Year: 2015

This week I have began to shape the first letters of my font. At this point I haven’t named my font but i’ve decided to use characteristics of De Stijl art and design which will hopefully inspire a name soon. I notice how in pieces such as Composition Desentralisee by Theo Van Doesburg and Composition two by Piet Mondrian that they use almost a grid system to organise their pieces while somehow preserving a degree of spontaneousness. In response to my observation I began to experiment with the line tool on Adobe Illustrator using the grid view feature as a guide. From here I began to formulate the letter A using overlapping lines and grids. I felt an attraction to this due to the fact I could both visualise the letter and the De Stijl movement. From here I toyed with colouring in the squares and rectangles I had created by chance with yellows, reds and blues; a colour scheme favoured by many De Stijl artists. Although it did bring me closer to the art aspect of De Stijl, I unfortunately lost clarity. The A no longer stood out like it did when it was uncoloured. I instead experimented by colouring the lines themselves rather than internal shapes. I felt this worked much better as it served its purpose as a legible font quite well whilst also holding the shapes and order that I was looking for. Although much work is to be done this is, without a doubt, a start.

Checklist:

Check line spacings

Produce more of the alphabet

This week I have continued my research into De Stijl and have come away with a lot more insight into its use in the present day. in 2000, The White Stripes released their second album, De Stijl, which was named after the band visited the Rietvald Schroder house while touring. Clearly I’m not the only one fascinated by it. The album was named in tribute to Rietvald and other famous figures in the De Stijl movement. I’m a big fan of The White Stripes so I am familiar with Jack White’s very select preferences when it comes to the look of the band and it’s album art. Jack’s rule of 3 rule I find particularly interesting as it comes up everywhere. The White Stripes wear red white and black, his record company is called third man records. I could go on. De Stijl is the one album I have not given much attention to however now I feel inclined to explore it further.

Design wise I have unfortunately been sick this week but this has not prevented me from conducting some experimentation although not necessarily in my actual font. My band at uni require a logo so, using my new skills on illustrator, I came up with the design as shown. The band’s name is Brayford Lights which at first I found it quite difficult to think of an initial design that was relevant. I saw someone wearing a t shirt which had an anchor on it whilst on my way to buy soup and the inspirational link was made. The T shirt I saw had an anchor resembling a sailor tattoo which, although I liked it, felt very conventional. I instead opted for a more sleek approach using thinner lines to form my anchor shape which I feel looks more modern. The font choice is a font called “Circles and sticks” which I found online. My initial plan was to create my own font however this font I thought was spot on. Although it’s not completed I feel it’s a good start. I will resume my font creation next week.

Although this week has been devoted to research, I have decided to be very cautious in what content I base my designs on. I have refrained from viewing any current typography based around De Stijl to remove the risk of  subconsciously replicating the design. Instead I have based my visual research more on the actual products of the design movement such as the art and architecture. This I feel will help me achieve my goal by influencing me in the right way.

Checklist:

Get well

Get to know Illustrator software

Finish research and begin full alphabet

This week we received a lecture about the use of font and the introduction of Helvetica. Helvetica became popular as it is easy to read and a design which has been used successfully in a variety of different contexts. I would agree with a more modernist approach and I do think that clarity must prioritise over ornamentation which sadly places my spindle idea in jeopardy. During the lecture, one particular art movement which impressed me was De Stijl. This is because at first glance I actually would have assumed it to be a much later movement than it actually is. Although at this point I don’t have an idea of a De Stijl influenced text I feel I want to pursue this in future. My workshop tutor introduced me to Illustrator this week which, as the week has progressed, I have already began to use for some external design work. I like how crisp and professional my work is when I use it and it feels very familiar; possibly due to my previous experience with Photoshop. I was also shown some further Bauhaus designs and architecture which stemmed from the De Stijl movement. The Reitveld Schroder House in the Netherlands I find truly staggering as it would easily fit in with present day structures and it was built in 1924. This increases my faith in De Stijl as it shows that De Stijl can be a timeless design. Although change is nice I feel that one timeless design would beat twenty renewed ones.

Checklist:

More research

Couple drafts?

This week I begin the design course and have received my first brief. The first topic we are looking at is typography which we touched on briefly last year. I do agree that looking at this area of design first will certainly help my future designs later on. I’ve decided to produce my text rather conventionally using a combination of drawings and computer aided development. I chose this purely because I think this format is one I am most comfortable with. This however does not mean I will not be leaving my comfort zone in my design pursuits.

I am excited for this brief. Not only to see what I personally produce; but to also see what some of my fellow designers come up with which may influence my own work. I had an idea which is quite folk inspired; similar to the kinds which re-emerged in the 60s and 70s. The Book of Kells maybe a good place to start for some research and inspiration. One of my favourite fonts which I think will have an effect on my design is the font used on Fleetwood Mac’s most successful album, Rumours. I’ve already attempted to replicate it as over the summer I produced a number of spoof album covers. One of these was Rumours. Although it won’t be a carbon copy, I think the use of serif could come into play. My working title for this font is currently Spindle although this may change after further research.

Checklist:

More research and brainstorming