Flash and Typography
Bring motion to your letterforms
To capture your target audience, you sometimes need to create motion on your page. You can add interest with animated graphics, of course, but don't forget that type can move, too. And Adobe Flash is probably the most effective and the most widely used tool for adding movement.
This course teaches you how to turn type into high quality motion graphics, adding visual excitement to your pages. A good design sense, a feeling for type and a knowledge of Flash can make all this easier. In this course, a series of type projects will give you the opportunity to build your portfolio with creative visual communications.
Tuition: $450 US
Course Instructor(s):
Requirements:
- Computer with Internet connection (56 Kbps modem or faster).
- Adobe Flash CS4 or CS5.
- Basic experience in the software package needed for this course.
Prerequisites:
Course Objectives:
- Create interesting text compositions in Flash using an understanding of letterform anatomy and basic type animation principles.
- Compensate for the low resolution of Web text and capitalize on its flexibility and interactive qualities.
- Create an animation that illustrates the properties of letterforms, and apply frame animations and shape tweens.
- Apply the type encapsulation technique to streamline text animation work and extend the range of properties that can be displayed.
- Create an attractive, animated text logo that contains tweens and encapsulated letters.
- Prepare expressive type designs based on the personality of a typeface and using letter spacing techniques.
- Plan an animated type design and present it with a Flash-based motion blueprint, considering aspects of typography movement.
- Develop a polished Flash animation that is focused on typography and employs a range of type, motion, and management techniques.
Course Outline
LESSON 1 Bringing Letters to Life
In the first lesson, we talk about letterforms and the value of adding motion to static type. You'll learn how the principles of typography apply to Flash, and you'll gain a deeper understanding of the anatomy of letterforms. Exciting possibilities for animated text are explored, and in the exercise you'll create some of your own using movement and morphing.
LESSON 2 Beyond the Frames
The object of motion graphics that include letterforms or typography is to create or release controlled visual energy—motion which communicates an effective message. We explore a case study which combines several letters to create an animated logo. We'll look at controlled energy as well as abstraction in typography and how top Flash sites employ it. A Flash encapsulation technique that is essential to animated type is explored, and you'll create a fully animated, type-based logo in the exercise.
LESSON 3 Frames of Mind
How do type characteristics affect mood? In this lesson, we discuss using elements such as font, size, weight, color, and spacing to put the viewer into a desired frame of mind. Your final project challenges you to plan and develop a complex animated identity with the goal of a portfolio-quality piece.
A Flash type presentation created by student Anna Wong
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