Gridding

Here are a few examples of using the grid as guideline in Typography to create a visually appealing layout.

-Erika

Word Project - Final

The final outcome of my 2nd project.

-Erika

Core Typeface - Show&Tell 3

So I was at Borders today, immersing myself in some design literature and I picked up thisreally cool book called Box Bottle Bag: The World’s Best Packaging Design from Thedieline.com and came across these really cool bottle designs from this company called Let_it_grow. So of course I came home and looked up the company online, and sure enough, as I was browsing through their projects, I found this really awesome typeface!

Let_it_grow was founded by Danilo Tranquilli while he was working in Italy; his design firm in now located in Brazil, where Tranquilli resides. There wasn't very much information on this, except that it was made in 2004 in Milan, Italy, and it seems like Tranquilli titled it "Core".

I really love this font face. It's colorful circles really make it visually appealing and it kind of reminds me of Baskerville or Bodoni, in the sense that you can see there are parts where the lines are thick and then transition to thin. I also really like how the "O" is not symmetrical. The colors remind me of a Dr. Seuss book and I like how you can see the black lines that construct the circles because it gives it that handmade feel. The only thing that I am a little confused about is the use of uppercase and lowercase letters. Regardless, this is very inventive and imaginative, whimsical and fun, and definitely something that would need a specific purpose to use.

-Erika

Text Exercises

Here are two text exercises that I worked very tediously on. The first one is the result of reading the paragraph and noticing the physicality of the two things being compared: print and handwriting. I had fun with this one - I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and I am happy that it worked out.

The second exercise is the result of a failed idea. I originally wanted to place "print" on one side of the page and "writing" on the complete opposite side - to represent a comparison of the two. I wanted to break apart these two concepts by diagonally placing the section beginning with "typographic" in the middle. Unfortunately, obviously, I couldn't figure out how to actually execute it (which I'm sure isn't too difficult). So, once I made the "print" section I thought it would be kind of interesting to visualize a scale of "weighing" the two values (which is in reality based on personal preference). The base of the scale isn't exactly what I was going for, but I feel like the design works.

-Erika

Lights, Camera, Typography!

My quest to find visually interesting typography lead me to this!

With summer officially upon us, and the 4th of July just around the corner, I can almost smell the sparklers/fireworks in the air! Thanks to good ol' helpful Google - as I was desperately trying to find a typeface I had stumbled upon Sunday, I ended up finding this one instead!

Google lead me to the Flickr page of Nir Tober, a designer in Israel. He is a wonderful designer and just graduated from art school. He made it in May 2006 and it took him about 15 hours, in 2 sessions, and every letter had about 30-50 takes until he got it right. There was no absolute clarification as to what he used to make this, but he did write that there was a lot of gasoline used - so I imagine this was produced with light torches. Simply amazing, and captivating!

Besides the aesthetic beauty that glistens your eye as you look at it, and the amount of patience and precision of form, I really do like how the images capture the artist (Tober) in the frame. I feel like with the inclusion of him, it gives it that "handmade" feel, especially because it is handmade, even though it is not print to paper.

-Erika

Final Design - Initial Logo

This design project was so much fun for me. While I tediously made sure that all lines were straight and there were as little bleeds from my sharpie as possible, I came up with this finished product!

I chose this design for many reasons. First, I really like how I fit in all 3 of my initials. Second, I really feel that this is fairly original. While I know there are almost infinite possibilities on combinations with the letters "ekk" - I feel like if someone shared those same initials, no one else would have that logo....hopefully. I also just love how that backwards/upside down "k" gives another dimension to what seems like such a simple placement. I just love it! While I did too like the second one (the k with the upside down e), it was pointed out to me that if I shaded the letters in, it would just look like a giant "R".

Anyway, needless to say, I chose the first one. I straightened out the "e" to make it look a little more clean, and shaded everything in. While I didn't play around with combining the use of positive and negative space (in the sense that I didn't go against the norm), I am still very pleased with the final product, and would not do anything differently.

This has definitely made me appreciate the time and precision it takes to create a font style like this!

-Erika

P.S.

I apologize for the crookedness of the picture - I clearly inaccurately measured the straightness of the paper, when putting it into the scanner - whoops!...Im sure you get the picture though :D

Project 1.4 Sketches

As I am opening up my creative outlet, here are my top 3 favorite sample sketches for a project using my initials to create a logo-type design.

I will post the final design soon!

-Erika

Digital Bitmap

The finished product of my digital bitmap.

In hindsight I would have probably done things a bit differently, but it is what it is.

Now to only make the whole alphabet...

-Erika

Bitmap

Needless to say I need to invest in some sharpies!

-Erika

Something New - Show&Tell

Being newly engaged, it has been my quest to find any and all wedding books that will educate me in the do’s and don’ts of wedding etiquette, while also giving me great tips on how to save money!! As I am looking forward to learning typography to not only gain knowledge for professional settings but to also be able to craft my own wedding invitations and seating lists, and so on… I came across this great book (thank you Cameron Village library!) that not only has been more than helpful, but even has this fun and beautiful script typeface that is just so cute. And not the cliché, overly decorated script, but an interesting twist to what is often (at least to me) seen as the norm. Regardless, it screams wedding; an elegant, classy, tasteful, and as the phrase implies, NEW wedding.

What first caught my eye about this was the two capitol letters. They are very whimsical and appealing. The ‘S’ reminds me of a swan, which in turn makes me think of the story of the ugly duckling, and how when it grew up it became a beautiful swan – which I represented as the duckling actually beginning it’s *new* fulfilled life (as I do believe it had problems with identity and other birds making fun of it), much like a wedding represents. Anyway, while this may not be the train of thought the designer had, I think this choice in typeface was an effective one – to me. The ‘N’ is probably my favorite part about the phrase, as it does not even connect to make what is considered a relatively conventional capitol N. This too shows its effectiveness, as it represents a new way of the ‘N’ being represented.

Anyway, as you can tell, this phrase is the title of a book. It was published by Simon & Schuster, and written by Elise Mac Adam. There is no evidence of a specific designer for this title, but the book was originally printed in 2008, so I can imagine the design was made shortly before the time it was printed.

There is something about the color, that makes it seem a bit modern, fresh, and romantic. For younger brides-to-be, I can see them picking this book up just because it looks like it might give more relevant advice to those who want a less traditional way of things. I actually think this is what the designer was trying to convey: a book that is for non-traditionalists and people who essentially want “Something New” in a wedding. Even the lowercase ‘g’ in this phrase intrigues me. Its descender extends through the ‘n’ and to the back of its the bowl. It confuses me a bit, and while I don’t know if I particularly like that ‘g’, it definitely brings something to the title.

The all-caps typeface in white (or maybe the letters are masked out?), is a nice addition to the main title. By putting in the script typeface it really separates, what I think, is supposed to be seen. However, it doesn't really do much for me. While I like the visual appeal of all caps, and even capitalizing each letter in the title, there is something about either the typeface or maybe just color that makes it less than "wow"; it could even be just the size of it that bothers me, as it is a bit un-legible on the computer screen.

Let me know if I need to make the pictures bigger! :)

-Erika

Significance

As I sat in my apartment last night, thinking of how to begin my journey blogging, I couldn’t help but think of the word significant. It is such a powerful word. I think it can be assumed that people want to feel significant throughout their lives; whether it be at work, school, with friends, and especially with that someone you plan to spend the rest of your life with.

Often I think of the path of life, my life in particularly; every step and every word is significant to the development of where and how it will progress. And that’s something both exciting and nerve wrecking to ponder.

Being the procrastinator I shamefully am, the idea of having to do homework during the summer came as somewhat of a nauseating feeling. And to blog – what did I sign myself up for!? :) While internally things run a bit haywire, externally, I know things will be great, especially when I thought up that wonderful adjective/noun.

While I sought to pinpoint the significance in my life, I couldn’t help but parallel how typography is a significant part of communication. Which, when you think about it, is really life. The best part about it is you are your own artist, whether it be from original art or not. The typefaces chosen represent what you want to say, and more particularly, how you want to say it. It is the perfect combination of practicality and artistry, and that is beautiful.

Typography 1 is my first step to becoming part of the graphic design niche, and while it is a bit overwhelming, and while I am a bit insecure about the whole process of things, I know that these first steps are not my last. With two days behind me, I have already learned so much about something I though was insignificant, something I truly took for granted.

Make way Futura and Helvetica, Garamond and Baskerville, there’s a new student in class, and I will not hesitate to use you…purposefully and thoughtfully, of course.

-Erika