TYPOGRAPHY (WEEK 10-14, TASK 3B)

01.06.2021 -  15.06.2021 (Week 11-14)
Haura Laiqa Naznin / 0345050 / Bachelors of Design in Creative Media
Typography
Task 3B

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LECTURES

Week 10 (01.06.2021)

We went through all our designed typefaces to give feedback and criticism. Then Mr Vinod helped some students who were struggling with some letters from their typefaces. He continued to improve some elements from the typefaces.

Week 11 (8.06.2021)

We continued going through more work and gathering feedback, especially for my own sticker that was in progress. Mr Vinod said I should use a typeface that wasn't so 'corporate', something more round and fun.

Week 12 (15.06.2021)

More progress and feedback were being passed around by the teacher and then we continued to work on our stickers, occasionally asking for more feedback once more students made the suggested changes to their work.

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INSTRUCTIONS

<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LqQa0zW3DopdwY28bAweWtbh0tl_YqvC?usp=sharing"width="640"height="480"></iframe>

Task 3B: Creating a sticker based on a festival

For this task, I'll be expressing typographically a social message/greeting relevant to the campus community at Taylor’s University.

I chose the holiday 'Hungry Ghost Festival' because it was quite interesting, it's something that I haven't heard of before. I also like anything to do with ghosts since it would be an interesting element to add onto the expression.

What is the story behind this festival? According to my research, it originated from an ancient story in China about a monk named Mulian who asked the Buddha to help his mother who was in the afterlife. She was very hungry but because she was a ghost, she couldn't eat, so Mulian was instructed to offer food and new robes to the monks instead. The monks were thankful for his gift and prayed for Mulian's mother who is then reborn as a human again, ending her hunger. However, there are other stories debating the origins of this festival.

Figure 1.0 Concept sketching

This was my initial idea for the sticker. I thought the ghost looked goofy, which was my intent since I wanted it to be lighthearted. Most people might be afraid of ghosts but the meaning behind the festival isn't as ominous as it sounds, it's rather straightforward and simple! 

Figure 1.1 Another sketch

This was my second concept for the sticker but I thought it looked too tacky and not harmonious enough, so I scrapped it.

After gathering some suggestions from Mr Vinod I came up with new compositions.

Figure 1.2 Revamped concepts

I decided to choose the second one since the ghost looked much nicer and cleaner. After listening to more feedback I made the changes that Mr Vinod suggested which was to make it look less corporate.

Figure 1.3 Added colors and background

This was my 3rd attempt at a more fun-looking composition and I was rather happy with it, the roundness of the font really brings it more life (despite the festival being about ghosts!)

However, Mr Vinod still had more feedback to offer for this. He suggested I change up the background to fit the theme more since it may look a bit too bright, as well as suggesting different typefaces for 'Hungry' and 'Festival'. It needed to look more festive as he said, so I went right back to work.

Figure 1.4 Progress made on sticker

I decided to use darker colors for the background to give a spookier feeling, yet not something that was too scary. The typeface has been changed from Serifa to Source Serif.

Figure 1.5 Added effects

To make the text pop out more I added a shadow behind it in a lighter color and then used a slight blur effect. I like it because it gives off a ghostly vibe, which is what I am aiming for ultimately for this sticker. It's wispy like how a ghost is! I also added a shadow behind the background to add more depth to the sticker.

Figure 1.6 Final touches

For the final additions, I added in haunted houses and some more ghosts poking out at the top so the sticker was much more visually interesting to look at. I then made lanterns to place at the bottom for a more festive look to it, since it is a festival after all.

Figure 1.7 Final PDF version

Testing on Telegram

Figure 1.8 Trying it out on desktop

I messaged the Telegram bot to test out the sticker. I'm surprised it looks fine on desktop, but then I had to see what it looked like on mobile too.

Figure 1.9 Mobile version

It looks just as nice as the other!

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Reflection

During this entire project it was definitely much more fun to design and create a sticker comparing to creating your own typeface. It's still a lot of work of course, but less stressful since I didn't have to go through a lot of struggles trying to get it to look right. It was made even better with the help of Mr Vinod throughout the entire journey, without his feedback this sticker surely would have ended up not looking nearly as nice if I were to attempt it on my own with no help.

One thing I may regret adding is too much of the extra graphical elements, it may have not been necessary at all. I might've tried too hard to make it relate to the theme so that it looks interesting. Despite it though, I'm glad I get to see what it looks like on Telegram. It's so cool to see your final work as an actual sticker that could be used on that app.