The Text and Image project as a whole has allowed me to think more about planning my work, considering alternative ideas before starting. The unit has also taught me more about typography and choosing the right typeface or image to fit the particular client and type of communication it is aimed at. I have learnt the importance of time management and how important prioritising is.
This unit is to show everything that has been learnt so far about text and image so I tried to include a lot of the semiotic theories I had learnt, and also the lessons I had learnt in typography. I decided to look at different forms of communication throughout time. I wrote a list of many types of communication, and then mismatched these types to create each image. Once the mediums were paired this allowed me to think further into each image. The message I wanted to convey with these pieces is how each message only seems to make sense within its own context, and how this changes when it the context is changed. For example, when a text message takes days to be created in embroidery, rather than seconds on a mobile phone, an audience may take more time to think about what has been said. Given time I would have liked to look at other means of communication and also physically create some of these ideas such as the wax seal on an envelope.
This unit allowed me to learn how to use Quark and learn about grids and layouts. Previously I had not put much thought into the grid or layout when I have decided on a composition so planning a double spread on paper before actually creating it allowed me to give much more thought into what worked and what did not work, as well as learning all the terms for each part of the page. Using a grid seemed to make it quite hard to make the book unique. It was also hard to keep the theme consistent without having a large amount of work to choose from to include. I decided to keep each page very clean and simple, using white space where possible. I think the book was successful although I would have liked more variety within it. It does not seem to catch the viewer’s attention although it is easy to read and successfully communicates the information needed.
This project allowed me to think much more about composition, as I was able to spend a long time concentrating on how an individual letter would look on a page and how, when put together, words could create different meanings by the way they are presented. Working with letters so intensely made me think more about their shape and variations in size and typeface. Mixing typefaces and sizes created an interesting miss-match effect whilst letters from the same set created a uniform effect; combining both resulted in an equally interesting composition. As well as thinking more about the way the letters are arranged it also made me think about colour, which colours worked well together and, through experimentation, which did not work so well. The pieces I am particularly pleased with are those that are most simple and convey a message clearly. I have only had three sessions working with letterpress, so with each mark I have made I am still finding out what works well and what does not. Given more time I would experiment in much more in depth and create many more images of what worked well, using a variety of different backgrounds. I enjoyed using letterpress as it was unlike anything I have done before. I also loved the work of other artists who used letterpress; Alan Kitching and David Carson particularly stood out. I think letterpress can be very effective giving an almost vintage feel to text.
Last Thursday was the last chance to use the letterpress for the text and image project, and I'm really glad I signed up for it. I managed to experiment with newspaper, maps and other types of paper getting some really interesting images.
Today was the critique for the Glyph Project. The glyphs were made using Illustrator, a program I've not used before. I presented two glyphs, a bollard and a boat, and one icon, 'Poole Printmakers' text. I had made others but this selection were the most recognisable and had the most interesting shapes.
I have not worked with Illustrator before so this project allowed me to learn and practise with the software. I looked at the work of many other artists to attempt to understand what made a successful glyph. The work of Oded Ezer and Otl Aicher were particularly useful and it was interesting to see how pictograms had developed through time. It was difficult to find images that would create good glyphs from the photographs I had taken in Poole but I think the ones I have used are clear and simplistic enough to create an effective visual metaphor. I decided to use block shapes as silhouettes rather than using line drawings as I felt this made the glyph more substantial. I used the text from a Printing shop sign as an icon. The way the photo I had taken put the text on a slant made a more interesting tracing of this text.
The typeface the group I was in created for this brief is called 'Wonderland'. For inspiration we looked at several existing typefaces. Those that caught the group’s attention were 'Royal', a serif typeface that often doubles up with two lines, and also 'Torino Flair' and 'Torino Italic Swah' which caught our attention because of their almost script/cursive quality. Our typeface replicates these qualities but also has a slightly more random feel, living up to the 'wonder' in its name. We have made the typeface non-lining so that it looks less unified giving it a slightly childlike feel. Our group chose to display our new typeface on a metal fence surrounding a building site. We chose to make it there because we felt it was slightly ironic to have the building work going on in the background, making the surroundings not such a wonderland. The typeface looks very unique and looks just like our designs. It was difficult to get the lines and angles to be exact as it did not stick well to the fence, particularly because it was raining, however the slightly less accurate lines add to the effect giving it an interesting unpredictable effect. Whilst making the letters we experimented with adding different colour tapes to give the letters more depth and make them stand out better. This experiment was successful and so the colour was retained
