Client: Academic

Project Type: Print, Editorial, Information Design

Tools Used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign

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The function of a type specimen is to showcase a typeface by introducing its personality and unique features. These are most often used to help clients check the style, functionality, uses, and qualities of a typeface before deciding if they want to use it as a part of potential projects.

The goal for this academic assignment was to produce a 16-page type specimen that revolved around a specific theme. We had the freedom to play around with how we wanted to showcase the information and were encouraged to feel free to make it “wildly flamboyant or classical in the approach”.

The Challenge :

I was very excited about the opportunity to really have fun with this assignment. It had felt like I hadn’t had a project without a concrete design brief or style guideline requirements to follow in a really long time. I wanted to challenge myself with this assignment, develop a strong theme and really showcase the personality of the typeface.

Research

Designed by Tobias Frere Jones in 2000, Gotham was a typeface originally commissioned by GQ Magazine. The editors wanted a sans-serif with a “geometric structure” that would look “masculine, new and fresh”.

Walking block-by-block with a camera through Manhattan, Frere Jones was inspired by the font lettering seen in older buildings— especially the sign on the 8th Avenue Port Authority Bus Terminal.