I don't know if graduating has really sunk in yet but if this doesn't help I don't know what will. The fact that I can just crank this out in an hour or two when 3 years ago I'd still be thinking about what to do says a lot about how I've grown as a designer. It has been an awesome journey and I really can't wait for whatever opportunity may come next.
Party With a 'Stache
A poster for a mustache party celebrating Movember at a local downtown bar, The Library Club. I referenced old circus and traveling show posters to come up with a concept for the creative. Where else would you find some burly man with a terrific 'stache? Old circus posters are a visually rich design aesthetic and the typography is fun energetic and the whole poster seems to become one big piece of artwork. Mine follows it to a point but is nowhere near as organic and beautiful as the originals.
If you didn't know, Movember is a reason to grow a mustache as well as a way to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer. If you would like to donate to my team visit http://us.movember.com/mospace/5503017. I am supposed to put a picture of my progress but I am assuming you've seen enough weed fields in your day to get the picture of my mustache.
Posters in Paris in Milwaukee
I was fortunate enough to see the exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum last week featuring artists and printmakers from the late 1800's in France. I didn't know what to expect really but I had heard of Toulouse-Letrec being one of the fathers of graphic design so my curiosity was piqued. I went with some fellow art students who were fawning over the beautiful prints and imagery but I hardly seemed to notice it. Instead, I was reading every poster.
The typography was incredible and with no excuses, thats what I paid attention to the most. You could see in all the posters and artwork the roots and foundation for every magazine cover, advertisement, or poster that would succeed them in the next century. Here are a few examples of some of what was on display, although it will never do it justice.
I found myself taking notes on how each designer/artist/printmaker, whichever you like, used certain techniques to make the text grab attention, exude elegance, and blend in harmoniously with the imagery. What made the typography so special in most was the unique crafting of each letterform. It appeared that each letter was hand painted on because no two were exactly the same, and yet if you never looked twice you would have sworn they were.
It was also exciting to find that I have been using some of the same techniques in some recent ad work. With slab serif fonts, cursive writing, and expressive hand drawn lettering in vogue, the exhibition was almost felt like it could fit into a modern day design conversation. Here are a few examples of some ads I've done with somewhat similar type treatment. Another technique that was widely used was a shadow of the text silhouetting in back along with varying strokes.
Polka Dots?!
Everything in the world it seems is turning green. Energy, cars, water bottles, and now clothing. Cardinal Stritch University has started a Green Fashion Initiative and I was chosen to brand the fledgling group, named Polka Dot.
There are obvious visual motifs with recycling and polka dots to work with. One of the challenges was to create a brand the was upbeat, fresh, and vibrant without being too cliche with recycling or polka dots. It was one of my first real branding experiences and it was eyeopening how many ideas and how much dialogue it involved to find to a solution.
The most important lesson I learned is how crucial it is to do research and analysis before getting too deep into the design process. I underestimated this step and it only caused confusion and wasted time because of misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Here were a few of the rejected concepts.
We were struggling with combining text with a logo so I created a font and wordmark that literally was made out of circles/polka dots. The counters of the o's could then become the polka dots. The brand will be carried out in other applications such as clothing tags, business cards, and promotional posters. I'm excited to watch it grow. It was a great experience for me and hey if you ever need unique upcycled fashion you know who to contact.
To learn more about this group check out an article on the school website.
Typography Poster Series
Along with another member of my school's AIGA chapter, we created a series of 10 posters highlighting common errors and misconceptions about typography. We followed a template with the theme of a ribbon flowing across the top. We wanted our content to be witty and humorous to draw the reader in and make the information more lasting. They were really fun to make and put up throughout the art building. Sadly I've never really done anything like an awareness campaign so it was new and exciting for me.
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The perfect font
Branching off of my previous post, I remembered we had gone over in our history of typography the mathematically perfect font so I did a little more research into it. Finished in 1745 for the French king, Romain du Roi was designed by the French Academy of Sciences. It was based on a grid of 2,304 squares and was created with precise mathematical analysis and consistency. It came across to some as cold, probably because of its conformity to calculations rather than appealing aesthetics. The drawing of it are very interesting and ill attach a few. They remind me of Da Vinci's "Proportional Study of Man in the Manner of Vitruvius.[gallery] "
Typographers are Mathematicians.
I have loved the typography project so far. I am in my element breaking down and dissecting every letter form. I have learned a lot and nothing more surprising than the amount of math a typeface may require. It seems math is particularly essential to "stricter typefaces" such as the roman fonts, but I am sure it can be found in all. To some extent every font has some numerical boundries. I think almost everyone was working with in a grid or some similar structure on the computer. But the consistency of angles and curves has proven to be a challenge for me in creating my font, but mastering them does wonders for unity. I believe the most mathematically intricate and challenging letters are "S" and "M." I knew "S" would be a pain because it demands perfect symmetry and precise arcs. "M" was more of a surprise to me. I didn't realize how exact the angles inside would have to be to harmonize the thick and thin strokes together and simultaneously not become too wide or too skinny. I apologize for a boring post but I commend you for reading through the whole thing. Ill look for something more interesting to make up for it.
Less is More
As I was looking at logos and company names for my initial typeface idea I was surprised by how simple some of the compositions were. Many used "boring" fonts. One of the problems I ran into was if I took the character or first letter away from the rest of the world or the visual it became meaningless. For example, the red Target logo is very recognizable. The lettering is simply red helvetica, so when I isolated the "T" it was worthless and unrecognizable. This is common in many of the major companies I was looking to use. It just shows that in the design the main objective was clarity and readability because of how much exposure it would have. I also found this sweet website that helps identify fonts from any file and they abbreviate it WTF (what the font). I thought it was clever. http://new.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/
_______________ Centered_______________
I have noticed a tendency in my own work. That is, to make my titles and other text centered. It's the default in my brain and its obvious in my music poster design. I struggle breaking away from that but i have a bit in the changes I made to my poster. When I made the "A" in battle really big it automatically "de-centered" the word adrenaline. Consequently I had to move my quote and quote author to fit accordingly and I think the composition is a lot stronger than it would be centered. I think centering things is a great way to keep balance but, for me at least, its good to break away from that sometimes and create an interesting composition with other tools.
Type on the web
I found it coincidental that in my web design class there is a whole chapter on typography. The teacher spent a class lecturing on the importance of it. It is a curious topic, especially with all the predictions that newspaper and print will all be digital at some point, a sad thought that I hope never comes true. I was thinking about how that on the computer there are just that many more variables to consider when choosing fonts. Just like design consistency helps for an overall unity of a page of work. It seems san serif fonts are used more liberally for text, however when readability is the main objective, online newpapers for instance, serif fonts are still considered optimal. You have to choose fonts that are portable, or can be seen in multiple browsers. All of the these create new challenges and will probably have an impact on the fonts created in the future to better utilize technology and outlets.
Gotta Be Careful!
I found a "to-be" mainstream story involving Chad Ochocinco, a Cincinnati Bengals player, to be relevant to our discussion about editors and mistakes within a project or work that might be hard to catch. In this case it has created a soap opera proportioned disaster. Chad has released his own product, OchocincO’s Cereal. A number on the box was given to call a charity Feed the Children. Instead, the incorrect number directed callers to a sex line where a few young children heard some things they weren't supposed to. I thought it was a good reminder again of how careful you have to be about every aspect of your design and creation. There is nothing wrong with being a perfectionist. Its a good quality to have and one that will keep you out of trouble.
Dude!
I found the article we had to read called "The Dude Typography" to be absolutely hilarious. I loved the "remarkable poetry" of "chromoplastitudes & chloroplastidesems/ Boltesmanaz and Crossmannerism. Hifalutin codfish nabobs." Really? Poetry? I was trying to figure out which language was being used. Apparently it is English. Hifalutin is pretentious and a nabob is a wealthy or influential person. Its amazing how words fall out of use and become almost ancient to our modern culture. And its maybe more incredible how a word such as "dude" has endured since the 1880's! It is still a common phrase used by everyone and it just shows the power of a word to last cultures, revolutions, generations, and centuries.
Text As History
I have found it extremely interesting how text has followed, been created, and even shaped history. It seems whoever was in control of the empire of the day imposed their culture, ideas, and, in expressing that, their own fonts and text. As an idea for a final project i could think of something that would represent the dominant culture in america. It would be easily applicable and understandable but it would become synonymous with american culture
Second thoughts on a type revival
While I commented on possibly wanting to create my own type revival as a final project and I still think it's a challenging idea, I didn't realize how difficult it might be. I read Zuzana Licko's article "Mrs. Eaves" in Texts on Type and it became more apparent the amount of research that would be needed to embark on a project like this. Licko had to know every critique of Baskerville's work and understand what were the issues and strengths of the font. Another idea i got from this article is how technology has shaped the creation of new typefaces. Baskerville began using new "ultra-smooth and brilliant white papers, as well as intensely black printing ink." I think new technology is a great way to create new font ideas or styles as well as a good tool for creating a type revival.
Thoughts on "Modern Style With a Human Face
In this article, the idea of "modern types" is discussed. The typefaces are not modern as in new and innovative. Its a relative title to the "old style" roman types. Reading the article i found myself smiling at how long it took to describe the Kepler font. John Berry describes it with almost a reverence for its design and ability as a font. He pointed out things I would never have seen, or thought of for that matter. For instance, the "full set of swash italics and simplified upper serifs on some letters." But Berry also speaks well when he says that the design should not impede the message of the author. It's sole function is legibility. I think it would be a challenge as a creative designer to sacrifice some creativity for functionality. Something to keep in mind for the final project.
Type Revivals
After reading Jerry Kelly's article on the Garamond type style, i personally feel that looking back and reviving old type styles is an excellant source of inspiration and design. I had never examined serif or roman fonts too closely. I have always thought them boring and everyone who has used Microsoft Word their whole computer career has had Times New Roman shoved down their throat. However, the zoomed in images of the letter forms in the book have given me a new perspective that is easily missed in a word document. They are all carefully crafted designs; which is something i had never stopped to observe. The letters on pg. 57 of Adobe Garamond have a delicate feel but are nowhere near fragile. I especially like Garamond's roman type on pg. 60. It is elegant with flowing serifs in the "e" and "t." The enunciated ascenders and descenders also add to the style. I wonder how legible this typeface would be in a smaller size but i think it would work especially well for titles with the commanding capital letters. I dont know why but my interest in ancient roman typefaces has been piqued. I find the letter forms most interesting and as I trace them I wonder why the architect did this or what was their thought process here. I think it would be a good challenge to revive an old typeface for the final project. I'm sure almost every possible revival has been attempted or mastered but it might be a fun idea.
Glyphs
Im still trying to decide what a well designed glyph should look like. I've been looking at Japanese characters and Egyptian glyphs as my main source of reference even though their style is not necessarily reflected in my early sketches. I am concentrating more on the idea each symbol is conveying. In some instances, i can see the meaning within the design. I tried uploading a picture showing some of them and I hope it worded. All the characters here represent some idea or concept. One i liked was trust. It is such an abstract idea however in the glyph every little stroke and form is its own distinct shape. However they are all arrayed together and standing upright as a whole. You can almost read trust in the negative space. Ideas such as the soul and dreams are much more complex and this is translated into incredibly complex glyphs. I want to carry this concept over into my sketches. Hopefully it will help with creating a clearer message.
