Charles Wetzel

Feb 01
0

My Fonts

Posted by | Charles Wetzel, Type | No Comments

For this project, I felt that the concept of “Universal Type,” had to somehow incorporate the most ubiquitous font seen around the world, Helvetica. Helvetica is functional, utilitarian, and it seems to fit the theme. However, I feel that using Helvetica is too easy. It’s already familiar to a lot of people and it’s free in many of it’s forms. Helvetica may be one of the safest font choices. However, I want that sleek, sans-serif look that says, “I’m modern, I fit in just about everywhere and I know what I need to do.” How could I not choose Helvetica? How I actually use it will be another issue, but I found a similar font to complement this old classic.

MontSerrat is a free web font accessible from Google Fonts. I chose this font because it shares enough of the sans-serif utility of Helvetica, but feels a little more unique. The fonts juxtaposed together bring out the weightier characters of MontSerrat and shows some further reductions in the letter form shapes. I think both fonts work as headlines and body copy, so I’ve elected to do more headlines with MontSerrat, and left the Universal Type headline in Helvetica.

Today we were given multiple lists of popular web fonts from 2015 and Colleen shared some great resources for displaying your type and choosing color palettes for coding. Finally, I thought that chapter 6 and onward of the CSS3 Missing Manual text is really helping me understand how to code these 24T assignments. I should be doing for Code Academy refreshers.

Snow day tomorrow?

Feb 01
0

Coding for Universal Type

Posted by | Charles Wetzel | No Comments

I am many hours into formatting the first of the three blog entries into HTML/CSS. Having previous examples and class exercises to reverence is proving to be very helpful. I struggled for a while with how to correctly kern some letters from description paragraph, but I ended up using the following some success:

HTML5

<span id=”kern1″>LINE OF TEXT</span>

CSS

#kern1 { letter-spacing: -0.25px; }

Now I am really struggling with how to accurately position my background PNG and keep it from repeating itself in the browser window. I feel that I need to review some Code Academy exercises and consult some reputable online sources for coding this page.

I was also able to get my laptop updated with all the Creative Cloud files so I can do more work from home and keep all my files in one place, on one machine. Wednesday should be interesting because I get to present on my 3 T’s for the class.

Here’s to a possible snow day tomorrow!

Jan 27
0

Tim Brown | Type Manager for Adobe Typekit

Posted by | Charles Wetzel, Talent | No Comments

Tim Brown is the Type Manager and lead typographer for Adobe Type Kit. What really defines Tim is his passion for great type. Great type is not just aesthetically-pleasing type, but type that integrates well with its context and makes the user experience more pleasurable overall. Great type is smart type. Universal Type is a concept Tim and his colleagues are working on that has yet to be totally defined. He has numerous goals for web typography, and he’s at the forefront of many new programs, systems and tools that digital typographers can access to improve their type. All this knowledge can be found at Tim’s project site nicewebtype.com that was originally constructed as his Graphic Design BFA final.

Print

Jan 25
0

Web Tools for Type

Posted by | Charles Wetzel, Technology | No Comments

Universal Type is that ever-evolving definition of what type can do, be, or will become. I find that while researching and clicking through these sites centered on type, things are changing so fast. Developments in software and networking are making branched connections that loop you around to many places you wouldn’t expect to go. Defining the concept of Universal Type seems more ludicrous each day. Maybe it more of something to experience rather than define.

Two websites that are approaching this broad idea come from two very different places, with two very different goals to achieve. And yet, they both have this overarching theme of a universal-human-input-to-letter-form and how we will interact with type.

nicewebtype.com is a central hub of type created by Tim Brown, Type Manager for Adobe Typekit. On this site, Tim has links to the software projects he has been developing with and outside of Adobe. He has websites and software for modular scaling, type design and more. He also has links to tutorials, videos, presentations and more things related to type. While it’s his site, you can tell right away he is very transparent about how much he collaborates with other professionals. And here is the key to unlocking the ephemeral Universal Type mystery: cross-collaboration with as many like-mind designers to illustrate some sort of creative consensus as to what everyone wants/needs/dreams-of for type now and in the future.

theuniversaltypeface.com takes this concept in a very different direction. BIC, the company that gave you the ubiquitous ball-point pen, has created an interactive website that lets you sync up with a smartphone and draw the alphabet. Why? BIC wants to know what a “Universal Typeface” would like, so they are collecting submissions of peoples’ hand-drawn alphabets and averaging the shapes/orientations to created an aggregate-style that is updated daily. This style can then be downloaded and used on your device. Submit your style and join the experiment!

Universal Type TECH

Jan 18
0

Universal Type

Posted by | Charles Wetzel, Terms | No Comments

Having spent a solid 3-4 hours with the concept of “Universal Type,” I realize that what I thought this definition would be and what I think it is are very different. I was expecting something like a standard, sans-serif font comprised of the typical character-sets most font families have available. Helvetica instantly came to mind. But my notion of a universal typeface was not nearly as grand in scope as the idea that Tim Brown puts forth in this video posted last August. To attempt define Universal Type in a singular idea is almost impossible. What Tim wants is not a single typeface, but really the tools and expertise to create dynamic typography for all digital platforms; even future technologies or interfaces that have yet to be developed. He’s already thinking past the physical devices and get his audience to consider digital typography more abstractly and on a worldwide scale.

Tim is currently developing tools to reach this confluence of creative power + typographic harmony. Here are three found on his website:

  1. Adobe Typekit – Adobe’s easy to use typography layout tool for web-based type. Tim is currently the Type Manager for Adobe Typekit.
  2. Modular Scale – Software that builds compositions on values from modular scales, creating balance and beauty not found in programs that use whole numbers.
  3. WebFont Specimen – A site where type designers can see what their fonts look like on the web in a variety of formats and platforms

Tim is involved many more programs than just these three. The various overlaps and slight difference in focus of each program create an ethereal venn diagram working towards defining something like a “Universal Type.”

Aside from Tim Brown’s hardwork, check out the fun project the BIC company (the famous ballpoint pen manufacturers) at this site where they are creating a Universal Typeface from an aggregate of digitally-drawn submissions from people all over the world! Check it out here and add your own submission to this ongoing experiment.

UniversalType-01

Jan 11
0

Interactive Media > Me

Posted by | Charles Wetzel | No Comments

I am simultaneously overwhelmed and pumped for this class. I have almost no experience coding, but that’s why this class is so important. This class is one of the main reasons I wanted to return to UNL and broaden my skill set. The next few day will be a crash-course in all things CSS and coding-related. Here we go!

-Charles