Olivet College Art & Design (OCAD) students recently presented their latest works in a series of Type posters created in their Typography course.
A gallery exhibition was put on to showcase the students’ understanding and implementation of type classifications.
The poster project encouraged the designers to organize characters with various typefaces and to combine colors for the presentation of a message. The posters were created to show the differences between different type classifications.
Three of the six Vox Type Classifications were highlighted in this series. The assignment basically allowed students to research the various type classifications according to the Vox System and to design a poster using the same graphic elements that were used during the time the typeface was created.
While some students confessed that the process was difficult, they said they enjoyed it nonetheless.
Throughout the process, students were exposed to thousands of the different typefaces and fonts available to designers, printers, publishers, artists and writers today. After the project, students came to realize that the sheer volume of types available makes specific classification of every one nearly impossible and somewhat frivolous. But students were encouraged to see how important it is to have an understanding of the basic styles of typefaces to help narrow down the research and selection of the correct typeface.
Now, after the process, students say they have a better sense of typefaces and great hope to use them.