Celtic Calligraphy

Guess who's back, back again~


A quick update to archive this weeks lesson. What were we up to? Well, there was a messy workshop inspired by Celtic Monks, and we got to work on the Grid Lock project we were given last week for our type books.

Workshop: Calligraphy.

Pah-drake gave us a history lesson on where the Celtic typeface actually came from. I won't go into any details today as I am hoping to write an illustrative essay on it. If all goes well, I'll post some screenshots on here in future.

Jay's Work~

After which, he gave us all ink and some varying sizes of reed. In which we were allowed to recreate the Celtic type face. A messy yet incredible workshop, if you ask me.

I have a love for all things Celtic, I even play an online game that's based off the mythology. So my eyes lit up this Wednesday morning when this was the plan for the next 3 hours.


Above is what my friend Jay produced, and below is my own work. I loved this session, can you tell? Firstly, we tried using straws but they were far too thin and unstable to continue writing with. I never got my hands on a smaller reed but I did on a larger, and it was quite an experience. I loved the more free-flowing sketchy feel to the letters I managed to produce. Not quite the Celtic style, and with a little touch of Kayleigh-ness. I would have loved to use the thinner reed but. It was great all the same~

100% would do it again.

Project 1b + 2: Nature's Alphabet & Grid Lock

17 of  26! Getting there~

Remember I had to take pictures of the alphabet? Well, I didn't get the full thing but I managed to get a total of 17. Some of them are hard to see but I think it'll be fun to vector them. Which is the second part of this project. We'll be vecoring the letters from the pictures we took in order to create our own type-face.



You can see over to the right, or on my Pinterest board, my set so far. Thank God for Trees!




Our next little project is using the building-grid photographs I described in my previous post to lay out text within our type books. I currently don't have any screen shots but I should do by next week!

Watch this space~

  My Twitter  |  My Pinterest  |  My Tumblr  |  My DeviantART  

Typin' a little more

It's Thursday again!

Time for my weekly update. It's a double post time since I was so busy last week.

Alright, so my Pinterest boards have bee gradually updated. I'm actually enjoying looking through other people's inspirations. I never thought about Pinterest before, I never thought it would be useful to me but.. I was wrong! I've been using it for my own personal projects as well. It's great~

Library Exploration.

Our class last week was split in two. Part 1 was exploring the library, looking at Typography in design magazines and looking for pictures to assist our next little project.

Summer Time '13!

Pah-drake wanted us to find examples of type where the alignment was with a building or such in the background. My interest is in the area of Games and Animation so naturally, I went for those particular magazines. I have to admit, it probably wasn't the easiest section to choose, but I found a few that I really liked.

The first one on the left has a shape in the corner which  could represent the sun. Then the text on the left balances out the entire scene. The colour scheme is exotic which makes it look peaceful and summer-y. A simplistic font can work better then a fancy one, in the majority of cases!

Crackin' Layout

The second one isn't really aligned with anything in the background as such, but I liked the layout of the page in general. So, I'll keep it for a reference.

There's a good amount of spacing between each section. The imagery balances out all the text, though some sentences drop off the bottom which doesn't look right (in my opinion). The Drop Capitals are a good indication of where the new paragraph begins, I think they're used pretty effectively.

The white background and very little colour used between the text makes it a lot easier to read and understand to the audience.

Let's go to Netherland!

Number Three! My childhood got the better of my here.

I love the Peter Pan story. <3 

I was determined to get this example in my blog, so out came my ruler and here we go. The text is actually aligned with the streets and houses in the background. The alignment also works with the character himself. That makes it really effective, not to mention appealing to a younger age group, and me (Clearly!) 

Though, I think some of the text would have looked better if they weren't covering features like the Tower of London and the London Eye, I think moving them to the right slightly, maybe aligning them with the bubble around the title, could have made it more effective.

Split Map!

 My fourth, and last example to share is pretty simple. An easy idea that gets the message across without much complications. The text is aligned between the small stars to give the picture a bit more structure. Along side the 3D image, the entire poster is small, simple and effective. I like it. The only thing I would question is the different fonts scattered across the page. I think having a similar font makes all the text relate to each other. But considering the spacing as well, it looks like the top and the bottom are separated.


Hopefully I'll have more examples to show you guys in my future blogs. It's good to keep track of my favourite images and inspirations. I could do it with my Pinterest Boards. I'll give it a try next week.

Workshop: Sans in the News.

After going back to class, we were given old news papers. Our quest was to replicate letters from the title of an article, using a grid drawn within the actual article.

We'd take a paragraph in the smaller text, box around it and draw a set of diagonal lines across it to fill it out. Then using the lines and any letters we can see beneath it, we take one of the letters from the title. Then we redraw it in the grid we just created. Our own messed up sans serif fonts!

I actually enjoyed this workshop, like the others. Yeah, we were copying an old font but our little makes made it our own in a way. I liked that. An overall good day~

Project Two: Grid Lock.

Regarding our previous project Nature Letters, I have around 20 letters all ready to be masked out into a set. I'll get them into Photoshop after I'm finished my next post for a post after class, next week!

Now then, project two requires us to find buildings that we can take a picture of to achieve a 'grid in which we can use to manipulate the placement of text on a page. Sounds a little complex but all will be revealed in due course~

See ya'll soon~

  My Twitter  |  My Pinterest  |  My Tumbr  |  My DeviantART  

Identify your Style

Good Thursday, Bloggers~

This week in Typography, we set up the template for our Design books. The idea of this is that we piece together all of our work over the next 12 weeks into this book (like a professional scrap book) to show as the final outcome. Showing how we've developed and improved. Using projects from class and our own personal ideas. Good one P. 

Pinterest

Like usual, I've been keeping my Pinterest Boards up to date, feel free to check them out I'll leave a link at the bottom. I've found some pretty good typography interests this week. I decided to look up Gothic styles, and Game works, because they're my key interests. And I found some pretty neat stuff. Gives me a few ideas of a type I could create myself in future to add to my art. I do tend to work in brighter colours though. Hm..

As for the game side of things, that's more about layout of the text compared to the style. People tend to use the words to create a shape with the text like an iconic symbol within a particular game. Like the Legend of Zelda one I have shown here. I think this method is pretty effective. They say that words paint a picture in your mind, and they certainly do. Literally!

Project One: Nature's Alphabet

I knew the first project wasn't going to come far behind. Pah-Drake has gave us the task to create our own alphabet using the world around us. Basically, you look up at a tree and the branches make the shape of a letter "F", you take a picture and that would be your F. Doesn't have to be trees, it can be the bottom of a coffee cup or dirt in a puddle or something.

Below is a few thumbnails of pictures I found yesterday. I didn't highlight the letters, but can you spot them?

Class Workshop: Fancy Times

Our group, their group, Close-up!

In our lecture this week we were asked to fill two massive pages, as a class, with various signatures and designs of font to show off our names. Pah-Drake said it was going up on the walls in the Hallway so we all thought we were going to be famous. Excited about on oncoming fame, we all set off to fill these massive pages. Slightly intimidated by the pages, instead of the task at hand.

We all had to do one formal signature, one fun attempt that could possibly go on a business card, and write one thing about us that nobody else knew. Isn't that a scary concept? We then swapped with another classmate and did their names in our 2 styles. We managed to fill the paper up pretty well if you ask me. Looking around the room, everyone managed to create their own special and unique styles. I saw some that looked similar but they all had their own twists. I always love seeing that in the work of others when it all comes together.

The picture to the right is the outcome after a successful class workshop! Better resolutions can be found on my Pinterest, under 'My Type's'

See you soon~

Watch this space! <3

  My Tumblr  |  My Twitter  |  My DeviantART  |  My Pinterest  

It's only the beginning~

Alright Folks!

New semester means new modules and a few new blogs, that should keep me busy. 

Source: freepik.com
"Chibi Drake"

This module, if you didn't guess already, is Typography with Padraic.

Sounds like he could be a dragon, Pah-drake. Ha, that's me set for the next 12 weeks~


Anywho, for Typography I have to record my experiences and any work I do in the form of a blog and Pinterest board. I'll leave a link at the bottom for those interested in seeing what I have to share. For now, I'll write a personal paragraph about typography in my life.

A few years ago, I never thought Typography was that important. Looking at posters and what not, it was just.. There. I didn't think that much work went on behind it. Blimey, was I wrong or what? After doing Graphic Design I saw a whole new world behind Design itself, and in that aspect came Typography! I've never been much of a fancy writer and I still don't think I do a great job at it but practice makes perfect. I mean, it took years of personal practice in order to become a better artist. Though, I think Typography is something you either have.. Or you Don't.

Quote from Harry Potter & the Prisoner
Of Azkaban. (c) J. K. Rowling.
Made Pica-ae - DeviantART

Some people spend their entire lives studying it and honestly, I can't see the interest behind it but whatever floats your boat~ Just like some people maybe don't see why I draw in a cartoony style instead of realistic. Personal  preference.


I'm excited to see what this module has in store for us, some people said it's a walk in the park but there has to be more to it then meets the eye. Especially to achieve the higher marks. All the same, I'll give it my all and keep my fingers and pencils crossed. 

Watch this space!~

My Pinterest  |  My DeviantART  |  My Tumblr