HIDDEN TYPOGRAPHY
A type project by Leah Walters at Drake University in Fall 2014
I created the letter “L” by sitting in a chair with my legs bent. With my arms straight up, my arms and torso took a tapered shape that inspired my final letterform.
A lowercase “E” was simple to make with my arms and leg. I like the angles I created, which are different for an “E” shape.
For an “A,” I decided to enlist the help of a classmate. I created the spine and arm and she created the bowl.
For the “H” I tried to mimic the style of the “L.” It has a similar slab-like look.
VERSION 1 In my first iteration of my type I tried to leave in a lot of the organic qualities inspired by the shadow photos. I knew I wanted to strip out some of the bulk, so I thinned out the shapes and left what I could of the body part shapes. In the “L” and the “H” you can still make out my face and hands quite clearly. This version needed to be kerned and sized better. I also decided I didn’t like the humanlikeness of the type, so in my final version I stripped them out more.
FINAL Ultimately I came up with a chunkier font that is more abstracted from my photos than I originally anticipated. The shapes are very wedge-like, which was inspired by the tapered shadows I created. I especially like the “e” and the “a” because the rounded angles are unexpected.