To
begin with I did a mind map of what the word empty means to me and then I did a Google search to get a definition and synonyms of the word to make sure I
considered all aspects of what the word empty means and represents.The main ideas I has were very loose
kerning to give the words a feel of an empty area. Lots of open space within
the actual letters. No fill, a more
literal representation of the word empty. Very simple design/lack of detail,
this is a little less little and is more a representation of the word, it also
has connotations with having no content, and being bare.
I spoke with a group about my word to
find out what it means to them or how they would visualise it. One member suggested a song to see
if it would give me any inspiration. Combined I think these are all aspects
that I want my typeface to have, I would like the typeface to embody a range of
explanations for the word empty so that each person who views it can identify
with it.
To
get an idea of how other people have tried to represent the word empty in a
typeface, I simply typed in ‘empty typeface’ to get the most basic result and
see what came up. I feel like these three typefaces embody what I have been
looking at so far, a partial typeface, an almost stencil like typeface with a
lack of detail, and a typeface with a lack of fill, suggesting emptiness.
I explored each font and created a manifesto so that i had
a better understanding of the typefaces and how I could utilise the traits to reflect the
word I had been given.
Garamond
A versatile serif font that ha
deep historical context, yet a contemporary and harmonious design. Legible
in a number of sizes, weights and languages, it was built for the very purpose
of disseminating a complex and significant range of information.
Caslon
A serif typeface with short
ascenders and descenders,
has the specific purpose of
fitting more characters on a page whilst at the same time leaving
sufficient blank space for aesthetics and legibility. The
italic form has a rhythmic calligraphic stroke that makes it easier
to read when in a body of text. There is a moderately high contrast
amongst the letter-forms; this gives the typeface a formal identity.
The italic P, Q, V, W, and Z all have a suggestion of a swash giving
the font a hand-rendered feel.
Baskerville
Created by an illiterate, self-taught printer, considered
to become of
the most legible typefaces there is. Due to its academic qualities, it is used
by many universities to make statements stronger and more believable. As
Baskerville was a perfectionist, its crisp edges and embellishments and long
running history make it a classic. It is considered an elegant, soft but
strong, fine quality typeface.
Clarendon
A strong British type created to reflect
the aspects of the Victorian British Empire. The thick strokes melding into
thick slab serifs and fat ball terminals represent the hearty and unstoppable
aspects of the British Empire. Clarendon's increased contrast, opening the
counters, allows it to be used on short passages of text.
Helvetica
Created specifically to be neutral, to not give
any impressions or have any meaning in itself. The neutrality was paramount,
and based on the idea that type itself should give no meaning. It was
the direct opposite of the fancy and decorative typography that covered
advertisements at the time.
Univers
Swiss designed sans serif typeface,
known for
its legibility due to it being the first typeface to form a family of
consistent designs. Due to its legibility it is used for a lot of signage.
In terms
of design, the typeface has tall x-heights, It is a
neutral design with a very subtle yet visible contrast in the strokes. This
slight contrast in stroke combined with curved terminals gives the typeface a
sense of uniqueness, The added
curves also give a sense of friendliness which along with the legibility, make
it ideal for its usage throughout UK tests and exams.
Berthold
created in the wake of the industrial revolution,
a sans serif font with a primary use in industrial advertising and large signage.
The less
rigid, geometric form of the type positively impacts the legibility of the type
and the many variations make it very versatile. The understated
forms of the type, and idiosyncrasies set it apart from other typefaces and
make it perfect for statistical information with an emotional undertone.
Simple in a
time that was far from simple; this is one of the first typefaces to have a
fixed stroke width, making it the original sans serif typeface.
Times
one of the most familiar and successful
typefaces in the world,
exceptionally legible
design that translates well to hard copy and on-screen environments. designed
for a newspaper, so slightly
narrower than
most text fonts.
The
most obvious route to go down was to make the text literally empty by using no
fill. I used Univers for
this experiment as it’s a fairly slab like, geometric font, so there would be
lots of space within the letters, especially as the weight of the letters are
increased. I didn’t want to leave it at that for this experiment so I took the
bottom off each of the letters playing with the idea that without them, the
letter wouldn’t be able to be filled, so it’d always be empty, like an upturned
bottle.
For
this experiment I used clarendon for its thick strokes and heavy weight, I feel
like a lot could be taken away whilst the serifs made the letters identifiable.
I started off by tracing the word. I decided to do this experiment hand
rendered because I wasn’t quite sure what the outcome would be and I felt it
was easier to experiment by hand.. For
my second experiment I wanted to take whole parts of the letter away. In order
to avoid it being like lettering where
it only works in the context of the word, I added lines through the word,
almost like guidelines to ensure each letter was treated the same, creating
uniformity. I really like this idea as the missing parts of the letter
resonates with me and I feel like it effectively communicates a feeling of
emptiness and being incomplete.
I
looked back to the manifestos of each other typefaces and decided to do an
experiment with Helvetica. A typeface specifically designed to have no
personality, no emotion and no meaning I think it will be perfect for what I am
trying to achieve. Also as a sans serif font, it has less detail, again
reinforcing the idea of no content and emptiness. Rather than apply the
guidelines from the previous experiment, I tried out a new method that was a little
less structured, my only rule being to try to only remove the inner lines.
In
order to produce a full alphabet I printed letters a-z and using a pen, I
identified the key areas of the letters I wanted to keep, where possible
removing only the inner lines. I
made the decision to only do lower case letters as I felt that uppercase
letters are reminiscent of shouting and therefore have many emotional
connotations.
When deciding on a name I wanted
something to represent the lack of emotion, meaning and detail. To me the word
vacant described that perfectly. I decided to translate it into Spanish as
Spanish is considered the most basic and easiest language to learn thus giving
me the name: Vacante.
Manifesto:
A deliberately limited and vacant
typeface,
Vacante is a minimalistic typeface that
derives from Helvetica. Vacante is
ideal for
headers but could be used for small
amounts
of body text or captions.
I love how this turned out and I produced
something I am very happy with. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge that was
presented to me in this brief. After receiving final feedback I would probably
adjust how I have presented my final resolution as people have focused a lot on
the idea of It being like a light or glowing rather than the letterforms
themselves, however it is clear from the feedback that I was able to find the
right balances when removing parts of the letters as not one person found it
hard to read or illegible. Another thing I need to be aware of is the weight of
the lettering, having it too heavy means that the letters start to lose the
feeling and look of being empty. If I were to ever return to this I would try
spend more time adjusting the base letterforms to make them softer, in order to
create an uppercase version. I think I successfully fulfilled the aims I had
for this brief.
