Type IV: Asking Questions and Experimenting

I made a list of a bunch of questions that pertained to my area of interest. Here are 5 of them.

1. Can an environment create new meaning for typography that is projected upon it?
2. What happens when highly ornamented typography is projected onto an uneven surface?
3. How can Marian Bantjes style typography be implemented into a 3D space?
4. How can highly ornamented text imagery be given additional/multiple meanings?
5. Does legibility become an issue when typography is projected into the corner of a room?
6. How can a projected typographic image be used in combination with a grid?
7. Can a grid define a new typeface from a distorted existing typeface.
8. How can new meaning be added through ornamentation to a gridded typeface?
9. Can a word be given new meaning just by the ornamentation it is constructed with?
10. How can a "designalogue" banner be created by combining projection experiments with grid experiments?

I want to create a typographic image that contains complex detail and ornamentation and then experiment with projecting it onto different kinds of surfaces..such as a pile of trash, the corner of a room, different layers of fabric, textured walls, and other surfaces that would not usually be used as a projection screen.

INSPIRATION:
HERE
Tobias Battenberg took a projector and Akzidenz Grotesk out onto the streets, and came back with these fantastic images.

InfoArch: Design Layout: Initial Concepts

Info Arch: Object Rendering Experimentation

I definitely think using photography to render my collection is the best choice for me because most of my objects depend on the detail of their imagery to make them unique. Drawing them by hand would cause them to lose too much information and it just makes more sense to use a real image of each coaster than to try to depict it in another medium. But..Maybe applying high contrast, extreme levels, or special filters in photoshop may enhance their quality and appearance. Maybe I can add connotations by adding effects to the photograph of each coaster. I'm just not sure at this point.

InfoArch: Initial Infographics and Sitemap

InfoArch: Documentation of My Collection

I narrowed my collection down to 12 different beer coasters!

TYPE 4: Research Trends

*PAPER TURNED IN FOR CLASS*
The recurring trend of typography that I decided to research and experiment with is best described as extremely ornamented handwritten script. Most designers would give credit to Marian Bantjes for creating this innovative technique of custom typography. Marian was born in 1963 and is a Canadian designer, artist, illustrator, typographer and writer. She became well known as a talented graphic artist while working as a designer at Digitopolis in Vancouver, BC, Canada where she created identity and communication designs for a wide range of corporate, education and arts organizations. Her style involves detailed and lovingly precise vector art, obsessive hand work, patterning and highly ornamented typography. I discovered a few of her pieces while browsing the Internet on different typography blogs and fell in love with her beautiful work.
I collected several pieces by Marian Bantjes and also a few other pieces that resemble her recognizable style and then made something visual that represents my collection. I designed two pieces that incorporate words intertwined with detailed ornamentation. The first says “you are my addiction” and the second says “breathless.” I used a pencil to draw the initial design and then I scanned it into a digital file. I played around with levels and contrast, and then touched up the smudges and evidence of my hand. Now that I have the designs at a level of completion, I am going to transfer them to velum and print these pieces on t-shirts, which will be the final product. The goal for my creation was to make the words appear to blend together with the rest of the ornamentation so that they look like a continuous flow of lines. I had fun and that was the goal!

*BACKGROUND INFO*
After gathering over a hundred different images of typography from different websites, blogs, and other internet resources, I was able to narrow down what interested me most.I compiled/organized my gathered typography collection into appropriate categories and presented them visually in 4 different collages.

I realized I was visually attracted to experimental typography that is hand-rendered and full of detail, whether by 3-dimensional qualities, swirly ornamentation, clever joining of serifs, and extensive line work. Marian Bantjes' work is a great example of this type of typography and she has become an inspiration for many designers with her ornamented written script.

I also found great interest in a new kind of environmental typography that is commonly known as "anamorphic typography." I found this magical way to use type in images of the Eureka Tower in Melbourne, Australia. Emery Studio (look at the "Placemaking" link) had the opportunity to use both the horizontal and vertical surfaces to design some anamorphic signage in the parking deck. When viewed from the correct direction as you're driving, the words appear legible and lead you in the correct direction. Viewed from another angle, the words appear as abstract lines and colors. Freaking sweet huh?


Another category of type that I kept coming across online is "Installation Typography." Many designers these days are taking advantage of the experimentations that can be done by combining type with the environment. Examples such as stuffing fences with plastic cups in the shapes of letters or using 3-dimensional letters in a room to create words or to show depth are very common. I also found that type is showing up on walls for signage and other not so expected surfaces to create messages or provoke thought. Some artists are even using projectors to exhibit text on the sides of buildings or on other odd, not so flat surfaces.


The last category I researched involves 3-dimensional typography made from objects or unexpected items. Words can be form through letters and computer based typography, but they can also be made my hand through objects, buildings, etc. I found examples of words written by hand cut letter from fabric, letters formed by flower petals, letters formed by airplane views of buildings discovered on GoogleMaps. I even found an advertisement for Ikea where words were formed by household objects such as couches, tables, and children. These examples stretch the boundaries of what we consider to be typography.

In class we were to make something that was inspired by our findings and then share them with our classmates. I was very much inspired my the highly ornamented hand written script made famous by Marian Bantjes, so I decided to experiment with her style. I made 2 different designs that include a word or quote that exists among a highly ornamented web of twirly, detailed, and graceful line work. I like the way they turned out AND it was fun!