Type and Architecture Thesis book Taelyn O’Keefe
Materials used: Ink, pen, pencil, paper, digital. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts, Maine College of Art, Portland Maine, May 11, 2020 Major in Graphic Design. Taelyn Connor O’Keefe: Senior thesis 2020
For my thesis, I set out to create drop caps inspired by the architecture of Portland Maine. I set out to expand upon my knowledge of typeface design; and strived to expand upon my current skill set. I have used my thesis as a way to experiment and to combine my new found interest in typeface design with my long-held love of illustration. Through this project, I explored where inspiration comes from in regards to typeface design.
Begining..........................................pg.1 Posters............................................pg.3 Q...................................................... pg.7 T..................................................... pg.11 J......................................................pg.15 Z.................................................... pg.19 E....................................................pg.23 S.................................................... pg.27
At the start of thesis I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I knew that I wanted to pursue something related to typeface design but didn’t know which direction to go in. I wrote out some ideas and did some early sketching to direct my focus. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, I had to suddenly move out of the dormitory; and in this process, I lost many of my sketches. It is unknown to me if I simply misplaced them, accidentally threw them out, or perhaps left them on my desk in the studio. Two main ideas I had that did not become my thesis was 1. to find letterforms in objects/ places around me, and 2. to create wordmarks based on the forms of everyday objects that stood out to me. I ended up creating drop caps inspired by the architecture of portland Maine; which I would walk by every day.
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While I was still figuring out what my project would be we created posters for a short activity. This centered around thesis and clarifying/ conveying what our thesis would be about. After a few unclear attempts, I figure out what my project would be and what I wanted to convey. I repurposed one of the posters that I had made during this process as I felt that the base template of it would perfectly suit my topic.
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Mina building, 12 City Center
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I fell in love with the pattern on this building and incorporated it into this drop cap. I struggled to figure out how I would use it though as it was such a busy pattern. The entryway of the building consisted of arches and swirling natural elements carved into stone. I incorporated the smooth and elegant carvings and arches into the shape of the Q.
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Time and Temperature Building, 475 Congress Street
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The time and temperature building is one of the most well known and iconic buildings in the city. It stands tall and bold and that is what I tried to incorporate into this drop cap. I focused on keeping this one in black and white as not only a challenge to myself but as a way to keep the form bold and striking. I prefer to work with bright colors and struggle to keep them to a minimum. Through working on this letter I learned a lot about creating letterforms with such thin lines in glyphs. I have never created type that has lines this thin before so it was an interesting challenge.
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Rich Building, 106 Exchange Street
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When I started to sketch this one out I was so sure it was going to be an M not a J. I couldn’t get the M to work however and found that a J seemed like a good fit for the building. I tried to incorporate the heaviness of the bricks with the thin lines of the windows.
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Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 307 Congress Street
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This drop cap took me the longest out of all of them to do. I had a hard time making the Z work however I was determined to do so. I incorporated the pointed arches as well as some of the shapes found in the ornamentation into this drop cap. I focused on pulling bright colors from the stained glass windows into this drop cap.
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1 Monument Square
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For this drop cap, I focused on the geometric shapes of the building. I wanted to push this one to be more abstract and not necessarily read as an E at first. I worked on bringing in the feeling of how the light cascades across the building rather than going realistic.
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57 Exchange Street
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I lost some of my sketches for this piece when I moved out of the dorm. I had sketched out quite a bit of the architecture on this building as I had been stuck on what to do with it. I was interested in the glass on the front of the building and pulled inspiration from that.
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