VISUAL
THINKING THOMAS TYLER
Contents Page Content Pages 1. Typography as a semiotic resource 2. Examples of 3D models. 3. A experimentation 4. A Graphic design terms. 5. Typography 6. Acetate 7.Postcard 8. Perfect book binding 9. Lectures + Workshops 10. Evaluation
Letter Typography Task 1
2
Typography as a semiotic resource Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. In this project typography will play a role in semiotics. The task is to create a letter which is to be wall mounted. The letter can be upper or lower case. The letter we have been given is ‘A’ at 150mm high. The word must be based on terminologies related to the unit. ‘A’ is the first letter and vowel in the ISO basic Latin alphabet. It is similar to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The upper-case version consists of two more or less vertical lines, joined at the top, and crossed in their middle by a horizontal bar.
This is the upper case alpha and the lower case alpha. It derives from the Greek Alphabet.
A
the brief 150mm
0mm
Working in groups of two choose an initial letter from the following set and base on the terminology and glossaries contained within the brief create a word that is related to the unit - you can produce it in caps or lowercase. After careful planning and research you are required to design and make a three dimensional initial character that communicates the meaning of the word. The model can be made of found objects but must finally be wall mounted. The 3D structure can be made out of any material, as long as it’s photograph-able. It is important when bearing in mind the location of the material, and the materials life span. For example if we decided to carve into an apple overtime the apple would rot.
These are examples I have found of 3D models. The letters are hand made, and give me a guide to the sort of things that i could construct in the final outcome.
Apple Attractive
Antlers
Ash
Accessories
Attach
Alligator
Absorb
Anchor Atom
Aerosol
Mind Mapping Algebra
Antennas
Athletic Asian
Astronomy
Abacus
Anatomy Antelope
Arrange
Here are some examples of 3D lettering. The form of the type face is clearly very important, and little is changed to the shape of the letter in order to express the meaning or role of the word or effect. For example the X (top right) is clearly bold and has big impact this is mainly due to the type face chosen, therefore supporting the fact the type face is important to portray the message or meaning. Other details like the texture, colour add the rest of the impact.
L L I G AT O R Two typefaces for A. Photoshop (L) and oil painted (R).
L L I G AT O R The initial reason we chose to look at the word alligator is due to the similar shapes in which a sideways capital A compares with an alligator head.
E x p e r i m e n tat i o n
This was an experimentation in Photoshop. I followed a you tube video guide, to guide me through the process to create a shape out of words. In this case i used lots of A’s to make a big A.
Re-reading the Brief
After reading the brief again, I am more aware that the letter needs to be more related to typography and graphic design. Therefore i will do a mindmap focused on graphic design terms beginning with A.
Graphic Design terms Acetate
A sheet of clear plastic film fastened over the front of artwork for protection, as an overlay, or the like.
Anchoring
Securing metal printed plates on wooden blocks by using screws and pouring solder through drilled holes.
Arrow Head
Indicator shaped like an arrowhead and used at the end of a lead line to direct attention to an object or a point of reference.
Arithmetic
The branch of mathematics dealing with the properties and manipulation of numbers.
Apron
A
White space allocated in the margins of an engineering drawing for the protection of the drawing when rolled.
ARROW
HEAD I liked the idea of linking an arrow head with an A. The head links on a basic typographic level to the A already. In the way there are two diagonal lines which meet a point.
I transported the picture into illustrator and created a drawing of the photograph. I changed the inside circle into a triangle to convert the arrow head into more of a classic typographic A. I further continued this by extending the bottom corners into a more A like typeface.
Acetate
After finding this photo on google an immediate idea came to me. In a similar way this is done, i will leave spaces between the acetate which are connected to bulldog clips. Each acetate would have a specific section of an A.
Title: 3D Type BOOK Written by: Agathe Jacquillat and Tom Vollauschek I have used this 3D type book, for inspiration on how 3D design models can be made, the materials to use and some further visuals to help inspire my own ‘A’ model.
I have focused on the letter A in this book, however looking at the whole alphabet was useful.
These are some images from the book
People A I like the way this A uses 2 objects (in this case people) and the way in which they use another tool to create the letter form.
The photography is also soft and interesting due to the background.
I really like the way the most simplest shape of stone can be recognised as a letter. Having the letters in the order of the alphabet helps the viewer see the letter forms more clearly.
This is a page i found on the designer Stefan Sagmeister. The page is currently useful to me as I am currently working on an essay including his work.
This A has huge impact, due to the size of the sculpture. I must bear in mind scale due to the size of my piece has to be 150mm high, but i can scale this down using photography and photo editing.
I have looked through this book, in order to get some ideas of how my letter will take form. The font is a powerful tool. The font can help exaggerate the word i am trying to portray. I want to use the word acetate, and will look in here for inspiration for the most suitable type face.
These were very inspiring images in the book. The letter form of the A appealed to me and my partner. The layers resembled the acetate layers idea which we came up with. It is very simimlar to how we invisioned the final out come to look like if we were to layer it on paper. The simplicity of the letter form is aesthetically pleasing.
Font List Looking a the list of fonts available there are many types which I could use for my letter form.
As i have said previously, the font can help portray the meaning of he word with greater impact. The font can also control and shape the way the whole design is completed.
I have looked into this book for inspiration on layout on postcards. I have selected some examples of the ones which i feel have a good blend of a single photograph and a small amount of text.
WHAT HAVE I LEARNed FROM THE RESEARCH? Looking through this book, there are many images which have inspired me to create an interesting A sculpture.
I have realised that the most exciting ideas have come by thinking outside the box. I have seen that the images that appeal to me most, is something bold and different. However i also am aesthetically attracted to pictures which have a contemporary style. When the 3d image is photographed it is obvious that the lighting and photography has to be good, in order to do the sculpture justice to what its trying to achieve.
Font Experimentation
A
AAAAA A OCR A Std
Orniste Tbf
Onyx
Oriya MN
Poplar Std
Nexa Bold
AAAAAA
Monaco
Minion Pro
Modern No. 20 MS reference Sans Serif Marker Felt Microsoft Yi Baiti
A
AA AAAA Helvetica
KG Tangled Up in You Helvetica (LO)
Helvetica (R)
Helvetica (O)
Helvetica
AAAAAA
Lucide Grande
Abadi MD
Lucida Calligraphy
Lucida Bright
Ariaal Regular
Noteworthy
What is acetate? Acetate film and sheet from Grafix速 is a cast cellulose acetate polymer film. It is an excellent general purpose plastic which is an industry standard in graphic arts, packaging, printing, overlays, and many other applications. Both di- and tri- acetate are available, however di- acetate is a more widely stocked film.
Process Firstly we bought acetate sheets, permanent marker, bull dog clips and string. Then we printed 4 different sizes of helvetica A on to A4. We traced over the lines on to the acetate. We faced problems like alignment and smudging. Once we had drawn around the letters we clipped them to string. We then took photos in different lightings.
We chose to use a simple font of Helvetica regular. It allowed us to overlap layers without confusion.
Single sheets
O p a c i t y Using photoshop, i investigated how the outcome would look with layers of single sheet photographs. I created a multiple layer image, by experimenting with the opacity settings.
Final outcome
Post Card Designs
Final Postcard
Letters in the landscape Task 2
These are some photos our group took in Poole. I will edit the ones i see potential in and use them to help produce the layout for the book.
Edited Photos These are some of the edited photos that i produced. I used the following techniques: - Clipping mask, paint brush, to blur selected areas - Cropping tool - Clone tool -Adjustments, levels, colour balance.
Perfect Book
Binding.
The process of perfect book binding. The process is relatively simple. I started by opening the clamp and putting in 2 sheets of scrap white paper in the sides. Then we placed the trimmed sheets containing the photos squarely into it. We then turned the clamp upside down and spread pva glue into the spine of the pages using a stippling effect. We left for 6 hours. We then Glued a thicker paper cover to the spine, first and last sheets.
Lectures Ooo Ahhh Umm. Intro - Our relationship with objects and how we respond to and give value to ‘things’ how our aesthetic judgements and purchase decisions relate to consumer culture. This was a probably the most interesting and useful lecture to me. The lecture was a bout taste. I was informed that people have different tastes to what is good and what is bad. Which led on to what is good and bad design? We were asked to call out a piece of bad design that we could think of. This was surprisingly hard to instantly think of something. However eventually i thought of the hard case packaging on useful tool items and gadgets. To some people the iphone was a good piece of design, and to some people bad. This shows how differently people can perceive things. Opinions and taste can be about every single bit of design. Not everyone will like it, but if its good it should highly appeal to your target audience. It started to make me consider how i would change some designs, and whether i could do a good job.
The lecture also made me think how feel i when some people don’t like my designs. the lecture also asked the question, how important is the design you use everyday? The lecture explained how the quality of design and aesthetics can change depending on wether the object was batched prouced or made single handed.
Propaganda
Cinematic Bodies
It is the organised promotion of information to assist or damage the cause of a government or movement‘
I didn’t find this lecture useful, i found the subject matter confusing most of the time. However the lecture did open my mind up slightly, to learn that these deep situations to exist. One part of the lecture i found most engaging, was when talking about the film alien. Since I had seen this lecture before i understood more about what the lecturer was saying about how its intreguing that the notion of a man giving birth. Although to an alien, there is still this odd idea that a man has this creature leaving its body. There is this idea of body mateiral decaying, which interupts a continuous line in our lives. For example a nose bleed can interupt our natural lives. However i didnt understand much about what this is do with fine art.
A variety of propaganda techniques are used to influence opinions and to avoid the truth. Often these techniques rely on some element of censorship or manipulation, either omitting significant information or distorting it. Some techniques on country propaganda use icons, national flags, and anthems to exaggerate patriotism. Repetition helps meta size the delusion repeat the message and spread the word. The lecture helped me understand what propaganda was, and how many varieties and techniques can be used.
Workshops Illustration - Explosive drawing This was one of the most experimental, expressive days of my university life. I found the experience fun and relaxing. I learnt that some of the most experimental marks can work the best. I also learnt that working in big spaces is a challenge to fill, and often the best pieces around were the largest and boldest. Throughout the room, it felt competative to create the most striking image. I thought that if someone had covered the entire space with a very basic image that would have got the largest response. This made me think that in desgin it is a competative world and is about standing out for the right reasons. A successful designer would be the one to produce work which creates the largest response.
My work is the face behind the black paint.
Ceramics workshop Cafe This was a very fun experience for me. In a cafe in Bournemouth, i painted on this pottery plate using cermic paints. The process was relatively simple however the application of paint on to the plate statred thin. To create a greater consistancy i added more layers. Once i was finished with my design and painting, the plate was placed into a kiln.
Before
After I was really happy and suprised with how the design came out. The colours became so much more vivid. The pot really stands out, and the plate has a nicer texture.
For The Love Of Graphics On Monday the 17th of February we held an exhibition for the love of graphics. It involved each member of the course bringing at least one item, if not a collection.
Evaluation Overall the second unit was a succesful one for me. If i were to do the whole unit again, i would attend a workshop each week. I am pleased with the typography letter, and the perfect book binding. I also like the poster i did for the Graphics exhibtion. I found the lectures interesting and useful. I have paricularly been inspired to become more knowledgable about graphic design, and i feel have confidently chosen the right course to attend.