TYPOGRAPHY ATTEMPTS: Ranked from My Favorite to My Least Favorite  |
| attempt #4 |
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| attempt #5 |
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| attempt #6 |
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| attempt #3 |
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| attempt #2 |
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| attempt #1 |
MY PROCESS
This was one of the more difficult projects I have ever done. This type of creativity came from a part of my brain I have not used in a very long time. Entering blindly into this "Typography Quote" project, I had never even heard of Typography. I quickly went to the internet to do some " google image result" research and headed to a few creativity websites for advice. What I found was that my designs could be virtually limitless. There were no real rules or regulations to follow, except for to think outside the box, and to not have any white showing on the paper. I began searching for quotes and sketching ideas of what I thought typography should look like.
What I did find online was a bit confusing, I was struggling to understand exactly what made something Typography, and not just a quote on a piece of paper. I quickly realized that most of the examples I saw or read had different types of font, were colorful or creative, and used creative shapes or tools to write their quotes. So I first went to the only place I could think to find creative type: a magazine.
In middle school art class we always used cut outs from magazines to make collages or write things on paper so I figured this was a good place to start. Finding a role or american flag duck tape on my scavenger hunt for more magazines I thought this might be a good way to incorporate more materials into my piece. My quote was "See what the the others don't see." In fact, the first few times I read this quote I did not notice the intentional double "the." This drew me to the quote because it was different and exciting. So after spending countless hours searching magazines for the perfect letters I created Attempt #1 (seen above). I was uncertain this would be considered "typography" but I thought it was creative non the less.
After finding a lot of great patterns and colors in the magazines, I chose to stick with this as my primary source for my next two attempts. I was stuck on the idea of incorporating an eye into my second piece. Looking around my room, I my coffee mug which is filled with fake sunflowers. I snipped off the petals and used a cutout eyeball as the center for an "eye-sunflower." This three dimensional aspect of this piece was a nice change, unfortunately my writing on the petals is sloppy and hard to read (see Attempt #2 above). Finally when I got to my third attempt I felt fresh out of ideas, and energy. I tried to think of symbols besides an eye I could use to show "seeing". That is when I thought of a magnifying glass (see attempt #3 above). For this piece, I really like what I did with the magnifying glass, I just wish I would have made it bigger to fill the page more. I also really loved my background for this attempt, but it distracted a lot from the quote (which was meant to be the main focus).
I have to say, I was pretty proud of my work in my first round of attempts, even though they may have missed the mark, I was glad to know I put all my effort and creative energy into them. After a week of further discussion with peers and a new quote, I felt ready to take on my final set of attempts. My new quote I decided on was " Don't quit your daydream" which I viewed as a twist on "don't quit your day job." It made me think about how designers are dreamers and being creative is their job. This new quote gave me new inspiration and ideas.
First I immediately knew I wanted to try my hand in using my X-acto Knife. So I looked online for picture of cool writing that might be easy to cut out of paper. That was when I came across an image with a font I had in mind. So using my tracing paper I traced the letters of the quote from my laptop screen. This took a very long time but it was worth it to achieve the perfect letters. After transferring the writing onto cloud covered paper, I began my cutting out process. This was tedious to say the least, and left me with a few cuts on my fingers. However in the end, I was extremely happy with my result. (see Attempt #4). Next I knew I wanted to have the rest of my quote "don't quit your" in different font and style. Looking around my room once again for inspiration, I noticed my colorful tissues box in the corner. I used the box to cut out my letters for the rest of the piece. For background I used an old folder I had in my desk drawer.
With my second attempt, I wanted to play around with symmetry and drawing designs. I knew I needed to make my type look clean if I wanted to add a funky design around the boarder. So went to Word and played around with fonts until I found one I liked. I then began the tracing process once again, this time feeling more confident in my abilities. After what seemed like hours of tracing and transferring I was ready to careful outline my stencil with Sharpie. The fear of permanence made my hands sweat but I pushed on. After outlining all my writing I sketched on scrap paper ideas for pretty boarders or designs. I once again took to the internet where I took ideas from multiple designs to make my own. (See attempt #5). To ensure each side was even and the same I once again traced and used my transfer paper. After outlining all the designs I used a Sharpie paint stick to fill them in. I am so proud of this design and really happy with how it turned out.
Thinking about my final attempt hurt my brain. I had already used the X-acto knife, stencils, cutouts, sharpies and just about all of my creative energy. I had to sit and really think about what I had not done yet, or what I had not thought to do. As I sat I starred at my quote trying to think of what it mean to day dream. I imagined little girls pretending to be princesses or playing dress up, imagining a different world in their daydreams. That was when it hit me, I grabbed my makeup bag and began practicing and experimenting. Something about the word daydream feels very light and airy so I thought what better medium to use then blush and eyeshadow. So I began covering an entire sheet of paper with my blush, bronzer and eyeshadows.
After inhaling more dust then was actually on the paper, I dug through my bag to get more inspiration. I searched online for my quote and found an image that had writing which resembled lipstick. I traced the letters of the quote for the main part of my piece (See attempt #6) I tried to free hand a few attempts but they all looked too messy so I stuck to tracing. After tracing onto my paper with pencil, I pulled out my eyeliner and began slowly going over all my light lines. The tip broke several times and my frustration mounted as the tip grew smaller and smaller. Finally I finished filling in my "don't quit your day"part and it was on to the final "DREAM". I pulled out my lipstick and free hand wrote the last piece of my quote. I wanted this part to look free hand to give it an authentic feel because lipstick can be messy and imperfect, as well as designs and art.
Overall I am very proud of the work I produced considering I have no prior experience with this type of design. I have a much greater appreciation for people who have mastered X-acto knives and envy their patience. That was the biggest part of this process for me was accepting that nothing creative can be made in 10 minutes. It takes time and patience, and accepting that not every move I made was perfect, but that I tried my best.
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