The site is located right on Massachusetts Ave. and sits between Harvard Square and Davis Square. The station serves several transportation systems; Red Line subway, the Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line, and multiple bus routes.

One of the most interesting parts of Porter Square Station is how deep the Red Line Subway sits below ground level. Users have to travel 105 ft. (32 m) on two large sets of escalators to reach the platform. In order for me to really start thinking through the design, I built a model of the existing site so that I could see how the different systems overlap each other and put together these diagrams to help explain.

The station that is currently there was redesigned in 1984 by Cambridge Seven Associates, a well respected architecture office here in Boston. Given what I am sure were tight and constraining parameters such as cost and strict code and MBTA guidelines, the station design still had very interesting and aggressive geometric moves. One of the advantages for me when setting up these imaginary projects on my site is that I get to ignore some of these constraints as I explore the formal and spacial ideas in my head and see what illustrations are generated. I will be designing the new station over the couple of weeks, so stay tuned.

If you read my first post, you understand that Alex and I chose to start his Portfolio design process by selecting fonts. Anytime I begin any kind of design project I always start with type. Others may tell you they start with a grid, color palette, forms, and shapes, but for me, it all begins with type. Whether I’m starting a large scale environmental design project or visual identity and logo, I always start with type. That’s because type allows me to determine what kind of visual voice to give a project. For me finding that voice is the foundation for any visual design endeavor.

01. Precedents

The first step in determining what kind of font to use is to look at your project and see what other projects are out there that have the same qualities as yours. See what they’re doing and make a determination whether or not you want that same look or feel, or whether you want to be completely different. A great resource I use is Fonts In Use. This resource allows you to see real-world applications of who’s using what fonts and how they’re being applied.
Fonts In Use is also a great resource to discover new typefaces to add to your now ever-expanding library.

Another great resource for conducting precedent research is Typewolf. Just like with Fonts in Use, Typewolf posts contemporary projects from around the web and highlights the typeface’s featured in each project. The feature that I enjoy the most from Typewolf is their guides and resources section. Although you have to pay for some of them, they are some of the most help type guides on the internet.

Finally, the most helpful resource for me, believe it or not, is Pinterest. It’s honestly a great resource for zeroing in on specific project typologies that might be harder to find on a google image search. It, of course, makes it easier to develop a mood board to really determine how you see your project shaping up.

02. Terminology

Let’s talk about some basic terminology.

Serif vs San Serif

Simply put, a serif is a font that has a small line/stroke that finishes off a larger stroke. A sans serif is a font that doesn’t have any of those small strokes or serifs.

Tracking

Tracking or letter-spacing is the uniform spacing between all the letters and characters in a given word or sentence. Tracking often gets confused with kerning, which is the individual spacing between two letters or characters. Be careful when designing to not track your letters too closely or too far apart. This can lead to major legibility issues.

Leading

Leading or line spacing is the distance between two lines of type. It’s very important to pay attention to the leading when you start to deal with type in uppercase vs sentence case. When your type is in uppercase you can start to adjust your leading to be a lot tighter because your not dealing with varying heights within the typeface. However, when dealing with sentence case be careful that your type doesn’t get too close or too far apart. When lines of type start to collide it can make it very tough for your eye to follow along.

03. Do’s and Don’ts

Let me just mention these are just suggestions, there’s no wrong or right answer here. These are just some simple do’s and don’ts that can help guide you when you’re putting together your own spreads and portfolios.

Do Keep It Simple

The best piece of advice I can offer is to keep it simple. When putting together a spread try to keep your use of different typefaces to a minimum. I would suggest using 1-3 typefaces max on a spread. If you can, just use one typeface that has a number of different weights. This way your spread will feel more cohesive. Using too many typefaces can become chaotic quickly, especially when you start to factor in your imagery and color usage.

Do Stay Consistent Throughout The Document

Another tip is to determine different weights and sizes early in your design and then replicate that throughout your other spreads. Start with one spread. Figure out what the most important information is. Maybe it’s a heading or some kind of call out making reference to an image. Give it the biggest presence on the page whether that’s size or weight. Secondly, determine your secondary information. Is it a subheading or is it body copy? Give that a substantial size difference from your primary information. Lastly, if you have captions or any type of tertiary text make sure to make it the smallest size on the page so that it doesn’t start to compete with the rest of the spread.

Do Not Stack Vertically

In general here are some things I would stay away from when you start putting a project together. Stacking text vertically. Seriously, don’t do it.  It’s always tough to read especially in a book format. You’re asking the reader to put in more work to understand what it is your trying to convey.

Do Not Use Script Typefaces

Definitely stay away from script and handwritten typefaces unless a project really calls for them. If the project does call for it write it out yourself and scan it in. Typically these kinds of typefaces come across as forced and inauthentic. When in many cases your use of script text is meant to come across with a high sense of authenticity.

04. Other Resources

Type Foundries

In our previous post, we spent a lot of time talking about free font resources like Google Fonts and Adobe Fonts. This time around I wanted to highlight some of my favorite type foundries that produce really great typefaces. I would suggest checking out the following;  Grilli Type, Commercial Type, Klim Type Foundry, Colophon Foundry, Dalton Maag and Village. These are the type foundries I go back to time and time again.

Print Publications

There are of course really good print publications on typography as well. I would recommend Design School: Type: A Practical Guide for Students and Designers, Thinking with Type and Type on Screen. Lastly, if you’re really looking to nerd out on typefaces I would suggest taking a look at The Visual History of Type, and Basic Typography: Design With Letters.

Portfolio Volume 05: Typography Part 1

By Matt Uminski

Today’s post is about typography, and specifically type that will be used in the upcoming Portfolio Volume 05. The topic of typography is broad and can get overwhelming fast. However, if used correctly, can significantly enhance the narrative of a design. The fonts below cover a broad spectrum of situations and uses in the architectural industry and are meant to give you a solid foundation to start from. 

The first recommendation I typically give to designers in the search for a typeface is to use an online font library like Google Fonts or Adobe Fonts (previously Typekit). These online libraries allow designers to test, download, and use any number of typefaces. Unlike other online libraries, Google and Adobe fonts are all licenced and FREE to use. The only major difference between each of these libraries is that in order to install Google Fonts you need to download and install them on either your Mac or PC. Adobe Fonts, however, is a cloud based system, so no installation is necessary. All you need is an Adobe CC licence and you’re ready to go. For Portfolio Volume 05, we are going to limit ourselves to only use Adobe Fonts.

Below is a breakdown of some of the typefaces that will be considered for Portfolio Volume 05.

01. Underlying Typeface

If you plan on having more than three typefaces in a project (which we are) the first step is to pick an underlying typeface. The underlying typeface runs through the entire book or project and pulls it all together. Main or orienting copy like page titles, body copy and page numbers should all share the same typeface.

Aktiv Grotesk

For Portfolio Volume 05, I suggest Aktiv Grotesk as the underlying typeface. It’s an extremely legible grotesque sans serif that has a wide range of weights and styles. I personally use this typeface for a variety of applications. It’s a great complementary typeface to have available.

02. Research Lab

Rather than focus on the architecture here, the typefaces chosen are meant to evoke a conceptual take of what a laboratory space is: a place for exploration. These typefaces are meant to be techy. They relate to computer screens both classic and contemporary.

Titling Gothic

My first suggestion is Titling Gothic Wide Standard, a wide grotesque sans serif. Use this typeface to mimic the motion messaging that appears on a digital display like a ticker board. The lingering width of the Titling Gothic gives the illusion that the copy is moving across the screen or page.

Tephra

My second choice would be Tephra 0 Regular. Tephra is a purely decorative display font that should only be used to indicate a small amount of information. Whether that’s a brief, bold statement or just a few numbers. This isn’t a font to use at a small pt size. It’s far too illegible to be used as body copy or captions.

IBM Plex Mono

Lastly, I offer IBM Plex Mono. If you’re talking about anything technology or code related, I recommend finding a mono that works for your project. IBM Plex is a great contemporary interpretation of a classic mono typeface. Briefly, monospaced fonts were used in early computers, due to lacking graphic capabilities. The goal was to create a typeface in which all characters had the same width rather than proportional spacing like many fonts have.

03. Philly Bridge Fonts

How do you pick fonts for a bridge? I look to signage. Typically traffic signage typefaces are bold and legible to help viewers quickly find their way. As a designer this is the perfect opportunity rethink an existing type application and conceptually work it into your project.

Interstate

The first typeface I suggest is Interstate. This is the same sans serif used on the Federal Highway Administration official signage. Interstate has a lot of subtle characteristics that differentiate it from other sans serifs. For instance the terminals (endings) of the lowercase characters are all angled at 90° from the stroke (the main diagonal of a letter.) For example take a look at the lowercase t and l. These little details allow for increased legibility at all scales.

Trade Gothic

A complementary typeface to interstate is something tall, condensed, and bold like Trade Gothic Next LT Pro Bold Compressed. A sans serif I would use in order to reflect bold, impactful messaging on a sign or poster.

04. Desert House

The Desert House is, again, a perfect opportunity to let architecture influence type. The house’s bold form and sharp angles can start to be reflected within the typography.  

Freight Micro

Using the sharp angles of the house, I searched for a serif that had bold, sharp terminal endings. Enter Freight Micro Pro Light & Italic. A serif that strikes the perfect balance between being both harsh and soft. However, the italic allows it to become extremely angular and reflective just like the architecture. This is a great way to use one typeface but end up with two different visual representations.

Rigid Square

I also wanted to find a sans serif with the same angular qualities as the architecture and the Freight typeface. Rigid Square Light is a complementary sans serif that has an extremely angular expression on its characters compared to other sans serifs.  It will be most effective in larger type applications within the spreads.

05. Mountain Hotel

The Mountain Hotel is another great opportunity to use the architecture to our advantage. The project is extremely vertical so it makes the most sense to use a typeface that emphasizes verticality. Also it’s an opportunity to use the mystique that comes with a hotel. Many hotels are associated with a certain sense of luxury and timelessness which can easily be translated into a typeface.

Condor

Take for example Condor Compressed Medium. A high contrast sans-serif that when used in a compressed style makes the typeface appear taller than a traditionally compressed sans-serif like Trade Gothic that we’re using in the Philly Bridge section. I suggest using this typeface to display large headline text rather than smaller body copy.

Miller

In order to achieve the sense of luxury and timelessness, use a modern serif like Miller Display Light. This typeface is typically used in magazines and newspapers because it has a classic elegance and legibility associated with it. Typically serifs are associated with characteristics of being traditional, respectful and legible. Whereas sans serifs are clean, modern and objective.