The X-Height Files

Typography in everyday life; this mural may not be in everyone's life, but I believe it's safe to say everyone in our art classes has taken a selfie with it or at the very least, walked past it at some point while in Austin, Tx.  The mural (obviously) celebrates art in Austin, inviting artists of all sorts to make their presence and work known in the state's capitol, thus giving art purpose to the city. 

I love it especially for the design.  I took this photo over a year ago around the same time I had found out I was accepted into the ComDes program here at Texas State, and to this day, it's still my favorite mural.  Could it be because of the timing I discovered it?  Could it be because I love art and so does Austin? Yes and yes, but also for it's design choices; the colors, complimentary blues and oranges (classic) and the typography (a serif headline "ART" layered by a sans serif "LONG LIVE—IN AUSTIN."

There isn't many words here, but it IS all typography that makes the statement here.  The bold, 3D stylized serif "ART" I believe is the most beautiful; it catches your eye instantly without overwhelmingly dominating the design, yet it is obvious the artist wanted to really appreciate art in Austin.  The sans serif "LONG LIVE—IN AUSTIN" in white and orange on top of the tones of blue creates a wonderful contrast without hurting the viewer's eyes.  I love this type choice because it's subdued and calm, and it perfectly balances out the impact of "ART" (but not too much because Austin is all about art!)

I definitely love this mural, and I have found I've already been utilizing the color palette and type choices in past designs. I definitely plan on furthering this trend and hopefully will one day make as much of an impact as this mural does with my own designs.

My example of typographic combinations comes from the product packaging on some of my favorite coffee, Cafe Bustelo. The main text is a sans serif typeface unlike one I have seen in our type catalog. It is very reminiscent of carnival posters from the 1920's and early 1900's italian poster art. The colors and main typeface have a very nostalgic-old timey-no frills feel to it. The accompanied text is a very simple sans serif font. I feel this ads to the old school feel that Cafe Bustelo is going for. I feel that this product (and typography) appeals to someone who appreciates the simple things in life, someone who doesn't need the newest gadgets, the nicest car, and the most modern home; but more to someone who enjoys a humble lifestyle who appreciates taking their time to sit down, read the paper, and enjoy their cup of coffee without having to rush out the door.  This typography will go on to influence my own projects where I am looking to incorporate a nostalgic and old school feel. 

The example I chose for my everyday type use is in this Musical Theatre Score book. Although it may seem as though this is not an everyday use, believe me, it is. I sing and play musicals on the daily, just ask my roommates! 

This cover is very unique in the sense that it uses many paragraph styles to present itself. Such as the justification of the sentence at the bottom, or the choice of tight kerning between the L and the O, a glyph, and some tracking! Not sure what font this serif type would be, but it is very beautiful and clean! 

My example for type in everyday use is a mug that I got in Spain a long time ago. At the time I thought that it was cool that the mug had so many different fonts on it. Now looking at it after taking typography my feelings for the design have changed a bit with papyrus being such a focus on the mug with the color and the size of it. Also some of the words are very close together while others are touching. 

The type I chose for type from my everyday life is from a game that I have recently been playing called Persona 5.

The thing that jumps out at me about this game’s type is how stylized and dynamic it is. The menus especially exhibit this through the different sizes, styles, and colors that are used to make them look interesting.

Normally having sans serif and serif in one word would be frowned upon but I think it works with the wacky nature and themes in the game.

My musical typographic inspiration I found was this beautiful jazz poster I came across. There were so many to choose from, I selected this one mainly because I felt it had more hand drawn elements that gives it a certain energetic quality! I love the illustrative style applied to the type as well as the images, feels very modern yet a rule breaking decision was made in the type creation.

Mf Doom has always been one of my favorite artist that has the best match up of cover/video art with whatever kind of music is being illustrated. Throughout the video, the type keeps the viewers attention as if they were reading a comic book. All the words and phrases have a organic drawn feel, the same effect printed comic books have. I feel as if the lettering helps the music as it enhances the story told by Doom.

My example of 'Typography + Music' comes from a 1970's psych rock poster... The typography is wild, there is nothing like it in our com des catalog, and before its time no typography like it had previously existed. The typography bends to fit odd spaces of the page, the first letter might be half the size of the last letter in the same word, the colors are wild, and overall the typography is completely unpredictable. The typography reflects the sounds of the bands being advertised, it represents the counter culture of the time. The poster artists didn't want just everyone to be able to read it, it is kind of a "for freaks - by freaks" attitude. If you couldn't read the poster, you probably were not an outcast in society, and thats who they wanted to attend these shows. The typography is a symbol of the times, this was a time when there was lots of social change, people were rebelling and were not afraid to experiment, and the typography is a perfect example of that. This work will go on to influence my future projects working for some of the more "out there" clients I hope to work for. The color palettes, the experimentation, and unpredictability is something that I admire and would like to incorporate into my own work.  

qFor this blog post, I picked the lyric video of Just Give Me A Reason by P!nk. The video was from PinkVEVO Youtube account and was published on September 11, 2012. 

There are two typefaces used throughout the lyric video. Both are sans serifs. The first one is a sans serif with a light-medium weight and the other one has very thick, bold strokes. 

The lyric video is designed for viewers and listeners who want to sing along with the music/song. All our typed in capital letters. This was done because typography generates emotions. The song is about the demands of two people in the relationship. The lighter sans-serif sets the tone, and the bolder emphasizes the strong feeling an audience can feel. 

This will influence my work in a sense that I can use typography in setting up a tone onto my project based on what I’m trying to communicate.

Flatbush ZOMBiES - 'This Is It' (Music Video)

The video I've chosen is by the psychedelic rap group Flatbush Zombies. The song is off the later Flatbush album 3001: A Laced Odyssey and is one of the few songs to already have a video created. Though some of  their music is darker, this album was released to show a wider spectrum of the Zombies abilities. Focusing not only on their own accomplishment and success but preaching the others to do the same.

  The text seen in the beginning and end of the dramatically lit black and white music video is very small and hard to read. Though some of the san serif font is legible, the custom “ zombie” style Flatbush Zombie title has a larger emphasis and even appears twice at the end. The small text apposed to the three artists who occupy the entire frame also lends to the concept of large achievement.

I was exploring different lyric videos when I came across this one called Ricochet by Starset I haven’t heard of the band before. But what got my attention is the fact that is a 360 degree view lyric video. In the video the lyrics are displayed all around the room including the wall, the floor, and opened doors while a doctor is walking around doing his job.  

This use of the new 360 degree view technology is another way to connection with the audience in a unique way because it engages the audience since they have to follow the lyrics around the room with a cursor. In the video it starts off with dark type which you could almost mistake for text just on the wall then it goes to a light blue which is projecting off a projector. Also in there is type which contains symbols that are used are letters which I’m not sure why they chose to do.

For this weeks blog post about music with type, I decided to go with my least favorite band’s most successful attempt of artistry. If you couldn’t tell by the link above, that band is Fun.. (not really ‘fun’ though, they’re awful). 

PS- This song is by far the worst one I’ve heard, so brace yourself.

Although my opinion on their music is subjective, I still believe that this video has some good type exploration that helps engage the viewer. The use of hand lettering and placement of the words work well in mimicking the song’s mood and genre, as well as, helping guide the audience—literally. Because the song is so awful to listen to, the artist behind the video helped compensate that horror by giving this song life through the playfulness of the camera, set, and above all the type.