Teaching Typographic Design
Autumn 2024 – Present
This course was a practice in user experience and storytelling, as I crafted the curriculum to introduce students with little to no prior type experience to the complicated world of typography.
Course Development
Curation and structuring for a refreshed type course grounded in research and experimentation.
- Building off of past courses, I knew the curriculum would need to evolve as the semester progressed. I planned for the students to work from the letter, to the word, to the sentence, to the paragraph.
- With the structure in mind I could begin filling in the blanks with projects that allowed them to experiment with and apply information learned during course lectures. This course would be all about thinking, seeing, and doing.
- Pulling from other courses I had worked with, I also filled in a schedule of lectures for the course. These would cover everything from type anatomy, to history to the more technical aspects of grids.
Project 1: Letter
Borrowed from Jarrett Fuller, North Carolina State University
Designing the 27th letter of the alphabet.
Project 1 begins with the letter, encouraging students to dive deep into the anatomy of letterforms and how they’re used in typeface design.
Students choose a sound not included in the A–Z alphabet (such as sh-, ch-, oo) and create a new letter for that sound.
They are encouraged to consider how many strokes their character has, why the originating letters are shaped the way they are, and how to convey sound through that letterform.
Once they decide on a form, they must design a digital version of that character to match an existing typeface (Times New Roman, Garamond, Futura, or Helvetica). This brings them into Illustrator, where they experiment with pulling letters apart and blending them back together to create their new form.
Methods
I employed a variety of methods throughout this project, all of which are shown to the right.
For the sake of brevity, not all will be included on this page. The entire document can be found here.
Conceptual Framework
This is the framework I created, which centers on the main pillars of my investigation: discovery, personalization, and engagement.
Attached are theories related to
- Visitor engagement
- Information literacy
- Informal learning elements
- Learning contexts
Users have the ability to move between the three categories depending on their level of engagement, which I facilitate through the design.
Visual Language
The visual language of this interface was very important to me. I wanted the system to not only function well, but be visually appealing.
My final design takes inspiration from physical record keeping systems like loan cards and folders. I merged physical card design with the desktop metaphor that users are familiar with. The cards can be layered like real ones, but are also interactive and expandable.
Investigations
Each of the following investigations is based on a subquestion.
The images to the right provide some context to the overall design.
SQ1: Discovery
Designing a workspace to encourage users to make connections between library resources and lead to discovery.
Getting Started: Logging into the kiosk for the first time and being greeted as a new user.
Placing a Collection Tile: Initiating discovery through placement of a Collection Tile.
Learning Interactions: Teaching new users how the main interaction of dragging cards works.
Checking Out: Wrapping up a session of discovery at the kiosk and checking out.
SQ2: Personalization
Evolving resources provided by the system to meet the user’s needs and provide a personalized experience.
Personalized Homepage: Returning to the kiosk and receiving a personalized homepage.
‘For You’ Cards: Personalizing the search results based on Collection Tiles and user attributes.
Contact Forms: Contacting an expert for help from the kiosk.
SQ3: Engagement
Making use of existing resources to engage users in activities to help them dive deeper into topics and collections.
‘Discover’ Prompt: Returning to the kiosk after a period of disengagement from library resources.
Subject Prompting: Choosing a subject for the activity and resource discovery.
Questionnaire Results: Suggesting topics based on the users’ answers to the questionnaire.
Activity Content: Learning more about a chosen subject area through an activity.
Activity Resources: Connecting ‘Discover’ activities to library resources for continued engagement.
SQ4: Multimodality
Sharing information with users remotely and encouraging continued discovery outside of the library.
Mobile Discovery: Logging into the Collections Kiosk companion app.
Users can manage loans, check messages, and browse saved content. The app encourages users to continue discovering, for example presenting content they might be interested in after they extend the loan on a book.
Outcomes
Key takeaways from the investigations.SQ1: Discovery
- Showcasing connections between items on Collection Tiles and library resources helps connect users to more resources they might not have known about otherwise and leads to further inquiry.
SQ2: Personalization
- Personalized content adapts to user needs and interests, giving users ownership over their content and instilling value in the information they receive from the system.
SQ3: Engagement
- Engaging users in activities that broaden their interest areas reveals the capabilities of library resources, encouraging users to create their own content and investigate with intention.
SQ4: Multimodality
- Remote access to kiosk information enables investigation of saved content and management of loans leading to continuous discovery and engagement outside of the library.