#modulartype

Play Type Zine-2020_Sergey_Petrov (Serko)

EXPERIMENT + REFLECT

Poster Design Cont.

At this point I decided to experiment with adding the full name of my alphabet to see how it looked against my background prints.

I wasn't keen with how these turned out and preferred my initial experiments highlighting just the one letter.  

I was keen to see how other letters might work on the front and I am quite pleased with how the G looked, but in the end I decided to stick with developing my poster design highlighting the letter P.

I had another play around with my previous P designs and decided on the version below as my final poster.

When creating my type, I really wanted to take shapes from the real world. I thought about the shapes I found most satisfying in typography. I was really drawn to modular type that features curves and circles, and so I wanted to find something I could create to reflect this. 

I decided to create a font that would be a love letter to my trip to India. I focused on examining the shapes, particularly of the Hawa Mahal. I remember seeing the landmark for the first time when I was 18, and it was one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture I had ever seen.

I decided to work with these shapes to create a modular font. I particularly wanted the font to be bold and elegant, but also playful. I think the mixtures between curves and straight lines provides this. Once I had worked with the shapes a few times, I built up my font, and named it Jaipur.

When utilising this into my type poster, I really wanted to have playful movement and diversity of the type. I really enjoyed looking at the work of Hey Studio and loved how bold and beautiful the designs were.

I also wanted to incorporate the bright colours and bold styles of the Hawa Mahal, and I felt the style of Hey Studio matched what I wanted to achieve. I tried a few different layouts on illustrator but felt I wasn’t able to get the effect I wanted. 

I decided to go back to cut-outs to play with analogue ways to play with type. I really liked the idea of using the modular shapes for the backgrounds as well as the empty space left behind.

Once I was happy with the layout, I tried a few different backgrounds with the cut-out font. I liked the idea of it having a stone background, however when I tried it, it felt to dark and rough for the feel of the font. I also tried different colours but my favourite was the white on white. Finally, I cut the shapes out and lay them on top to give a very slightly 3d effect.

For the back, I wanted to follow a similar theme, and so I followed the same idea with cutouts, only this time I cut out painted shapes. The large dome shapes split in half left me with a page that was well divided. I like the way it halved the page. I also loved the idea of using the curves as a path for the type to follow, and really accentuate the shapes of the font.

Finally, for my typographic system, I again wanted to relate back to the curves. I decided to try a dilatational style. I felt for the amount of content I wanted to share, and for the style and feel of the poster that I wanted to convey this worked really well. 

Reflection

I was really happy with my final font and poster, as it reflected well my initial intentions for the project. I do wish I had given myself a bit more time to experiment with lots of different typographic systems, as I think there could have been some interesting ways of incorporating grid and axial systems as well, and I would have liked the front and the back of the posters to flow a little better, perhaps reflecting the dilational shapes on the back.

I also think in general I would have liked to have tidied up the design, but it was fiddly work with those cut-outs! Perhaps with a bit of free time, I will update the poster with some bolder choices.

REMEDIATION

In order to achieve the correct balance, I had a look at a Typographic Systems resource I was sent by my lecturer, however, I felt that none of the systems suited my type.

I decided to revisit earlier research and have a look at the work of Matt Willey to spark some inspiration.

Below is further development work focussing on type setting on the back of my poster.

V1 & V2

In both of these versions I have used a two column grid to bring more uniform to my copy.  I do like V1 but I feel like I need to make my modular type more of a focus, there is a little bit too much empty space and everything looks like its floating.  In V2 I attempted to use my modular letters to spell out the name of my font - Punkt, again I have used a 2 column grid but the poster is far too cluttered.

V3 & V4

In V3 I had a go at including my entire alphabet, gradually getting smaller, inspired by Matt Willey’s design.  Although this worked quite well on the page on its own, the layout didn't work when I added the copy.  I decided to go back to a single column in V4 and I really liked how this version turned out so decided to see how it would look side by side with a new version front cover.

I decided to highlight more of my modular alphabet on the front of my poster, I still wanted to include my punk print, however, I decided to lighten the colour to match the back of the poster.

V5 & V6

At this point I think I was finding a flow with my modular type characters and in these versions, I think I have done a good job of showcasing a selection of numbers and letters.  I also managed to set my copy really well alongside my artwork.

V7 with Cover

I tried a rotation of my V6 design, switching the artwork to the bottom with numbers on the left.  I also decided to increase the vibrancy of the print on the front of my poster and I think this works much better.

V8 & V9

At this point I decided to stop and have a look over my work to see if there was a version I’d quite like to develop further as a final version of my poster.  I really liked V5 but wasn't happy with the vibrancy or placement of the print.   I also wasn't sure what side I wanted my design to sit on so decided to mock up a couple of versions without copy to see how they looked.  I really liked V8 with my artwork placed on the left and numbers on the right - next step, add the copy.

V8 including copy and new version poster front.

EXPERIMENT + REFLECT

Final Modular Alphabet

I am so pleased with how this turned out, I particularly love how the sponge created a distressed effect on the circular modules of my alphabet.  I feel like its simplistic yet refined.