Typographic

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Here are some in progress screenshots from the neon typeface I’m making. Still need to adjust a lot of the curves, especially in the neon tubing. So far so good though, it’s coming together nicely. The colors are representing each layer of the typeface that can be modified individually. The little pegs around the tube I’m playing with, not sure if I want to keep them or not. I just feel like it gives a little more dimensionality to the letterform.

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A little late, I know..However, for the week I’m focusing on the display face we worked on in class. Of the letters that I created off of the neon sign, I like my “G” the best. What I propose to do, is have an 8 layer typeface, so there is a versatility in choosing the colors of every portion of the letterform, to create the most depth and realistic qualities. I might later cut out the “Main Box” and “Detail” layers, if they become unnecessary, but we’ll see. The “Tube Lights” layer will be the topmost layer, and in illustrator, I figure the user can add an outer glow, to create the fluorescent effect. I’m excited to work with this in the computer, next week I will scan in my studies and start to work on the display face.

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So, I couldn’t find many of my books that had interesting uses of Chapter titles or good treatment of body texts. I decided to take a look at tables of contents, especially those styles who have changed over the years. The first is Lewis Carrols, Alices Adventures in Wonderland. It’s an older version, and you can tell that the text is very basic. No special treatments or anything. The next one is a more recent version of J.M. Barrie’s, Peter Pan. You can easily see that it’s meant to reflect the older fashion, as seen in the previous one, but adds little flairs of new. Third we have The Dictator’s Handbook, newer, but more thought has been put into the layout and added graphics. There is shifting alignments and use of other elements. Fourth is from Men In This Town, and the contents are names of towns, clearly. I chose this one because it is a very contemporary and clean layout. Wide open space with small real estate given to the titles. Clean, simple, and very effective for the overall feel of this picturesque book. Lastly I have some shots from Amy Poehlers, Yes Please. One, because it is an amazing book by an amazing person and I love her. But the treatments to the text are really set apart from what you usually see. We have added colors and variant sizing, spacing, etc. Chapter pages are blown up and emphasized with added images. The back cover is not often seen, but great nonetheless.

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So, I’m not following the theme for the week, I know. I don’t stay on campus for very long and I forgot. However, I went to the movies tonight and took some type based photos from some movie posters! What I like about most of these is that they are letterforms and fonts created specifically for these movies. Suicide Squad goes along with the theme of the movie and pairs well with its trailers. Finding Dory, the adaptation to the original Finding Nemo header, is very recognizable as far as what movie you’re seeing, and the characters. I liked the look of “The Girl on the Train”, a sense of duplicity and movement follows the text. Auditorium sign because I was running out of things to take pictures of, but its unique...in its own way? Alice, I’ve never been a fan of this typeface, but I suppose it fits the wacky world of wonderland.

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I know...book covers, again? I was out of ideas. Anyway, I chose some book covers at the store that I felt were awful, for many reasons. The first was probably the most normal, however, I felt that it’s very poorly composed, as if they literally just “wrote something down” and “made it...happen” unfortunately. The spacing is very even and creating an un-engaging cover. The next two don’t need much explanation, one has a very Netflix “Archer” font, and the other is horrifying both in type composition and concept. The fourth is a very  poorly handwritten title, which does not work for a book cover, I actually like the font at the top right, but it’s ruined by this engulfing scribble. Lastly, the terror of a “6 in 1″ font cover. Type crime of a text warp. Speaks for itself.

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The first image, I’m not really a fan of the six column layout, as seen from Maxim magazine. I feel it breaks up the text too much, and makes it more difficult to ready fluidly. The next two are layouts that I really like, stark colors that separate blocks of information or text. Theres a nice sense of continuous readability in these layouts. The fourth image I can not tell if I like it or not. I feel like it’s interesting, and fits the genre of Juxtapoz magazine, but it’s very wild. Lastly, interviews from Juxtapoz are separated between questions in grey and answers in black, which I love. Sets it apart from the traditional Q&A. I’ve definitely used this technique in some of my work.

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All books thanks to Barnes and Noble. Definitely had a hard time choosing books for type based designs rather than Image or integral designs, but I’m really feeling these ones here for both. Love the integration of the first and last images with the imagery that is paired with the text. Some beautiful hand lettering and a favorite of mine, is the cover for The Martian, which I think looks amazing.

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I’ve got a mix of different categories here, but that’s what happens when you forget to do tumblr posts before Friday. The first one i’ve been waiting to post for weeks because I’ve been so in awe of it. A friend of mine’s grandmother had hired someone to hand write this letter, and it’s absolutely stunning. The second I was a small portion of a project I did last semester, by hand. Third is a Tegan and Sara poster I’ve had for years, by Jim Tierny, but always admired the hand letter-esque style. The middle portion of the with “and” is my favorite with all the embellishments. Fourth I have my “Stussy” sweatshirt I wore to class yesterday, when I threw it on my bed, it folded and created this really cool looking ligature. Lastly I have a recipe from my gran’s cook book. Always admired her handwriting. Also, she’s a great cook so feel free to try out those cookies.

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One lottery ticket and four printed shirt labels that have been washed many times. The lottery ticket I distressed myself but I’m sure there are many lying around on the streets somewhere. There were some instances with my shirts where the type was’t even legible, so I left those out. These still show a good sense of wear.

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Found a type crime in my friends’ office. Shame on you...

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I’m not sure if these count for “the fine print” but these prints are pretty fine. I was trying to find the smallest of point sizes among the things in my drawers. The one that looks like a bunch of white noise was on the back of a document I had received and I later noticed that it’s actually made up of completely numbers, which I thought was kind of cool. The cassette tape I was pretty excited to find because I haven’t seen it in forever, hottest tracks for kids of the 90′s.

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This week is packaging, so I’ve picked out a few labels I’f found to be successful for their respective products. Best-Test Paper Cement has a LOT of information on the front of the label, and even more on the back. However the color scheme works well and the information is layed out in an organized manner. I put Odwalla on here because they recently changed their logo in the last year or so, and I preferred the little bird icon that they used to have, I feel it was more recognizable to the brand, and now it seems as if they’re trying to imitate Naked brands’ clean graphics. Newman’s Own, love the illustrative border with pink lemons, very successful. Jiffy and Peter Pan are two classic faves, both with label designs that have not changed since I can even remember. They are both successful for what they sell, however personally, I think Jiffy could use a rebrand.

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All taken at Target because I was very busy this week and kept forgetting about posting to tumblr.  However, I did find a few things I liked. The #bullseyeplayground I thought it was interesting that signage is now including hashtags into their messages. Fit & Trim Prices I found to be interesting, because when I passed it, I thought it was something in the Princess toy aisle, but it was for fitness. I know that’s really gender biased, and I’m scolding myself for that but yet, still interesting. French Bull I thought was really cute. Fisher-Price keepin it real with the original, never changing logo. Love it. Papyrus I loved that they didn’t use the Papyrus font, which should NEVER be used in advertising. But it’s also really clean cut, which suits well for it’s purpose of paper products.

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I thought this week I’d take a look at packaging labels, and their readabilities. Also, all the good letterforms I find, are while driving, and it’s very cold outside, so no thank you. With most packaging you find very large, sans serif typefaces, usually in bright vibrant colors. With the exception of OVERPACK, which has a strange, childlike bubble lettering. Also, I got some new color aid swatches today, and I love their envelope design. So clean cut and vintage looking.

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All taken at Steadfast Tattoo (635 Monroe Ave, Rochester NY 14607). It was a little difficult to sneak in some quality pictures of the hand lettered tattoo designs since you’re really not supposed to take pictures of them. What I liked about designs, was that they were all different typefaces, but remained in the same sort of theme. The last photo was a flyer at the shop for a show (tonight, February 5th) and I thought the letterforms were really intricate and unique.