Course material for Typography 1 GDES-1015-004, an undergraduate course taught at OCAD University in the 2019 Winter semester.
- Time: Thursdays, 8:30am – 11:30am
- Location: Room 656-MCA, 100 McCaul Street/Sharp Centre
- Instructor: Garry Ing, ging@faculty.ocadu.ca
- Office Hours: Thursdays, 11:45am – 1:00pm, Room 620-MCA
This introductory studio course provides students with an understanding of the basic vocabulary, skills and use of letterforms and how they combine to form words, text and meaning. The anatomy and structure of letterforms and the formal relationships between them are considered. Students are exposed to a foundational understanding of current typographic classification, technology and systems. This course will develop the students' ability to explore and employ typography and is a first step toward developing typographic mastery. Students with credit in GDES-1015, GDES-1B17, GRPH-2A04 may not take this course for credit. —OCAD U Course Catalogue, 2018
- Original outline by Patricio Davila
- Source code is available under GNU General Public License v3.0
- Unless otherwise indicated, course content is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
Review topics that will be covered, expectations for participating in the class, methods to teaching and learning, and materials needed for the course. We will also begin with a basic introduction to the field of typography and the requirements for the first assignment.
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Continue an exploration of the expressive dimension of typography. Introduction to basic vocabulary for describing formal elements. In-class exercise and desk crits will be conducted.
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We will look at positive and negative space as it applies to the micro to mid level of design — letterform, word, sentence, paragraph composition. In-class exercise and desk crits will be conducted.
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You will present your final work for Project 1 to the class and provide feedback to your peers. We will also look at the next major assignment.
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As a contrast to expressive typography, we will look at how instrumental typography attempts to fulfill another set of issues. We will also look at how space works at a macro level to create visual order and aid navigation. In-class exercise and desk crits will be conducted.
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We will continue our exploration of typography in terms of space and arrangement in order achieve specific ends. In-class exercise and desk crits will be conducted.
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We will focus on how spatial arrangement of typographic elements can be used to manage complexity. We also look at methods for managing the process of designing more complex information. In-class exercise and desk crits will be conducted.
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You will present your final work for Project 2 to the class and provide feedback to your peers. We will also look at the next major assignment.
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We will look at how typography is applied to screens. The variety of screen formats present specific technical issues that will discussed. In-class exercise and desk crits will be conducted.
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We will look at how web technologies such as HTML and CSS are used to design with typography. In-class exercise and desk crits will be conducted.
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We will continue to explore web technologies for embedding fonts and structuring information for online use. In-class exercise and desk crits will be conducted.
You will present your final work for Project 3 to the class and provide feedback to your peers. We will also reflect on the semester and what to expect in other Typography courses.
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