Helvetica: Type History Print
January 2020
Proposal
For this project, I was tasked with researching the history of the typeface Helvetica, along with its creation and development.
After writing a piece on Helvetica’s history, I used the copy to create a print piece that showcased its beauty.
Sketches
Prior to diving into the design, I broke out my sketchbook and drew out a couple of different variations of what I thought I would want my spread to look like. Though I did not use one of these sketches, they allowed me to get my ideas out on paper and start to brainstorm possible layouts.
Though most of my projects begin in a quick sketching session, I don’t always fall back on the designs that I scribbled onto that page. Sometimes I use the sketching process solely to generate the flow of ideas and learn what direction I want the final design to go in.
Compositions
Just as I sketched out multiple layouts, I designed a few different compositions to generate a more high-fidelity flow of ideas. After creating each composition, I presented them to my peers to get feedback and critiques. For this project, the feedback was overwhelmingly in favor of my third design.
Final Design
After some refinement of my composition based on feedback, I finalized my design.
This spread is one of my favorite print designs that I have done to date. Though the gradient of colors in the text on the left page is simple, I think it does a lot of speaking for the design and is definitely an attention grabber. I’m extremely happy with how the final product turned out!