Uppercase and Lowercase Letterform Studies

A letterform study made under the direction of Andrew
Weed, the coordinator of The Visual Communication Design
program at Arizona State University. Letters were drawn
by hand first, and painted with black and white Pelikan Plaka.
Refinements were optically made with different size
brushes, and then translated into the computer. Forms
were optically spaced based on the counterform
brightness of the uppercase H and lowercase n. Discoveries
in leading, rag, and margins were also explored.

A letterform study made under the direction
of Andrew Weed, the coordinator of The Visual
Communication Design program at Arizona
State University. Letters were drawn by hand first,
and painted with black and white Pelikan
Plaka. Refinements were optically made with
different size brushes, and then translated
into the computer. Forms were optically spaced based
on the counterform brightness of the uppercase
H and lowercase n. Discoveries in leading, rag, and
margins were also explored.

January 2017–December 2017. Made by
hand with pencil, black Plaka paint, and white
Plaka paint. Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop.

Drag images with pagination to the right.

January 2017–December 2017. Made by
hand with pencil, black Plaka paint, and white
Plaka paint. Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop.

Drag images with pagination to the right.

January 2017–December 2017. Made by
hand with pencil, black Plaka paint, and white
Plaka paint. Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop.

Drag images with pagination to the right.

January 2017–December 2017. Made by
hand with pencil, black Plaka paint and white
Plaka paint. Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop.

Drag images with pagination to the right.

January 2017–December 2017. Made by
hand with pencil, black Plaka paint, and white
Plaka paint. Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop.

Drag images with pagination to the right.

Relationship between uppercase and
lowercase forms. Shown optically kerned
based on Hn letter spacing.

Relationship between uppercase and lowercase forms. Shown optically kerned based on Hn letter spacing.

A information-Cap height: 100 mm, Width: 80 mm,
Horizontal weight: 19.5 mm, Diagonal weight: 20 mm,
Apex lowered 1 mm, Crossbar lowered 4 mm/E
information-Cap height: 100 mm, Width: 40 mm, Horizontal
weight: 19.5 mm, Top and bottom crossbar .5 mm
wider, Middle crossbar .5 mm narrower/H information-
Cap height: 100 mm, Width: 80 mm, Horizontal
weight: 19.5 mm, Crossbar raised .5 mm/O information-
Cap height: 104 mm, Width: 84 mm, Horizontal weight:
20 mm, Diagonal weight: 19.5 mm.

HEAO composition optically
centered to understand kerning between
verticals, curves, and diagonals.

HEAO Composition optically centered to understand kerning between verticals, curves, and diagonals.

HEAO paragraph composition to
help understand kerning between all
forms. Optical spacing based on
the right vertical of the first H, and the
left vertical of the second E.

X height: 73 mm, Width: 71.5 mm, Vertical
weight: 20 mm, Horizontal weight: 14 mm/The
second a helps understand the optical
spacing between forms based on the Hn space.

Cap height: 100 mm, Width: 20 mm, Vertical
weight: 20 mm, Horizontal weight: 16 mm/The
second i helps understand the optical
spacing between forms based on the Hn space.

Cap height: 100 mm, Width: 20 mm, Vertical weight:
20 mm/The second l helps understand the optical spacing
between forms based on the Hn space.

X height: 71.5 mm, Width: 119 mm, Vertical
weight: 20 mm, Horizontal weight: 16 mm/The
second m (shown 19.87% smaller) helps
understand the optical spacing between forms
based on the Hn space.

X height: 71.5 mm, Width: 70 mm, Vertical
weight: 20 mm, Horizontal weight: 16 mm/The
second n helps understand the optical
spacing between forms based on the Hn space.

X height: 73 mm, Width: 75 mm, Vertical weight:
20 mm, Horizontal weight: 16 mm, Diagonal weight:
15 mm/The second o helps understand the
optical spacing between forms based on the Hn space.

X height: 71.5 mm plus 28.5 mm descender,
Width: 73.5 mm, Vertical weight: 20 mm, Horizontal
weight: 16 mm, Diagonal weight: 19 mm/
The second p helps understand the optical spacing
between forms based on the Hn space.

X height: 71.5 mm plus 28.5 mm descender,
Width: 73.5 mm, Vertical weight: 20 mm, Horizontal
weight: 16 mm Diagonal weight: 19 mm/
The second p helps understand the optical spacing
between forms based on the Hn space.

X height: 71.5 mm plus 28.5 mm descender,
Width: 73.5 mm, Vertical weight: 20 mm, Horizontal
weight: 16 mm, Diagonal weight: 19 mm/
The second p helps understand the optical spacing
between forms based on the Hn space.

X height: 71.5 mm plus 28.5 mm descender,
Width: 75 mm, Vertical weight: 21 mm, Horizontal
weight: 16 mm, Diagonal weight: 19.5 mm/
The second y helps understand the optical spacing
between forms based on the Hn space.

Hnnomaiply composition
optically centered to understand
letter spacing brightness
based on the H and n counterform.

Hnnomaiply composition optically centered to understand letter spacing brightness based on the H and n counterform.

Hnnomaiply composition
optically centered to understand letter spacing brightness based on the H and n counterform.

olympian composition optically centered to
understand kerning between more complex combinations
of verticals, curves, and diagonals.

olympian Composition optically centered to
understand kerning between more complex combinations
of verticals, curves, and diagonals.

Lowercase letterform paragraph to understand complex
problems such as optically proportional letter spacing and leading,
line length, an active rag rhythm, and margin brightness.