Motor City Typeface Process

MOTOR CITY

Typ eface Design Process Book

INSPIRATION The le t t e r s “ U” , “ A ” a n d “R ” at t r act ed m e t h e m ost an d s e rv e d a s m y j u m p i n g off p oin t for in it ial sket ch es.

I ’ v e a l w a y s a d m i r e d h a nd let t er in g ever sin ce I was y o ung . I ’ v e m a d e i t a h a b it t o t ake p h ot og r ap h s an d do c um e n t o l d s i g n a g e an d t yp og r ap h y t h at I fin d in t h e e nv i ro n m e n t , a l t h o u g h t h ese wer e fou n d im ag es, I i ns ta n t l y f e l l i n l o v e w i t h t h e clu m sin ess of i ts c o n s t r u c t i o n .

OK Used Car s | Cannon Falls, MN

SKETCHES F r o m t h e p h o t o s cam e r ou g h sket ch es of t h e let t er forms.

A s I m o v e d t h e p en cil acr oss t h e p ap er, I t r ied st aying w i t h i n t h e p a r a m et er s of t h e su r r ou n d in g let t er s t o its a p p r o x i m a t e s i z e. I kn ew t h at I d id n ’t wan t t o sp en d too m u c h t i m e m e s s in g wit h t h e d et ail of t h e for m s sin ce its p u r p o s e w a s t o s er ve as g u id elin es in t h e d ig it al r eal m.

T h e n e x t s t e p w as t o scan t h em in an d car efu lly b egin c r e a t i n g t h e l e t t er for m s in Illu st r at or wit h t h e p en tool .

POST MODERN GLYPHS T h ese g lyp h s wer e t h e fou r t h p ar t of an assig n m en t d u r in g t h e fir st h alf of t h e q u ar t er wh er e we wer e assig n ed t o d evelop six “key let t er s”: O, C, D, E , V an d G an d cr eat e a p ost m od er n t yp eface.

T h is was m y fir st at t em p t at t h e d ig it al r en d er in g of t h e let t er for m s, wh ich was h ig h ly u n su ccessfu l d esp it e t h e am ou n t of t im e I p u t in t o t h em .

I knew I wanted a mo re h orizontal, almost sq uared loo k to t he “ O” . This on e i s far too vertical i n i ts heigh t.

Te r m i na ls a r e s ha r p a nd a br uput , c o unt e r e m pha s i z e s w e i ght t o w a r ds t he bo t t o m o f t he f o r m .

A r m s a n d c r o ssb a r t e r m i n a l s sh a r p , a l so l e a v e c o u n t e r s wide open.

S a m e i ssu e s as “ C” .

S t e m l e a v e s cou n t er sp a c e st u f f y.

A f t e r a l l o f t h e f r ust er at ion an d t ed iou s wor k, I r ealized u p o n c l o s e r i n s p ect ion t h at t h e r eason I was at t r acted t o t h e l e t t e r i n g on t h e sid e of t h is b u ild in g was b eca use o f i t s e s s e n s e . You cou ld see an d feel t h e life of it and i t s c r e a t i o n . T h e p h ysical b u ild in g facad e g ave t h e l e t t e r s d e p t h a n d t ext u r e, wh ile t h e t r an sit ion p oin ts w e r e m o r e s p o n t a n eou s.

T h is t est p r in t was t o see h ow the m or e r esolved for m s wit h r ou n d ed cou n t er s an d st r okes ap p ear ed visu ally at t h r ee d iffer en t sizes on p ap er. I was p leased t h at t h e forms st ill felt flu id at t h e sm aller size , so fr om h er e I m ad e cu t ou t s an d wedged ‘st en cils’ for con sist an cy t h r ou ghout t h e r est of t h e let t er for m s.

A t t h i s p o i n t I f e l t t h at I h ad en ou g h g lyp h s t o wh ere I c o u l d s t a r t c o n st r u ct in g ot h er let t er s fr om p ar t s and p i e c e s f r o m t h e o n es I alr ead y h ad .

T he re f le c t i o n t o o l i n I l l u s t r at or saved h ou r s of wor k an d frus tra ti on , e l i m i n a t i n g t h e n eed t o d r aw t h e secon d h alf o f i ts e qu i v a l e n t s i d e .

Cr eat in g cir cles h elp ed keep con sistency in weig h t t h r ou g h ou t t h e for m s on al l p oin t s, r at h er t h an u sin g an ot h er shape su ch as a sq u ar e t h at wou ld p r ove uneven an d im b alan ced r esu lt s.

Anti qu e O l i v e s e r v e d a s a g ood r efer en ce for t h e t op he a v y s h o u l d e r f o r m I was t r yin g t o ob t ain .

My pr o f e s s o r d e m o n s t r at ed wit h exag g er at ion in t h eir f o rm s h o w m y l e t t e r s n e ed t o r elat e in som e asp ect t o on e a no the r w i t h a h e a v y t op sh ou ld er, or at least a h in t of t h e w e i gh t t r a n s f e r.

I t’s t r u e . T h i s s c r e e n sh ot r em ain ed t h e on ly r efer en ce I ha d t h r e e d a y s b e f o r e t h e .ot f file was d u e, com p let e with num e r a l s a n d p u n c t u at ion d u e t o an u n for t u n at e te c h n o l o g i c a l m i s h a p . An d yes, I lear n ed m y lesson of t he i m po r t a n c e o f b a c k i n g u p you r files t h e h ar d way.

Als o , d o c u m e n t i n g y ou r p r ocess is cr it ical for t h is r easo n upo n m a n y o t h e r s .

SUBCONSCIOUS INSPIRATION Gro w i n g u p i n t h e D e t r o it ar ea, in st an ces of t h ese let t erf o rm s a r e s e e n e v e r y w h er e, b ein g t h e Mot or Cit y cap it al w he re H e n r y F o r d e v o l ved t h e in d u st r ial fu t u r e o f Am e r i c a .

W hi le l o o k i n g f o r p h o t o gr ap h s t o d isp lay an d c o m pl i m e n t t h e t y p e f a ce for p r esen t at ion , I cam e a c ro s s t h i s a b o n d o n e d b u ild in g faced wit h let t er s ho ldi n g m a n y s i m i l a r i t i es t o m y t yp eface. T h e s y mbol i s m a s w e l l a s t he d em in ish in g wor d s in sp ir ed the na m e , M o t o r C i t y.

DETR

ROIT

M o tor C ity pays homage t o t he c l a s sic cars’ curvilin ea r s hapes a n d ind u st rial con st ruct i on .

ABCDEF GHIJKLM NOPQRST UVWXYZ 1234567890

BIKE

THE QUICK BROWN

HAMBURGER

EX GIRLFRIEND

BREAK PETER PAN

CAPTAIN HOOK