Type Study: 9 Ways

Project Overview:

Expand awareness and understanding of various typographic styles and compositional solutions through a series of experimental type studies using a single chosen phrase and the same color scheme throughout.

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Type Study 01: Swiss Design

using a mathematical grid

Swiss design is all about rules and grids. The approach should be systematic and mathematical while still having good design. Rules such as sans serif type, left justified-right rag alignment, and using a grid allow the designer to create very struc… — Swiss design is all about rules and grids. The approach should be systematic and mathematical while still having good design. Rules such as sans serif type, left justified-right rag alignment, and using a grid allow the designer to create very structured designs.
Josef Muüller-Brockmann, a Switzerland-born designer, is considered one of the leading designers of the Swiss Style. He is known for his organized, clean, and sleek designs that are very sophisticated. In terms of color, he stuck to very minimal color choices as he believed it made a bigger impact on the design. He even used hisgrid designs for photography, sticking close to the Golden Ratio.

Process and Previous Versions

Type Study 02: Grunge

using type as texture

What I like about the Grunge style is that there is order in chaos. Even with all the “randomly” placed words and mismatched type and letters, there is still a sense of hierarchy and an eyeflow throughout the design.David Carson, a surfer and design… — What I like about the Grunge style is that there is order in chaos. Even with all the “randomly” placed words and mismatched type and letters, there is still a sense of hierarchy and an eyeflow throughout the design.
David Carson, a surfer and designer, is the “Father of Grunge”. Because of his travels through his surfing career, he is able to take design inspiration from different cultures and apply them to his style. I think his laid-back athletic nature allows him to design without thinking about restrictions or “can” and “cant’s”.
This design challenges the meaning of my phrase. “Do it with love” has a very light, lovely tone; whereas, grunge is very dirty, crude, and heavy-feeling. I threw in a lot of blood splatter textures and noisy, grunge textures to add to that effect which is quite opposite of what you think when you think of loving something.

Sketches and Previous Version

Type Study 03: Lettering

the art of drawing letters

Love in general can be romantic; therefore, I went with a more romantic, pretty typeface. All the curves and swirls create a very fluid and design that wraps around each other. I used Illustrator to skew and reshape parts of a pre-existing typeface.… — Love in general can be romantic; therefore, I went with a more romantic, pretty typeface. All the curves and swirls create a very fluid and design that wraps around each other. I used Illustrator to skew and reshape parts of a pre-existing typeface. After I created the composition of the type, I realized it looked like a silent movie title card. Adding the filigree helped create that romantic feeling.

Process and Previous Versions

Type Study 04: Experimental 01

playing with shapes, layers, and patterns

I decided to try to experiment with more color and shape and pattern so for this one, that is exactly what I did. I played around with layering patterns over top of each other and layering shapes with lines.

Process and Previous Versions

Type Study 05: Experimental 02

type as a texture

I wanted to play more with using type as a texture instead of as something that needed to be read. I realized I never really broke the frame with my type in any of the other frames, so for this one I tried to break out of that pattern to try for som… — I wanted to play more with using type as a texture instead of as something that needed to be read. I realized I never really broke the frame with my type in any of the other frames, so for this one I tried to break out of that pattern to try for something new.

Previous Versions

Type Study 06: 3D

created using Cinema 4D

The idea I had behind this design was a Valentine’s Day card. So I used a doily lace pattern and included a cute heart in order to enhance the “love” in my phrase. A Valentine’s Day card is usually handed out to others with love or with care in mind… — The idea I had behind this design was a Valentine’s Day card. So I used a doily lace pattern and included a cute heart in order to enhance the “love” in my phrase. A Valentine’s Day card is usually handed out to others with love or with care in mind (at least when they’re not forced to). The word “love” is exploding from the heart to show that the love just can’t be contained anymore.

Process

Type Study 07: Tactile

being made from physical objects

I enhanced the meaning by doing something I love which is papercrafting. I decided to painstakingly cut out each letter of “love” with an x-acto knife on white cardstock. Each layer of cardstock has the word “love” gradually increasing or decreasing… — I enhanced the meaning by doing something I love which is papercrafting. I decided to painstakingly cut out each letter of “love” with an x-acto knife on white cardstock. Each layer of cardstock has the word “love” gradually increasing or decreasing in size (depending on if you start from the bottom or the top). This effect gives the words depth and cool shadowing. Doing this by hand really pushes the meaning of doing something with love. Because, after this, I may be questioning my love for paper crafts. There is a more handmade quality to it showing off the imperfections and quirks that you just can’t get with a laser cutter.

Process

Type Study 08: Expressive

where type becomes image

Maybe I had the sound of wedding bells ringing in my mind because of my recent engagement, but I designed the "O" in "love" to look like an engagement ring and intertwined it with the "O" in "do" to make it look like a wedding band. In keeping with … — Maybe I had the sound of wedding bells ringing in my mind because of my recent engagement, but I designed the "O" in "love" to look like an engagement ring and intertwined it with the "O" in "do" to make it look like a wedding band. In keeping with the wedding theme, I added a lace texture to the background, highlighting/brightening the center to create a boundary for the phrase. I also added a drop shadow to make the phrase pop off the background.

Sketches and Previous Versions

Type Study 09: Figure/Ground

minimal or abstract design relationship between figure and ground

I've seen posters using the negative space of "do" and filling it with "it" so I wanted to try my hand at it as well. I also merged two faces into the negative space of "O" and the positive space of "V". In order to create more interest, I added "lo… — I've seen posters using the negative space of "do" and filling it with "it" so I wanted to try my hand at it as well. I also merged two faces into the negative space of "O" and the positive space of "V". In order to create more interest, I added "love" as a texture in the background and added a border.

Previous Versions