Typography: ISTD

Typography: ISTD (The significance of numbers)

IOW 400.4

Description of Project:

During the time of the lockdown, we were encouraged to journal and catalogue our experiences. This project required us to use this information and data that we had collected during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, and translate it into a typographic solution that provokes and challenges, while still establishing a clear understanding of how numbers give meaning to the world. We were required to create an engaging experience for your target audience – make them fall in love with mathematics, shining a new light on how numbers play a role in our lives and give a narrative to our experiences, culturally and theoretically.

Rational:

I thoroughly enjoyed this project, being the first time we were to focus on typography as the main visual element, although the idea of creating something with numbers out of subjective information that does not consist of numerical value, such as feelings and activities. This is what I focused on, creating an abstract way to use numbers in combination with numbers. My solution is based on the information on what emotions people experienced during this lockdown and how they dealt with these emotions, negative or positive.

Technical specifications:

The entire aesthetic of the project is created to be nostalgic. My colour palette is based on colours that might remind one of school, the blue pens we wrote with and red pens that the teachers used to show our mistakes or the things we did right, it aims to be nostalgic to put the user at ease, dark blues to represent things that are familiar to a person, it is honest, peaceful and down to earth that makes it easy for the user to connect with, with red-orange to create the feeling of happiness and positivity.

The typography used in the project is a combination of Ovo regular and Gotham. The typography in book one and two stays coherent with the use of Ovo regular to show the beauty of emotions and the numbers. The use of Ovo regular is mainly for its beautiful numbers that are applied when replacing letters with numbers, for example, “e” will be replaced with a “3”. Gotham is used for the smaller math equations, simplistic and easily legible.

The book cover is a hardcover made from brown paper and the smaller books inside printed on sturdy carton paper to ensure that no matter how many times it is used it will be durable. The smaller books inside are ring bound to ensure that they can easily be paged through without bending or tearing. The notebook is printed on cheap printer paper so that it is easily replaced and not too expensive.

Deliverables:
1) Strategy
2) Specifications
3) Copydeck
4) Research & concept/design development (VIEW PROCESS WORK HERE)
5) Final outcomes
          a) Final Layouts (Cover, Internal books (1-3) and Notebook)
          b) Supporting Video
          c) Supporting Images

Emotional intelligence is something that everyone should poses. This solution allows the user the opportunity for self-reflection on negative emotions that they experience, during trying times such as the Covid-19 lockdown. This exercise is to ascertain a better coping mechanism when people experience negative emotions allowing them to learn how to positively deal with these emotions.

The use of the book is not limited to a certain amount and can be used multiple times. You can use it as many times as you need to. This process does not have a time limit you can take a much time to finish to go through the process as you need. The solution should serve as a self-reflective exercise that ensures that the user interacts with the solution.

The solution a casual experience, like having a conversation with a friend and just talking about how a person is feeling and what they can do to feel better. As emotions can be a very abstract factor to work with, and the solution has to incorporate numbers by incorporate math in an abstract manner by using emotions, activities and advice that replaces numbers that create a personal emotional equation for the user but also incorporating simple mathematics like 1+1=2 to be used as navigation between the first two books.

Process work

Typography

Cover - specifications

Book 1, 2, 3 and notebook

Book one is used to identify the emotion felt by the user, math equations in book one leads to the next step in book two, and book three is entirely self-reflective and depends on how the user feels after doing the activity in book two. A notebook is included for the user to document their experience and progress, by making notes of their experience or drawing something that can reflect how they feel after the process.

The solution is based on a wide variety of information collected through surveys of how people felt during the Covid-19 lockdown, some said they felt stressed, anxious and even irritated. After asking how they felt there was an enquiry about what they did to manage these emotions to feel better, activities such as drawing, sleeping, exercising and even playing instruments. The solution serves as a self-reflective exercise that ensures that the user interacts and feels comfortable with the solution.

Book 1, 2, 3 and notebook - Specifications

Book 1

The user of the book identifies the negative emotion they are experiencing. When they have identified it they select one of the math equations that surround the world. This equation will indicate the page number that they will have to navigate to in book 2.

Book 2

The page they consult in book 2, will indicate a prompt for the user to do. This can come in the form of advice or an activity.

Book 3

The last page the user selects in book three depends on the way the user reflects on the results of the previous two books. The use will select an already listed feeling to reflect how they feel after they have done the activity or taken the advice into consideration.