Investigating the significance of typeface selection and typography as a visual communication tool in graphic design through pupillary response: A situation-based approach / Woo Siew Leing@ Sabrina

A thesis submitted to the Universiti Teknologi Brunei in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master by Research in Creative Computing.

Abstract

Typography is the display of graphic design language through typefaces. It is the only component in graphic design that displays the language of graphic design. When typefaces are selected properly to communicate visually, typography is believed to be able to display the message and elicit the emotions intended in graphic design. Today, there exists so many typefaces. Furthermore, the advance in technology has brought about great conveniences in creating creative content that has caused a significant rise in lay designers whom lack design knowledge and skills. This creates a wonder of how typefaces should be selected and how relatable are they towards the audiences,

From previous researches, it is known that designers based their selection on personal perception. However, personal perception differs individually and it is also found that the appropriateness of typeface selection is highly noticeable by audiences. Through this research, it aims to understand how designers select typefaces today and investigate the significance of typography and typeface selection as visual communication tool. Using a situation-based approach, the research carries the objective to explore the matter by investigating emotional reaction via pupillary response and understand the relatability of typography from audiences.

The research undergoes 3 phases to investigate the title. The first phase is a data gathering stage that plans how major phases 2 and 3 should be carried out. Phase 2 is a preliminary investigation functioned to understand how designers select typefaces and phase 3 is a quasi-experiment functioned to explore the results of phase 2 in audiences. Results gathered discovers the process of how typefaces are selected and should aid in the selection of typefaces in the future. The research is able to provide a guideline in selecting typefaces for situations such as happiness, sadness, fearfulness and seriousness with significant factors found in typeface design aspects and typeface group. It is understood that through visualization of portrayal, proper understanding of context and taking note of emphasis in displaying typography, the audiences are able successfully relate to the typefaces selected by the designers although their choices are based on personal perception. Pupillary response gathered show significant reaction. The overall results of this research are able to strengthen and prove that typography should not be taken lightly and is a crucial visual communication tool.