Final Evaluation - typography project

1. Write an explanation of your brief: What did you have to do? How did you come up with the ideas for this project?

 

To start off the project I looked at lots of different ways of creating typography, I also found ways of linking the technique to the phrases that I used. I created typography by using calligrams, watercolours and skin painting to chose but a few so that I could get an idea of what techniques I liked best, this would also help me on the theme that I wanted to choose. I also experimented with ways that I could apply the phrase of my final piece. To make my ideas come together I went through certain stages like the mood board and the t-shirt initial ideas, this also was to help me develop my ideas.   

2. Write about the creative 'journey' of the project: How did you project and ideas evolve from start to finish through experimentation and research?

On my `creative journey' I first looked at ways to apply my phrase and in the end decided on using the heat press. I then created a mind map to get all of my ideas down on paper. Once I had created my initial idea t-shirt design blog I immediately knew the idea I wanted to continue to develop from there my idea of using a rainbow and the weather on my t-shirt as a theme was made clear. 

3. Who inspired your final outcomes? You MUST talk about who has inspired your work, and include images and links of/to them! 

The main inspiration for my final piece was Natsuki Otani. Her watercolour piece just reminded me of the weather because of the watery look it gives. It also allowed me to think about to possible techniques of creating my final piece so could experiment and expand on this. Her pieces were detailed and she experimented with different types of fonts like I decided to do as well.

  

4. What saying or expression did you use? What technique did you use? Was there a link between your materials and the words used? What was it?

The saying that I used on my final piece was "because you can't have a rainbow without any rain" to colour this piece I used the watercolour technique in Photoshop and for the extra illustration I coloured it with watercolours. The technique that I used did link in with the phrase that I used, I felt that the way the watercolour looked linked in with rain because it would look watery still when dry.  

5. What do you think you have done well? What has worked? Are you happy with your final outcome?

I am very happy with the way the final piece turned out, especially the way I was able to refine the phrase so it was clearer I was worried that changing might be difficult to do but it turned out that I could easily edit it. The phrase still isn't as clear as I would have wanted it to be but I feel the fact that the phrase still isn't clear matches the way a rainbow works as you can never fully see it and not many rainbows are seen they are quite rare. 

6. What do you think you could have improved in your final outcome? There will be something - nobody is perfect!

Definitely to improve the piece would have been to spend more time on the colouring of the phrase in photoshop as I could have made the word clearer than it is now. I would have experimented with the opacity and it probably would have come out clearer. If I was able to use more transfer paper I would have done more illustrations of rainbows. 

7. Conclusion: Overall how did you find the project? Would you like to complete more typographic work in the future?

I really liked this as my starting project as I had never done graphics before or even used illustrator or Photoshop. I think typography is something I could use in my final piece for my exam work. 

Going back over the project
As I had the chance to go over the typography project I realised that there wasn't enough experiementation. From the experimentation that I started with I used certain techniques that I felt I could add into the theme of weather and rainbows. I started using calligrams, different ways to apply colour, painting on skin, foiling and stencils. This experimentation looks much better than what i had previously created and looked so much more professional. I even looked at the texture even more when it came to adding the colour and styles. If I had the chance I would like to go back again and make even more development to then try my final outcome again. Most of the experimentation still related to the artists that I previously looked at like Oscar Wilson, Tien-Min Liao and Natsuki Otani. I decided to not carry on with Si Scott as I felt that his work didnt relate to the theme of weather. There was one particular calligram that worked really well, especially with the colours that I got in photoshop also the foiling I used on this calligram had a really good effect and these are the ideas that I would take forward.       

Typography checklist

1. Hand drawn typography
2. Watercolour typography 
3. Kinetic typography
4. Painted hand typography 
5. Object typography 
6. M/M inspired clipping masks 
7. Food typography
8. Pin point typography  
9. Calligrams 
10. Fontstruct: creating a digital font 
11. Furry font 
12. Paper cutting 
13. Creating a font: digitally Vs Hand drawn
14. Si Scott
15. Bleaching and heat transfer  
16. Reviewing experiments
17. Mindmap
18. Initial t-shirt ideas 
20. Moodboard 
21. Sketch of final piece
22. Font for final piece 
23. Refining ideas 
24. Final piece  
25. Final evaluation

Mindmap

Sketch of final piece

Final piece

This is my final template design of my final piece.

To show my top I got one of my friends to model the top and thought it would be quite fun to use props but had to be selective because of the covering of the phrase on the t-shirt. I felt the purple glasses made the picture look funny and childish fitting in with my theme of children. I think overall my piece came out very well, even though the words were slightly hard to read I feel this also fitted in because the whole of a rainbow is never fully visible and is rarely ever seen. 

Refining ideas

To create this I put my chosen font in photoshop and used the watercolour technique in photoshop. I then drew an outline for the rain droplets and used a hands on approach to colour the water droplets using watercolours. As you can see the image is faded and this was after I scanned it in and new immediately that I would have refine my piece if I wanted my phrase to be readable.

To make the saying easier to read I copied the raindrops in a separate layer so the colour of the raindrops didn't change. I then went to image>adjustments>curves and started messing around with the line in curves so as to make my phrase more visible. I also used the eraser around the letters so it made the phrase even more clearer and would make it look less blurred

This is my final piece ready to be printed onto my t-shirt 

Font for final piece

This is the saying that I chose to use on my final piece "because you can't have a rainbow without any rain". I found this font on the website dafont called bubble tea and thought this would be the perfect styled font as it looked fun and childish which is the style I was looking for, it also reminds me of the rain drops which seriously fits into my theme. If I was to use this font in Photoshop it would be easier as I wouldn't have to draw it out like the other one so would be less time consuming however it wouldn't allow me any freedom.

This is a font I have hand drawn myself for a possible font on my final piece. This font is much less bubbly than the other font. It still has a childish element to it but doesn't give the same as the other font as it doesn't have that raindrop element to it. If I was to use this font I would have to draw it out again so it had a curve in it like a rainbow.

With these two pieces I also I have to think about the technique I am going to use whether it is digital or hand made. If I was to colour it using plain simple watercolours this would be a lot of work. So I have decided to use the Photoshop version on the phrase because this means I will be able to edit it and to make it much neater than if I was to do it by hand. I have then gone on to decide that I can still use the watercolour technique on the raindrops by drawing them out and then painting them on the Photoshop version. 

Watercolour experiment made digitally in Photoshop  

Hand made watercolour experiment

Watercolour experiments 

Reviewing experiments

1. Which materials and techniques have you experimented with during the typography project? 

I have experimented with many types of materials like everyday objects such as food, paper, paint and wool. To create these things I didn't just use the normal techniques of applying these things to the paper, I used a hands-on approach by using my fingers to apply the paint and pins to attach the wool to. I also used photoshop and illustrator to help me create certain things like the freeze frame typography inspired by Heebok Lee and Si Scott fantasy styled typography. 

2. Have you explored and developed your ideas imaginatively? How have you demonstrated this? (give examples, link to posts or include images) 

I feel I have explored and developed my ideas by creating the same idea using different techniques. An example of this would be when I created a font using ifont and finger painting and the watercolour experiments

3. Have you researched a diverse range of artwork and completed this on your blog? who have you analysed? is you analysis in-depth? (again give examples and link to posts) 
I have done plenty of in-depth analysis on artists that use typography and artists who don't, like Debbie smyth to create pin point typography. Altogether I analysed 13 artists each inspiring me in their own way to create typography.   

4. Have you explored a range of ideas around the theme of 'Sayings and Expressions' within your experiments? What are they? How have they informed your ideas?

I have definitely experimented within the theme of 'Sayings and Expressions' within my experiments, especially for my final piece. I closely looked at sayings when it to the techniques and the look of it this is so it linked together. On my mood board I made a list of phrases and sayings that I could use.

5. Have you refined / developed your outcomes through experimentation? How? 

The way that I was going to originally create the phrase on my final outcome would have taken to long to create so decided to use the photoshop to colour the phrase instead of using watercolour, however I still used watercolour on the water droplets. I also refined my outcome when I scanned it in because the colour didn't show up that well so had to adjust it by using curves in photoshop so the colour showed up more.

6. Have you annotated, in detail, your experiments and developments on your blog and used this information to help you improve? 

I have annotated my experiments in detail and have even compared it to the artists that inspired me to make the piece. Doing this does help me to improve my pieces. For example on looking up the technique that Si Scott uses by scanning it in and making the image smaller is the technique I used on mine, when uploading it onto this blog as it made it look much better by giving the piece crisper edges  

7. Which techniques / experiments have been most successful? Why?
I think the most successful experiments were the watercolour experiments and the Si Scott inspired typography. I feel that these were the most successful because I was able to create something very similar using an easy technique and so it came out great digitally and hand drawn. 

8. Which techniques / experiments have been least successful? Why?
I think the least successful techniques were the bleaching and the handmade M/M Paris inspired clipping mask. The bleaching because the bleach didn't even affect the fabric. The handmade M/M Paris inspired piece didn't work because the background picture did not show through the cut out letters and did not that good. 

9. Which techniques / experiments will you be developing further for your final outcome? Why? 

Techniques I will be developing further is the watercolour effect made on photoshop and hand made. I will also be using the heat press so as to create my final piece

10. What else can you do to further develop the techniques / experiments you want to use for your final outcome? 
To develop my experiments I will be looking into the type of font I could use and the best way to add colour or a design to them. 

bleaching and heat press

This is my watercolour piece using heat transfer. This does seem to have worked rather well with the colours clearly shown. It does look a bit faded but this is because of not using the special printer which gives a clearer image so was slightly blurred. This is most probably the technique that I am going to be using on my final piece to apply the typography. 

This is the bleaching method but as you can see here the bleach didn’t bleach the material, it didn’t even affect it. To apply the bleach I basically pinned the material and the stencil to a piece of cardboard. I then put some bleach in a bowl and while wearing gloves I then used a paintbrush to apply the bleach. It probably didn’t work because the bleach didn’t take to the material because it wasn’t the right type of fibre.

t-shirt first ideas

This design has been created on the basis of my creation of the alphabet in Fontstruct. As I didn’t have time to finish off the last two letters of the alphabet I have improvised and changed the spelling of sky, if I was to use this font on my t-shirt as my design I would most probably make time to finish the font off. I have used the lyrics from a Rihanna song called diamonds. I felt this linked in with the type of font I have used.  

This design has been created using the calligram I made inspired by Oscar Wilson. I simply placed the calligram in the centre of the t-shirt and made a saying that I could use that would go with the calligram. I remembered that Primark used to sell these perfume t-shirts with Co-Co Chanel and their no. 1 perfumes printed on the t-shirt as their main design, this is where my inspiration came from. Usually you would see a saying in French like J’adore so I used “odeur sucree” which means smelling sweet. 

To create this t-shirt I used the font I made in ifont. I also used a simple handwritten looking font to create the rest of the phrase. The phrase I used here is based on weather “happy days and sunshine rays” I also added a little illustration of a rainbow in the corner of the t-shirt. The theme of weather is something that I could look into for my final piece. The phrase just came to me randomly and didn’t take much thought 

This t-shirt design has been greatly inspired by Rihanna’s album Rated R. To create this I used the clipping mask I made inspired by M/M Paris. I also used the album font design to create the R for the word `rated’ just to emphasise this, I just used a simple font to continue the rest of the word. Compared to the other t-shirt designs this is a very dull one with only using black, grey and white.    

This is just my simple Si Scott design on the t-shirt; I haven’t made any changes to the top of design. Si Scott didn’t really inspire me on any sayings or phrases and wouldn’t in anyway help me to develop my ideas. 

I have used my watercolour technique to create this piece and used a simple quote that goes with the word “smile”, “even though your heart is breaking”. I chose a simple italic font which went with this sad saying, I then added colour to three of the words. I used red as this was a colour used in my watercolour and I felt it represented the colour of the heart quite well. As soon as I put some thought into it I immediately thought that the watercolour technique would fit in with the weather idea and the rainbow illustration. 

Moodboard

1.Rainbow on hand picture 2.rainbow with saying 3.rain and feet picture 4.rainbow made out of typography design on t-shirt 5. typography by Natsuki Otani 6.typography t-shirt design 7. Watercolour typography blog post 8.Example of font for t-shirt 9.Colour palette 10.examples of phrases/sayings to be on t-shirt  

font struct: Creating a digital font

This is the digitally made font that I created in a website called fontstruct. Using this website to create my font was rather difficult especially when it came to doing letters like `z’ and `w’ because of the diagonal lines and the fact that you had to get each and every shape the same size and using the same design. To create my font I used three different shapes to make my piece, these were the rounded edges, the diamond shapes to make it look more interesting and the squares to give it the simple shape. I think this font would look great on a pack of cards especially on the diamond cards because of the shapes that I used to create my piece. It also reminds me of pixels on ncertain letters like the `x’ and the `k’.   

Paper cutting inspired by Mathilde Nivet

Context

Mathilde Nivet is a French artist who works mainly with paper design. She has graduated as a textile designer who uses illustration in her work. She creates very detailed cut outs, in this case she has used typography which is in French it says “he who thinks little errs much”, and this is a quote said by Leonardo Da Vinci.

Meaning

There isn’t much information on this artists piece of work so is mostly my own opinion. The link between the pattern around the outside of the quote that has been cut and the quote itself does not link; it doesn’t seem to have any type of theme to me. The quote is basically saying the people who do not think a lot in the first place will always be pausing for thought, what they want will not come to them naturally. There is obviously a deep meaning behind the quote.

Aesthetic

To create this piece the artist has first lightly drawn out the letters and the shapes around the paper. Then using a very sharp craft knife the design is carefully cut out. For colour the artist uses a sheet of white and red paper, this is so it makes the quote readable. The red is a very bright shade; with the design cut out around the quote it reminds me of mistletoe.

The font used is simple and bold this makes it easy to cut out, the artist has avoided using bridges for the center of the letters, this just makes the colour come through more.  

Personal response

I chose to look at Nivet because she does such detailed cutouts. I really liked her carefully detailed pieces and the extra designs around the quote. The piece immediately reminds me of mistletoe. This piece inspired me to create two different types of paper cutting one being detailed and the other not so detailed. I have also decided to use two different ways of adding colour. 

This is my first paper cut inspired my Nivet. For my piece I used an English quote from a song that I knew, the song is called `wings’ by Little Mix. I picked this song lyric because I thought I could create illustrations of birds to add to my piece to make it look more interesting. Unlike Nivets I have linked the illustrations with the quote. Similarly I have used the same technique and materials as to create my piece. I used a pink background because I felt this fitted in with the nature of the girl band. Another technique that I took from Nivet was the use of not having the bridges to create the centre of the letter. I also thought that the font I used matched with their lyric video. 

This my second piece, I used it more as a stencil than just a paper cutout. To create the piece I made two stencils one with just the shapes of the letters and the other with the stripy design. I then spray painted the stencil with just the letters and then used another colour to place on top of that stencil with the stripy design. In this piece I have used a very bold font and have used both bridges and no bridges. I think this makes it look more interesting and gives it an edge to any other type of font. The saying I used is a command, I think the colours go very well with this idea as it stands out. I wouldn't have thought that the red and blue would go together at first when I first thought about using those colours because they are not exactly opposite each other on the colour wheel. This piece is so different to the piece by Nivet, one of the things that stand out to me is how elegant her piece looks compared to mine. I think this is because it is so bold and the fact that the spray paint often overlaps where it shouldn't so gives it a more messy feel to it.