DVB201 TYPOGRAPHIC ZINE DOCUMENTATION
EMILY LECOLE
N11327707
PROJECT BRIEF: CREATE A 16-PAGE TYPOGRAPHIC ZINE USING ONLY TYPOGRAPHIC VISUALS
PROCESS
I began this project by researching notable fonts and decided upon Futura due to its rich history and timeless aesthetic. I then began researching san-serif design trends and stumbled upon the Swiss Punk/New Wave movement, led by graphic designer Wolfgang Weingart.
says, W. W. | S. (2010, October 31). Wolfgang Weingart. XPONTO. https://xponto.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/wolfgang-weingart/
Modern takes on the Swiss Punk design movement & Zine layout research.
My research inspired me to explore mixed media design techniques, where I distorted printed text with a scanner before creating vectors of the images in Illustrator using the Image Trace tool.
These techniques allowed me to experiment with layers and texture - all of which were used in my final zine.
ORIGINAL LAYOUT CONCEPT
FEATURE ARTICLE
DESCRIPTION OF FEATURES:
Originating in the 1920s, the font remains at the forefront of modern typography trends due to its versatility. Futura’s highly geometric nature allows the typeface to remain timelessly modern.
Anatomically speaking, Futura is a sans-serif typeface, heavily derived from geometric forms – circles, squares and triangles -, with low contrast, even-width strokes. What does this mean? The font takes a ‘less is more’ approach, excluding any features deemed decorative or non-essential.
Futura stands out from other modernist fonts due to its stripped-back nature and lack of traditional typographic characteristics. For example:
- Lack of terminals
- Geometrical forms
- Mono weight strokes
- Large ascender-height
- Low x-height
- Low crossbar
In unison, these features give the font a striking yet elegant look. Whilst these features lend themselves to creating eye-catching headlines, quotes and mid-sized body copy, the font somewhat loses its readability in smaller sizes.
DESIGN PROCESS:
Renner began sketching Futura in 1924, basing the letter faces on basic geometric forms – the circle, triangle and square. Renner spent years finetuning the typeface before commissioning the Bauer-type foundry in 1927, where they assisted him in developing these forms into an effective type family. The typeface was originally released to the public in light, regular and bold weights, before expanding to include semi-bold, bold condensed, light oblique, and regular oblique in 1930.
CONCEPT/REASON FOR DESIGN:
Renner’s time as a bookbinder led him to explore the connection between form and function; eventually inspiring him to write ‘Typographie als Kunst’ – Typography as Art. Following traditional publishing conventions of the time, the book was printed in a Gothic Typeface, raising issues of legibility. Renner believed Gothic typefaces to be a ‘nostalgic leftover, the displaced remains of an earlier age,’ and that ‘in the interest of our wonderful German language, we should finally renounce [Gothic Typefaces].’ Overall, Futura can be viewed as one of the first responses to the overly ornate, outdated nature of gothic lettering.
REFLECTION/CRITIQUE OF FONT:
Futura is a typography success story. Its versatile yet simplistic nature has cemented itself as ‘the font for the future.’ Dating almost a century old, the font has remained a staple for creatives across all industries; with fashion houses such as Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana referencing Futura as an inspiration for their sleek, minimalistic branding, and acclaimed directors such as Wes Anderson and Stanley Kubrick maintaining the typeface is a staple throughout their filmography and promotional content. Likewise, the font has ties to major brands such as Volkswagen, Ikea, Domino’s Pizza, Absolut Vodka and more (Penney, 2016). Renner’s ability to create an enduring classic has cemented him as a trailblazer of modernist design. Futura is the font for the ages.
FY[T]I
Futura derives its letterforms from basic geometrical shapes such as the circle, triangle and square. This can be seen particularly in round letterforms such as the ‘o,’ ‘a,’ ‘b’ and so on. The perfectly circular nature of the bowls give the typeface a sleek and modern feel. Because of the font's basis on geometric forms, the font is overall rather symmetrical and balanced – bar one letter, ‘t’. As aforementioned, the lowercase ‘t’ has a low crossbar, but this isn’t all. Defying the symmetrical conventions of the Futura typeface, the ‘t’s’ crossbar is uncentred. The reason why remains unknown. My hypothesis? For character and added definition/readability, who knows perhaps it was unintentional all along. Regardless of this font's furtive, Futura’s clean, symmetrical (for the most part), geometric nature is what makes it so aesthetically pleasing.
PROFILE - PAUL RENNER
While Paul Renner was best known for designing the Futura typeface, he was also an avid painter, teacher and graphic designer. Born on the 9th of August 1878 in Wernigerode (a town located in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt - formerly known as the Prussian Province of Saxony following the Napoleonic Wars), Renner was raised by his evangelical theologian father, explaining his strict protestant upbringing. Renner attended Gymnasium where he studied Greek and Latin for 9 years before commencing art studies at several various academies. Renner was a painter by trade before attending the ‘Deutscher Werkbund’ – German Association of Craftsmen – in 1907 where he met with a coalition of artists, craftsmen, manufacturers and industrialists.’ That same year, Renner began designing handcrafted leather book bindings as subsidiary work. Before long, Renner felt uninspired by designing the bindings alone and thus took responsibility for all aspects of a book – including but not limited to, the ‘choice and arrangement of type.’
Renner believed modern designers should pivot to using Roman typefaces before developing the first sketches for Futura in 1924 – 3 years prior to public release. Other notable typographic artists of the period began working to address the same issues of legibility, with designers such as Eric Gills, Herbert Bayer and Edward Johnston creating the ‘Gill Sans’, ‘Universal,’ and ‘Underground’ sans serif typefaces, respectively. These typefaces were the first wave of Modernist fonts created as a response to the overly ornate, outdated nature of gothic lettering.
DESIGN TREND - SWISS PUNK TYPOGRAPHY & NEW WAVE
WHAT TRIGGERED THE TREND?
Sans-Serif fonts such as Futura played a major role in both Swiss Style and Swiss Punk typography or New Wave. Swiss Style, also referred to as the International Typographic movement, was first seen in the early 50s and led by Swiss designers Joseph Muller-Brockman and Armin Hofmann. As a response to the rigid restriction of modern typographic aesthetics, Swiss Punk emerged, spearheaded by typography icon Wolfgang Weingart. Swiss Punk chews up and spits out the clean, clinical aesthetics of Swiss Style, Weingart stating he, ‘.. took Swiss Typography as [his] starting point, but then [he] blew it up…I never intended to create a ‘style.’ New Wave emerged as a response to the limitations Swiss Style imposed on creatives; liberating them from the strict and traditionalist guidelines inflicted on designers of the time.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE INDUSTRY?
Currently, we are witnessing a resurgence in Swiss Punk– not to be confused with Punk Typography – or what Sarah Hyndman refers to as ‘the Anti-Helvetica’. Swiss Punk is the absence of creative limitations; it’s an intimate relationship between an artist and their chosen form of expression. In today's world, designers have more technological resources than ever before to explore new avenues of creativity and break free from traditional constraints.
Throughout the process of creating this zine, I learnt to push past the boundaries of traditional typography. My exploration of the Swiss Punk typography trend broadened my horizons as a designer, giving me the confidence to disregard design ‘rules’. I believe my design have displayed strong use of positive and negative space. Furthermore, I have developed my skills in mixed media design, combining elements of printing/scanning with Illustrator techniques such as liquify to create warped imagery remnant of the Swiss Punk movement. Overall, I really enjoyed this project and look forward to creating zines in the future.
FINAL REFLECTION
Overall, I'm very proud of my designs. While the physical zine could do with tweaking due to margin/bleed errors, I believe my designs effectively follow the conventions of the Swiss Punk Movement and inform readers of Futura's origins.
FINAL SPREADS
REFERENCES
Dawood, S. (2016, October 25). Sarah Hyndman: “Punk was the anti-Helvetica.” Design Week. https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/24-30-october-2016/sarah-hyndman-punk-anti-helvetica/
Gaefke, F. (2019, April 8). Getting Futura right in UI design. Medium. https://uxdesign.cc/getting-futura-right-in-ui-design-bda5bc17f2ee
HARROP, A. (2015, March 12). Futura: A History of the Worlds Most Loved Geometric Typeface. H.GREEN-COURSE HUB. https://www.green-coursehub.com/research-blog/futura-a-history-of-the-worlds-most-loved-geometric-typeface
Hyndman, S. (2020, July 5). How Punk changed Graphic Design and is history repeating itself? Medium. https://shyndman.medium.com/how-punk-changed-graphic-design-ad40cb685180
Johnson, R. (2009, July 16). Paul Renner: the art of typography - the father of Futura. Mantex. https://mantex.co.uk/paul-renner-the-art-of-typography/
Kelley, G. (n.d.). Paul Renner. Www.palomar.edu. Retrieved May 25, 2023, from https://www.palomar.edu/users/gkelley/PaulRenner.html
Keung, L. (2020, August 1). All About the Futura Font and Its History. Design & Illustration Envato Tuts+. https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/all-about-futura-font-and-its-history--cms-35382
LECOLE, E. (n.d.). 320 1805 ideas in 2023 | graphic design posters, zine design, graphic poster. Pinterest. Retrieved June 13, 2023, from https://www.pinterest.com.au/emilylecolee/1805/typography/
MOON, G. (2021, April 14). Futura: Type Specimen Book Design by Grace Moon - Issuu. Issuu.com. https://issuu.com/grassymooney/docs/please_work
Paul Renner | Biography, Designs and Facts. (2018). Famous Graphic Designers. https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/paul-renner
PENNEY, M. (2016, June 22). Type in History: Futura | Sessions College. NOTES on DESIGN. https://www.sessions.edu/notes-on-design/type-in-history-futura/#:~:text=Futura%20was%20designed%20by%20Paul
says, W. W. | S. (2010, October 31). Wolfgang Weingart. XPONTO. https://xponto.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/wolfgang-weingart/
Simon. (2023, March 9). Wolfgang Weingart - Swiss Typographer and Designer. Encyclopedia of Design. https://encyclopedia.design/2023/03/10/wolfgang-weingart-swiss-typographer/#:~:text=Wolfgang%20Weingart%20(1941%20
Storozynsky, T. (2021, April 8). Behind The Font: Why The Futura Typeface Never Looks Dated. Www.extensis.com. https://www.extensis.com/blog/why-the-futura-typeface-never-looks-dated#:~:text=The%20Futura%20typeface%20is%20highly
The New Wave of Graphic Design. (2011). Designhistory.org. http://www.designhistory.org/PostModern_pages/NewWave.html
THE SCHEDIO. (2020, March 29). Famous Brand Logos That Use Futura. The Schedio. https://theschedio.com/famous-logos-futura/
VARMA, D. (2021, February 25). 036: Futura: An Incomplete History of Type. Podcast | Talk Paper Scissors. https://www.talkpaperscissors.info/post/036-futura-an-incomplete-history-of-type#:~:text=Futura%27s%20anatomy%20can%20be%20described
