On August 30, 2023, the FONT SWITCH PROJECT held a collaborative class with second and third year students from the engineering university entrance course at Osaka Prefectural Imamiya Technical High School.
Imamiya Technical High School has introduced Morisawa fonts in their PC room. In this collaborative class, "A Presentation Material Creation Course with a Font Maker," students created presentation materials introducing the "mitate" (representation) technique they are working on as an assignment. "Mitate" is the process of combining miniature figures with everyday objects to create a work that "looks like" an actual scene. We discussed font selection and layout to better convey the appeal of the work.
This report provides an overview of the course and the participants' impressions, along with comments from Ms. Yoko Shirakawa, the instructor who assisted in conducting this seminar.
As our school teaches manufacturing, I think it was a good realization for the students to learn through this lesson what kind of thought and ingenuity goes into creating even a single letter.
I hope that as they continue to read and handle letters, they will create works while thinking about what they want to communicate.
Course Overview
This class was divided into two parts and was aimed at students who are learning about manufacturing every day and are aiming to enter an engineering university.
First half: "Font creation at work"
While providing basic knowledge about fonts, we talked about the production process at Morisawa's typeface production site and the key points they pay particular attention to when creating typefaces.
Second half: "The secret to creating presentation materials"
Using sample data from presentation materials, we shared know-how that will be useful when creating materials.
What points should you focus on and how should you organize them to create materials that "communicate" effectively? We compared sample slides with the same content, but with a "Before" (disorderly placement of elements and font selection) and an "After" (focusing on important points), and explained the difference in impression.
What students have to say about the course
I have had many opportunities to use fonts, but I hadn't really paid much attention to them until now. In this class, I learned that it takes a lot of effort, including checking, to create a single font, and it was interesting to learn how valuable fonts are.
I need to give a presentation for my university entrance exam. I've been trying various things to make my presentation board, but after listening to your advice and brushing it up, my presentation board looks great. I'm glad I learned how fonts and layout can change the atmosphere.
Even with the approaches I've taken up until now, I found it really interesting that I could imagine the atmosphere of a work just by changing the font of the title.
I used PowerPoint to present my research project, and I think I could have improved the presentation board if I had taken this class a little earlier. I would like to use the techniques I learned this time to create the most effective presentation materials in my class!
A work created using Morisawa fonts after listening to the lecture
After the class, participants will be presented with some creative materials they have polished using Morisawa fonts.
Atmospheric font (Kaimin Moon) has been chosen to further convey the mysterious, dreamlike atmosphere.
Based on the satisfaction levels of the participants in the survey, it appears that the knowledge of fonts and layout was useful for the students' activities!
Thank you to everyone at Osaka Prefectural Imamiya Technical High School for the collaborative class!
Many participants were able to immediately incorporate what they learned in class into their own work, and I was very pleased to hear comments such as, "I used the class content as a reference and my presentation board looks better now," and "This is information I wish I had known sooner. I'd like to use it in my future projects!"
We hope that Morisawa fonts will continue to be useful in your creative endeavors and in communicating your ideas. Please feel free to use the fonts in the PC Room to create anything you like!
A video report from the day of class is now available on YouTube!
Follow the Morisawa FONT SWITCH PROJECT on social media to turn on everyone's font sensibilities and have even more fun with fonts!
I want to use Morisawa fonts
●Licensed products for equipment"MORISAWA PASSPORT for Educational Institutions" For detailsHere
●All fonts are available! Font products for students and faculty"MORISAWA PASSPORT Academic Edition" For detailsHere