Typography - Task 2: Typographic Exploration and Communication
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19/5/2025 - 2/6/2025 / Week 6 - Week 8
Ten Sze Ching / 0365326
Typography / Bachelor of Interactive Spatial Design / Taylors University
Task 2: Typographic Exploration and Communication
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- Lecture
- Instructions
- Task 2: Typographic Exploration and Communication
- Feedback
- Reflection
- Further Reading
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Lecture
Class Summary
Week 6
In today's class, we were given a detailed brief on Task 2. Mr. Max guided us on how to get started, including how to find inspiration, use Adobe Illustrator to create text expressions, and import them into Adobe InDesign for layout design. For the text expression, we used Illustrator to modify one of the 10 given typefaces and enhance it with additional elements using shapes. In Adobe InDesign, we imported the PNG files created in Illustrator and arranged the paragraphs to form a visually clean and organized text layout.
Week 7
Today's class was held online and mainly focused on consultation for Task 2. All students were required to get feedback from the lecturer.
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Instructions
Figure 1.1 Module Information
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Task 2: Typographic Exploration and Communication
Research
When I searched for "Bauhaus" on Google, the first result was the Bauhaus school. However, on Pinterest, Bauhaus is often associated with minimalist, geometric, and bold design styles. Bauhaus is a German design movement that began in 1919 with the founding of the Bauhaus School by Walter Gropius. It aimed to unify art, craft, and technology, promoting the idea that design should be both functional and aesthetic.
How Bauhaus Influences Design
- Form follows function - designs are simple and purposeful
- Minimalism - clean lines, basic shapes, and no decorative elements
- Geometric visuals - circles, squares, and triangles used in layouts
- Mass production - designs are made for efficiency and affordability
- Universal style - applied to graphic design, furniture, architecture, and digital interfaces
Figure 1.1 Bauhaus School
After learning about the origins of Bauhaus, I searched for inspiration on Pinterest. Below are some of the top suggestions and visual references I found.
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Figure 1.2 Bauhaus in Pinterest
Observation:
- Geometric shapes - circles, squares, triangles dominate the layout
- Bold typography - sans-serif fonts, often arranged creatively (vertical, diagonal)
- Minimalist design - clean, functional, no decorative elements
- Flat and high contrast - no shading, strong visual clarity
- Asymmetrical layouts - structured but dynamic compositions
Sketches
For my sketches, I started directly in Adobe Illustrator, as it allowed me to clearly visualize the overall layout. Hand-drawing would have made it difficult to estimate the final outcome accurately. I already had some ideas in mind, and below are the first two sketches I created during class.
Idea 1:
For this idea, I was inspired by the concept of a crossword puzzle. I split the word "Bauhaus" and arranged it in a crossword style. At the same time, I incorporated text expressions like "movement", "change", and "design" to reflect key Bauhaus principles. I also included building elements to make the layout resemble a cityscape.
Figure 1.3 Idea 1
Idea 2:
I mimicked the Bauhaus building, but to make it unique, I still chose to split the word "Bauhaus". I gave the building a 3D-like appearance and added shadows to the letters to make the title stand out. To create contrast with the rectangular form of the building, I added a bold, round shape beside it. I also designed the word "movement" to appear as if it’s climbing upward and used an abstract style to represent the word "design".
Figure 1.4 Idea 2
Idea 3:
I want to create a street view concept for this idea, using the Bauhaus building and streetlight as the main visual elements. The word "Bauhaus" is designed in a bold, blocky style to reflect the strong architectural forms of the movement. The word "Movement" is illustrated as if it's walking out from the light source, symbolizing motion and progress. Meanwhile, the word "Design" is styled in a quirky, playful manner to contrast and bring a sense of creativity to the composition.
Figure 1.5 Idea 3
For this idea, I wanted to transform the word itself into the structure of a building. The white spaces between the letters serve as windows, blending typography with architectural form. I also added a sliding animation effect to the word "Movement" to emphasize motion and used a different font for the word "Changed" to visually reflect the concept of transformation.
Figure 1.6 Idea 4
Idea 5:
This idea does not feature any building elements. Instead, it focuses on bold geometric shapes and typography, using strong visual forms and text expression to convey the essence of the Bauhaus movement.
Figure 1.7 Idea 5a
Figure 1.8 Idea 5b
After consultation with Mr. Max, he has chosen Idea 5. Then I further refine the title and also make more variations. Below are some different variations that I have come out.
For this design, I make the border of the letters to be rounded, so that it suits with the circle element.
Figure 1.9 Refinement 1
Figure 1.10 Refinement 2
Then I tried extending the letters "b" and "h" to divide the page into distinct shapes. I also adjusted the words "the" and "that changed" to follow the wavy structure of the word "movement". Lastly, I transformed the word "design" into lowercase and filled in the counters (holes) of the letters to emphasize their form as solid shapes.
Figure 1.11 Final refinement
I was quite satisfied with this design, so I proceeded to add the body text using Adobe InDesign. Since the page layout was rather quirky with separated sections, my idea was to break up the paragraph and fit the text into each space accordingly. Below is the first attempt of the body text layout.
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Figure 1.12 Add body text
- Improve the alignment of the first paragraph with the paragraph at the right page
- Adjust the spacing between the elements
Figure 1.13 Alignment
Figure 1.14 Spacing between elements
Given by his feedback, I slightly make changes with the alignment and margin. And below is the final outcome of my task 2.
Final Submission
Figure 1.15 JPEG without grid and baseline
Figure 1.16 JPEG with grid and baseline
Figure 1.17 PDF without grid and baseline
Figure 1.18 PDF with grid and baseline
HEADLINE
Font: Futura Std Bold
Type Size: 200pt
Leading: -
Paragraph Spacing: -
BODY TEXT
Font: Futura Std Book
Type size: 18pt
Leading: 22pt
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Feedback
Week 6
General Feedback: Today's class, we were given a detailed brief on our task 2. Mr. Max has taught us on how to start with task 2, including finding inspiration, using Adobe Illustrator to make the text expression, and import into Adobe Indesign to make the text layout.
Specific Feedback: During class, I have made two sketches for task 2 using Adobe illustrator. Mr. Max likes both the design. However since "Bauhaus" is a big word in which not everyone knows, so separating "Bau" and "haus" will lead to confusion. Mr. Max suggested me to explore on remaining the full word "Bauhaus" and integrate it into my current design. Mr. Max also likes the design for the word "movement", like going up the stairs. But the word "design" in which I put the "e" into the "D" is not too suitable.
Week 7
General Feedback: Today's class mainly focused on consultation for Task 2. All students were required to get feedback from the lecturer.
Specific Feedback: For the first consultation, I presented Ideas 3, 4, and 5 to him for feedback. Among these, he chose Idea 5 and liked how the Bauhaus concept was represented through shapes and text expression within the circular element. For Idea 3, although the graphic showing a city, the Bauhaus design was not clearly reflected. As for Idea 4, the word "Bauhaus" was difficult to read, and the subheading was placed above the main heading, which created confusion for the reader. During the second consultation, I presented a refined version of Idea 3. He liked the overall design and advised me to further refine the alignment and spacing between the text elements.
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Reflection
Experience
Task 2 focuses on both text expression and text formatting, which we have covered up to Week 5. This assignment has pushed me to think more creatively and ambitiously in terms of text expression and layout, while still maintaining visual balance and readability. Before starting this task, I never realized how many variations a simple title could have in conveying meaning previously, I would have only focused on basic text formatting. With Mr. Max’s valuable feedback, along with references from seniors' and peers’ work, I was genuinely amazed by how a title can be creatively explored through shapes and layout.
Observation
Observation played an important role in this task. I explored numerous references, not only from Pinterest but also from seniors’ work to see how creatively typography can be used. Given the assignment title, I began by analyzing the words and imagining how I could visually interpret them. For the word "Bauhaus", I initially thought of the architecture itself. I searched on Google to explore how the letters could be incorporated into building forms, and I also considered a crossword concept. In addition, I sourced Bauhaus-inspired designs from Pinterest, observing how other designers integrated bold shapes into typography. While working on the layout, I paid close attention to spacing and margins between elements, using my eye as a guide to ensure the overall composition appeared clean and balanced.
Findings
Before starting this task, I researched the word 'Bauhaus,' including its origin and how the Bauhaus concept is applied in design. As mentioned earlier, I also gathered various references from Google and Pinterest to gain a better understanding and broader perspective on the term. Based on this knowledge, I began creating sketches, experimenting with the idea of the building itself and integrating geometric shapes into the design.
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Further Reading
I read the book The Vignelli Canon, and one of the key lessons I took from it was the use of white space. I later applied this concept extensively in my typography design sketches.
Figure 2.1 The Vignelli Canon by Massimo Vignelli
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