Our first blog is going to detail your first project! See below for project details. Upon seeing previous student work, I thought it would be a great idea for you to see what others have done, so you can see the caliber of work that others have created, as well as to see the type of marks that have been created for this project in the past. The examples are above.
So, drumroll please!
PROJECT 01: Personal Logo Project
You will develop a personal logo that will become your "signature mark". It is a self-portrait of yourself, except it will be comprised primarily of typographic elements. You will use it as a promotional tool of sorts throughout the rest of semester, in that you will adhere it to the backs of your boards. It should serve you well, and if it truly is a representation of you, you can continue to use it beyond the scope of the class! Think about the qualities you defined for yourself in Tuesday's class (I will hand those back out to you). These are elements for you to use a conceptual building blocks as you start this creative process. If necessary, put the reocurring themes into a list to which you can refer often!
PART 1: COMBINING LETTERFORMS / TRANSFORMATION
SPECIFIC CRITERIA:
1. Your logo must be built from your initials (either 2 or 3 letterforms - your pick). You may also want to add your full name as an additional element, but it should not be the primary focus.
2. Initially, you will work only in black and white, but a color version with your chosen PMS colors will come once the design is finalized. Think of this as a figure/ground relationship exercise, so proceed with that in mind.
3. You can use any style of type, as long as it represents you. Think about how letters can connect to each other and the shapes they create. Be aware that thin lines and gradients can reproduce poorly, so keep that in mind. In the examples above, you'll see that some individuals use more a hand-drawn typographic aesthetic, while others use more formal type elements. It is your call, but you should all the while be thinking about what the type conveys about you.
4. You may want to consider a drawn or implied containment for increased stability in your design.
RESTRICTIONS:
You will not start this on the computer. You'll see an example of sketches below. In your tracing pad, you should begin by doing multiple thumbnails. Don't worry about making each one perfect! This is your chance to explore the ways your initials can interact and how different fonts feel differently. You will need to begin with at least 25 variations, because we will narrow them down to 5 in a critique next week. Then you will do several iterations of each chosen version in your pad (again, no computer). This may seem tedious, but since you are new to typography, this is a worthwhile learning experience!
One way to approach these sketches is to start off in pencil, and once you get the form down, fill it in with your black markers or india ink.
Also, another way to sketch is to do a collage of letterforms from magazines. Cut the fonts out, arrange them, and see how well letters can work together while still communicating your initials. Experiment with any and every letterform you can get your hands on. Feel free to combine typefaces or abstract them. Leave no typeface unturned!
These are sketches, but try to keep them somewhat organized and neat, so they can be an easy read when we put them up next week.
PART 2: COMBINING LETTERFORMS AND ONE IMAGE TRANSFORMATION
With your letterform logo completed, you'll next introduce one utilitarian object/ shape along with two letterforms that will assist you in better defining who you are (beyond part 1!). You can start from scratch or take the first personal logo and introduce this "new shape".
FINAL PRESENTATION SIZE: 10.75" x 16.75"
We'll be using white Letramax (hot press) boards.
Your final board in the project critique will have:
TOP: Letterform logo in B/W
BELOW: Type with Object logo in color below, with your Pantone colors listed at the very bottom
Spraymount/adhere your print output and apply it to the board.
Keep it clean. No oversprays, smudges, or stray marks. Craftsmanship is part of your grade!
