Printing my final typeface

After the induction to the Digital print room, I was ready to print my final typeface. 

I decided I wanted to print onto a professional, sophisticated cartridge type stock as I felt it would be very fitting for my Art Deco style typeface, and that the off white colour would fit the purpose of my font.

I was very pleased with the final print of my typeface, and the colours of the black worked very well against the texture of the stock.

My typeface looks very stern and solid in this form, as the strokes of black stand out very well and have a sense of dominance on the page.
The black border around the edge of the A2 page sets a boundary for the design and adds to the art deco style of my font.

Experimenting with a vision idea:

A part of Tom is that he wears glasses to see to his best ability. 

Myself experimenting with glasses explained to me that the aid short sighted or long sighted visual impairments. 

I have generated various experiments which focus around vision, blurred vision and blurriness. 

This experiment created on photoshop revolves around layering the images and changing each of the most forward layer to a slightly lighter tone which creates an effect of the word travelling into the background. I feel to an extent this could reflect visual impairment but more so inebriation.

Here I have created multiple experiments by adjusting the spacing between the lines of a sentence. 

As each lines comes closer to the other and they merge into one, it can become quite baffling on the brain, and create a typeface of it's own, which makes use of many lines and bowls of the letters. 

I chose to use a range of adjustable levels when editing the spacing as each quantity had a more rational/irrational effect.

This is an idea that I could carry forward as it does make a very aesthetically pleasing looking typeface, and I find it quite inventive. 

These 4 different experiments are a result of using Photoshop's blur tool on a rasterized layer of Tom's name. I love how the lines curve and bend, this adds a certain personality to the font alone. Again, this result is similar to the effects of inebriation on the eye, although I do feel it looks very unique and creative.

Glyph selection:

As part of the brief, we must submit a full 26 letter alphabet and also 6 additional glyphs which must have reasoning behind the choice. 

@ I will use the At symbol which has become popular due to the use in facebook and also email to contact friends. Tom seems like a very sociable and friendly person, so I feel this glyph will represent him well.
! Looking back at Tom's handwriting, he writes very boldly and blocky, as if every sentence requires an exclamation mark at the end. I feel that is quite fitting.
< The less than symbol could represent a shark biting which Tom revealed to be one of his greatest fears.
. The full stop is a vital component in literacy, so I feel that is vital to the alphabet.
, Commas are also vital to the alphabet so they are necessary.
- The hyphen of negative sign can be used vastly in writing, and it could also represent the things that Tom wants to cut out of his life.

Further Research into Tom: Music Interests

I believe that people's musical preference would (somewhere) represent figments of their own personality, for this reason I have chosen to research into Tom's Musical preferences. 

From conversing with Tom about the music and bands that he is interested in, I have managed to collect some typography relating to these bands. 

 From the bands Tom told me he likes, I found typographic imagery for Joy Division and also Death in vegas, Joy Division's typeface is very clean cut and legible, where as Death In Vegas' is script like, and I suspect is based around the tradition "Welcome to Vegas" Signage.
Tom claims a script font wouldn't necessarily represent him, and I agree with that.

Joy Division's typeface differs here from the example shown before due to the the use of a serif typeface, it looks a lot more clean cut.
Radiohead are represented four different times here, each the same, sans serif font, but used in different ways, such as the neon style one which appears as an electro genre, in comparison to the formal, calm and collected appearance which the other fonts portray.
Massive Attack's typography instantly signifies David Carson's work to me and specifically Ray Gun magazine, I find it a very effective form of typography, although I wouldn't initially say it represented Hip hip genre.
Finally, Arcade Fire's type face which makes different use of a font with a thicker line weight and one that contrasts that choice.

Tom's choice of music preference have given me an insight into what entertains him and the genres of music that he is interested in, this will aid me in designing a typeface for him.

Font Folio choices

I selected a range of fonts after my research was complete, the choices were based purely on the Q&A that I did with Tom.

Cooper Plate
I chose this font due to how the lines were straight and clean cut, the spacing of the type was quite wide, and I thought this in a way could represent how Tom intends to be less trusting.
This is the only font that I chose which makes use of serifs, I chose them on this font as I thought it added an example of edginess when it came down to personality.

Franklin Gothic
I feel this font reflects Tom due to how simple it comes across, simple and also easy to read. I see Tom as a person who it open and honest, and the connotations attached to this font represent those things in my eyes.
The descender in the G is very flowing and elegant in comparison to other fonts such as Ayuthaya. The subtle twist in personality makes this font exciting to look at.

Ayuthaya
The font Ayuthaya jumps out to me because of the mixture of straight, traditional type which works injunction with the italic looking shapes such as the curves in the M. To an extent, it appears as if the M's Width has been adjusted for effect.

Britannic Bold
This font has a very thick and heavy line weight, I see this as a trait which shows groundedness and person who knows their own mind. All of the characters in this font shoot up vertically which shows strength of character and dominance.
The tail on the G has a different personality to the rest of the font, and the line weights also varies throughout the type which, in a way, shows indecisiveness.

Consolas
I see Consolas as a mixture between Franklin Gothic and also Ayuthaya due to the style of the lowercase M and also the descender on the G. It is very similar to Franklin Gothic, in the thickness of the line weight etc.

I now must come to a conclusion of which font/fonts are most fitting of Tom's personality and find a way to make it further reflect his traits.

Notes surrounding Tom's Personality

During the Q&A, I took many notes which I felt relevant in learning about Tom's personality. I also asked him many more questions than the initial ones found on the Guardian's questionnaire. 

I came up with a list of adjectives which I felt described Tom, I had Tom write his name so I could evaluate his hand writing, I got Tom to answer the question of "How do you think you come across?", His favourite fonts, and also his taste in music. 

After all of this information was collected I named a few fonts which I thought (at this stage) would reflect him, for future use. 

Research: Q&A With Tom Houghton

We were given a Q&A (originally found in the Guardian magazine) of which we were to interview our partners to get an insight into their personality.

When are you happiest?
After good food (Lasagne, Garlic bread & Rocket)
What is your greatest fear?
Shark attack [Jaws, decapitated]
Where is your favourite place in the world? 
Amsterdam
What is your earliest memory?
Batman costume at age 5
What makes you unhappy?
Working in customer services
Who would play you in the film of your life?
Wesley Snipes
What's your favourite smell?
Roast dinner
What's your favourite word?
Elephant
Guilty Pleasure?
Candles
What would be your fancy dress costume of choice? 
Blues Brothers
How do you relax?
Trash tv
If you could edit your past what would you change?
Less trusting
What's your dream job?
Musician, Band or singer

Given these outcomes I decided Tom would be a Sans serif font due to his playfulness and how I didn't see him as formal or to have those traits that Serif fonts are known for.