istd2010project05 International Society of Typographic Designers
IMBALANCE Imbalance is usually a problem: whether it be your own diet or the distribution of international nuclear power, where there is imbalance it usually means something is wrong. Equality is good; parity is good – inequality and unevenness are generally bad. Distribution of wealth, job opportunites, hormone levels, reporting on political or social issues, the economy, the environment, the population . . . can all be cited as showing imbalance. You may wish to interpret imbalance in a more positive or benign way as being complementary – the choice is yours. The Brief Your task is to identify related facts that show imbalance and interpret them in a manner that not only expresses but informs us of the imbalance. Suggesting that something is imbalanced probably implies an intention to highlight an injustice or irregularity of some kind. Consider the agenda behind the decision to highlight the imbalance and how this might be effectively communicated to an audience of your choosing. Your facts can be drawn from any appropriate sources: newspapers, reports, debates, narratives, archives – but the source(s) must be cited correctly. We want you to support the argument with information/data. The facts may well involve statistics, but if they do, your
solution should consist of more than a literal typographic presentation of these statistics. Consider ways that type/objects might be transformed to suggest the loss of balance. Analyse your texts/statistics in depth and consider the opportunities you can find to take an innovative approach – use of metaphor, analogies, etc. You may use imagery, but emphasis must be on typographic interpretation and the attention to detail that expresses your typographic design ability. You may choose any format appropriate to your solution (print or screen) but you should consider outcomes that would be deemed feasible by publishers and/or broadcasters. Target Market Current Affairs audience across the media Requirements • Research and Development • Strategy • Specifications/Grid(s) • Dummy/Prototype(s) • Presentation Cross-reference this project brief with the ‘Assessment Criteria’ sheet. Submissions will only be accepted in one robust portfolio no larger than a2.
istd2011project05 International Society of Typographic Designers
FLATLAND With this brief we take a different approach. Rather than offer a theme that requires you to generate the content, we are directing you towards existing content Ð the Victorian (1884) novella Flatland by the English schoolmaster, Edwin A. Abbott. You will find a mass of references and the full text freely available online. The Brief Your task is to produce a proposal for a new edition of Flatland that doesnÕt necessarily engage with the conventions of Ôthe bookÕ as we understand them, although it may have text matter, pages and a cover Ð or not. It could be a pamphlet, a chapbook, a poster, a landscape, a happening, a dream, an installation, a text, a sound piece, an animation, a moment. Interpret the text typographically Ð you can be as ambitious as you wish to be, but you must deal with the full contents of at least one chapter and show how the rest of the text would develop. There are no restrictions, no conventions, no rules, no given formats. Static work, moving image, physical, virtual, ephemeral are all up to
you, as is the navigation of the piece, its viewer/ reader/user engagement, its scale, simplicity, complexity, composition. What can it become? There is a quote in the film Amadeus that says if you have four people talking at once, then thatÕs an argument . . . if you have four people singing at once, then thatÕs Opera. Make an opera, not an argument ! Target Market Define your market, and how you will target it, in your Strategy. Requirements ¥ Research and Development ¥ Strategy ¥ Specifications/Grid(s) ¥ Dummy/Prototype(s) ¥ Presentation Cross-reference this project brief with the ÒAssessment CriteriaÓ sheet. Submissions will only be accepted in one robust portfolio no larger than A2.
istd2011project03 International Society of Typographic Designers
FAKERY Fake is as old as the Eden Tree. Orson Welles The history of the world is peppered with fakery and falsehood. We are surrounded by it in life and in nature. Fakery need not always be malicious or disingenuous Ð think of creatures that mimic their surroundings Ð but it certainly informs the richness of narrative in drama and literature when it is. The English language has many synonyms for the word ÔfakeÕ Ð forgery, counterfeit, copy, pirate, sham, fraud, hoax, imitation, mock-up, dummy, reproduction, phoney, rip-off, dupe . . . . In our everyday use of typefaces we encounter faces that are re-named to avoid copyright issues or paying licence fees, but the history of typeface design is rich in faces that that are based on existing faces Ð that in turn were based upon even earlier faces . . . such is the evolutionary design process! These are not fakes but there is, at times, a fine line of distinction. From Del-Boy to Dali, Fake Tans to Fake Twitters, Faux Pas to Follies, the subject offers a wealth of possibilities for research, interpretation and visual communication.
The Brief Explore the wonderful world of ÔfakeryÕ and surprise us with your ingenuity and lateral thinking. Use print, screen, combined media Ð the choice is yours Ð as long as it has a solid idea, informs and shows your typographic skills. Remember that words and language are our collateral and that your submission should be essentially typographic. Target Market Define your market, and how you will target it, in your Strategy. Requirements ¥ Research and Development ¥ Strategy ¥ Specifications/Grid(s) ¥ Dummy/Prototype(s) ¥ Presentation Cross-reference this project brief with the ÒAssessment CriteriaÓ sheet. Submissions will only be accepted in one robust portfolio no larger than A2.