Typography and Illustration

Erin Klapper

Typography / Illustration / Experimentation / Exploration

Typography Erin’s Origami Typeface Illustration Delicate Heart and Turtle in a Hurry!

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Contents 01 Personal Typeface 03 Sketchy Sketch 04

The Process

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The Origami Alphabet

09 Made up Letters

10 13

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Experimental Typography

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Eco Poster

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Write your Heart Out Billboard

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Turtle in a Hurry

Personal Typeface

Personal Typeface

An exploration and expression of my qualities

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“Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form (Robert Bringhurst, 1992).”

I’ve kept this in mind throughout my experimental works. Here is the beginning of my experimentation with my personal typeface. I wanted to try a few different styles and materials to begin with and then refine it further. These experiments lead me to the conclusion that I love the art of paper (origami and kirigami), so I thought I would explore this.

Personal Typeface 02

I found some tutorials on how to make origami letters and fell in love! These are a bit tricky to make, but I got there in the end. These were the original source of inspiration for my personal

typeface. I thought it would be interesting to experiment with these letterforms, and perhaps push them further, creating a 2D alphabet from a 3D form.

Personal Typeface

Stetchy Sketch

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The Sketching Stage: Where ideas are born I started by drawing my initials. I wanted to try and create my typeface on grid paper as I thought this may be more accurate. I then used tracing paper to transfer them onto plain paper which I experimented further with the kerning, colours and possible styles of the typeface. I even tried an isometric grid 3D effect style, which turned out pretty well.

I wanted to take it a little further and try and draw the actual origami letters as they look in real life. I used isometric grid paper to do this accurately. It turned out quite beautifully, however, the process was very time consuing for just three letters. I would like to set aside some time in the near future to complete this alphabet as it would be quite interesting and challenging to master.

The Process

Personal Typeface

Where those fuzzy ideas become clear at last

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I started as I did previously, on the grid paper playing around with the letters and seeing what worked and what didn’t. I wasn’t so worried about perfection at this stage, I just wanted to get my ideas down on the paper and refine it later (I was a bit excited about my new typeface). Once I was happy, I transfered them from tracing paper onto plain paper (as you will see on the next page). Using the tracing paper really helped with the process, as I sometimes get a bit lost on a blank piece of paper. I always wonder where to start. When I use tracing paper, I can see the letters begin to form on the page, and the rest is intuitive.

Refinement

I wanted to identify similar contructs within each letter, this is important for consistency, and can also save time when creating a typeface. Coloured areas are pieces that have been taken from other letters in this alphabet.

I was surprised about how many bits could actually be taken from each letter to create similar shapes in other letters. Tracing the typeface onto blank paper really helped me understand the connection between letters, and also how some letters didn’t quite work. For example, the e works better if you flip the a and take off the serif.

Personal Typeface

Where those strong ideas become even stronger

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The Origami Alphabet My final typeface is simple, yet expresses my characteristics very well. I realised after I made it that I hadn’t followed the specific rules of typography, however, have made it work. Some of the letters don’t follow the baseline or x height (g, h, b, p, q, y), however, this gives the typeface

a quirky and fun feeling, which expresses my personality perfectly. I’ve live traced the letters, which further expresses this quirky nature as the lines aren’t perfectly even, there’s a sketchy quality to the work, which I really like.

What have I learned through this experience?

I have learned some basic fundamentals of typography, and also some things to watch out for. It’s a lot more detailed than I origianally thought. When I started creating this typeface, I wasn’t even thinking about the rules (I didn’t know the rules), which I guess was a good thing (because that helped open my imagination and think outside the box), however, knowing the

rules is important so that you can break the rules in the ‘right’ ways. There are many elements of this typeface that I would like to perfect. I would probably try and make all of the letters follow a specific baseline and x height just so that the typeface feels more consistent. According to Bringhurst, a typeface should “invite the reader into the text (1997).”

Made up Letters

Made up Letters

Understanding the shapes that make up letters

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Nicole and I came up with some wacky made up letters using existing letter shapes. This helped me realise the specific elements which make up a letter. It also made me realise that many letters actually take elements (such as serifs, counters etc) from other letters within the typeface. I pointed out above what elements of my origami typeface were similar (or complete copies of), which I think is an important thing to think about when creating a typeface as it can save time and make your typeface look consistent. This concept was introduced in class from a page taken from Typographic Design: form and communication by Carter, Day & Meggs.

Experimental Typography I was incredibly inspired by the lecture by Jackie Prior on experimental typography, and I enjoyed the exercise we did following it. I listened to a recording of a man speaking from Goadby, Leicstershire. He was talking about shearing sheep, yet he had a stutter and couldn’t quite get his words out, it all sounded a bit confused and all over the place (fast paced speaking). I wanted

to create a work which looked confused, but at the same time flowing and connected, as if the letters belong together (are interwoven) as that is how I see a stutter. I have also found that no one can actually read this, as the letters are all over the place, which proves my point of confused.

The word says ‘Sssheared’. I was going for a decorative approach inspired by Jessica Hische.

In class, Nicole and I created this billboard (small image above) to express a saying, ours being ‘Write your Heart Out’. There is quite a bit we would like to fix up, but we were trying to get across that you can do anything with a Sharpie pen. You can write forever and ever in your diary,

or draw amazing pictures with it. The possibilities are endless!

I went away and thought about how I could express the ‘Write your Hear Out’ with only pictures, no words. I created this simple stylised ‘conceptual’ illustrative work of a decorative heart which has it’s middle chopped out (Male, Alan, 2007). I would like to work further on it to tap into the ‘write your heart out’ concept a bit better. Having the Sharpie logo may help with the context also.

Eco Poster

“It is the distinctive visual language that identifies one’s ‘mark’ or peronal iconography (Male, Alan, 2007)” I did a little sketch in class which draws inspiration from the article about Hanna’s eco living. The image represents a treehouse with a cute, innocent and quirky style. The background is a bit of contrast or juxtaposition, which is taking that earthy (and sometimes horrible) feeling that people get when they’re told a house is ‘eco’. In the article Hanna states that one of her friends didn’t want to come over to her house as she thought she would be going to the toilet outside in a hole. This is not the case, which I am trying to point out in the poster.

There are positives and negatives of living an eco friendly life, however, everything has a negative, at least this negative isn’t harming the environment.

Eco Poster

Hanna’s eco living: A poster to represent the article

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Turtle in a HUrry To explore and experiment with something out of the ordinary I was really inspired by the ‘turtle in a hurry’ task we did in class. I wanted to try and challenge myself to not use any action lines to suggest movement, however, use the body and facial expression as the tool for giving the impression that the turtle is in a hurry. Turtles are naturally slow creatures, so I also wanted to emphasise that this turtle is still peaceful while it’s swimming quickly (or more quickly than usual) to get to

a destination. I’ve tried to keep a similar style throughout these experiments to keep it consistent, and try and discover my own style.

I feel that I have a very quirky and fun style beginning to form here. I am creating my own ‘mark’, something for people to recognise and identify with, and it’s a great feeling when you finally master that.

Designed by Erin Klapper, Letterpressed by Toni Klapper (soon to be One Fine Monday Letterpress & Design). I thought this story was fitting for a ‘happy ending’ to this document. My mother has been working in libraries for over 20 years, and she’s had enough. She one day decided that she wanted to have her own letterpress and design business (after I started studying graphic

design). She travelled to Rockley in NSW to learn about Letterpress and pick up a machine.

Unfortunately, none of them worked, so she’s on the lookout for a Chandler and Price. She’s got a little one for now, which prints beautifully. And so, the Letterpress adventure begins!

References Bringhurst, R. (2008). The Elements of Typographic Style: version 3.2 (3.2 ed.). Vancouver: Hartley & Marks.

Hische, Jessica. (n.d). “Featured Projects”. Retrieved 10th May 2013. http://jessicahische.is/working MALE, Alan. (2007). Illustration: a theoretical & contextual perspective. Lausanne: AVA Academia.

Typography