Type Casting

Back in Troy tonight for my graphic design class. It had been a couple weeks, with one week cancelled due to a winter storm (hard to believe).

Anyway, it felt good to get back to learning and trying out some conceptual ideas. I wish I had fully mastered Illustrator and knew a dozen type fonts off the top of my head, but it's coming along. Tonight we were back to working on logos. I will never look at them the same way, now that I realize the decision process that goes into creating them...




Related Links:

Making of the Rio 2016 Olympics Logo, www.designboom.com

www.gestalten.com/motion/house-industries

www.gestalten.tv

Matter of Taste

This morning was a piece of cake... make that MANY pieces, as Sarah and I sampled options for our wedding cake- just another interesting element of this whole planning process. I'm not a big dessert eater, so it got to be a bit much after the third or forth slice... chocolate with raspberry filling? Rum-soaked sponge cake? Hmm. If I had my way, we'd all be sitting down for a hearty piece of good old carrot cake (although I swear that Sarah still makes the best version... every year for my birthday!).

We kept the wedding theme going by looking at our invitations. Taking another look at our design, I wasn't quite as satisfied with the type. I am glad we took some time out today to try some different options. We ultimately downloaded some new script fonts (Citadel seemed doable), and changed the color to reflect a more "summery" tone. The waterfall image will remain though-- that seems like the one "given."

It looks like this graphic design course is going to come in handy earlier than I expected! We actually spent some time looking at  the subject of type this past week, and it is interesting how subtle changes can affect the overall mood of a piece. I think most people are so used to seeing text that they're not even aware (I know I wasn't), but designers will treat type as both shapes and elements. Even the spacing is a consideration-- we tried this online "kerning" game, and it's harder than it looks: type.method.ac

At least the computer makes this all a bit easier to experiment with. I remember my first year of college, when they had us hand lettering type... I don't know if that is done at all anymore. It's all still a far cry from the early days of the old mechanical letterpress machines. It's astounding to think about all that went into using that original method:

Upside Down, Left To Right: A Letterpress Film from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.

Having said that, Illustrator's digital bezier curves are going to take some getting used to. So I guess it's all a process, and takes time to perfect good taste.

Undesign? You Got It, You Got It.

I have been busy researching the work of graphic designer Tibor Kalman (1949–1999), to present to my class tomorrow. The irony is that he was known for rejecting many of the conventions of graphic design, preferring a "vernacular approach" (i.e. plain, everyday, ordinary). He was a bit of a provocateur, who used his designs to make some pretty bold statements on a number of social issues.

Obviously I like the idea of design for the greater good, but I'm not sure what I think of his work overall. As I finalize the research for my presentation, I'm posting a clip he worked on for The Talking Heads, a band whose music I enjoy and whom Kalman created album covers for in the early 80s. This video is so-so, maybe a little dated... but you get an idea of some of the designer's style in using type in unconventional ways ("the way things fall apart"), as well as some of his social messaging (goes by way too fast though). I think some of the optical uses of type are more successful here than the early digital: specifically, where the lyrics are projected on to David Byrne's face, and the section where the singer sways with the "fields and trees."



I'll have more thoughts on Kalman's work later. In the meantime, I had no idea The Smiths' guitarist Johnny Marr played on this song-- talk about "type" casting!