The world is full of letters and words. I was one of those people who noticed a witty design with clever placement of letters, or beautiful artwork that the letters seemed designed to be there as an integral part of the work. The troubling part of noticing something is how to understand its purpose, the meaning behind why it created, or completed one way instead of another. It seems to me that everyday we are surrounded by communication and we are so used to it that we do not even see logos, or advertisements for the genius design that has gone into it. Since beginning this particular class, I have found an amusement for the simplest forms of typography. I can actually see things that were there before but I was too busy to truly SEE it. My first piece is simple typography. Plain, simple, and yet effective forms of communication that we overlook on a daily basis are right there in front of our eyes. My favorites are the picked and intoxicated!
At first, they seem almost to be too simplistic in design to be of any use to anyone except a child. However simple the designs may be, I have found that I enjoy looking at these pieces so much that I actually put them in my sketchbook. They are easy to read and deliver a message in one word in a way that there can be no mistaking what it stands for. I only wish communication between two people, or groups of people was so easy.
The next area I wanted to address is the use of graffiti. This is an art form that takes many years to perfect and has yet to truly be experienced or appreciated outside of many U.S. cities. Yes, it can be destructive, and certainly, it is costly to clean up when it is carelessly applied to property that does not appreciate its inherent visual value. Graffiti is nothing more than an attempt to communicate something to those who walk by it. Next time you see graffiti, try stopping and testing your brain to figure out what the message is about. The letters are very cleverly placed within the context of the word or words. Shape is given to the letters in order to facilitate a particular style. In the examples below, there are so many wonderful things to see, but most important to me is the fact that everything I have come to appreciate about typography, exists within this type of typography.
I think you are so right. While these typographic designs may seem simplistic, it takes an incredible amount of effort to actually come up with one of them.
ReplyDeleteI loved your comment on graffiti. It is so beautiful, in the correct settings. What a great example of design in a context one doesn't normally think about.