piece
bit
scrap
fragment
snippetz particle
shred
excerpt
extract
seminar participants
peter bain
ernest bernhardi
jason dilworth
an enjoyable struggle
alex egner
maria fabrizio
feifei fan
bret hansen
carissa henriques
meena kahlili
eric karnes
so hee kwon
hye jin park
joshua reese
allison schumaker
murphy zhang
snippets: experiments in visible language and typography visual communication seminar spring, 2009
graphic design department virginia commonwealth university instructor: rob carter
begin now the process of scribbling down gems blurted by your grandmother, the server in the restaurant, the menu, the overheard comment of a stranger. jot down irresistible blurbs from books you are reading, movies you are viewing, the newspaper, the news station. be aware of the flood of visual ephemera surrounding you and extract idiomatic and enigmatic phrases that are strangely mundane and weirdly sublime. by the end of the semester you will have collected an abundance of snippets, hundreds in fact, a collection of signs reflecting contemporary culture.
on a weekly basis, make one or more typographic explorations based on your collection of snippets, discover new connections between form and content (syntactics and semantics). challenge your current methods and practices; fearlessly seek to break rules, to walk a thin line between success and failure. develop and expand your typographic voice. lead the way in expanding the role and potential of typographical language.
easy plateau
the internet will provide primary resources for the seminar. each participant is responsible for researching, identifying, and sharing discovered resources that take the form of web sites, on-line articles, blogs, etc. nothing is too obscure. these findings will serve as our seminar “textbook,� offering contexts and departure points for discussions and critiques.
peter bain
rated PG-13
the task of sharing
leaves less room for lies
truth becomes discourse
3
last semester is a total freakout no matter what
4
move on + move forward he knew he was talking to himself he did not stop type through a sheet of melting ice / richmond, va / outside temp -11째 C /
jason dilworth the imagination is a process
2009_1_16 / 23:29
a day is like a thousand years Gridnick
time feels like a tyrant Why is bad taste ubiquitous?
eric karnes 5
drawing is everyone's first language Pretty dirty
what’s he building in there? tech noir
this is today type specimens
ernest bernhardi
time gets thinner and thinner and thinner murphy zhang
truth is just a collection of stories and lies
most people
bad nights lead to better days
murphy zhang
I'm having a chicken crisis
you'll miss what is ahead if you keep looking back
6
it's dependence from England
I'll see you when I see you
hard candy
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feifei fan
do your children know their phone number?
you smell like syrup
poor kids eat breakfast at school crack babies: the epidemic that wasn't peanut plant was cited for violations the myth of rampant teenage promiscuity
life is jiong
carissa henriques
7
alex egner
the empty promised land
cheating for bikes Entertainers are phonies!
an enjoyable struggle
double moist molesting his keyboard
maria fabrizio 100% evil
how many stadium pals were in use amongst a crowd that size? 8 he did the only thing a sane man can do in a case like this
The Japanese girl
?
bret hansen
back
volcano
who jumped into the
to make it trying
,
she
was
the japanese girl who jumped into the volcano the awfulness of billy joel love for the common people
it's virtually leak free
contempt thesis
the crazy spiritual odyssey of ol' dirty bastard 9 sugar and spice
mcdonald's is loving this recession fictional moldovan soccer phenom
meena kahlili gearshift movie ...will struggle if he has no corporeal being
family record
like a fluffy ball of yarn
10 allison schumaker
we were their sons. it was our job to love them so hee kwon hye jin park
paradise remembered the rare occurrence of the expected student-teacher hook-up epidemic
what big pants?
a nagging fear
to experience is to learn
objects in the mirror
the blue widow
joshua reese
goof balls mean death
we want to help you, detroit
duties, pleasures and conflicts palmsize april wind
Do a common thing uncommonly well
nothing could be smoother pursuit type
kill all flies! they spread disease for men of modern proportions
you have to exercise rebellion
danger is his actual middle name
tolerance and curiosity hitting the right note
eyes fixed on the horizon eyes fixed on the horizon fuzzy front-end the last stocks standing did you hear? they dropped the new gotham. . .three weights Scatterplot!
so fresh and so clean. typographic sin mile markers seem to call my name and say, "you're safer now�
ignored beauties
joshua reese
we want to help you, detroit
garbage does not lie
the listener can ultimately become is his own composer looters
help beautify junkyards: throw something lovely away today 13 kickin' it old school
14
the safety of objects
peter bain
"the scripture tells us [hear, oh israel,
in a voice of fire in a voice of glaciers in a voice of sand
the lord is our god; the lord is one.] and you are loving to everyone you have made
more less than more feminine marvelous & tough
birthday pants
birthday shirt
sex with strangers
birthday book meena kahlili
15
a great big bipartisan love fest
the gates of 'yes'
carissa henriques
bret hansen
sugar, alcohol and meat s
school boys keep it up all night i loved every lead-laced second of it
blue ribbon lawyers a thimble - a signifying symbol we could be like some virginia woolf couple that don't want to be together no more uh-oh! plutonium!
it's like living In the middle of the ocean 16
grade A fancy
allison schumaker 17
all wool and a yard wide
if looks could kill, i'd be 6 feet underground cookies and music how are your eyebrows? big dog. little porch cornflower blue is slummin' it in the 64-pack
18 reading A Small Book Meant For A Large Field / richmond, VA / 10째 C / 2009_1_23 / 11:23
jason dilworth
a small book meant
for a large field
19
jogging in place!: as in watch what the f#*k! i am doing, I AM JOGGING IN PLACE! i have never actually been to the library
it’s better
joshua reese
leak free
alex egner
eye connection
murphy zhang
fated to pretend
joshua reese
ernest bernhardi
churn burn yearn
apple polisher basin state chin music discovery every tub should stand on its own bottom forty miles from nowhere gee whiz haul in one's horns it never rains but it pours june grass know enough to go in when it rains lizard face make eyes nothing but trouble one damned thing after another pure as gold
20
used cars eric karnes
why am I wearing red? there is no reason
it is so simple
speaking in tongues
this is the place
up and about
vernal
hye jin park
23
word of wisdom
x's and o's
place is deeply imprinted on the soul
filled
so hee kwon
everyone can understand them, perhaps not intellectually, but from experience
zion obama
rush the season
you've got another guess coming
feifei fan 24
fitting service available
eric karnes
25
declare independence
where i am from
Declare IndependenceDeclare
truth is just a collection of stories and lies maria fabrizio
obamaeffect
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more than 50 plant species have been named for him, and he was one of the world's leading experts on bromeliads, the plant family to which the pineapple belongs
26
the dead speaketh
to do things like download songs and send text messages fuzzy conundrum danger is his actual middle name!
murphy zhang
exotic bird
Roof Ducks
Frac Trucks
did you hear the mouse dragging the bag of marbles around the house last night?
allison shumaker
arrivederci
27
random acts of onomatopoeia
travel is play
you have to exercise rebellion to refuse to take the rules to see every day, every year, as a challenge
hye jin park
to refuse your own successes
to live your life on a tight rope
mi llamo
the cold barfies government mandated digital transformation 100% pure organic technology
every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it
28
did he realize he was going to die?
carissa henriques
experimental typography
injured?
alex egner to break the rules, one must have a clear understanding of the rules they are breaking. this statement has always bothered me, for some unknown reason
explorative typography
exploitive typography
iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m open
murphy zhang
as indicated by their symbols being displayed in slant bold font the rules of typography are not that grounded ignorance maybe bliss, but intentional avoidance is blisser from type radio to live life on the edge
`
29
fraktur typefaces will be more frequently requested by customers be conscious of excessive bubble wrap. hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is one. [originally as] sent from my iPhone dramaturg: oliver conant 354 west 45th street, NYC either way we are definitely (if not extremely) interested! developing contemporary craft-based industries around bamboo deicing pad thirty-five years prepaid ticket black clothing from these data you may vote for four (4) candidates only from these data, binary fonts for the end-user are compiled as the last step in the font production process
30
the frailties of the equipment
subtle power of stereotypes
don't mourn quite yet for books
33
structure must be specific
maria fabrizio
josh reese
transit advocates held a mock funeral warmer climate also is causing expansion of the ocean miley gives up her porsche long derided as a game that rarely lives up to its hype terrible towels if not, we may wait until fall chruchmarketingsucksdotcom grand urban rules de quoi suis-je responsable en tant que graphiste ? of what am I responsible as a graphic designer? hockey-loving overlords
like za riddle
hyejin park
my soiled teenage girlfriend
confirmed for American and European release
clusterfuck
34
everything must right its course
the value of life has changed
joshua reese
who doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like a good ambigram?
1. experiment
3. scientific comparison 2. evaluation to see if experiment successful
meena kahlili
it provides an official channel through which the person can be approached garbage does not lie so fresh & so clean meena kahlili
imagination is a process maria fabrizio
35
allison shumacher
in 9 of 20
peter bain more than 50 plant species have been named for him, and he was one of the world's leading experts on bromeliads,
36 the pineapple belongs
the plant family to which
jason dilworth
ignorance is bliss
capturing falling letterforms on three sheets of canson paper / richmond, VA / -3째 C / 2009_2_05 / 19:42
i can't wait to shop for panties that have more square footage than a pool cover! 37
jason dilworth avoiding any sort of acknowledgment is blisser
four hundred univers characters + fan + 1 sheet of canson paper / richmond, VA /-3째 C / 2009_2_5 / 22:56
rushes season at belle isle
rushes season at belle isle / richmond, VA / 5째 C / 2009_1_25 / 15:25
after splash, nerves, and comedy i think i may need a bathroom break? is this possible? a mirror with a memory equidistant lines that never meet midnight cowboy inauguration mugs spiritual path to sobriety the myth of rampant teenage promiscuity no longer listed as "single"
38
bret hansen
moving targets
39
"place" is deeply imprinted on the soul
still waters run deep
for me, a travel is play
key to success
nsa fun (no strings attached fun)
a strange abstract space becomes a meaning-filled, concrete place
i have vague left-wing sympathies if you can dream, you can do it
joshua reese
new york joshua reese
success is not final, failure is not final: it is the courage to continue that counts 40 the best and most beautiful things in life cannot be seen, not touched, but are felt in the heart
i braved designer scorn
a great big bipartisan love fest
â&#x20AC;&#x153;designing Design"
cutting teeth
43
no man is an island
this is your signal
a scratch in the cd
we guarantee the quality of this product
in 1984, i was hospitalized for approaching perfection
almost cut my hair
go cry on someone else's shoulder
addict the worst prison would be a closed heart
ernest bernhardi
better late than never
tall ! decaf ! cappuccino!
monkey!?
44
success is not the key to happiness
that's all
if you love what you are doing, you will be successful
a traditional watch shows a 'landscape', it tells a story; a digital watch only shows a particular moment
what a git i am the ride dust my broom you can't call it cheating, because she reminds me of you there are only two things in life, but i forget what they are midnight cowboy
tiny mouse architects
jason dilworth
cu of poster series for the mouse architects / richmond, VA /-8째 C / 2009_2_5 / 20:54
coming at me like torpedoes
45
maria fabrizio
the year of the ox a rugged paradise moral de- and reconstruction money for nothing mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?
ernest bernhardi
they speak in a different way
a soul blackened
hyejin park
46
we are tormented by noise of various kinds
maria fabrizio
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collard greens, but damn if they aren't good for you
put your junk in your trunk!
feifei fan
a very self-deprecating humor
eight Is enough
it's not easy
47
sohee kwon
and Filling late and or paying late.
peter bain
target 2030 for carbon neutral buildings
filing late and/or paying late
o
john 8:44
could not open
ao are f Dvil evil vil
cutting teeth
ernest bernhardi
joshua reese
i'm out of gas
re u yo
o
t
the devil r father your u fa e
he t a t
what's old may be new
did anyone tell you how to gracefully joshua reese disappear in a room?
cos me t i cs
48
feifei fan
cosmetics
49
if anyone calls, i'm not here waste makes haste and, or
sohee kwon what a mess
not exactly
hyejin park 50
the connection between two smart energy
i don't want your apology â&#x20AC;&#x201C; i want you to be sorry
so, help me God!
i always believe you!
based on the votes of children
stars barely, but still orion
bret hansen
53
words i can't take back wings so denied the fragile, eggshell mind
into this world we're thrown mark of the beast the tone has changed
a drop of cream, a good scream, a new year i'm out of gas free, but without a home
the idiot on my shoulder anything else? it's always warm somewhere
P
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Petit I
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petit
i'll provide the caveat sunken lust it was there in her arms, he let his cautiousness slip
54
feifei fan
at the age of three I cut off my pigtails. viva la revolution presently in the past shaping our tools after they've shaped us
tragic beauty
anemic typography
meena kahlili a cool, jeweled moon
55
gangling neural nooks
christine...not coffey
anyone who can mix slaughter and screwdrivers is a genius-The Boston Herald ernest bernhardi
not only have we spoken in same pace but also in same language 56 strange stones make the neighbor jealous-really really jealous
post-modern modernism cctv says sorry for the fireworks 57
murphy zhang things which are very, are every thing
neither coming or going
58
design wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t save the world
the life/death loop/circle thing the fire didn't scream "symbolism" advancing in space colloquiums at floyd simply sophomoric wait, we're studying what's been done we're moving backwards towards the middle ages the parachute scene falling on a beautiful day bleeding balls at basle thick words resonating to the edge of ears african drumbeat scores
peter bain
type blocks and strings of sequence a layer of music picking the perfect scene to experience the interior minister of form the topography of experience economic tsunami elephant upstairs blagojevich sample sale new york is like being born again hairy candy cigarette tax
carissa henriques
chubby chasers
58
all night I lay on my pillow and pray for my boss to stop me in the hallway, lay my head on his shoulder and say, â&#x20AC;&#x153;son, I've been hearing good thingsâ&#x20AC;?
lead to better days 60
maria fabrizio if you sold me an egg, i could give you a chicken great people know great people
lead to better days ys what's the use of being legible, when nothing inspires you to take notice of it?
i'm sorry I ever filled the sugar bowl with salt
you tear yourself apart
alex egner the value of living has changed
i didn't vote for the S.O.B.
canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t walk under it
letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s climb up it
63
savignon fierce, freaking out
we were shooting at a mountain of dirt