Gatsby A 2013 Typeface By Noelle Cady
Chapters Inspiration for Gatsby Development Alphabet Majuscules Miniscules Punctuation and Symbols Conquered Miniscule t Miniscule k Majuscule M Majuscule G Purpose
5 8 10 11 12 15 15 16 16 18
"Can't repeat the past...
Why of course you can!"
– Gatsby from The Great Gatsby
Inspiration
The idea behind Gatsby was to make a typeface that combines all aspects of the 1920's. The 1920's was known as a time of glamour that contradicted traditions of old. A decade that is famous for political and social change that shaped our culture today.
Since the waters of Prohibition were so muddy, cops were no longer able to keep the peace and uphold the law efficiently, so the American mafia took over and became the force to keep the public in check. This, however, resulted in keeping the peace through brutal force in multiple cities; the most memorable display of this violence is the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929.
Women suffrage had finally won the battle they had struggled with since the Victorian ages and gained more freedom in society, but tradition still held its firm grip on how women were supposed to act in society. Single ladies, not bound by those rules, strayed into a more flamboyant lifestyle of drinking and partying; these are the women we know today as "flappers". Women that were already married were still bound to the chains of the domestic housewife. They could finally vote and have "equal" voice with men, but it would take years for that voice to be truly heard.
These changes in the American culture and society also influenced the art world. As industrialism and WW1 began to die down, people felt that the importance of art and craft were slowly dying because goods could now be mass produced at incredible speeds, making common goods cheap and accessible to the public. That is when a group of artist and designers founded the Bauhaus movement, revitalizing art to its former glory and status in the world. By combining the fast pace of machinery with the craftsmanship of the medieval guilds, art was made available to everyone and was once again considered a valued treasure.
The 18th Amendment, or the Prohibition Act, was also around this time and was met with resistance. Some people rebelled against the new law, believing that it was against their rights as free citizens. This resulted in a stalemate battle between the two sides of 'wet', those who opposed, and 'dry', those in favor. As the years passed, however, even the 'dry' crowd were keeping their own secret stashes of the illegal booze. Presidents of the decade,like Harding and Coolidge, stored their alcoholic pleasures in the White House with little regard of the Amendment.
4
The
Roaring 20's
Development To fully capture the decade's personality and meaning, I first started with what designers were doing around this time. The Bauhaus movement was in full swing around the world, so this sparked the idea of making the typeface simple but equally creative. The main art style of the decade was abstract art, so simple lines and shapes were key to design, but it still had to have deep meaning. Since this was a typeface design, I looked back to typefaces designed and deemed popular around this time.
Beginning to combine Broadway and Kabel to get an idea of Gatsby's design
By far, Monotype Broadway was the most popular typeface. It was used to the point of being clichĂŠ and even today, designers still do not use it to great extent unless strictly dealing with the 1920's. This is also when geometric typefaces such as Futura and Kabel were released to the general public. Kabel was an instant favorite while Futura did not rise to popularity until the 1950's. Therefore, I began experimenting with Broadway and Kabel and seeing what features I would experiment and use in my typeface.
7
First sketch of miniscule letters
After finding what details were essential, it was a matter of bringing those components and my original thoughts and ideas together. I drew multiple sketches. With each sketch, I edited the contrast among the strokes, tweaked the measurements, and made little adjustments to the typeface.
By sacrificing early concepts such as a double– story a and the ear on the g, the sketches became more unified through applying the simple shapes that were used in the o and l until I got to the final product.
Early ideas
Final product
GHIJKL MNOPQ
gatsby 8
Majuscules
ABCDEFGHIJK LMNOPQRST UVWXYZ
Miniscules
abcdefghijkl mnopqrstu vwxyz
Numerals
0123456789 Punctuation (.;:',?!"/#$%&-–—)
"I hope she'll be a fool – that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." – Daisy from The Great Gatsby
Conquered
The miniscule t was one of the hardest letters to design for Gatsby. I decided on giving it a hook so it would flow better in the typeface, but it was not always like that. It was once straight and then once the hook was a permanent feature, it was a matter of finding the length and where the hook would begin and end.
t
It also took a while determining the height of the letter. The x–height made the t too short while the ascender would make it too tall. So, to make it work, the dots of the i and j match the height of the t to make it uniform.
The miniscule k did not take as long to design as the t, but it went through its own set of problems. The biggest concern was the overall form of the letter. It was a challenge finding where the contrast would be in the letter as well as finding the correct angles the k would open in the space around it. After multiple sketches, I found the contrast to look best when it was towards the bottom and on the stem to keep the k grounded to the base line. Also, by keeping the angle within the boundaries of the o, it brought more unity to the typeface.
k 15
The majuscule G was a challenge as well. Unlike its miniscule form, it had a bar that I constantly struggled with to find it's exact height. It was not until the bar was in the same location as the e's bar that it finally looked correct within the set.
G
The majuscule M was very tricky during development because of how wide it would be. At first, the M went straight down to fit the standard width, but it lacked the personality of the other letters and just did not flow in the set. Once I made the M similar to the W, it began to flow with the other letters and was much easier to design.
M 16
"No amount of fire and freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart." – F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby
Purpose Gatsby's purpose is to be a display typeface used to capture the ideals and personality of the 1920's.
Gatsby is not limited to just The Great Gatsby products and advertisements. Anything with a 1920's theme can use this typeface for their advertising or personal needs, such as mafia documentaries or just an invite to an outdoor tea party that has a 1920's flair.
With the new The Great Gatsby movie coming out in 2013, Gatsby could be used in their advertisement campaigns and future DVD releases. Also, this typeface can be used on the cover of reprinted books to finally give the books uniformity of text in its title.
18
The
Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald A minimalist design of a possible book cover for The Great Gatsby.
A redesigned poster for the 2013 movie, The Great Gatsby
The
Cotton Club
A lost American wonder
An opening for a documentary about The Cotton Club, a popular hangout in the 1920's, or a book cover for the same purpose
A hall event poster for an AU girl dorm.
Happy Hour Logo for a possible future cocktail bar
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.. . And one fine morning –
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
– Nick from The Great Gatsby
Inspired by the design and personality of the 1920’s and its significance to today’s culture, Noelle Cady presents the new typeface, Gatsby. This new typeface will allow audiences to convey the era in their advertising and personal needs. Gatsby pays tribute to the literary work of F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby, a book that many critics claim is the best window into the decade. Gatsby speaks for everything the 1920’s gave the modern world.
Noelle Cady is a sophomore Graphic Design major at Anderson University. She has lived in the Anderson area for all her life and has a great passion for the arts. She is known for her positive attitude and determination.
Images were provided by: http://www.elcineesasin.com/2012/12/dos-nuevos-posters-de-el-gran-gatsby.html, Albedo Photography, MovEable Mystery Dinner blog, galeria.index.hu,zooma.wordpress.com., and Sollas Blog