Kate Moross

Kate Moross is one of my favourite typographers, her work has a really lively and modern feel, and her style is quite similar to mine in that it is quite abstract and there is a lot going on. I really like the piece above, created as an advert for a health and beauty firm, I like the way that she has used negative space to create a stroke around the words that create her picture, and also the way that she has used a black background where most people who make calligram's would use a white or coloured background, this contrasts with the white outline, creating a precise image.

This typography in this piece I think is really interesting, I like it because all of the different layers of colour make it quite diverse. Also I really like the way that the outline around the outside of the image isn't a perfect square but is instead an abstract shape.

This is the piece by Kate Moross that I think is most relevant to this project, because the way that she's used the things that scare people to make up the letters is quite subtle, for example the way she used the tentacle to make the letters s and u in issue as one joined up letter, rather than maybe using two separate objects for each letter. I also like the way that parts of the image are 3D and other parts are 2D

Joshua Scott

Joshua Scott is a typographer who I briefly stumbled across during my last project, while I was researching Vladimir Koncar, he uses the same style and technique but often on a larger scale using small objects. The piece above called Toy Alphabet is really interesting, I like the way that the small objects creates a really cool texture on the letters. Also the way that he outlines the first three letters, is because that is the way that you learn the alphabet as a child, and the use of very bold, the vibrant colours of the toys are really fascinating and beautiful, and the overlapping of the toys has led to high contrast. It would be really interesting to use different assorted objects to create an alphabet of my own, since my last alphabet was good but could've used some improvement, but was also really enjoyable to create.

David Carson

In this post I am concentrating on the work of David Carson, and extremely talented contemporary illustrator and typographer, who has done a huge amount for the graphic art community, his work in the grunge scene is legendary, and he is one of the most famous graphic designers of all time. The piece above is a prime example of his work, it uses a black and white theme, and really fascinating textures in the typography, and contrasting levels.

 I think the piece above is really interesting, I like the way that it takes a while to read and understand it,  and the chaos of it really triggers your mind to try to understand it, it would be interesting to experiment with word placements, and separating words into different layouts. I think that this piece is really important to the current project because it is almost like a code and is quite subtle. Also the font that he uses almost reminds me of a typewriter, and the background texture looks like the kind of paper they would use in the 1920s.

David Carson continues to impress me with almost every piece of his that I find, I love the complex shapes around the letters of his name. I really like the way that the white in the image is not actually quite white, its a creme, and the way that the drips fall upwards almost suggest a reverse of what is normal, and the way that the line between the black and the white is faded is really brilliant.

This is one of the covers of the magazine Raygun, designed by David Carson. I really like the typography of the title, and the irregularities in the title are really punk and interesting. The title Inspired me to create the 'damned' title for my own magazine, I really like the way that the typography on the left side of the page is some of my favourite bands, and I love the styling of the photography, its so grunge its brilliant.

Magazine Project Evaluation

1. Write an explanation of your brief - what did you have to do? How did you come up with the ideas for this project? 

The brief for my magazine project was to create a culture magazine that would be printed and presented as a professional outcome. To come up with the ideas for my project, I experimented with different layouts and decided which layouts would be best for my magazine, having taken inspiration from the magazines I have read and enjoyed reading.

2. Write about the creative 'journey' of the project - how did the project and ideas evolve from start to finish through experimentation and research?

At the beginning of the project I had quite limited ideas about what style or aspect of culture I should focus on. Because of this I created a culture mind map for my magazine, covering music, fashion, travel and food, and I tried to bring out ideas that would help me develop my project to a professionally styled magazine. I decided that I should stick to one of my main interests which is music, more specifically punk music. From this point I decided to not only focus on punk music but also integrate aspects of punk culture from different time periods/areas. Still struggling with inspiration for this topic I created a MoodBoard about punk, the images for which I sourced from Google images. At this point all of my creative juices were flowing, and I felt inspired to create an attractive, professional image, and started developing my ideas for each aspect of the magazine; for example the title, the front page image and so on.

3. Who inspired your final outcomes? - You MUST talk about who has inspired your work - include images and links where possible. 

My final outcomes where inspired by many different sources. I used inspiration from underground punk 'zines' for the layout and general black and white theme of my magazine. I also used inspiration from Oscar Wilson for my Front page image, from his work on calligrams for london tourism and images, and I used a lot of the inspiration

4. What do you think you have done well? What has worked? Are you happy with your final outcomes?

5. What do you think you could have improved in your final outcome? - you need to talk about something, nobody is perfect!

6. Conclusion - overall how did you find the project? Would you like to use any of the skills or techniques in the future?

Magazine Front Page image

For the front page of my magazine I needed an original image. I considered who my target audience would be, and I decided that the majority of people who would be reading my magazine would be boys that are interested in punk culture, punk music and punk girls, because of this I decided to mix all of these ideas together, and I planned to photograph an attractive punk girl, wearing punk fashion clothing,  and use the image for the front cover. However, while I was touching up the image, I realised that it would look better if it was more artistic, integrating my previous work (inspired by Oscar Wilson) and turning my photo into a calligram using photoshop. While creating the image, I realised I really liked the Contrast between the diverse colours of the photograph, and the bold, blocky colours of the typography and I decided to leave gaps in the typography to leave some texture in the image. I then added the same background texture as will be in the magazine.

'Unedited Photo'

'Edit Part 1'

'Edit Part 2'

'Edit Part 3'

'Edit Part 4'

'Fin'

This is the finished piece, the way that it will look on the cover of my magazine, except without the magazine title, and any featured articles.

Layout Analysis

Matthew Midgley

 Matthew Midgley is a contemporary artist who works with mixed media. This piece, called Swedish Meatballs & Gravy I find really interesting, as the contrast between the lettuce and the chips and the lindon berries, really brightens up the top half of the image. He used a fineliner to create a stroke around the illustration, and watercolours to add in the colours.

This image of the converse all star trainer has some really interesting textures. I really like the denim-esque texture of the canvas, and the texture of the laces is also quite subtle but adds a lot to the image. I find his use of fine liners to create a really precise stroke really interesting. His illustrations, in contrast to the explosive, expressive work of Georgina Luck, is generally quite neat and precise

Georgina Luck

Georgina Luck is a contemporary illustrator, who works with inks and pencil drawing, to create images of everyday items, with a vibrant twist. I really like her use of fairly simple, bold colours as it makes the images almost jump out of the page. I find the way that she has used negative space to create the text on the label, in the lyle's golden syrup piece really interesting, because it gives the font a slightly abstract edge.

 I really like this HP sauce piece to the right because it is quite 'sketchy' and it really gave me an idea of the flavour of the sauce. The loose styling also reminds me of a fried breakfast, sputtering grease from a pan.

I really like this piece of the christmas pudding, because its really explosive and abstract. I really like the effect she has created on the holly leaves because as much as its abstract and not entirely within the lines, it is really fresh. The christmas cake itself is really colourful, with many different hints of flavour being suggested.

Review

1. Which materials and techniques have you experimented with during the typography project? 

I have experimented with various media such as; Watercolours, Acrylic Paint, Photography, Photoshop Design, Illustrator Design, Pencil Drawings, Food, Objects and Bleaching. I have used various different techniques so far in this project such as; Masking, Differing brush styles, Recreating Brush strokes and different inking styles using photoshop, experimenting with creating type phases using everyday objects and food, I have experimented with bleaching strips of clothing with use of stencils, I have experimented with clipping masks in photoshop, and I have used Transfers to see the way my work in photoshop would look on fabric.

2. Have you explored and developed your ideas imaginatively? How have you demonstrated this? (give examples, link to posts or include images) 

3. Have you research a diverse range of artwork and completed this on your blog? who have you analysed? is you analysis in-depth? (again give examples and link to posts) 

4. Have you explored a range of ideas around the theme of 'Sayings and Expressions' within your experiments? What are they? How have they informed your ideas?

5. Have you refined / developed your outcomes through experimentation? How? 

6. Have you annotated, in detail, your experiments and developments on your blog and used this information to help you improve? 

7. Which techniques / experiments have been most successful? Why?

8. Which techniques / experiments have been least successful? Why?

9. Which techniques / experiments will you be developing further for your final outcome? Why? 

10. What else can you do to further develop the techniques / experiments you want to use for your final outcome? 

M&M Paris Experimental Typography

M&M Paris is the business of a french pair of graphic designers and photographers, Michael Amzalag & Mathis Augustyniak. They specialise in typography made out of people. This piece to the left however, is made out of various Prada goods. Titled 'The Pradalphabet' I really like the abstract affect generated by the the curves and twirls of all of the goods. I uploaded it because I think it is a really interesting font and really caught my eye when I was looking through his work.

This piece to the right is really interesting, I like the way the artists have written 'The Alphabet' and the way it is right aligned, as it makes you stop to think what it says. Their use of positive space is quite nice and I've decided to make an experiment to try to recreate one of the letters. My favourite letter is the 'T' as it has got a very interesting shape. I also really like the 'E' because it has a really cool, snake  like shape.

My Response

To create this piece, I used a photo of myself, taken on Photobooth, and dragged it into photoshop, and Desaturated it. Once I had done this I adjusted the threshold, making it vividly black and white. I then adjusted the brightness and contrast of the image to get the right effect. After this I opened the Type tool in a layer above the desaturated black and white image, and wrote my chosen letter (an "e") in size 800pt Myriad Pro. I placed it into an appropriate position and then dragged the layer below the unlocked background. When I had done this I created a clipping mask, placed it appropriately, and softened some of the corners.

I really like the way that at the top of the e, where the hair is the bleached spots in my hair have given a really good spiky effect. Another interesting effect I like is the stubble on my chin. I think that the whole piece has a quite gritty feel. My use of negative space here was quite good so I might try and recreate it.

FOOD TYPOGRAPHY

My Food Typography Experiment

 

I created this piece of food typography by writing nutty, out of peanut butter using my fingers on A4 paper, I tried to create a smooth rounded affect with my finger, but it didn't work particularly well, and it ended up being quite uneven. One thing I really liked about the final product is the way that the moisture in the peanut butter added a stroke around the entire thing and the use of a good stroke around something can be really effective. 

Ed Ruscha

Ed Ruscha is an American born, Artist based in Culver City, California. He was born in 1937 in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where he lived from 1941 to 1956 when he moved to Los Angeles where he studied art at university. He has worked in various different media, painting some of work while drawing other pieces. He also uses photography to depict the monotony of urban life. He has been the subject of multiple museum exhibitions.

I really like the way that he has used the texture of the strawberry seeds in this piece to the left called Ripe, and the deep colour of the strawberry juice to make it fit so well. one of the things that I find interesting about this piece is the abstract shape of the letters give it an organic and home grown feel. the greenish yellow, dull background really brings the vibrance in the word out.
http://www.edruscha.com

I think this piece on the right, named Hope is really interesting because it shows a very different side to Ed Ruscha's work, because it is very much more conservitive, and precise. I like his use of such a small-serif font, as it adds a sense of fragility to the letters which represents the fragility of our hopes. His use of colours is interesting because the beige background shows a subtle dullness, showing how we all hope for everyday things, but maybe should hope for more extraordinary things.. I included this piece because it ties in with the use of negative space with typography by Hennie Hamworth (see September 2011).

Experimental Object typography

Vladimir Koncar

I think that this experimental object typography titled typography hurts because its simple, clever and quite bold, its laid out in a very professional manner. This piece was created using a font created by Vladimir Koncar as part of his experimental cactus type, which he made by taking photos of cacti arranged into the shape of letters against a piece of paper.

'I have never found a Four Leaf Clover'
Vladmir Koncar

'I Hate Condoms'

Vladmir Koncar

My Response

I did this piece of object typography by using Jenga pieces to spell out the word Jenga, I found the fact that the pieces say Jenga on them as well quite interesting as the way I have placed the pieces, the words on the pieces are shaped to spell out Jenga.

To make this piece I took the change from my pocket and counted it and used the change to write out the exact price of the money, I attempted to create a Pound sign but did not have enough change to write out that and still create the number. The 9 is entirely made of 1 pence pieces and is 9 pence, the 8 is entirely made of 20 pence pieces, and the 4 is made of the rest of the coins. To have improved this piece I would have created the pound sign out of change as well, made it bigger, and made the pounds number out of pound coins and used a two pound coin for the decimal place.

Watercolour Experimental Typography

Natsuki Otani

"This Medicine" - Natsuki Otani

I really like this piece of hand made type by Natsuki Otani, it was made by defining the outlines of the letters with a pencil, using a wet brush with no paint to fill the inside and then dripping ink into the water. I have done two responses to this piece, one in Photoshop and one by hand, to try to experiment with different methods of illustration. I prefer the Hand made piece to the one done on Photoshop because it has a much more makeshift and interesting feel to it, and the Photoshop Piece is almost too correct for my liking.

"I'm so happy today" - Natsuki Otani

Natsuki Otani is a Tokyo-born, England-based Artist, who specializes in Hand-made Illustration with Mixed media, often using watercolors. She is a very talented Contemporary Artist and the pieces above were created for the book "Hand Made Type Workshop" by Charlotte Rivers. I chose to analyse this Artist because she brought some incredibly fresh ideas into my head for my own Experimental Typography.

Why? Digital Calligram Experiment

"Why?" By David Adams

To create this piece, I wrote out the word "Why?" with the Horizontal Type tool on a blank canvas sized 400 pixels by 200 pixels in 24 pt Cooper Black. Having done this I Re-sized the type with the transform tool so that it took up almost all of the blank canvas and after this, Rasterized the Type.This leaves us at "Stage 1"

"Stage 1" 

At this point I needed to create a brush to make the background for the font. To do this, I created a new blank Canvas sized 400 pixels by 200 pixels and wrote out the word "why?" in size 20pt MV Boli and copy and pasted it to fill the page, leaving me with a filled canvas of just writing. I then turned it into a brush stroke my pressing edit define brush preset, leaving us with "Brush 1"

"Brush 1" 

Having done this I used the Magic Wand tool to select each individual letter, and deleted the black background using the delete key. This left me with a blank selection around my word but with no fill. I then selected my appropriate colour for my Brush and selected the brush tool, I placed my brush in a good position so that my text could be seen and Clicked once on my mouse. The piece is now finished.

Oscar Wilson Calligram Analysis

'Gorilla' Oscar Wilson 2012

Oscar Wilson is a London-Based contemporary artist who specialises in Image creation and Illustration. His work is mostly hand handdrawn typography that has been touched up in photoshop. I think that he is very clever with his word layout and letter shapes and I really like his use of a limited pallet but all of the colours work well together. I think that his use of a stroke around the letters gives it an impression of fur. Most of his work is poster based and created for advertising purposes. I really like the way that in the piece above he has separated the gorilla into different sections, which allows for the work to be made easier.

'Bolt 1' Oscar Wilson 2012

Furry D

I made this taking inspiration from a piece of typography I saw, that used bones to great effect, with a sentence describing dangers in the workplace. To create this piece I started  by making a new, blank 200 X 200 px canvas, with a white background. Using the Text tool, I wrote a D in the font Arial Black in a new layer above the locked, all white background layer. I then created a new layer above this, and using the paintbrush tool I selected a grassy brush. I then set the foreground colour to 4E5500 and the background colour to E9EBCE. Once this was done I was ready to begin creating my furry letter. In the layer above the type I proceeded to create a straight line of the 'grass' making sure it is thick enough. I then move this into place above the letter. I then copy and pasted this layer of 'grass' to create the sections of the letter, rotating it to fit. Once my letter had a good layer of paint so that I could only see some small areas of the Type layer, I selected all of the layers of paint and used the merge tool to keep them locked together. After this I deleted the Type layer and opened the colours and hue window (ctrl + u) and played around with the hue slider until it reached a colour I was satisfied with.

Underneath The Bridge

I created this piece when I was inspired by the water colour typography of Natsuki Otani. To create this piece I first created a blank 400 X 200px canvas with a white background. I used the Type tool to write a quote from a guns and roses song in font Arial Black size 34. I then rasterized the Type layer to allow myself to edit the pixels inside the letters. I then selected each letter in turn with the magic wand tool and deleted the black inside the selection. I then selected the paintbrush tool and changed the opacity to 50% and changed my foreground colour to 7FFFD4 and my background colour to 3EA99F and painted each letter into a mix of the two but leaving some blank space to reserve the illusion of water colour paints. Once I had done this, I applied a custom, striped gradient of light grey and white to the background, saved my work and accepted it as finished.

Pulp Fiction "Tatt-ography"

I stumbled across this brilliant piece of "tatt-ography" while looking for inspiration for a Tattoo I plan to get. It is of course the very famous quote from the film Pulp fiction, said by Samuel L Jackson positioned into the shape of the gun he uses in the movie. It is in fact a citation from the bible from Ezekiel 25:17. I really like this piece and plan to attempt to recreate a similar image.

Let The Games Begin

I did this piece on Illustrator, as an experiment with kinetic typography. Having selected some appropriately active phrases I was ready to begin. To begin, I chose my favourite of the phrases to be my Title. I sized the font to 72pt, aligned it to central alignment, made the main font colour yellow and set the font to have a 3pt stroke of green. I then added mezzo-tint with medium dots and used the filter effect Roughen at 2% size and 10/in detail. I then edited each of my other phrases with Gaussian blur, slight transparency and various different sketch effects and brush stroke effects. I then multiplied these and layered them to make a background. I hen selected my title, placed it in the centre of the background and brought it to the front.

James Hancock Research

This is a piece I really like by John Hancock. I find it very intriguing because of the way he has taken shapes and things that inspire him and has depicted them all being fired out of the spray can, I like his use of mixed media and the use of a heartbeat monitor shape and a snowflake which could represent how delicate and in balance earth's atmosphere is, but at the same time using a spray can to represent mankind's negative effect on the balance.