A Lesson in Kerning

I've been getting traffic recently from people looking for information on kerning. Seeing this made me remember when I had first started out and was trying to learn as much about design as quickly as possible. I searched for instructions on kerning and I found the results to be pretty disappointing. Even though now I feel like I have a pretty decent understanding of the concept, I've never heard kerning explained as well as Ed Benguiat explains it. The following explanation is derived from his lesson on kerning.


A Basic Definition


Kerning is the process of adjusting the space between pairs of letters.


Practical Application


If we were to take three lines of text: AMERICAN, AIRLINES, AROUND and just type it out in Helvetica bold it might look passable but our goal is to fix the spacing so that it doesn't look there are holes of white space in the words.





First decide how tightly spaced you want the words to be and then determine the space between the first two letters

Once you have the space between the first two letters established you can kern the rest of the text. This isn't a purely mathematical thing, it's visual. Each letter is unique and the amount of positive and negative space it has is different so you can't rely on using Illustrator to make sure the space is numerically even. The way you do this is by looking at three letters at a time and moving the third letter left or right until it looks like the middle letter is centered between the first and third.


Here are some examples of how the process might go:
This is a little too loose

This is too tight

This looks about right

Consistency Commandments:


Now that we've begun to space the letters there are some guidelines that will make it easier and faster so that you don't have to rethink each pair of letters.


The space between two straights will always be the same.
For example if you have already established the space between "IB" you will know what to do later in a heading if encounter a "NM"



The space between two rounds will always be the same
If you have already established the space between "OC" you will know what to do when you see "OG"



The space between a straight and a round will always be the same.
If you have already established the space between "MO" you will know what to do when you see "HC"



Here is what you might get for a final product if you started off with the "AM" combination above



Here is what it looked like typed out without any modification, just for comparison.




via chrisbeesley.blogspot.com
*Chris is a fellow graphic designer. He keeps this blog to share his ideas and thoughts on design. Thanks Chris.
**Ed Benguiat teaches Designing with Type course in SVA.

Assignment 1: Ten responses to ten different articles from The New York Times

Don't forget to post your work on your blog AND bring your work printed to your class.

Typography Fall 2011 Syllabus

Syllabus is same for Wednesday class. Course# for Wednesday 3pm class is GDD3611J. Yael Adar is a teaching assistant for Monday, and Youkyung Choi is for Wednesday. Students taking Wed's class contact Youkyung Choi, youkyungchoi@ymail.com.

Type Crimes

Spend some time to check all three links out and learn by heart.
http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/4111/TopTenTypeCrimes.htm
http://www.papress.com/thinkingwithtype/resources/crimes_scale.htm
http://www.dynamicgraphics.com/dgm/Article/28541/

Don't cry for me Ariapenciroman

A review about Ariapenciroman by Danish typeface designer Christoph Windmueller.
full article and download link Here

SHOW AND TELL 2011: Juried Student Design Competition

This represents the best editorial student work of the past year. All submissions were put in front of a jury of respected art directors: Roger Black, John Walker and Genevieve Williams.

Anna Betts (@anna_betts)
Cambridge School of Art, UK
Professor: Chris Draper


Zachary Gilyard (@ZachGilyard)
Rochester Institute of Technology
Professor: Alex Bitterman


Rachel Orr (@rachelanneorr)
Ohio University
Professor: Julie Elman




Clarissa San Pedro (@csanpedro)
Central St Martins College of Art & Design, London
Professor: Patrick Roberts

to take a closer look at their editorial work gallery1






Josh Clement
Monash University, Caulfield Campus, Victoria, Australia
Professor: Niko Spelbrink



Ahreum Han
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Professor: Daniel Morgenthaler


Elissa Roberts (@elissaroberts)
Ohio University
Professor: Julie Elman




Jay Jiwon Yoon
Parsons, the New School for Design
Professor: Sandra Maxa

to take a closer look at more of their editorial work gallery2






Patrick Crowley (@pcrowl)
Iowa State University
Professor: Paula Curran




Minjung Lee (@mjlee1020)
School of Visual Arts
Professors: Carin Goldberg, Claudia de Almeida




Luke Shuman (@lukeshuman)
Taylor University
Professor: Ryan James




Lindsay Weitzman
Boston University
Professor: Kristen Coogan

to take a closer look at more of their editorial work gallery3

YGAwards

Young Guns has officially put a call out for 2011 entries. Get your portfolios together!

Enter here.

Canada Type

Font Shop has just added Canada Type to their roster and we take a look back at some of their biggest hits.

Memorium

Gala

Gibson

How To Bind A Book

This blog entry comes from our companion site: Editorial Design. The wonderful TA Ayca has it loaded with useful and interesting tips and tricks. Here she presents how to bind a book.

Artist James Sheehan shows Martha Stewart how to bind a professional looking book.

They are making a book without the stitching, basically pasting papers together with double-sided adhesive and then hard covering it.
Watch the video, here.

Tools and Materials
Sheets of paper for binding into a book
Bone folder
StudioTac double-sided adhesive
Heavyweight papers for end pages
Pencil
Jade glue
Paint brush
Headband tape
Craft knife
Binder's board (acid-free)
Book canvas
Iron-on transfer paper (optional)

Binding a Book How-To
1. Collect all the sheets of paper you wish to bind into a book. Fold each sheet in half, with the image or text on the inside, using a bone folder.

2. Start with the folded sheet that you intend to have as your first and second pages. Place double-sided adhesive on the half of the folded paper that is the back of the second page. Burnish with the bone folder, remove protective backing and place the next folded page over it, lining up the folds and the edges; burnish to secure. Repeat to create the rest of the pages.

Note: If you are creating a blank book, or the pages are printed double-sided, you do not need to adhere the pages to each other. Arrange the folded pages in order and allow the loose pages to fall, folded-edge-down, onto a flat surface to make sure all pages are aligned at the spine. Then, continue with step 3.

3. Fold the two sheets of paper that you are using for the end pages in half. Use double sided adhesive to add these to the top and bottom of the stack of adhered sheets.

4. Place the stack of folded pages on edge of table, hanging off a quarter inch. Place several heavy books on top. Brush five coats of Jade glue onto the spine, allowing to dry for 10-15 minutes between coats.

5. Add headband tape to both ends of spine.

6. Trim the edge of the pages with a craft knife, if necessary. Place pages onto binder's board and trace around them. Add a quarter inch to the height of the tracing. Cut out two of these rectangles from the binder's board with a craft knife to make a front and back cover.

7. Cut a spine from the binder's board that is the same height as the two covers and a width that is equal to the thickness of the pages plus the two covers when placed together.

8. Place covers and spine on canvas, leaving a quarter-inch between the covers and the spine. Trace around each cover and the spine with a pencil, making a template for gluing everything down. Cut the canvas 1 inch around entire layout. Cut an ellipse out of each corner.

9. Brush glue onto one binder's board cover, being sure to cover the whole surface to avoid air bubbles. Glue the cover in place on the canvas. Flip the canvas over and burnish with a bone folder to remove air bubbles. Repeat for the second cover and spine.

10. Once the covers and spine are glued and burnished, brush a layer of glue along the extra inch of canvas on one of the sides. Fold canvas over to inside of cover and burnish to secure. Repeat for all sides, paying close attention to corners to be sure they are tucked in correctly. Once all sides are glued, do a final burnish all around with the bone folder.

11. Iron an image onto the front of the finished book, if desired.

12. Place book pages within the covers. Place a piece of scrap within the folded end pages on one side. Brush glue onto the back of the end page (the one that is facing up when all the pages are closed), being sure to cover the whole surface. Carefully close the cover onto the page with glue. Press down. Flip book over, open to the page you have glued, and burnish the page onto the cover. Repeat to attach the other end page to the other cover.

13. Place scrap paper within the front and back covers, and place several heavy books on top of the book. Let dry for an hour.

Resources
All tools and materials can be found at talasonline.com.

a.

Bodoni Bedlam Pop-Up Book

Holy Bodoni! The designer, Victoria Macey certainly knows her way around a type specimen book. She describes her pop-up book as:

An alphabet pop-up book, which displays the font, Bodoni, while telling a charming tale about a quest for the "Dees" that have been captured by the evil Dee Catcher.

Take a look at some of her work here: Victoria Macey

Louise Fili Tribute to New York

For decades the School of Visual Arts in New York City has been famous for the unstinting excellence of its promotional efforts. The most visible of these works have been subway posters notable for their blend of memorable copywriting and arresting imagery. The latest example is an eye-catching simulation of the mosaics that are virtually synonymous with the subway and thus with the city itself.

The poster is the work of Louise Fili Ltd. Louise Fili not only designed it but also wrote its copy. The complex production of the poster was carried out by John Passafiume and Dana Tanamachi at Louise Fili Ltd. Anthony P. Rhodes was the creative director and Michael J. Walsh the art director.

Read more: Take the SVA Train: Louise Fili's Homage to New York's Subway Signage — Imprint-The Online Community for Graphic Designers

-VIA imprint

50 & 50

The Fifty and fifty Project is an ongoing project started by dan cassaro, sva alumn.

Some really beautiful typographic solutions are being uncovered on this site.

ABOUT 50 AND 50

50 AND 50 IS A COLLECTIVE, CURATED PROJECT WHERE FIFTY DESIGNERS ARE INVITED TO REPRESENT THEIR STATE BY ILLUSTRATING ITS MOTTO. A NEW PIECE WILL BE POSTED EVERY WEEK DAY.

Site: http://statemottosproject.com/

New Design Contest!

Hello everyone.

Have a nice winter break?

Here are a fresh batch of design competitions to submit to:

1- ADC 90 AWARDS Deadline Extension Announced for Design Categories!

INTERACTIVE JAN 28, 2011 STUDENT JAN 28, 2011 ADVERTISING FEB 6, 2011 PLAYGROUND FEB 6, 2011 HYBRID FEB 6, 2011 STUDENT BRIEF MAR 18, 2011

About the Art Directors Club
The Art Directors Club is the premier organization for integrated media and the first international creative collective of its kind. Founded in New York in 1920, ADC is a not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to Connect, Provoke and Elevate world changing ideas. It focuses on the highest standards of excellence and integrity in visual communications for the industry, and encourages students and young professionals entering the field. ADC provides a forum for creatives in Advertising, Design, Interactive Media and Communications to explore the direction of these rapidly converging industries.

Not Yet A Member? Join Now.
Manage preferences here.

The Art Directors Club 106 West 29th Street New York, NY 10001 212.643.1440

CONNECT | PROVOKE | ELEVATE
ADCAWARDS.ORG

2- Submissions are now open 2011 Adobe Design Achievement Awards

The Adobe Design Achievement Awards recognize innovative students and faculty members who AMAZE the world. Finalists will receive Adobe software and a trip to Taipei, Taiwan, where they will be honored in an awards ceremony during the 2011 IDA Congress set for October, 24-26, 2011. Category winners also will receive a cash award of US$3,000. Competition is FREE to enter and open to all students, faculty and staff of higher education institutions around the world. Participants may submit up to 2 times in 15 different categories and 3 faculty categories. All student categories except for Web Analytics and Mobile Analytics* will be judged throughout the competition year. Students are able to submit in three judging sessions and semifinalists will be selected during each judging session. Students are advised to submit their projects for every academic term from May 2010 through June 2011. 2011 Judging* Schedule: November 30, 2010 — January 28, 2011 — Semifinalists announced in February 2011 January 28, 2011 — April 29, 2011 — Semifinalists announced in May 2011 April 29, 2011 — June 24, 2011 — Semifinalists announced in July 2011 Faculty and staff category submissions close on June 24, 2011. Semifinalists will be announced in July 2011 WWW.ADOBEAWARDS.COM 3 - CQ23: Int'l Call for Entries Deadline: January 28, 2011 Just one week left to enter, all entries must be uploaded or postmarked no later than next Friday, January 28. Select your best work done in the last six months. In graphic design. Illustration. Photography. Or fine arts. Open to all professionals and students--separate categories but with the same stiff judging criteria. Winners will be featured in our next issue as well as in our online gallery. Getting into CQ means your work measures up to the best work being done today. Check out the major design firms, top illustrators and photographers who have been winners. And the top universities and art schools whose student's have been featured. You'll see why we're quickly becoming a leading art and design competition. Point your cursor here to enter. Why enter Creative Quarterly? More immediate notice. Our publication comes out quarterly so we're on top of who's doing the top work. Less expensive entry fees. A flat $10 per entry. Eligibility All art directors, graphic designers, illustrators, photographers and fine artists in all countries. Separate categories will be judged for professionals and students. Work must have been completed during the last six months. Categories Graphic Design—advertising design, books, branding, brochures, editorial, environmental, identity, packaging, posters and web. Photography—both fine art and commercial. Illustration—print and animation. Fine Art—painting, drawing, printmaking, multi-media, pottery, sculpture. Awards See our current list of winners If you’re a winner you’ll get great exposure in the next issue of Creative Quarterly due out in Summer 2011 distributed in the US, Canada, UK, Europe and parts of Asia. And your work will be featured in our onlinegallery. Runner-up entries will also be shown in our online gallery. Deadline CQ23 entries must be sent to us no later than January 28, 2011 Click here to enter.

MUST WATCH

Deliciously shot and detailed short film that follows the start-to-finish process of creating custom paper-fold DVD cases and duplexed, embossed business cards by Visual Inclination.

via Quipsologies

Print Craft from Visual Inclination on Vimeo.

American Design Schools are Failing Their Students

An interesting article on how American design schools are failing their students, and how students are failing at their internships.

Do you guys agree?

Are design schools failing their students?