Brief Two

D.I.Y Typography

The Brief
~
Create a series of typography sketchbooks allowing
creative’s to experience, learn about and engage with
typeface design. Consider how to make the grids
flexible, allowing the user to insert their own principles
and style of design into their responses, but maintain
some structure and guidance within the grids. Key
to the development of the brief is the involvement of
others, gathering responses to the grids and recording
the results, this will allow the grids to develop and
evolve into flexible and functional forms.

The Concept
~
The concept for each grid is based on the principles
of different typographers and classifications of
typefaces, expressed through a running narrative
about the grids in the publication. The grids allow
the user to create typography that reflects their own
practice and provides a basic structure for them to
work and learn from.

Point of Sale / Audience

~
The sketchbooks are aimed at creative’s with a varied
knowledge of typography, as the book explains the
principles of typographers it allows the user to learn
kinetically as the respond to each grid. They would be
sold in creative environments such as art and design
shops, galleries and other creative spaces.

1/4
Matt Tucker
BA (Hons) Graphic Design
Leeds College of Art
OUGD301
Brief Two
D.I.Y Typography

i Serif One
ii Serif Two
Meet the Grids iii Renner One
- iV Renner Two
The colour scheme used through the project stems V Black Letter One
from the conventional forms of notebooks used in Vi Black Letter Two
schools, such as graph paper, maths, English and Vii Modern One
other such notebooks. The colour aims to reinstate Viii Modern Two
the educational factor of the project, as well as not iX Experimental One
overpowering the materials used to draw on the grids. X Experimental Two
Xi Experimental Three
The white space created between the grids is Xii Experimental Four iii
more important than their physical form, as this is Xiii Experimental Five
essentially what the user will respond to, similarly to XiV Experimental Six
the white space in the counters of letter forms defining
their personality and legibility. The grids are more of
a rough guide than a rigid structure, but again this
is something that will be defined through the users
individual use of the forms.
iii

XiV

Xiii i
ii

iX

Viii

Vii Vi

K=100 C=20 C=50 C=20

M=20 M=15 M=75
Y=20 Y=15 Y=75

2/4 K=20 K=0 K=0

Matt Tucker
BA (Hons) Graphic Design
Leeds College of Art
OUGD301
Brief Two
D.I.Y Typography

The Sketchbooks
-
The sketchbooks offer a less educational format,
allowing to user to play with the grids and export
the results into digital formats, without reading the
content of the book. The sketchbooks would be sold
individually or part of a pack with the posters and
book opening them a broader range of audiences
and points of sale.

The choice of bind allows the user to exploit the

entirety of the grid and take out pages to scan in
for further development, without ruining the spine.
It also reduces the cost of the books, delivering the
right aesthetic, meaning people won’t feel to precious
about them and think more about what they put
inside them than how they treat them.

3/4
Matt Tucker
BA (Hons) Graphic Design
Leeds College of Art
OUGD301
Brief Two
D.I.Y Typography

The Publication
-
The publication creates a space for people to
scan and trace over the grids extending the
products life-span. It explains the concept behind
each grid as well as the typographers and influences.
It outlines basic principles of typography as you
read through and discover each grid influencing
the users process of typeface design.

It also includes of a series of experimental grids that

aren’t in the sketchbooks, giving users an incentive to
purchase the whole package, instead of buying the
individual sketchbooks.

The brief will be extended through into next year

reinforcing the engagement of others. It will become
part of a workshop where different creative’s spend
half a day creating letter forms and the second
half digitising the results to create a full alphabet
showcasing what they have worked on

I am working on the proposal of a workshop with an

old college tutor, introducing students to typography
and explaining some of the basic principles, again
putting the design into their hands and letting them
decipher the results.

4/4
Matt Tucker
BA (Hons) Graphic Design
Leeds College of Art
OUGD301