REFINED SKETCHES // ILLUMINATED LETTER

HERE ARE 10 REFINED SKETCHES FOR EACH OF MY ARTIST.  I TRIED TO PUT THEM ALL ON THE COMPUTER, BUT WILL BE GOING BACK ON SOME OF THEM AND DOING THEM BY HAND.

ALAN FLETCHER

BRADBURY THOMPSON

ROBERT DE NIRO SR.

FINAL 3 ARTISTS // the illuminated letter

“An illumination is an embellishment, or additional decoration that enhances the pages of a written, or manuscript page. The decorated pages made it easy for missionaries to find the beginning of a particular section.” Often, these illuminated letters were adorned with gold leaf and painstakingly hand painted. Evidence of the art of illumination exists from as far back as 400 AD and stretches to the 16th century with the art’s height peaking in the Middle Ages. The majority of surviving texts are religious in nature and include such works as the Aberdeen Bestiary (12th century English), Book of Hours (1400s French), Li Livres dou Santé (13th century French) The Book of Dimma (8th Century Ireland), The Book of Kells (ca. 800 Celtic) and in countless Bibles.


ALAN FLETCHER  ǀ  eyecatching
Alan Gerard Fletcher (27 September 1931 – 21 September 2006) was a British graphic designer. In his obituary, he was described by The Daily Telegraph as "the most highly regarded graphic designer of his generation, and probably one of the most prolific".


I chose Alan Fletcher because of the unique creations that he has made. He combines mediums and compositions into his own, and they become different enough to be separated from other similar artists.

ROBERT DE NIRO SR.  ǀ  dramatic
Robert Henry De Niro, Sr. (January 17, 1922 – May 3, 1993) was an American abstract expressionist painter and the father of actor Robert De Niro.


I came across Robert de Niro Sr. mostly because I recognized the name.  I immediately grew fond of the paintings and drawings that I found.  His style is to almost "outline" his subjects, which gives off an extremely dramatic vibe.

BRADBURY THOMPSON  ǀ  whimsical
Bradbury Thompson (1911–1995) was an influential American graphic designer and art director of the twentieth century.


I recently did a research project on Bradbury Thompson for another class, and really recognized the talent that he had.  He was a lifelong artist and really affected everywhere he was during his lifetime.  He mastered the use of primary colors and brought movement to a flat surface.  

POSSIBLE DESIGNERS //

HERE IS A LIST OF POSSIBLE DESIGNERS THAT I COULD CHOOSE FROM FOR PROJECT 4 IN TYPE 1:


BRADBURY THOMPSON – WestVaco 
GIAMBATTISTA BODINI – Bodini Typeface
MAX MEIDINGER – Helvetica Typeface
ALAN FLETCHER –Victoria and Albert Museum
WALTER LANDOR – FedEx
ROB JANDOFF – Apple
CAROLYN DAVIDSON – Nike
NEVILLE BRODY – record cover designs
GORDON PARKS – American photography

MINIMAL POSTER DESIGNS //

I FOUND A GREAT LINK OF POSTERS DESIGNED WITH A MINIMAL MINDSET.  THEY ARE RE-REPRESENTING FAMOUS TV SHOWS AND REALLY SAY SOMETHING WITHOUT SHOWING MUCH.  ALMOST EVERYONE OF THEM RESONATED WITH ME AND I ENJOYED LOOKING THROUGH THEM.
THE IDEA IS TO LOOK AT THE POSTER, NOT COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS SAYING, WATCH THE SHOW, AND THEN UNDERSTAND.


http://www.pvmgarage.com/2010/01/minimal-and-retro-poster-design-two-stunning-and-inspirational-projects/


THERE IS A SECOND GROUP OF POSTERS THAT SHOWS WEBSITES THAT WE GO THROUGH A LOT.  THEY ARE ALL MOSTLY A LITTLE GRUNGY AND CROWDED, BUT I DID FIND A COUPLE WORTH LOOKING AT.  THE CONTENT OF THEM IS WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT I BELIEVE.


ANYWAYS, I THOUGHT THE FIRST SET OF POSTERS IS GREAT TO LOOK AT FOR OUR CURRENT VISUAL CONCEPTS PROJECT.

BEHANCE.NET

I'VE UPLOADED ALL OF MY PROJECTS FOR THIS YEAR SO FAR ON WWW.BEHANCE.NET/BBROOKS


GO CHECK THEM OUT.

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM in typography / motion type

HERE ARE SOME VIDEOS I FOUND THAT REMINDED ME OF MOTION GRAPHICS.

Nick the Greek

INFOGRAPHICS I LIKE //

HERE ARE SOME INFOGRAPHICS THAT I THINK ARE GOOD VISUALLY AND THROUGH CONTENT.

I LEARNED A TERM IN MY DESIGN HISTORY CLASS THAT THIS REPRESENTS WELL:  "TYPOPHOTO" - THE INTEGRATION BETWEEN TYPE AND PHOTO.

VOTE OVER HERE // RIGHT THERE -------------------------->

THERE IS A POLL FOR EACH DAY OF THE WEEK, THEY ARE ALL THE SAME QUESTION.
THANKS.

FRUTIGER //

FRUTIGER

            Frutiger is a sans-serif typeface by the Swiss type designer Adrian Frutiger. It was commissioned in 1968 by the newly built Charles De Gaulle International Airport at Roissy, France, which needed a new directional sign system. Instead of using one of his previously designed typefaces like Univers, Frutiger chose to design a new one. The new typeface, originally called Roissy, was completed in 1975 and installed at the airport the same year.

Frutiger's goal was to create a sans serif typeface with the rationality and cleanliness of Univers, but with the organic and proportional aspects of Gill Sans. The result is that Frutiger is a distinctive and legible typeface. The letter properties were suited to the needs of Charles De Gaulle – modern appearance and legibility at various angles, sizes, and distances. Ascenders and descenders are very prominent, and apertures are wide to easily distinguish letters from each other.

The Frutiger family was released publicly in 1976, by the Stempel type foundry in conjunction with Linotype.  Frutiger's simple and legible, yet warm and casual character has made it popular today in advertising and small print. Some major uses of Frutiger are in the corporate identity of Raytheon, the National Health Service in England, Telefónica O2, the British Royal Navy, the London School of Economics and Political Science, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Conservative Party of Canada, the Banco Bradesco in Brazil, the Finnish Defence Forces and on road signs in Switzerland. The typeface has also been used across the public transport network in Oslo, Norway, since the 1980s. In 2008 it was the fifth best-selling typeface of the Linotype foundry. Frutiger is also used by DHL Globally and by DPWN Deutsche Post in Germany.  Frutiger was also produced by Bitstream under the name 'Humanist 777'.

Frutiger has absolutely no stress involved with any of its letters.  All ascenders and descenders are very perpendicular and do not angle on way or the other on the stem.  All of the baseline and x-heights end with rectangular aspect.  This is true for all letters when they end, except for lowercase “c” and “s”, and then uppercase “C” and “S”.  For the lowercase letters, not all the stroke widths are perfectly uniform.  There are varying weights here and there, especially on the curves.  This would include the bowls on letters like “a”, “b”, “c”, “d”, “g”, “p”, etc.  Even though the typeface is very clean and organized, this is a nice way to add some visual interest and break up the even widths.  The even widths are found in the uppercase letters.  These are all uniform and have even weights on all parts of the letters.  This contrasts the lowercase letters, and the contrast again adds some visual interest to the typeface because not every letter, lowercase or uppercase, are the same.

The numbers and symbols seem to be a mixture of aspects from the lowercase and uppercase letters.  Some have the extremely even weight distributed throughout the form like “1”, “2”, “4”, and “7”.  In contrast, most of the numbers and symbols have the visual interest of the lowercase letters by varying the widths and not sticking to that uniform and structured look.

Adrian Frutiger developed a two digit system to differentiate the weights of his first large typeface family, Univers. The base of the system was 55, the center of a roman upright font. The first digit of the classification expressed the thickness of the weights, for example, 4 is light, 5 is regular, and 9 is black. The second digit describes the type of weight, for example, 6 is italic, 7 is condensed.

An efficient but cheerful face, Frutiger embodies a unique timelessness.  Frutiger’s clean, robust sans serif design still offers a relaxed appearance ideal for the juxtaposition of words and images.

Frutiger has been an extreme success, and in 2003 it has been revised (ASTRA-Frutiger) for use on highway signage in Switzerland. In addition, the typeface was revised and updated in 1999 by Adrian Frutiger himself (together with Linotype) to include true italics among other features; this typeface is called Frutiger Next.

Adrian Frutiger drew each weight by hand, a necessity before the age of computers. The difference is letter spacing can be seen when comparing Frutiger® 45 light to Frutiger 55 roman. Linotype and Adrian Frutiger decided to redesign the Frutiger family for the Platinum Series, as they had done previously with Linotype Univers®. The typeface family with its more harmonized weights is now available as Frutiger Next. The italic weights have been reworked into a truer italic form than the original oblique versions.

In 1957, Swiss designer Adrian Frutiger created a new kind of family, providing a full range of completely compatible variants planned in an orderly fashion. Frutiger felt that the traditional system of providing names (bold, semi-bold, semi-bold condensed, and so on) was confusing and outdated. Instead, he proposed what he believed was a logical and systematic number scheme. In Frutiger’s system, each typeface was given a two-digit suffix. The first digit classified the alphabet weight, with the figure 3 indicating the lightest weights in the family and the figure 8 the boldest. The second digit identified the typeface proportion: higher numbers were used for condensed designs and lower numbers for expanded designs. In addition, if the second number was odd, the typeface was a roman design; if it was even, the typeface was italic. Thus, Univers 39 is a very light condensed roman, while Univers 56 is a medium-weight italic of normal proportions.

"Frutiger | Typophile." Typographic Collaboration | Typophile. Web. 01 Oct. 2010. <http://typophile.com/node/13517>.

Gomez-Palacio, Bryony, and Armin Vit. Graphic Design, Referenced: a Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design. Beverly, MA: Rockport, 2009. Print.

"Linotype Type Gallery - Frutiger." Download Fonts from Classic to Cool - Linotype.com. Web. 01 Oct. 2010. <http://www.linotype.com/281/frutiger.html>.

Pao, Imin. 30 Essential Typefaces for a Lifetime. Gloucester: Rockport, 2006. Print.

TYPOGRAPHY PROJECT 1 // WEATHER

HERE IS THE LINK TO MY PROJECT 1.


WWW.BEHANCE.NET/BBROOKS

TYPOGRAPHIC BULLDOG //

I've spent a lot of time looking at this design and wondering if it actually represents a bulldog.  All my fraternity brothers say it does and they like it, so I'll go with it.  I think I'm at the point where I've been looking at the computer too much.

I'm going to finish my process book tonight, which means no sleep again.  Tomorrow night should be stress free.  Thank God.

Decided not to render too much on the computer, so it was only cleaned up in Photoshop.  I wanted to keep the slightly rugged look.

WHERE TO START //

The last month has been CRAZY!  


Typography + VisCon + Computer Crashing = NO SLEEP


I am just getting all caught up.  Glad that Typography is basically done for the week.


Contacted some printers in Kansas City and I'm talking to them about my process book and helping me with binding.  I am planning out the rest of my time until Thursday, so I've got a plan for what I should be doing all the time.  Probably won't be sleeping much at all, or any at all.  Looking forward to getting through Thursday, but am excited to see how everything turns out.  


I'll be posting all my sketches and refinements soon when I find the time.

MONDAY AUGUST 30 //

1.    WEIGHT:  the overall thickness of the stroke, in relation to its height.  (A bold font is “heavier” than a light font.)

2.    WIDTH:  how wide the letterforms are in relation to its height.

3.    STYLE:  refers to three different categories – serif/sans serif, the typefaces historical classification and the visual idiosyncrasies related to its historical context, and the specific form variations that the designer has imposed on the letters.  Typefaces can either be NEUTRAL or STYLIZED.

4.    Type is measured in POINTS.  (The typeface is Helvetica 12pt.)

5.    POINT:  one point equals 1/72 inch or 0.35 millimeters.

6.    PICA:  12 points equal one pica, which is the unit commonly used to measure column widths.  (12p7 equals 12 picas and 7 points.

7.    72 points in one inch.

8.    36 pt. typeface is about ½ inch tall.

9.    6 picas in one inch.

10.  12 points in one pica.

11.  X-HEIGHT:  distance between the baseline and mean line of the typeface.  (A lowercase “x” is the full x-height, which does not measure anything above that height.)

12.  CAP HEIGHT:  height of the capital letter above the baseline.

13.  LEADING:  amount of added vertical spacing between lines of type.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 25 //

1.  GRID:  method of putting all the pieces together in a composition to communicate a coherent message.

2.  Designers use the grid as a tool in the thinking process of designing.  The grid benefits the designer by permitting to lay out enormous amounts of information.  Also, the grid allows multiple people to work on the same project or series.  The grid serves as a guide for distributing elements across a format.

3.  MODULAR GRID:  A grid that contains modules (units of space that, when repeated, create columns and rows).

4.  MARGINS:  negative spaces between the format edge and the content, which surround and define the live area where type and images will be arranged.  The proportions of the margins bear some consideration, as they help establish the overall tension within the composition.  Margins can be used to focus attention, serve as a resting place for the eye, or act as an area for subordinate information.

COLUMNS:  vertical alignments of type that create horizontal divisions between the margins.  There can be any number of columns; sometimes they are all the same width, and sometimes they are different widths, corresponding to specific kinds of information.

GRID MODULES:  individual units of space separated by regular intervals that, when repeated across the page format, create columns and rows.

FLOWLINES:  alignments that break the space into horizontal bands.  Flowlines help guide the eye across the format and can be used to impose additional stopping and starting points for text or images.

GUTTER:  inside margins or blank space between two facing pages.

5.  HIERARCHY:  order that allows the viewer to enter the typographic space and navigate it.

6.  TYPOGRAPHIC COLOR:  apparent blackness from a block of text from the result of attempting hierarchy.

7.  Changing the weight, texture or value, and rhythm can create hierarchy.  Also, spatial separation is another option.