Jacob Wise mentoring session #1 (and reflections of a Bryan chat)
At the end of week 2 I had my first meeting with Jacob Wise (http://wisetype.nl / http://www.jacobwise.co.uk/). I spoke to him about my background, and my project, expanding more on what I told him in my email correspondence with him. I was nervous before the call, just general anxiousness of talking to a stranger over video call, but he was really nice and helpful, giving me loads of suggestions for the project and what he describes as essential reading. While he read my brief, and I told him about possible outcomes. He thought that five typefaces as outcomes would be way too much work, and I shouldn’t try to do a full typeface – I could just focus on single letters, or one or two words for each design.
He said that if he was doing my project he would look at the perimeters of time, as it is another element in making typography carry information. Western type is based off of Roman lettering (such as Carol Twomby’s 1989 Trajan – based on Trajan’s column), and developed through time, from the birth of coherent type, to carvings, to wood and hot metal type, to photosensitive typefaces (Bram de Does’ 1982 Trinité), to digital, and now variable fonts. He told me to read the webpages that he sent, and to think about the future of type, such as his idea of brand guidelines with specification of how to use variable restrictions, with information programmed in. At this point he then thought that I could take it back to “Year zero”, and create a base Roman style typeface as a “skeleton”, adding the different interpretations of loss, to allow me more time on each one. I would use the zeitgeist of the time, showing the societal changes and the methods of type production, to inspire subtle styling.
The chat was super useful, as it was nice to bounce ideas off of a really good type designer – the main idea I took from this was to not be afraid to use the style of the time within the typefaces. He said that if I needed to show him any of my work, I could send it to him any time over email.
Twenty minutes after, I spoke to Bryan about the project, particularly reflecting on what I had discussed with Jacob Wise.
I mentioned about my apprehension of using a skeleton base for the typefaces, as it might make the typefaces impersonal to each individual historical and cultural experience. Bryan agreed, suggesting that after firstly exploring the theme through these multiple inspirations, I possibly then could focus on one main ‘loss’ typeface. Like what Jacob said about the zeitgeist of the time, Bryan said I could consider application of the typefaces if I go down that route, looking at the ways it would be created at the time, such as carved in stone or wood, or forged in steel.
The final typeface could be something like the ‘Ryman’s Eco Font’, designed with gaps in the lettering to allow for the ink to bleed to fill itself, saving ink in the first place and therefore is better for the environment. I was also reminded of the dementia typeface ‘Remember.tff’, which has a deeper meaning of loss, and is similar to what I’m thinking about.
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