Type I Book by Nick Misani

02 Neighborhoods of Type 03 My Experience 08 Principles of Composiion 10 Composiions with Lexerforms 18 // + Words 24 /// + Text + Graphic Elements 30 ///// + Texture 38 ////// + Image 44 Type Report 62 Type in Motion

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Nick Misani

Professor Brenda McManus

Pratt Instiute

stn

Fall 2010

Typography I

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hoods of type The neighborhoods of New York are diverse and rich with character. This can be seen in the buildings, the shops and restaurants, the public space, and the people who make the neighborhood what it is. We were asked to explore four neighborhoods of New York City: Times Square, Central Park, Soho, and Williamsburg in Brooklyn and to note the mood, pulse, visual attributes and overall impressions of each area.

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Then, we had to look through magazines to find examples of common typographic letterforms that represent the qualities of that neighborhood. The typography was limited to 1-3 letters, what the letters read was not important; what mattered was how effectively they conveyed the aspects we previously identified for each neighborhood through their visual attributes alone.

my experience

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My relationship with typography has changed considerably in the past year or so and most dramatically thanks to this class. About a year ago, my knowledge of â&#x20AC;&#x153;good typographyâ&#x20AC;? was limited to a handful favorite typefaces (very few of which I still use today) and a disproportionate love for justified text. I knew nothing of grids, leading, kerning, or serifs. As this semester comes to a close and I look at the work contained in this book, I can not only recognize an acquisition of the vocabulary and knowledge necessary to begin to understand the world of typography, but also an increasing desire to explore and have fun with these new tools. My newfound appreciation of the sophisticated beauty of Garamond, or the minimalist elegance of Helvetica, for example, gives me a deeper understanding of the power of typography and its potential for elegant expressiveness. I still do love justified text though; in moderation, of course.

Nicholas Misani New York Ciy. Autumn, 2010

Times Square

Central Park

SoHo

Williamsburg

sition comp Composition is the organization or grouping of the different parts of a work of art so as to achieve a unified and visually pleasing whole. Although typographic composition utilizes the same basic compositional concepts that are part of all visual arts, there are unique ways that typography relates to each of these concepts. By forming relationships between the elements, and incorporating visual

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concepts in abstract ways, a new and more open relationship with typography is achieved. Shown on the following pages, the exploration of typographic composition started with simple elements--three letterforms-and became a process of identifying abstract concepts as they became visualized. Additional elements were added each week, and new relationships evolved as we explored positive/ negative, texture and image use.

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princules of composiion Scale

Meaning

Size

Focus

Balance Tension & Harmony Contrast Context

Form format Structure grid Direction

Rhythm movement

Detail

Depth posiive & negative background & foreground

Texture smooth & rough computer & hand alters defeniion

Drama mysery & surprise

Color tone 11

composition: lexerforms

This assignment was to select three letters from the alphabet and set each letter in any of the following typefaces: Helvetica, Univers, Futura, Garamond, Times Roman, Century, Baskerville and/or Bodoni. By using size, scale, spacial relationships, we created compositions using the three letterforms in an 8.5â&#x20AC;?x 8.5â&#x20AC;? format. We were also ecouraged to incorporate hand techniques as well as the computer.

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composition: lexerforms words

Keeping the three letters from the previous compositions, we now had to choose three words. They could be any words and did not have to have any meaning or association with each other. Each letter and word could be in uppercase, lowercase, or a combination and set in the following typefaces: Helvetica, Futura, Garamond, Times Roman, Century, and/or Bodoni.

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composition: lexerforms words text

To the three letters and three words of the previous assignment, we now had to add some text and a graphic element. Once we chose a typeface to work with for the text, we could only use the selected typeface for all the compositions. However, type size, line spacing, letterspacing, and column width could be adjusted to our discretion. Graphic elements could include lines, circles, triangles, or sqares in any size or configuration; solid our outlined.

graphic element

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composition: lexerforms words text graphic element

To all the previous elements, we now had to incorporate the idea of positive and negative; the relationship between figure and ground. Another element to be added was texture. By combining hand effects (drawing, painting), machined effects (photocopying, scanning), computer effects (Photoshop, Illustrator) and/or accidental effects (spills, crumples, rips) we were to define type in unusual and unique ways; rendering type in ways other than just hard edge black and white. Typography exists in our world in many formsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;this was an opportunity to explore non-traditional representations of typographic form.

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texture

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composition: lexerforms words text graphic element texture image

Finally, we had to include a carefully chosen photograph of your choice. The object had to be simple and easy to manipulate. We had to use the same photograph in each composition, while trying to see it differently each time, (by playing with focal point, background, detail, scale, etc). We were encouraged to manipulate the photo in the same ways we had manipulated the letterforms. At this stage, we were allowed to delete some letters or words, but our compositions should still have all three levels of typography: letterform, word and text. The enphasis was on experimentation and creativity.

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type report The following pages contain a report on designer David Carson, his work, the historical context around his design style, my reaction to his style, and how researching him has changed the way I perceive typography and the freedom I can take when working with it. In the weeks before this type report, I found myself stuck; our weekly typographic compositions were becoming increasingly difficult to create and

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the somewhat modernist style I used to identify my work had transformed into a hinderance. Perhaps, assigning Carson was Professor McManusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; subtle, yet effective way to push me to experiment more freely with typography and not necessarily focus on legibility and the rules I might be breaking. I witnessed my relationship with typography change drastically and was happy to see my work include a freer relationship with legibility.

david carson

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48 â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you've had any design courses, they would teach you you can't read this. I think you eventually can and, more importantly, I think it's true. Just because something's

legible doesn't mean it communicates. More importantly, it doesn't mean it communicates the right thingâ&#x20AC;?. David Carson. F.I.T. Lecture, NYC, November 2010

arson is a native of Texas and moved to New York City in 1956, at the age of four. Baby David would later become one of the most influential figures of contemporary design; persistently pushing conventions and thus changing the public face of graphic design1 through his controversial experimentation with typography2. David Carson has published four books about his works and his aesthetic. His first one, The End of Print (1995), has sold 200.000 copies and is currently in its fifth printing3. 2nd Sight followed in 1997, Fotografiks in 1999, and his last book, Trek was published in 2000.

economics, and yearbook at Torrey Pines High School in California. It was only between 1980 and 1983, David participated in a couple of graphic design workshops “instead of a limited and consistent palet and, in 1983 began his career as an art di of typefaces, new faces tend to be rector and graphic designer. David continintroduced with every issue not as matter of NOVELTY, but as a matter o ues to surf and in the meantime has also finding new expression for new content. 2 become a musician . s i n o itseuq eht “why change?” naht rehtar “why not?” Lewis Blackwell on David Carson

Before going to college for sociology, Carson was a professional surfer, ranking eighth in the world, and lived in Texas, Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Puerto Rico, North Carolina, California, and the West Indies. He graduated with “honors and distinction” from San Diego State University and went on to teach grades seven to twelve in a private school in Oregon. Later, Carson taught psychology, world history,

1. Newsweek, from www.davidcarsondesign.com 2. The End of Print. 1995 3. David Carson, TED talk. 2003

David Carson is most known for his innovative magazine design and as the art director for several skateboarding, music, surfing, and style magazines. Beach Culture (1989-91) was one of the most innovative magazines of all time. (it won 150 design awards). Carson was brought in on a freelance project to art direct Surfer magazineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual publication, Surfer Style, which was little more than a shopping catalogue. However, the editor (Neil Feineman) and Carson had different ideas: they changed the name to Beach Culture, changed the content and the frequency. Sadly, the magazine got poorer by the issue, struggling along for six issues (over the course of two years) before finally closing. It was with Ray Gun (1992-1995), however, that David Carson gained worldwide attention. His layouts featured distortions and clusters of vernacular typefaces and fractured imagery4. Carson challenges legibility and pushes the notions of typography, form, and order held in high regard by his contemporaries.

4. The End of Print. 1995 5. David Carson, TED talk. 2003

<<< Ray Gun. 1995 The first time in magazine history that an inside story jumped to continue on the front cover

Ray Gun. 1994 >>> Band picture is small, below the barcode, undermining the normal emphasis on cover photography

“Article on Brian Ferry—just really boring article—so I set the whole article in Dingbat. You could... you could highlight it; you could make it Helvetica or something: it is the actual article. I suppose you could eventually decode it, but it's really not very well written; it really wouldn't be worthwhile.”

<<< caption goes here caption goes here

Covers and spreads from Ray Gun Magazine

<<< Contents page. 1987 Carson has always avoided formatting contents pages, preferring to use type and image in a free, expressive manner

<<< Beach Cool opener. 1990 Cover four. 1990 >>>

Legibility was never—and still is not—one of David’s main concerns; he is “big believer in the emotion of design, and the message that’s sent before somebody begins to read6”. It is the absence of rules that distinguishes David’s work; many of the familiar, cozy structures of magazine designs have been removed or re-engineered. “Instead of a grid, the underlying bedrock that most magazine layout relies on, here pages are freedom, each one a fresh canvas onto which type and images are applied. Despite being an educator and holding many workshops worldwide (which is how Carson gained his exposure to graphic design education), David prides himself of being self taught and having very little formal design training. He often discounts the value of schools and design institutions for being unable to teach one of the values he holds in the highest regard: intuition. Carson does not consider intuition to be the only ingredient of design, but thinks of it as arguably the most important6

6. David Carson, TED talk. 2003 7. Jacobs, Karrie. From The End of Print. 1995

DAVID CARSON si

the Paganini Typographers Ed Fella

“Most schools” Carson says, “tend to discount intuition as an ingredient of your working process because they can’t quantify it: it’s very hard to teach people the four steps to intuitive design, but we can teach you the four steps to a nice business card or a newsletter”. David believes we live in a time when the gut feeling isn’t given much credence, but under layers of market research, focus groups, calculations, and targets there is always an intuitive act.

<<<<<< Poster <<< Aspen Hollywood Poster. 1997

<<< Fun Scene. 1993 Lips from Hatch Show Print letterpress poster <<< Great Expectations. 1993 Experiment with the idea of pages where one article runs into the next and enphasizes the linearity possible in sequential pages

Type design >>> for three TV commercials <<< Type

caption goes here caption goes here caption goes here caption >>>

Type design for three TV commercials >>> In recent years, Carson has branched out into film and television, exploring movement in typography and graphic design in general. With this videos, Carson is effectively able to bring his typographic dynamism to the next level while retaining his signature style.

10. 1995 >>>

What’s next for David? “What’s next is going to be people. As we get more technically driven, the importance of people becomes more than it’s ever been before8”. In the meantime, David owns a house on the beach, where he regularly surfs, gets

8. David Carson, TED talk. 2003 9. David Carson, FIT lecture. 2010

injured, and shows photographs of said injuries to unsuspecting design students at his lectures. David Carson’s work is not only representative of an era, but it was essential in defining that era; and I respect it as such. I find his design to be, for the most part, very insightful, poetic, and amusing. These are all characteristics that Carson shares with his work. In terms of his challenging legibility, I am often intrigued with his solutions and provocations, though frustration usually becomes a part of the reading

experience. Especially when sentences end mid thought and the rest is nowhere to be found. I find David Carson’s originality and seemingly never-ending flow of ideas very inspiring. Whether or not someone might enjoy his work, his creative and expressive use of typography must be acknowledged as masterful and unique. My respect for Carson grew after attending his lecture at the Fashion Institute of Technology on November 11th, 2010; his process of photographing all elements in his surroundings and drawing on them, directly or indirectly, for inspiration was particularly interesting. A blurry snapshot of the inside of a shell can become an album cover for Nine Inch Nails. Interspersed with photographs of his inspirations and his work were many pictures of his two children, Lucy and Luke; whom he often features in his work. It is, however, the connection to his work and its content that I find particularly important. Carson needs to understand the material perfectly to be able to design for it, “I don’t know any other way.”

experience

IF you allow that to happen

itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really the only way you can do some

You have to utilize who you are in your work. nobody else canpull from your background from your parents your upbringing your whole LIFE

unique work

you're going to enjoy the work A LOT more

Laird Hamilton profile. 1990. Traditional paste-up

David Carson

as well.

Bibliography Perry Farrell. 1993 >>>>>> How Cover. 1992 >>>

Carson, David. (1997). 2nd Sight: Grafik Design After the End of Print. Universe Publishing

Carson, David. (1995). The End of Print: Grafik Design of David Carson. Chronicle Books

Carson, David. Lecture at the Fashion Institue of Technology. New York. November, 2010 Carson, David. TED Talk. TED Conference. Monterey, California. February, 2003

www.davidcarsondesign.com

in motion For this final assignment, we had to create a t-shirt by using and readapting one of our previous typographic compositions. We were allowed complete creative liberty and given the opportunity to explore the use of typography in another, exciting way.

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This book was designed by Nicholas Misani. With the exception of the type report which is set in News Gothic MT and Eurostyle, this book is set entirely in Mrs Eaves and Helvetica.