Typeface Research
Typeface Name:
Garamond
Typeface Designer:
Claude Garamond
Design Year:
First created by Claude Garamond in the sixteen century; Adobe Garamond by Robert Slimbach in 1989.
About the Typeface +
Purpose of Its Form:
Purpose of Its Form:
“The Garamond typeface is inspired by the original punch cuts designed by Claude Garamond in the 16th Century. Claude Garamond had a unique style of designing type that did not exactly resemble a scribe’s handwriting, rather a kind of typeface which even though boasted a calligraphist feel, was easier to use with printing presses. Claude Garamond’s typefaces were used in the printing of many books in Roman and Latin…
Having designed many typefaces in his lifetime, it can be said that the origin of Garamond is not ONE typeface in particular but the style in which Garamond designed his punch cuts. Garamond designs had special characteristics like scooped and rounded serifs, slanted spaces inside the “e” and “a” particularly.”
https://www.freepik.com/blog/history-garamond-typeface/
Having designed many typefaces in his lifetime, it can be said that the origin of Garamond is not ONE typeface in particular but the style in which Garamond designed his punch cuts. Garamond designs had special characteristics like scooped and rounded serifs, slanted spaces inside the “e” and “a” particularly.”
https://www.freepik.com/blog/history-garamond-typeface/
Full Character Set:
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ - + = { } [ ] ; : ‘ ’ ? / | \ .
Quote / Tagline:
“The elegant line and subdued emphasis show the classic search for silent and transparent form.”
by H. D. L. Vervliet
by H. D. L. Vervliet
Thumbnail Sketches of Ideas
For the sketches, I focused on the letter “G” because it is the first letter of both the typeface name, Garamond, and the designer’s name. The uppercase “G” is plump and stable, thanks to its distinctive spur, making it a strong symbolic character for the poster. The lowercase “g” is elegant and delicate, with features like the ear, link, and loop, representing the graceful nature of the typeface.
I used repetition, layering, and stacking to explore diverse combinations of the characters. For the improved versions of my sketches, I applied contrast and emphasis by using black backgrounds to make the main letters on the posters more prominent. I also simplified my design sketches from color to greyscale to better understand and display the hierarchy.
Iterations Based on Feedback
Approach 1
Version A
Version B
Version C
Version D
Version E
Version F
Feedback
Version A + Version B
- The filled “G” in Version A is better.
- “Garamond” inside the big “G” can be smaller.
- Pay attention to the character sets to avoid the characters interlacing with the big “G” stroke.
- Adjust the paragraph to avoid having several words left on a new line.
Version C
- The big “G” can be smaller.
- The designer’s name and design year can be bigger and moved to the top left, while the year can be moved to the bottom right to look more prominent.
- The colors used for this approach look modern and unrelated to the typeface.
- Try other colors to reflect the features of the typeface, such as brown for the background to highlight Garamond’s classical feature.
Version D
- Add a quote and keep only “Sixteenth Century” for the design year.
- Reduce the intro paragraph to less than 100 words.
Approach 2
Version A
Version B
Version C
Version D
Version E
Feedback
Version A
- Adjust the character sets on the bottom left so that they fill the empty space of the “g” like the characters on the top right.
- Further explore the positioning of smaller “g”s.
Version B
- The vibrating effect makes the poster look dizzy from a distance.
Approach 3
Version A
Version B
Version C
Version D
Feedback
Version A
- The combined “GRMD” can be smaller.
- Avoid having “Garamond” appear too many times in the top left corner of the poster.
- Reduce the repetition of “Garamond” by combining the year and the designer together—making “Claude Garamond” bigger within the year sentence and deleting the separate designer name under the type name “GARAMOND.”
- The introduction paragraph should be box-shaped instead of having sentences extending to the right, making it easier for viewers to read.
Version B
- Decrease the introduction paragraph to no more than 100 words.
- Delete the source website and include it in the documentation.
- Add more variation to the character sets, like using gradients or changing scales (use purple for the characters, making the color gradually get lighter, and also make the characters change from small to large/large to small).
- Add a quote that describes or represents the main features of Garamond, such as a specific description of the font.
- For the design year, only keep “Sixteenth Century”; no need to include “1989”.
Version C
- Reduce the intro to one paragraph; add more space between the paragraph and central big characters.
- Delete the quote to increase negative space on the poster.
- Increase space between character sets and central big characters to reduce cramping.
- Make the designer’s name smaller and italicize additional words like “Created by.”
Approach 4
Version A
Version B
Version C
Version D
Feedback
Version A
- Lighten the blue to make the text easier to read, or try using black and white.
Final Design
Representation of Typeface
Key characteristics of Garamond identified from research include: classic, elegant, delicate, and widely used in printing.
Colors were adjusted to better represent these traits. Purple, deep red, and navy blue highlight elegance. Light yellow with a black background emphasizes Garamond’s delicate and classical features. Black and white underscore its classic nature.
Aligning character sets with curved lines adds elegance. Varying color and size reflect Garamond’s evolution over time. The overlay (Approaches 1, 2, and 3) and repetition of characters (Approach 4) demonstrate Garamond’s use in repetitive printing.
Colors were adjusted to better represent these traits. Purple, deep red, and navy blue highlight elegance. Light yellow with a black background emphasizes Garamond’s delicate and classical features. Black and white underscore its classic nature.
Aligning character sets with curved lines adds elegance. Varying color and size reflect Garamond’s evolution over time. The overlay (Approaches 1, 2, and 3) and repetition of characters (Approach 4) demonstrate Garamond’s use in repetitive printing.
Hierarchy
“Garamond” should be the most prominent element, with the largest size. Next in importance are the designer, design year/time, quote, character sets, and introduction paragraph. The more important the information, the larger or bolder it should be.
