the extra flourish at the end of a stroke on serif typefaces. Some typefaces have verypronounced serifs, while others are barely distinguishable.
The aperture of a character refers to the opening at the bottom of some characters, such as the uppercase “A” or lowercase “m”. An ear is a decorative extension on a letter, as highlighted on the “g” above. Hairlines are the thinnest part of a serif typeface.
Crossbars are horizontal strokes, as found on the uppercase “A” and “H”. Terminals are only found on serif characters, and are the end of any line that doesn’t have a serif. Loops are found on some lowercase “g” characters, and can be fully closed or partially closed.
Spurs are tiny projections from curved strokes, such as on some uppercase “G” characters. Links connect the top and bottom bowls of a double-stacked lowercase “g”. The spine is the curved stroke found on the letter “s”.
Tails are sometimes-decorative descending strokes, as seen on an uppercase “R”. Finials are the tapered endings of some strokes. Shoulders are any curved stroke that originate from a stem.
These are just a few examples of the posters I have produced for next years graphic designs students.
Our first brief was to produce our own typeface.
I did not know anything about the anatomy of type, actually when asked which font was my favourite I said comic sans. This was an error I've learnt from since I first started this course.
At the beginning of the year, we were introduced to typefaces and its anatomy. We were explained and described each typeface, the ones to never use and the ones that are useful (Futura/Helvetica/...).
We were also taught how to describe each section of a letter and refer to it by its name (Beak/Arm/Counter/...).
Considering Type will always be used as a graphic designer, its a MUST learn and remember part of this course. Just like me, and a few others in my year, I wouldn't expect everyone to know about Typefaces next year. Not everyone knew much or anything at all on type but as a young group of designers we have learnt and been able to improve.
