Typographic portfolio

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BRETT RODRIGUEZ

T T H Y E P O A G R R T A P O H F Y

FASHION INSTITUTE OF DESIGN & MERCHANDISING

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BRETT RODRIGUEZ GRAPHIC DESIGN

T A B L E

C O N T E N O T F S

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AM B E O U T

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orn and raised in the Toronto area, I’ve always had a passion for art and design. Starting my career as a traditional oil painter, I quickly realized that the digital world was the way of the future. I dropped everything and focused entirely on graphic design. My passion ever since has been developing brands and using my traditional talents to create digital illustrations.Along the road I’ve worked both as an in-house designer for large corporations, at an agency and as a freelancer. The agency environment taught me to juggle multiple clients and to work fast and efficiently. Working in-house, I learned to follow brand guidelines and to be creative, while still maintaining consistency.

Lastly, freelancing has strengthened my communication skills with clients and developed my independent problem solving abilities. My combined learnings from these three worlds has given me the experience and confidence to work with amazing clients from around the globe. Now my focus is on building happy and healthy long-term partnerships with clients by providing unique insights and quality design. When I’m not designing, you’ll find me up north at the family cottage or relaxing in the park with my family. I still paint when there’s time and am known to lace up my hockey skates every now and then. If you’re interested in working together or just want to say hi, I’d love to hear from you.

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T E R M S

Typographical Terms Illustrated Calligraphy Cursive Calligraphy

The word calligraphy comes from two Greek words: kallos meaning “beauty,” and graphein meaning “to write,” literally meaning “beautiful writing.”

Calligraphy is the art of producing decorative handwriting or lettering with a pen or brush.

Drop Cap A drop cap is a document style in which the first capital letter of a paragraph is set in a larger point size and aligned with the top of the first line. Used to indicate the start of a new section of text, such as a chapter.

Kerning → Kerning Kerning The process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result. Kerning moves the letters closer together (negative spacing) vs. tracking which moves the letters further apart (positive).

Cursive

Cursive is a style of writing in which all the letters in a word are connected. It’s also known as script or longhand. Cursive comes from the past participle of the Latin word currere, which means “to run.”

Glyph The basic building block in typesetting is a glyph letter, numeral, or symbol; groups of glyphs together are called fonts. One or more fonts sharing particular design features make up a family.

ſlffjſbTh Ligature

Two or more letters combined into one character (as a single glyph) make a ligature. In typography some ligatures represent specific sounds. Other ligatures are primarily to make type more attractive on the page such as the fl and fi ligatures.

12 pt.

A point is a unit of measure describe the size of a font. A 1/72 inch. Typographers ha given type setting as 12/16, type with 16 point leading.

Ding

Ding

A dingbat is an ornament, c in typesetting, sometimes m printer’s ornament or printe

Grote

Is frequently used as a syno Also used along with Neo-G Lineal, and Geometric to de sans-serif typefaces. First t

Obli

Obli

Oblique type (slanted, slope slants slightly to the right, u italic type. Oblique fonts are sans-serif typefaces, as opp whose design tends to draw

Tracking → Slab Serif A slab serif is a type of serif typeface characterized by thick, block-like serifs. Slab serif typefaces generally have no bracket. Some consider slab serifs to be a subset of modern serif typefaces.

Swash A swash is a typographical flourish on a glyph, like an exaggerated serif. Capital swash characters, which extended to the left, were used to begin sentences.

Trac

Also called letter-spacing, r space between a group of l overall character density of to eliminate widows and orp

. Rule

ement also used to A point is equal to ave traditionally specified a , which indicates 12 point

gbat

gbat

character, or spacer used more formally known as a er’s chracter.

esque

onym with sans serif.

Grotesque, Humanist, escribe a subset of to contain lowercase letters

ique

ique

ed) is a form of type that used in the same manner as e usually associated with posed to humanist ones w more on history.

Blackletter ➢ ◆ ◉ ✴ → Blackletter

This style of typeface is recognizable by its dramatic think and thick strokes, and the elaborate swirls on the serifs. Blackletter typefaces are based on early manuscript lettering, like the Bible, and is sometimes referred to as Gothic, Fraktur, or Old English.

refers to the amount of letters. Tracking affects the f the copy. Tracking will help phans in paragraphs.

In typography, a bullet is a typographical symbol or glyph used to introduce items in a list, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from points to symbols.

Display DISTRESSED Display

Display typography is a potent element in graphic design where there is less concern for readability and more potential for using type in an artistic manner.

Display typeface is designed for the use of large type such as headlines which range between 16-72 points.

Distressed

Distressed is a type of effect placed on a typeface.

Some replicate the irregular contours of brush strokes and other writing implements or approximate the look of woodcuts, stencils, and rubber stamps. A well designed distressed face should look random.

Handlettering Hairline Rule A hairline is the thinnest stroke found in a specific typeface that consists of strokes of varying widths. The hairline rule is the thinnest graphic rule (line) printable on a specific output device.

Reversed

Handlettering Hand-lettering is a more specific subset of lettering that refers to the art of drawing letters specifically by hand and not creating them in a digital program.

Reversed

Serif

Reversed type refers to text that has a light color (does not need to be white) on a darker background.

It is often used to emphasize text.

Serif’s are semi-structural details on the ends of some of the strokes that make up letters and symbols. Main classifications of Serif type are: Blackletter, Venetian, Garalde, Modern, Slab Serif, Transitional, and Informal. Serif text is primarily in books and newspapers.

WoodType

→ Tracking

cking

Bullet

Transitional The bridge between Old Style and Modern serifed typefaces. It has an almost vertical axis and is wide for its x-height. It is closely fitted with serifs that are less heavily bracketed, and are considered to have an increased comtrast between the thick and thin strokes.

Wood Type Wood type is type made of wood; generally of cherry; nearly every imaginable size, from two or three line pica, up to 150-line pica, and of a great variety of shapes and designs used for letterpress printing, as opposed to type that has been cast in metal.

C H A R A C T E R

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S T U D I E S

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H G

CHARACTER STUDIES

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ome say the Phoenicians chose the head of an ox to represent the ‘A’ sound (for the Phoenicians, this was actually a glottal stop). The ox was a common, important animal to the Phoenicians. It was their main power source for heavy work. Oxen plowed

the fields, harvested crops, and hauled food to market.

Some sources also claim that the ox was often the main course at meals. A symbol for the ox would have been an important communication tool for the Phoenicians. It somewhat naturally follows that an ox symbol would be the first letter of the alphabet.

The Phoenicians first drew the ox head ‘A’ as a ‘V’ with a crossbar to distinguish the horns from the face. They called this letter “alef,” the Phoenician word for ox. Through centuries of writing (most of it quickly, with little care for maintaining detail) the alef evolved into a form that looked very different from the original ox head symbol. In fact, by the time it reached the Greeks in about 400 BC, it looked more like our modern ‘k’ than an ‘A’.

The Greeks further changed the alef. First, they rotated it 90° so that it pointed up; then they made the crossbar a sloping stroke. The Greeks also changed the letter name from alef to alpha. Finally, they made the crossbar a horizontal stroke and the letter looked almost as it does today.

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THE FONT GOTHAM

Ours is the first century in which most mass-produced letters can correctly be called “typography.”

Technically speaking, typography is the product of type, the individual, recombinable characters in a typeface that are designed for printing words on paper. A century ago, a book’s pages contained typography, but its cover, spine, and illustrations featured lettering, each of the product of an artist working by hand in a different medium. Because letters made by hand had no obligation to resemble the look of printing types, different media evolved their own aesthetics: lithographed posters, engraved banknotes, and neon signs once enjoyed unique alphabetic styles.

Character Studies

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n its earliest years, the letter that evolved into our F was an Egyptian hieroglyph that literally was a picture of a snake. This was around 3,000 B.C. Through the process of simplification over

many years, the F began to lose its snakelike character, and by the time it emerged as an Egyptian hieratic form it wasn’t much more than a vertical stroke capped by a small crossbar. With a slight stretch of the imagination, it could be said to look like a nail.

This may be why the Phoenicians called the letter “waw,” a word meaning nail or hook, when they adapted the symbol for their alphabet. In its job as a waw, the character represented a semi-consonant sound, roughly pronounced as the W in the word “know.” However, at various times the waw also represented the ‘v’ and sometimes even the ‘u’ sound.

When the Greeks assimilated the Phoenician alphabet, they handled the confusing waw with typically Greek logic: they split it into two characters. One represented the semi-consonant W and the other became the forerunner of our V. (The ‘w’ sound became the Greek digamma, or double gamma, and was constructed by placing one gamma on top of another.)

While the character was eventually dropped from the Greek alphabet, it was able to find work in the Etruscan language. Here it did yeoman’s service until the Romans adopted it as a symbol for the softened ‘v’ or double ‘v’ sound. Even today, the German language (an important source for English) uses the V as an F in words like “vater,” which means father and is pronounced “fahter.”

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Black Letter Type The Blackletter typeface (also sometimes referred to as Gothic, Fraktur or Old English) was used in the Guthenburg Bible, one of the first books printed in Europe.

This style of typeface is recognizable by its dramatic thin and thick strokes, and in some fonts, the elaborate swirls on the serifs. Blackletter typefaces are based on early manuscript lettering.

CHARACTER

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STUDIES

ather fittingly, the origins of the question mark are clouded in myth and mystery. One of the most appealing stories links the curve of the question mark to the shape of an inquisitive cat’s tail. This feline connection is either attributed to the ancient Egyptians (who were, of course, famed for their worship of cats), or to a monk who took inspiration from his curious pet cat, and included the symbol in his manuscript. A parallel story suggests that the exclamation mark derives from the shape of a surprised cat’s tail! Sadly, like many of the most charming and amusing origin stories, there is no evidence to back up this tale.

Another possibility links the question mark with the Latin word quaestio (‘question’).

Supposedly, in the Middle Ages scholars would write ‘quaestio’ at the end of a sentence to show that it was a question, which in turn was shortened to qo. Eventually, the q was written on top of the o, before steadily morphing into a recognisably modern question mark. However, just like our cat friends above, there is no manuscript evidence for this theory.

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The story accepted by most involves Alcuin of York, an English scholar and poet born in 735, who was invited to join the court of Charlemagne in 781. Once there, Alcuin became one of Charlemagne’s chief advisors, and wrote a great number of books, including some works on grammar.

In the early Middle Ages, punctuation was limited to a system of dots at different levels.

Recognizing the limitations of this system, Alcuin created the punctus interrogativus or ‘point of interrogation’. This mark was a dot with a symbol resembling a tilde or ‘lightning flash’ above it, representing the rising tone of voice used when asking a question. This new punctuation mark spread rapidly from the court of Charlemagne to other centres of learning. However, its use still remained haphazard, and it was often interchanged with the exclamation mark, or omitted entirely. It wasn’t until the 17th century that the question mark gained the familiar form and rules of use that we know today, and not until the mid-19th century that it first began to be referred to as a ‘question mark’.

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History of Futura

Futura is a geometric sans-serif typeface designed by Paul Renner and released in 1927. It was designed as a contribution on the New Frankfurt project.

It is based on geometric shapes, especially the circle, similar in spirit to the Bauhaus design style of the period. It was developed as a typeface by the Bauer Type Foundry, in competition with Ludwig & Mayer’s seminal Erbar typeface of 1926.

Futura has an appearance of efficiency and forwardness. Although Renner was not associated with the Bauhaus, he shared many of its idioms and believed that a modern typeface should express modern models, rather than be a revival of a previous design.

Renner’s design rejected the approach of most previous sans-serif designs (now often called grotesques), which were based on the models of signpainting, condensed lettering and nineteenth-century serif typefaces, in

favour of simple geometric forms: nearperfect circles, triangles and squares. It is based on strokes of near-even weight, which are low in contrast. The lowercase has tall ascenders, which rise above the cap line, and uses nearly-circular, single-storey forms for the “a” and “g”, the former previously more common in handwriting than in printed text.

The uppercase characters present proportions similar to those of classical Roman capitals.

The original metal type showed extensive adaptation of the design to individual sizes, and several divergent digitisations have been released by different companies.

Futura was extensively marketed by Bauer and its American distribution arm by brochure as capturing the spirit of modernity, using the German slogan “die Schrift unserer Zeit” (“the typeface of our time”) and in English “the typeface of today and tomorrow”. It has remained popular since.

S K E T C H

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B O O K

U B I Q U I T O U S

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T Y P E

biquitous Type

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ypography makes at least two kinds of sense, if it makes any sense at all. It makes visual sense and historical sense. The visual side of typography is always on display, and materials for the study of its visual form are many and widespread.

The history of letterforms and their usage is visible too, to those with access to manuscripts, inscriptions and old books, but from others it is largely hidden.

This book has therefore grown into something more than a short manual of typographic etiquette. It is the fruit of a lot of long walks in the wilderness of letters: in part a pocket field guide to the living wonders that are found there, and in part a meditation on the ecological principles, survival techniques, and ethics that apply.

The principles of typography as I understand them are not a set of dead conventions but the tribal customs of the magic forest, where ancient voices speak from all directions and new ones move to unremembered forms.

One question, nevertheless, has

The presence of typography both good and bad, can be seen everywhere.

been often in my mind. When all rightthinking human beings are struggling to remember that other men and women are free to be different,6 and free to become more different still, how can one honestly write a rulebook?

What reason and authority exist for these commandments, suggestions, and

instructions? Surely typographers, like others, ought to be at liberty to follow or to blaze the trails they choose.

Typography thrives as a shared concern - and there are no paths at all where there are no shared desires and directions. A typographer determined to forge new routes must move, like other solitary travellers, through uninhabited country and against the grain of the land, crossing common thoroughfares in the silence before dawn. The subject of this book is not typographic solitude, but the old, well- travelled roads at the core of the tradition: paths that each of us is free to follow or not, and to enter and leave when we choose - if only we know the paths are there and have a sense of where they lead.That freedom is denied

us if the tradition is concealed or left for dead. Originality is everywhere, but much originality is blocked if the way back to earlier discoveries is cut or overgrown. If you use this book as a guide, by all means leave the road when you wish. That is pre- cisely the use of a road: to reach individu- ally chosen points of departure. By all means break the rules, and break them beautifully, deliberately, and well. That is one of the ends for which they exist.

Letterforms change constantly, yet differ very little, because they are alive. The principles of typographic clarity have also scarcely altered since the second half of the fifteenth century, when the first books were printed in roman type. Indeed, most of the principles of legibility and design explored in this book were known and used by Egyptian scribes writing hieratic script with reed pens on papyrus in 1000 B.C. Samples of their work sit now in museums in Cairo, London and New York, still lively, subtle, and perfectly legible thirty centuries after they were made.

Writing systems vary, but a good page is not hard to learn to recognize, whether it comes from Tang Dynasty China, The Egyptian New Kingdom

typographers set for themselves than with the mutable or Renaissance Italy.

The principles that unite these distant schools of design are based on the structure and scale of the human body - the eye, the hand, and the forearm in particular - and on the invisible but no less real, no less demanding, no less sensuous anatomy of the human mind.

I don’t like to call these principles universals, because they are largely unique to our species. Dogs and ants, for example, read and write by more chemical means. But the underlying principles of typography are, at any rate, stable enough to weather any number of human fashions and fads.

It is true that typographer’s tools are presently changing with considerable force and speed, but this is not a manual in the use of any particular typesetting system or medium. I suppose that most readers of this book will set most of their type in digital form, using computers, but I have no preconceptions about which brands of

computers, or which versions of which proprietary software, they may use.

The essential elements of style have more to do with the goals the living, speaking hand - and its roots reach into living soil, though its branches may be hung each year with new machines.

So long as the root lives, typography remains a source of true delight, true knowledge, true surprise.

“Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form, and thus with an independent existence.”

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L O G O

S T A T I O N A R Y

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D E S I G N

666 Spitfire Rd Temecula, CA 66666 (666)666-6666 brodri6uez@desi6n.com

666 666 Spitfire Spitfire Rd Rd Temecula, CA Temecula, CA 66666 66666 brodri6uez@desi6n.com brodri6uez@desi6n.com (666)666-6666 (666)666-6666

Letterhead Envelope Business Card

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L O G O S

The Museum of Modern Typography

The Museum of Modern Typography

FW I E D E M K L Y

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WHAT’S GOING ON AROUND CAMPUS

APRIL 23 - MAY 4

INDUSTRY CLUB DIY AIR PLANTS We’re celebrating Earth Month!

Add more greenery to your apartment by decorating your own plant pottery to take home with you. Supplies will be provided.

Tuesday, April 24 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM Student Lounge Patio

SELF DEFENSE CLASS

Join PTK for this safety workshop led by Peace Over Violence.

Empowerment self-defense is a set of awareness, assertiveness, verbal confrontation skills, safety strategies, and physical techniques. These enable one to successfully prevent, escape, resist, and survive violent assaults. Sign up in Room 425.

Friday, April 27 11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Room 500

GIRL POWER DAY

LOOK BEHIND THE MAGAZINE

Interested in learning what it takes to put a magazine together?

Join FIDM MODETM Magazine for our first photoshoot of the quarter, a make-over!

Thursday. April 26 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Room 425

FIDM TOTE BAG CHALLENGE!

Looking for a way to get involved in MODE™ Magazine?

Here’s your chance to showcase your talent. MODE is looking for fun and creative designed FIDM Tote Bags to feature in their upcoming issue. Take the classic FIDM Tote and transform it with fabric, paint, patches, beads, rhinestones or anything that inspires you. 10 lucky winning designs will get chosen! Stop by Student Activities, Room 425 for more details to apply.

Sketches are due May 3.

Contest ends May 25.

PINKIES UP! AN EMAIL ETTIQUETTE WORKSHOP

Lost for words when you have to send a professional email?

No worries, we got you!

Join us for tea time and learn the unwritten rules of email etiquette to make the best impressions.

Tuesday, May 1 2:45 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Room 425

CELEBRITY FASHION DESIGNER

Intrested in being a fashion designer and entreprenuer?

Hear from celebrity designer, Walter Mendez, whose creations have been featured on celebrities like Beyonce, Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, Mel B, Jennifer Lopez, Camila Cabello and more.

Tuesday, April 24 2:45 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Room 425

Ladies! Let’s have a serious (and fun) chat about our bodies.

Remove the stigma that comes with being a woman.

Embrace your femininity and feel empowered with PTK. Who runs the world?!

You got what it takes, you just haven’t realized it yet. Learn impactful ways to let your confidence speak for you. Whether your’e asking someone out on a date, going to an interview, networking or asking for a raise, confidence is key.

Tuesday, May 1 11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Room 425

Wednesday, May 2 11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Room 425

STUDENT COUNCIL

CONFIDENCE WORKSHOP

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

DENIM DAY

Wear denim with a purpose, support survivors, and educate yourself and others about sexual assualt and rape! Sign our pledge to support survivors. #EndRapeCulture Wednesday, April 25, All Day

“MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU” MIXER

Attention Star Wars lovers!

Join us for this awesome mixer.

Watch one of the classics while enjoying refreshments and snacks. The best Star Wars inspired outfit will win a prize!

Friday, May 4 11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Room 425

GRADUATION

GRADUATES

June 2018 GRADS who benefited from the FEDERAL PERKINS LOAN, must complete an E-EXIT COUNSELING by the deadline: May 15, 2018. E-Exits are available online at: www.myloancounseling.com COMPLETION IS MANDATORY Failure to complete, will result in your DIPLOMA being held. If you have any questions, pleasecontact Evelyn Garcia at (213) 624-1200 ext 4292 egarcia@fidm.edu or stop by room 401-N.

CAP & GOWN DISTRIBUTION Wednesday, May 16 12:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Check in at Rotunda (1st Floor)

CARNIVAL

1:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. *RSVP REQUIRED at FIDMGRADCARNIVAL.RSVPIFY. COM

RESOURCES GET YOUR

NEED MONEY TO HELP PAY MONEY’S WORTH TUITION? Utilize the FIDM library If you are a student starting your 2nd, 3rd or 4th year, in the Summer Quarter of 2017 you may be eligible to receive a Scholarship from the FIDM Scholarship Foundation -ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS: -Cumulative GPA 3.0 -U. S. citizen or permanent resident.

-Currently employed or interning -INSTRUCTIONS & APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS -Meet with Student Advisor to obtain application in suite 401 - Now AvailableSubmit completed FIDM Scholarship Foundation Application to your Student Advisor including references and resume Don’t delay, schedule your appointment today!

ARE YOU WIRED?

Do you have access to your email, WiFi, Adobe, eLearning, FIDM Portal, and FIDMPrints? Make sure to check the FIDM Portal or visit either eLearning (Room 403) or the Annex Copy Center to make sure you are wired for FIDM Technology this quarter!

FIDM STORE: EARTH DAY!

In support of Earth Day, our reusable drinkware is 20% from April 23 - 27!

Celebrate a clean Earth and purchase a reuseable water bottle or tumbler at the FIDM Store.

STUDENT ADVISEMENT CURRENT INFORMATION Does FIDM have your most current address, phone number, and email address? If not, please go to the Student Advisement office, Rm. 401 to update your information. Thank you.

Attention All First Year 2nd Quarter Students!

Have you met with your Student Advisor?

If not, you need to schedule your appointment in room 401 as soon as possible to start planning for your 2nd yr.

and resources!

Stop by the Media Room to check out DVD feature films, documentaries, runway shows, and biographies! Also discover innovative textiles, review Vogue Magazines from 17 different countries, and MUCH MORE!

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Effective as of July 1, 2017, failed units will be subject to a $500 per unit charge (Example: 3 units =$1,500.00).

Please see Financial Services for further information.

CAREER CENTER

Indusrty Partnership on Wednesday, April 25 from 11:00 .am. - 2:30 p.m. in the Student Lounge Companies will be on campus to recruit for part time and interships positions in the Student Lounge. Come prepared to network and interview.

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATION FOR SUMMER & FALL 2018!

Look beyond your current AA degree

and consider your options to earn your Bachelor degree in: -Business Management -Apparel Technical Design -Design -Interior Design -Graphics -Digital Cinema -Social Media Come to Suite 401 to make an appointment today!

Now Accepting Applications For MBA For Summer 2018 (You need to have a Business Bachelor Degree) Contact Sang Pak in Student Advisement, Suite 401A, spak@fidm.edu, for more information.

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W

es Wilson, who is generally acknowledged as the father of the ’60s rock concert poster, was born Robert Wesley Wilson, on July 15, 1937, in Sacramento, California.

Wilson grew up without the special interest in art that is typical of most of his contemporary poster artists. Instead, he was more interested in nature and the outdoors, studying forestry and horticulture at a small junior college in Auburn, California.

He attended San Francisco State, but dropped out in 1963, where his major, at that time, had become philosophy.

Wilson’s first poster was self published.

Done in 1965, it has been nicknamed the “Are We Next?” poster. It notoriously features a swastika within an American flag motif, a protest by Wilson to the ever-increasing U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. It is a clear example of Wilson’s politics, and his willingness to speak out and be counted continues to this very day.

Wilson’s introduction to the Bay Area scene is an example of serendipity at its finest. The time was late 1965 and early 1966,

and the whole San Francisco alternative culture scene was just emerging. We then bring together Wes Wilson, who had a natural talent for art and an interest in printing, with Bob Carr, who had formed, in his basement, the small firm Contact Printing. Carr was in touch with the whole San Francisco beat poetry and jazz scene, which was now in the process of transforming itself. Wilson, who had become Carr’s assistant and partner, was doing the basic layout design for most of the work. The press also did handbills for the San Francisco Mime Troup fundraising benefits, the so-called ‘Appeal’ parties, as well as for the Merry Prankster Acid Tests. The Mime Troupe and the Acid Tests were linked to the emerging dance-hall scene through this series of benefit concerts, so it is no surprise that the new dance venues, like the Avalon Ballroom and Fillmore Auditorium, soon found their way to Contact Printing. Wilson designed the handbill for the first Trips Festival, now considered one of the seed events marking the advent of the emerging San Francisco scene. He also attended this event and was deeply moved by what he saw.

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Before long, Wilson was doing the posters for promoter Chet Helms — his shows at the Open Theater. It was Wilson who designed the original logo for the Family Dog. Helms went on to use him as the primary artist for Family Dog at the Avalon Ballroom. Soon he was doing that, plus posters for Bill Graham and the Fillmore Auditorium. After several months, Wilson stopped producing for the

“Wes Wilson single-handedly pioneered what is now known as the psychedelic poster.�

Family Dog venue and concentrated almost exclusively on posters for Bill Graham and the Fillmore events. He cites that with Chet Helms and the Avalon Ballroom, he was often given a theme around which he was asked to improvise, while with Bill Graham and the Fillmore, he was given complete freedom to design whatever he wanted. Wilson enjoyed the added artistic freedom.

Wilson is also reported to have been inspired by Alphonse Mucha, Van Gogh, Gustav Klimt, and Egon Schiele. Somewhere around this time, a friend showed him a copy of a 1908 poster done by the Viennese Secessionist artist, Alfred Roller. It contained an alphabet and lettering style quite similar to what Wilson had been doing and marked a direction toward which he aspired. It was not long before Wilson absorbed the Roller style, altering it to his own needs. What followed was an explosion of lettering creativity that changed the poster scene permanently.

Wes Wilson single-handedly pioneered what is now known as the psychedelic poster.

His style of filling all available space

with lettering, of creating fluid forms made from letters, and using flowing letters to create shapes became the standard that most psychedelic artists followed. It helped put the “psychedelic” in the art. The first clear example of this, and a key piece in Wilson’s history, was the poster BG18, done for a show with the Association at the Fillmore Auditorium. Set in a background of green is a swirling flame-form of red letters. With this poster came a new concept in the art, perhaps the first true ‘psychedelic poster.’

Then, in late 1966, Wilson created a poster for the Winterland venue that has been nicknamed “The Sound.” It combines two aspects of Wilson’s style that are unmistakable: his ability to fill all available space with vibrant, flowing

letters and his admiration and respect for the feminine form. In fact, this is one of a handful of posters from that era that are considered representative of the entire period. . . In this writer’s opinion, Wilson’s treatment of women and the feminine form is one of his most lasting contributions to the poster art of the sixties. Not deliberately erotic, his nudes never skirt pornography. Instead, his admiration and appreciation for the feminine form and all that it represents is clear. Wilson’s nudes are definitive.

In summary, it is safe to say that the psychedelic poster, as we have come to know it, was defined by Wes Wilson sometime in the summer of 1966. Wilson pretty much reigned supreme among the poster artists at that time. But, by mid 1967, there were any number of good artists, many of whom had cut their teeth on Wilson’s lettering and style. A disagreement with Bill Graham about what had been agreed to, as far as payment, led to Wilson resigning his tenure as the primary Fillmore poster artist. Fairness to him in these matters was a matter of principle. Wilson did his last poster for Bill Graham in May of 1967, although he continued to produce posters for a number of other venues, including several more for the Avalon Ballroom.

In 1968, Wilson was surprised to learn that he was to receive a $5000 award by the National Endowment for the Arts for “his contributions to American Art.” In fact, Wilson, who was considered a leader, if not the “key” artist, of the psychedelic poster scene, was also profiled in such major magazines as Life, Time, and Variety magazines. Wilson also created a new technique in enameling glass as art and developed a

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watercolor style, which was well received at his one-man show in San Francisco in 1973.

Then, in 1976, Wilson relocated his family to a cattle farm in the Missouri Ozarks.

With the publication of the, now classic, poster book, “The Art of Rock ,” Wilson was invited, in 1989, to exhibit his classic poster work at the Springfield Art Museum. The success of the resulting show, “Looking Back: Rock Posters of the 1960s by Wes Wilson,” rekindled Wilson’s interest in the poster scene and he went on to create and publish “Off The Wall™,” an in-depth journal on poster art and contemporary ideas.

The nine issues of this, now out-of-print, publication are eagerly sought after by poster enthusiasts. Wilson was also the executive producer of three Rock Art Expos — large poster conventions on the West Coast. Over the years, Wilson has also been featured in a number of gallery exhibits, both his classic and his contemporary works.

Today, Wes Wilson creates paintings, but still occasionally does new posters or new art of interest. He is in good health and has six children and ten grandchildren — so far.

He and his wife of over 40 years, Eva, who is now a doctor of psychology, are still living on their farm in southwest Missouri.

P O P !

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D E S I G N S

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Week 7 One typeface. Two sizes. One weight.

10 pt. Helvetica Neue Regular / Second size optional / Repetition of content allowed

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Week 8

One typeface. Open size. Open weight.

Repetition of content allowed / Different opacities allowed

picasso

literary journal

frank ocean

issue one

ayn rand

volume seven

lil peep

in this issue:

frida kahlo

Week 9 One typeface. Open size. Open weight.

Repetition of content allowed / Different opacities allowed / Color Allowed

F O N T S

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American Typewriter Cochin Copperplate Futura Gotham Helvetica Helvetica Neue Old London Times New Roman

Wes Wilson