The Brief.
Design a typeface for a full alphabet and glyphs (a to z, !, ?, @, £,:,.) that represents the personality/ character of your partner. You will discover their personality/ character through a series set of questions.
Using your new found appreciation of the anatomy of typographic forms and the wealth of reseach that you have already gathered, focus on the manipulation of existing letter forms in order to solve this problem.
Background/ Considerations.
EXPERIMENT with a range of possible line qualities, marks, colour and paper types. How will colour help the communication? What papers can you work with? Do you need to draw, copy, photograph, collage, trace or combine processes?
Your final resolutions should read as convincing, well crafted and clearly presented typographic forms.
Mandatory requirements and Deliverables.
The typeface you create must be based upon an existing typeface that you will manipulate, produced in only black ink. Type must be laid out in given format, ( Grid 4x8).
Each resolved letterform should be supported by a broad range of visual investigation in the form of design sheets and note books, which is documented on your blog.
Letterforms must be presented on A1 true grain poster with a name badge for your partner (45mm x 90mm).
Response.
Questions and Research.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR? white.
WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST MEMORY? play outside in the sun, in the garden with her sister.
WHICH LIVING DESIGNER DO YOU MOST ADMIRE AND WHY? seb lester. because his pieces are beautiful, alongside his quotes and interviews.
WHAT IS YOUR MOST TREASURED POSSESION? pandora bracelet.
WHAT WOULD YOUR SUPERPOWER BE? paranormal senses.
WHICH PIECE OF GRAPHIC DESIGN DO YOU WISH YOU HAD CREATED? apple logo.
WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN THE FILM OF YOUR LIFE? cameron diaz.
WHO WOULD YOU INVITE TO YOUR DREAM DINNER PARTY? batman.
WHAT MAKES YOU UNHAPPY? running out of money and no sleep.
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR FANCY DRESS COSTUME OF CHOICE? a queen or a princess.
WHICH WORDS/ PHRASES DO YOU MOST OVERUSE? erm and like.
____________________________________
After we answered eachothers questions, I found I wasn’t satified with the amount of information I had to build upon, and so I continued to ask questions to gain new intelligence of Amy’s character and personality.
I started first with design based questions exploring dimentions of both typography and graphic design. From these I learnt that Amy’s favourite style of design is didgital collage, this followed by her like for softer and more fluid forms, ones without harsh lines and angles. Already knowing that Seb lester is one of her favourite designers I then asked her, what is your favourite type designer? to which she answered Siscott.
Second Image:
http://typefornow.co.uk/category/typography/editorial/page/3/
From looking at Siscott’s work, a couple of examples pictured above, I fell in love with his handcrafted illustrations, I could see why Amy liked them so much, and so from this point on I decided that I would create a type in an illustrative format. Although in our discussion Amy classified that she was quite shy, I couldn’t tell this from first impression. To compormise this idea I have chosen to create the typeface solely lower case to exude her averse personaily. However to also encompass my first impression, I have chosen a font to build upon that subsumes sensitivity with its soft curves, yet shows a sense of dominance through its constant change between this state in a heavy weight and the use of slighter serif arms, terminals, apex’ , and crossbars. Thus being the font I have chosen is called ‘Halvar’ from http://www.dafont.com/halvar.font pictured below.
When I spoke to Amy she revealed that if she could have a super power it would be to gain paranormal senses. I have taken inspiration from different sources in order to create a letter that would illustrate this approach. The first time I pictured the letter 'h' (the letter I had chosen for this hypothesis) with illustrations , I imagined a stereotypical haunted house piercing through the outline of the shoulder. Following this I traced the 'h' from halvar and layered it on layout paper with a haunted house image (http://www.cartoonfactory.com/free-stuff/cartoons/holidays/halloween/haunted-houses/content/haunted-house007_large.asp) placed under the body. I then began to consider what detail I could add in order to bring the stem into the illustrative format. Reading through a book I had borrowed from the Leeds college of art library (Playful type, gestalten) I came across an illustration of a tree ( page 54, designer: Sarah King) I found that its organic texture would look great in pen, thus I incorporated it into my design. I have also experimented with darker pencil marking here to evoke a darker sense. However I feel the black is too shocking in colour and not truly reflective of Amy's character. As I carry on with illustration I will use a higher ratio of white as this is Amy's favorite colour.
After being advised to choose one idea from the group crit, I decided to make progress with one of the first Ideas I had come up with, the 'a' character. Looking at the starting point of my final idea I decided that I should do some more research in order to gain a more visually authentic typeface. As the concept was based upon hair intertwining with letters, I began to look into how hair appears and how It behaves.
The three main characteristic traits I focused on are;
1. How hair moves in wind.
2. How hair moves in water.
3. How hair wraps around objects.
Response.
Questions and Research.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR? white.
WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST MEMORY? play outside in the sun, in the garden with her sister.
WHICH LIVING DESIGNER DO YOU MOST ADMIRE AND WHY? seb lester. because his pieces are beautiful, alongside his quotes and interviews.
WHAT IS YOUR MOST TREASURED POSSESION? pandora bracelet.
WHAT WOULD YOUR SUPERPOWER BE? paranormal senses.
WHICH PIECE OF GRAPHIC DESIGN DO YOU WISH YOU HAD CREATED? apple logo.
WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN THE FILM OF YOUR LIFE? cameron diaz.
WHO WOULD YOU INVITE TO YOUR DREAM DINNER PARTY? batman.
WHAT MAKES YOU UNHAPPY? running out of money and no sleep.
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR FANCY DRESS COSTUME OF CHOICE? a queen or a princess.
WHICH WORDS/ PHRASES DO YOU MOST OVERUSE? erm and like.
____________________________________
After we answered eachothers questions, I found I wasn’t satified with the amount of information I had to build upon, and so I continued to ask questions to gain new intelligence of Amy’s character and personality.
I started first with design based questions exploring dimentions of both typography and graphic design. From these I learnt that Amy’s favourite style of design is didgital collage, this followed by her like for softer and more fluid forms, ones without harsh lines and angles. Already knowing that Seb lester is one of her favourite designers I then asked her, what is your favourite type designer? to which she answered Siscott.
First Image:
http://www.arkstudio.co.uk/blog/inspiration/si-scott/Second Image:
http://typefornow.co.uk/category/typography/editorial/page/3/
From looking at Siscott’s work, a couple of examples pictured above, I fell in love with his handcrafted illustrations, I could see why Amy liked them so much, and so from this point on I decided that I would create a type in an illustrative format. Although in our discussion Amy classified that she was quite shy, I couldn’t tell this from first impression. To compormise this idea I have chosen to create the typeface solely lower case to exude her averse personaily. However to also encompass my first impression, I have chosen a font to build upon that subsumes sensitivity with its soft curves, yet shows a sense of dominance through its constant change between this state in a heavy weight and the use of slighter serif arms, terminals, apex’ , and crossbars. Thus being the font I have chosen is called ‘Halvar’ from http://www.dafont.com/halvar.font pictured below.
______________________________
I began to take letters from the alphabet in seperate forms using each to represent one of Amy's characteristics from my research. I adapted these concepts and drove the design with direction from Sicott's illustrations.
When I spoke to Amy she revealed that if she could have a super power it would be to gain paranormal senses. I have taken inspiration from different sources in order to create a letter that would illustrate this approach. The first time I pictured the letter 'h' (the letter I had chosen for this hypothesis) with illustrations , I imagined a stereotypical haunted house piercing through the outline of the shoulder. Following this I traced the 'h' from halvar and layered it on layout paper with a haunted house image (http://www.cartoonfactory.com/free-stuff/cartoons/holidays/halloween/haunted-houses/content/haunted-house007_large.asp) placed under the body. I then began to consider what detail I could add in order to bring the stem into the illustrative format. Reading through a book I had borrowed from the Leeds college of art library (Playful type, gestalten) I came across an illustration of a tree ( page 54, designer: Sarah King) I found that its organic texture would look great in pen, thus I incorporated it into my design. I have also experimented with darker pencil marking here to evoke a darker sense. However I feel the black is too shocking in colour and not truly reflective of Amy's character. As I carry on with illustration I will use a higher ratio of white as this is Amy's favorite colour.
With these new conclusions I began to create a sequence of letters based upon Amy's personality, traits and characteristics, as well as things that I had picked up from her and first impressions. below is the letter 'a' I have designed on my first impression of Amy. The first thing when meeting her that I noticed was her statement long blonde hair. This being so, I have chosen the first letter of the alphabet to represent this immediate impression. I found a piece of work that inspired this particular design in the book 'Playful type' (gestalten) in which an illustration of wavy hair ( page 31, designer: Alina Günter) intertwines between the kerning and anatomy of each letter. Inspired by this I began to think about the way in which hair acts, how it blows in the wind, moves in water, and how it becomes caught or wrapped around certain things. With these images in my head, and the extract from playful type, I illustrated the a below.
When I asked Amy if she preferred to holiday in the beach or the city she immediately answered with the beach. Using the 'i' I began to design a beach/island inspired character. Influenced by the ideas/ visualization of a message in a bottle, I began to compose both inside and outside the letters. Inspired by a couple of outside sources for the design idea, the leaves of the palm tree (http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/trees.shtml) and the shapes of the rocks(http://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/cartoon-rocks-vector-299576).
More letters I brainstormed and designed for this project were a tiger inspired font for 't' as this is Amy's favourite animal, this letter also inspired by a piece of work in playful type (Page 12. Designer: Damien Vignaux), and a tiger print texture from (http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-441661-xdesign-tiger-background.php?st=ed38edd). I then modified the terminal of the t to replicate that of a tigers claw.
A 'z' to represent Amy's hate for lack of sleep, this is one of the things that she concluded made her unhappy. to represent this I have designed a nocturnal inspired illustration. I brainstormed what tangible properties exhibit the night time, in which I found the night sky (http://www.colourbox.com/vector/cartoon-stars-in-night-sky-vector-1717207)and owls (http://www.miketyndall.com/todd_goldman/) were most prominent. With these two images I then designed the letter adding in other details at a later point, such as the illustration of a dark forest.
following on from the theme I committed to for my 'h' letterform, I revisited the same concept but down an illustratively different path. The illustration compromises a ghost (representative of Amy's choice to take on paranormal senses) escaping through the bars of a gate. I found a cartoon Image of 6 ghosts (http://www.how-to-draw-funny-cartoons.com/cartoon-ghost.html), the sixth of which when I saw I thought would look effective escaping from the g's counter.
Continuing from these I then created my last few letterforms before attending the group crit. The next letterform I designed was an 'm' with an appearance of a money box, inspired by a clear piggy bank I had found, (http://www.drprint.co.uk/printpreview.aspx?id=111176) to demonstrate Amy's hate for not having any money. Followed by a 'v' in which I have included a drawing inspired by a photography of Venice as this is one of Amy's favourite holidays she has been on (http://www.travelblat.com/visiting-venice-for-the-first-time/). The last letter form I created before group crit wasn't particularly based on any other type of image I had seen, It was solely an illustration, which I had thought of in response to the information amy had given me. Amy had told me that her favourite type of food was italian, meals such as pasta and pizza were at the top of her list. I took the idea of pasta (spaghetti) as my starting point, and processed it in the same way I had drawn the 'a', with the pasta visually wrapping round and getting caught on the different anatomy of the letter.
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GROUP CRIT - Friday 12th October.
4 days into the brief we had a group crit where we presented our ideas to 5 other students, and two of our course tutors. It was invaluable to get more of a one on one experience with tutors as well as gather other feedback from students who were of course completing the same brief. It was interesting to see how other students had started to process the brief, all beginning their own journey in response. After presenting my ideas and refining the crucial feedback I had been given, I three things I will take away or as an outcome the three things I will do are;
1. Focus on a solid idea!
I have experimented with a lot of ideas from the information my partner Amy had provided. Focusing on Siscott inspired illustration I had tried to create a different illustration for each letter to represent each of Amy's characteristics. However after going to the crit I was advised not to over complicate things and stick to one idea, therefore one of Amy's characteristics. After most of the group favourited one particular letter form I had illustrated I decided to create a set of letters based upon this piece.
2. Always bring visuals to a crit!
Although I brought a few examples on concepts I had been working on, few people turned up to the crit with solely ideas in their head they had considered to pursue but no material to work with. Tutors and students can not give feedback without viewing any ideas on paper.
3. Experiment with fill and line.
As Amy had said her favourite colour was white I was afraid playing too much with fill may combat and override the information I had been given. However I plan to experiment more with line weight etc in order to work with not against the answers I received.
3. Experiment with fill and line.
As Amy had said her favourite colour was white I was afraid playing too much with fill may combat and override the information I had been given. However I plan to experiment more with line weight etc in order to work with not against the answers I received.
________________________________________
The three main characteristic traits I focused on are;
1. How hair moves in wind.
Image top left: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/chrisjohnbeckett/213126369/
Image top right: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markjsebastian/3303349658/
Image bottom centre: http://www.makeherup.com/2011/10/12/brave-windy-weather-head-on/
Image top right: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markjsebastian/3303349658/
Image bottom centre: http://www.makeherup.com/2011/10/12/brave-windy-weather-head-on/
2. How hair moves in water.
Image top left: http://weheartit.com/entry/31890614#
image top right: http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/1838-7115
Image bottom centre: http://vanipy05.deviantart.com/art/70-ft-hair-Underwater-175956870?
Image bottom centre: http://vanipy05.deviantart.com/art/70-ft-hair-Underwater-175956870?
First Image: http://andrewtokely.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/hair-loss/
Second Image: http://charlotelizabeth.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/babyliss-wand-hair-styler-easy-everyday.html
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After finding this selection of images I began to draw out a series of motifs that I could apply to each letter in order to create coherency. I found through my research that the motifs that came from hair moving in water and wind were similar in appearance. These particular motifs infused with the perception of wrapping hair, created a great balance with an almost ethereal visual, that presented itself calmly, which due to her shyness was a characteristic of Amy's.
I then begin to apply these motifs to two letter forms 'i' and 'k'. In the process of doing so I experimented with line quality, weight and fill of each letter. Below are experiments that include;
White letterforms with black hair strands.
White letterforms with white hair stands.
White letterforms with black and white hair strands.
White letterforms with black hair strands.
White letterforms with white hair stands.
White letterforms with black and white hair strands.
Black letterforms with white hair strands.(All with same standard outline weights.)
White letterforms with white hair strands.
(Letterform has a thicker outline to stands of hair).
White letterforms with white hair strands.
(Letterform has a thicker outline to stands of hair).
After experimenting with these fill and outline types I concluded that, the letters should have no fill due to Amy's preference to lighter colours, and being that her favourite colour is white. I did however want to create a contrast between the letterform and lengths of hair, and so I designed each of the characters to have a slightly thicker outline in order to improve legibility.
Below are images of all the letterforms and glyphs drawn out, and then traced onto a1 trace paper with the applied line weights.
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GROUP CRIT 2 - Friday 19th October.
During this crit where we viewed other peoples work as well as the typeface in which our partners had created for us, we were told what we had done well and how we could progress with our work.
Below top : My groups work at the crit.
Below middle : My typeface based on Amy at the crit.
Below bottom : Amy's typeface based on me at the crit.
Below middle : My typeface based on Amy at the crit.
Below bottom : Amy's typeface based on me at the crit.
I was told that I had taken good observations and turned them into visualisations, my first impressions of Amy being her long blonde hair and her interest of siscott represented in the fluidity of my work. However alike to most people, I was asked what my typeface would look like on a smaller scale? I had designed my name tag in a smaller scale and in pen, wanting to stick to the roots of the project. As pictured the name tag consists of silver pen on black card. When in the design stages the colour of ink was supposed to be white however I found that the white pen I had did not show up well on the black card and so I changed to silver. The use of silver however, was also interesting as I was able to play with light.
In response to this group crit I will design my font on a smaller scale.
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