Médousa by Lydia Sutton

Medousa A t y p e f a c e b y Ly d i a S u t t o n

Table of Contents Concept

The Problem The Solution Inspiration

Development

Form Shape Endpoints

Troubleshooting

The Letter “B”

The Solution

Comparisons Médousa

Specimen Majiscules

Miniscules Characters

Mockups

C C t p e c n o C t p t e p c e n c o n C o C t p t e p e c n o C t p t e p c e n c o n o C t ept C p e c n o C t p t e p c e n c o n C o C t p t p ce e c n o C t p e p c e n c o n C o C t p cept e c n o C t p e p c e n c o n C o C t p t e p e nc c n o C t p e e c c n n o o C C t p t e p c e n c n o C t p e e c c n n o o C C t p t e p c e n c n o C t p e e c c n n o o C C t p t e p e c onc n o C t p e c c n n o o C C t p t e p c e c on n o C t p e c c n n o o C C t p t e p c e n c o n o C t p e c n n o o C C t p t e p c e n c o n C o C t p e c n n o o C C t p t e p c e n c o C Con t p ce

t t pt pt ept ept ept cept cept t p e c n ncept pt

The Problem Médousa is a typeface created for the company Feminist Goods Co. which is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. This company is all about supporting women, and instilling them with the idea that they can conquer the world. The website states that FGC is about feeling at home in your life and in your body. It is about equality, feminism, strength, and much more. However, the typeface that is currently used for their logo and website does not embody these ideas. Their current typeface is very decorative, with swirls and curls. The weight of the characters is unevenly dispersed and is much more childlike than what an active feminist company should portray. The typeface is not as empowering or simple as it should be. Rather than giving off feelings of equality, strength and simplicity, it feels childlike and decorative.

The Solution EQUALITY STRENGTH SIMPLICITY To solve the problem of the childlike and decorative nature of the original typeface used by Feminist Goods Co. I decided a more modern, serif typeface was necessary. I also decided that the weight of the characters would have to be consistent, but vary greatly in size, emphasizing that feminism is for everyone, not just women. I wanted the typeface to encompass both masculine and feminine traits. This typeface would be used on the FGC website, on their logo, on some of their merchandise, on their business cards, on t shirts, mugs, feminist products, billboards, murals, and anything else to advertise both the company and the feminist agenda. The letter-forms have a more positive, mature, and simplistic nature, encompassing the companies values and is more representative of equality as there is a variety of weight and more negative space within the letter-forms.

Ff Gg Cc

Inspiration The letter-forms are based off of the typeface Didot. After extensive research, I decided that Didot had a similar nature to that which I was trying to achieve. It was simple, yet made a statement. It was thin and airy, yet had aspects that were bold. However, Didot was still too feminine and associated with companies such as Vogue, which does not advertise to all types of women or men. I was also inspired by the typeface Kaiju, which is a sans serif type that comes in multiple weights.

A Didot

B Didot

C Didot

Sketch

A Médousa

Sketch

Médousa

Sketch

Médousa

l D e v e D t n e m t p n o e l e m v p e o l D e v e D t t n e m t p n o e l e m v p e o l D e v e D t t n n e m t p n o e l e m p ev o l D e v e D t nt n e m t p n o e l e m p ev o l D e v e D t t n n e m t p n o e l e m p ev o l D e v e D t t n en e m p n o e l e m v p e o l D e v e D t t n n e e m p n o e l e m v p e o l D e v e D t t n n e me m p n o e l e m v p e o l D e v e D t t n n e me m p o e l e m v p e o l D e v t e n D me t n e m p o e l e m v p e o l D e v t e n D me t n e m p o l e m v p e o l D e v e D ment t n e m p o l e m v p e o l D e v t e n D e t pm n e m p o l e m v p e o l D e Dev ent

t nt nt nt ent ent t n e m ment ment

Form

I based the form of my typeface on the basic elements of Didot. I increased the x-height and lengthened the letter-forms as well, making them thinner.

Shape

Several of the letter-forms were based off of the letter “O.” Including the p, e, c, d, b, and q. I mimicked the “O” by having the weighted elements on either the left or right side of the curvilinear part of the letter-form.

Endpoints Médousa is a serif typeface. I wanted the endpoints to be noticeable, but not obvious. I shorted the feet greatly compared to Didot, but made the pointed elements in my letter-forms much more noticeable.

oo o o

o Tr r T g n i t o o o o h h s s e e l l b b u u o o r r T T g n i t o o o h h s s e e l l b b u u o o r r T g T g n i t o o o h h s s e e l l b b u u o o r r T g T g n i t o o o h h s s e e l l b b u u o o r r T T g g n i t o o h h s s e e l l b b u u o o r r T T g ng n i t o o h h s s e e l l b b u u o o r r T T g n ng i t o o h s s e e l l b b u u o o r r T T g n ng i t o o h s s e e l l b b u u o o r r T T g n i ing t o o h s e e l l b b u u o o r r T T g n i t ting o o h s e l e l b b u u o o r r T T g n i t o oting o h s l e l b b u u o o r r T T g n i t oting o o h s e l b b u u o o r r T T g g n i t otin o o h s e l b b u u o r o r T T g g n i t o ootin o h s e l b b u u o o r r T T

oting ooting ooting g n i t o o g n i t o o h g n i t o o h g n i t o o sh g n i t o sho g n i t o o esh g n i t o esho g n i t o lesho g n i t o blesho g n i t o blesho g n i t o o h s e l b

The Letter B The letter B was a very interesting character to design as it involved both curvilinear aspects as well as the rectangular aspect of a letterform. Throughout the process of developing this letter I experimented with where to put the weight and how to combine the masculine and feminine elements. By combining different aspects of each character I was able to find a solution. The letter “B” then helped me to design other letter-forms such as P, D, and R.

S n o i n t o u i l t o S Solu n o i t u l o S n o i n t o u i l t o u l S o S n o i t n u l o S n o i n t o u i l t o u l S o S n o i t n u l o S n o i n t o u i l t o u l S o S n o i t n u l o S n o i n t o u i l t o u l S o n S o i t u l on o S n o i n t o u i l t o u l S o S n o i t u l on o S n o i n t o u i l t o u l S o n S o i t u l on o S n n o i o i t t u l u l o o S S n o n i t io u l o S n n o i o i t t u l u l o o S S n o i t u l tion o S n o i o i t t u l u l o o S S n o n i t o i u l ut o S n o i o i t t u l u l o o S S n o n i t o u l uti o S n o i o i t t u l u l o o S S n n o i t u l utio o S n o i o i t t u l u l o o S S n n o i t o u l luti o S n o i t t u l u l o o S S n n o o i t u l oluti o S n o i t t u u l l o o S S lution lution

n n n on on on on tion tion

VW PR Comparisons

Many of the letter-forms played a large role in the development of other specimen and in finding solutions to common problems. For example, the V was used to create the W, the P used to create the R, the O used to create the Q, and the F used to create the E.

O Q FE

n u Comparisons

There are other comparisons between miniscules as well. Many of the specimen are simply other letter-forms with transformations or reflections or rotations. For example, the u is based off of the letter n, and the letters d, b, p, and q are all similarly formed as well.

dbpq

Medousa I wanted to name my typeface after a character that embodies feminist values. One of my favorite characters from Greek mythology that I have always admired for said values is Medusa. History has done Medusa a great injustice by painting her as a villain. According to legend, Medusa was raped by Poseidon in the temple of Athena. There is some debate as to why Athena changed Medusa’s appearance; one speculation is that it was to protect Medusa from men so that nothing similar would ever happen to her again. A more popular idea is that Athena punished Medusa for “defiling” her temple. Medusa has since been used as a symbol of feminism and strength, particularly within the Me Too movement, as her story resonates with many women. I wanted my typeface name to represent her and her struggle, but I wanted a more authentic and traditional feel, so I based the spelling off of the original Greek translation of her name; Médousa.

m i c e p S n e m i c e p S n e m i c e p S n e m i c e p S n e n m i c e p S n e m i c e p S n e n m i c e p S n e m i c e p S n e m i en c e p S n e m i c e p S n e m i en c e p S n e m i c e p S n e n m e i c m e p S n e m i c e p S n e n e m i m c e p S n e m i c e p S n e n e m i m c e p S n e m i c e p S n e m i men c e p S n e m i c e p S n e m i men c e p S n e m i c e p n S e m n i c e ime p S n e m i c e p S n e m n i e c e p cim S n e m i c e p S n e m n i e c cim Spe

Maj i scules

A B C D E F GHIJ KLM NOPQRST U V W X Y Z

Miniscules

a b c d e f ghijklm n o p q rst uvwxyz

Numerals

1 2 3 4 5 67890

Punctuation

? ! & ,. ; : “

u k c o M s p u k c o M s ps p u k c o M s p u k c o M s s p p u k c o M s p u k c s ps Mo p u k c o M s p u k c o M s s p p u u k c o M s p u k c o M s s p p u u k c o M s p u k c o M s s p p u u k k c o M s p u k c o M s s p u kup k c o M s p u k c o M s s p u kup k c o M s p u k c o M s s p p u k cku c o M s p u k c o M s s p p u k cku c o M s p u k c o M s s p p u u k k c c o o M s p u k c o M s s p p u u k k c oc o M s p u k c o M s s p p u u k k c c o o

Credits Feminist Goods Co Feminist goods CO.: Powering your League of Unstoppable Womxn. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2021, from https://feministgoods.com/ Free Pik Free Pik. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2021, from https://www.freepik.com/ search?dates=any&amp;format=search&amp;page=10&amp;selection=1&amp;sort=popular&amp;type=psd Pinterest Pinterest. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2021, from https://www.pinterest. com/ Unsplash Unsplash. (n.d.). Beautiful free images &amp; pictures. Retrieved April 28, 2021, from https://unsplash.com/