D P P
Y H T A E H L C IT A W G
MERGED
The idea of this short project was to experiment with typography and create our own font from two existing ones. Avoiding the easy task of combining two random letterings in a pretty way, we had to think about the meaning of each typeface, the status they have and the ------- that emanates from them. We had to think about contrast, size, uppercase versus lowercase. Italics? bold? modernist or old fashioned?
My first doodles show an attempt to grasp the nature of individual letters in various typefaces. I wanted my typeface to be aesthetically pleasing as well as meaningful. I tried using contrast to place letters inside each other, experimentes with water colours, though about dividing letters in half and using negative space.
Next I did some experimenting with 2D and 3D letters. Browsing through a book of typography I came across a hand-drawn font whick looked like twisted ribbon. I thought it looked really beautiful so made my own series. However instead of making the paper version and then illustrating it, I drew out “type� maing it look like 3d ribbon and then from there, attempted to twist thin strips of paper in the same exact form.
Playing around with lighting and shadow, Iphotographed my 3d paper word illuminated from different angles, thus making the shadows move around the lettering in quite a poetic way. So instead of creating one typeface from two different fonts, this experiment demonstrates the reverse: One word made out of delicate twisted paper, gives birth to a new typeface out of its shadow. The first is tangible, the second is projected.
Helvetica
CONTRAST
Helvetica Helvetica WILDSTYLE
IS THE NAME GIVEN TO A VERY COMPLEX AND ELABORATE TYPE OF HIP-HOP GRAFFITI. HERE IN THE STREETS OF BRUSSELS IT HAS BEEN SET IN HELVETICA THE MOST CORPORATE OF FONTS.
Lets try the contrary: what happens when you write helvetica in a font that is very different to helvetica style? Does the sense of the word change? The fonts i used here are school script, comic sans, medieval and braille.
Helvetica
Helvetica Braille
ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz
ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQSTUVWXYZ ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQSTUVWXYZ
H C KLAKB U M AS O S C G BRAILLE
I REALLY LOVE THE LOOK OF . IT’S MINIMALISTIC AND ABSTRACT BUT SO SIMPLE IN A BEAUTIFUL WAY. BECAUSE THIS IS THE ONLY TYPE AVAILABLE FOR THE BLIND COMMUNITY, I WANT TO PAIR IT UP WITH A TYPICAL GRAPHIC DESIGNER’S “ONLY” TYPE: . LETS SEE HOW THESE TWO NEUTRAL FONTS MERGE.
HELVETICA
A BC AB C D EF DE F G HI GHI J KL JK L MN MN O O P QR PQ R S TU STU VW V WX X Y Z YZ
A TH AR RE ET HE E L I N D B BLIND M I S S I G N M ISSING O T? OU UT
MANIFESTOOF
SUSTAINABILITY
INTERVIEW WITH FEILDEN FOWLES ARCHITECTS
FF INTERVIEWEE NAME: LOUISE MACKIE OCCUPATION: ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FEILDEN FOWLES: SMALL, YOUNG PRACTICE IN EAST LONDON WITH A FOCUS ON WELL DESIGNED SUSTAINABLE BUILDING.
Fergus Feilden Edmund Fowles
1. What do you think defines sustainable design? Sustainable design is planning to create something which is as environmentally and community conscious as it can be given the physical and financial constraints. 2. In what ways can you say your practice is sustainable? Feilden Fowles promotes sustainability in its design as far as is possible; the actual methods vary from project to project depending on suitability. Sustainability is intrinsic to the design process from the initial brief development and concept design. The office itself is as sustainable as it can be - the employees cycle or walk to work, one of the main partners doesnt fly or eat meat. 3. Do you take on any project proposal or do you make sure the client has the same eco ethics as you? I cant answer this as i am not responsible for taking on projects - but there are certain restrictions in building regulations and environmental bodies such as BREEAM which ensure a certain level of environmental responsibility have to be part of every project. Also the financial savings in the long term tend to make it easier to convince clients.
4. Do you source from local or regional suppliers? As much as possible from local suppliers. 5. Have you encountered resistance from suppliers, or have you found that they’re eager to work with you when you put environmental restrictions on how they operate? We tend to work with suppliers who have high environmental credentials in the first place. These suppliers are very eager to work with us and push their products. 6. What would make it easier for you as a designer and innovator, to make things more sustainable? Lower costs and flexible products - sustainable products that dont look sustainable. 7. Will the current financial crisis harm sustainable architecture because people just want the cheapest solution? I imagine so, but the government has the renewable heat incentive scheme and is keen to financially reward those using environmentally sustainable products. 8. How do you think sustainable architecture, and the way the public embraces sustainability
on the whole, will develop in the future? I think it will become the norm. Unsustainable design and events will be frowned upon. Education, both for architects and others, emphasises sustainability. 9. Personal views on sustainability? Environmental and community sustainability shouldn’t be treated as something separate from the design, it should be considered as you would gravity and structure. I think the problem is ‘add on’ solutions to inherently unsustainable designs.
BY LOUISE STEYAERT