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https://sashamitchelll.wordpress.com/2020/02/20/type-design-and-how-typography-can-define-a-location-2-2/

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I don't usually use a lot of typography in my Graphic Design work so I wasn't sure how these two weeks would go.

I actually really enjoyed the research last week and making the font this week - it's definitely something that I'd like to do more of.

One of the biggest things that I learned this week was the importance of sketching it out, and not just relying on digital media to make the font. I really struggled drawing the font initially on the computer, and found it a lot easier once I;d sketched it by hand then converted the drawing into a digital design.

Blog: https://lucysmagraphicdesignblog.wordpress.com/2020/02/12/week-2-workshop-challenge/

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Here's a link to my blog so far for week 2. I've really enjoyed this week playing around with text. This isn't finished, and I am wanted to over lay the gold wit the black like in the original image. If any of you have thoughts please let me know.

https://ellabrett.wixsite.com/mysite/copy-of-week-01-1

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This week we want you to use your initial visual research from Week 1 to create a new and unique title typeface. Do not forget to document your visual developments, and be experimental with form and legibility to create something entirely new.

Use the DNA of your initial visual research from Week 1 to create a new and unique title typeface that spells out the name of your town or city.

Your new title lettering should reflect the identity of your town or city.

Consider the interplay between provenance and historical story, in contrast to more strategic alignment to a design's positioning.

From taking imagery around Falmouth of typography that I felt summed the town, it led me researching into what the type was representing. I found out a lot about my home town which was really interesting. The one specific type and building was The Old Town Hall. Firstly because I never realised that The Old Town Hall was such an important building to Falmouth and just how far it went back in history. It was built in 1715 as a chapel and later turned into a court house. It has a range of historical stories surrounding the building with the most famous being the last cannibalism trial in the UK being held there in 1885.

It was the typography of the building which first attracted me to it which is in an old English type, a medieval style. When you get closer, you can see that the text has a black outline which has been slightly worn away, with a hand painted gold over the top. This gold doesn't have clean cut lines and looks worn, going over parts of the black outline and it is very inconsistent. I absolutely love that about the type as this is in complete juxtaposition with the previous use of the building itself. The windows sit large and open on either side of the grand door, with this sign sitting above it in an arch looking worn and re touched by hand. Although the building is worn in general, they have tried to keep the grandness, which I would imagine is why they have painted it in gold.

The Old Town Hall Gallery, 3 High Street, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR112AB.

When thinking about creating a type using 'Falmouth' as my wording, I really wanted to try and recreate it using this font. I must admit, I am not a huge fan of this style of type however I really love how it sits with this specific building and I have really enjoyed researching the background of it.

Due to the wearing down of the lettering on the glass, I thought it would be worth trying different ways of producing the forms of the type. I began by drawing it out and measuring it up, making sure I got it even and spaced out. I really enjoy working by hand and feel I will understand the process better if I tackle a project this way. Having never worked with typography before this course, I wanted to go through basics with measuring and working out.

Once I was happy with this, I decided to take a craft knife to it. As my background is within screen printing, I usually think about texture and layers. I wanted to create the grand feel of the signage along with it being worn and dated. Instead of screen printing the lettering, I decided to press some ink through with a sprong to get a speckled look. If I screen printed it I felt it would be too clean. I want to create mistakes with it, a few smudges and splatters would work I think. I would also like to try the same effect with a paintbrush as the original photo of 'The Old Town Hall' has such a thick layer of gold paint on the type that you can practically see the brush strokes. I'm happy to have a play and see how the end results turn out.

Playing around with black ink. As you can see, the more I put down the more it seeped through the paper. If I had done with acetate this wouldn't have happened. I can always edit this on photoshop if I wish to use this further. I do really like these though, especially the bottom one. I think this works nicely by itself after a little bit of editing. The top one is far too heavy however this could work as the outline of the text before the gold is layered on over the top.

I then played around with gold acrylic paint, using it in the same way; sponging it through the paper onto the paper underneath. I really like the richness of this colour and I think the next steps is layering the two of these up so it has a scratched looking black outline with a gold inner.

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This week we want you to use your initial visual research from Week 1 to create a new and unique title typeface. Do not forget to document your visual developments, and be experimental with form and legibility to create something entirely new.

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I haven't resolved this yet, but here's my work so far

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By the end of this week you should be able to:

Contextualise the interplay between social, provenance and history when designing for a globally significant event;

Analyse and evaluate your research findings and use sound judgement to develop an appropriate tone of voice when portraying a national or global identity;

Develop and imagine innovative ideas that embrace risk, to make new and exciting letterforms with contemporary relevance;

Collaborate through group discussions on the Ideas Wall.

Colophon Foundry speak about their process for designing a Welsh typeface in this week's lecture. They comment about the difficulty of making something look 'Welsh' without veering into pastiche. I don't think this issue is exclusive to the typographic world, since I imagine most creatives grapple with this from time to time. They talk about the need for an identity to be low-key rather than overbearing, which is why they refined their 'Welsh harp' curves into a subtle detail.

This case study, along with this week's webinar with Zenab Bastawala, raised some interesting ideas that I'd never considered about how typography works with different alphabets (which reminded me of how Eurocentric most of my references are). Colophon had to design specific characters (digraphs) for the Welsh language, and Zenab has experience designing 'multi-script' typefaces. I'd really like to dig into this more but I think it's a little off-topic for the work I'm doing this week.

I've seen the Mexico 68 Olympic logo before but I really didn't know anything about the context or inspiration. Lance Wyman's logo is quite compelling and I like that he referenced the cultural heritage of Mexico and also managed to make it feel very contemporary and relevant. Clearly he did something right because it resonated with so many people. Despite this I'm conflicted about whether a white American man was the right person for the job, when the job is to define the identity of a country. There are some colonial overtones there that make me a bit uncomfortable. I'd be really interested to see some of the proposals from Mexican designers and agencies.

However when it came to trying to define the vernacular of my chosen area I realised how hard it was to draw out themes from something I was so familiar with. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to help define a place (or organisation, brand, etc etc) because the people who know it well can't see the woods for the trees.

I really struggled to get going this week, so I went over my research photos again and grouped them by themes. See below for my mood boards.

I just couldn't escape from Helvetica Bold. It's a ubiquitous font in British workplaces (and indeed all over the world, as I discovered when I finally watched Helvetica this week!), but I think it takes on a unique character in this context because of how distressed and faded it is. To me this really reflects an area that is gradually becoming obsolete, as we move further into a post-industrial society.

I've also been a bit obsessed with this specific example where someone has attempted to add a character to a sign by hand. I've written about it in last week's blog and on the GeoType wall so I'm not going to bang on about it too much, but I really love the contrast of the super slick, impersonal Helvetica with the hand-painted additions. I think there's something quite subversive about it, and I've been wondering if I could recreate some of that essence in the workshop challenge this week.

I tried tracing over Helvetica Bold, which certainly felt handmade but not that interesting. My next step was to randomly erase parts of letterforms on a page of text, print it off and try and fill in the gaps by hand. This started to feel like I was on the right track. I chose a brush that was slightly too big, which combined with my tendency to drop it, has given me a pretty scruffy page of letters. I posted this on the ideas wall for some feedback:

Stuart's idea of sending a template out to different people seemed like a good way to push this further, so I have. It's hard to find people in my social circle with no art training but I've done my best!

While I wait for them to get back to me I'm going to work on how to layer these up.

I also wonder if I need to bring in some other elements from my research, such as the corrugation and distortion from my mood boards.

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GDE720: Week 2, Complex Simplicity - Story Told - Reforming and projecting a new future in a type design

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By the end of this week you should be able to: Contextualise the interplay between social, provenance and history when designing for a globally significant event; Analyse and evaluate your research findings and use sound judgement to develop an appropriate tone of voice when portraying a national or global identity; Develop and imagine innovative ideas that embrace risk, to make new and exciting letterforms with contemporary relevance; Collaborate through group discussions on the Ideas Wall.

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I think I could work on this more, the perfectionist in me came out and I spent too much time "fiddling". In the end, I'm not 100% happy with what I've created, and I think I like my first one the best. The last one has some potential though.
https://jazzstew.wordpress.com/2020/02/09/story-told/

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As a final week 2 post — and something to get you thinking about the future direction of an equivalent week 2 task.

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As a final week 2 post — and something to get you thinking about the future direction of an equivalent week 2 task.

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This came up as part of some research i'm doing at the moment. I'm looking at Designers making tools for design.

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How many times have you wanted to know the name of a font used in a particular design or artwork? In some cases, the letters have been hand-drawn and the font doesn't actually exist. But imagine if there was a technology that could scan the text in an image and create an entire font out of it.

Well, Adobe is working on a brilliant new tool called Fontphoria - a glyph morphing and generation system that can convert an image into a glyph and apply that style to other glyphs, turning them into a complete set of fonts.

Powered by Adobe Sensei artificial intelligence (AI), Project Fontphoria can capture the style and texture of a single character and apply them to other characters in Illustrator. The AI can also convert outlined text in Illustrator to editable text.

Using AI lens and Augmented Reality (AR), Fontphoria can also visualize what your newly-created font would look like on real-world items like menus, packaging, signage, etc. Watch below.

00:17 - Conventional text manipulation
01:05 - Using Fontphoria to copy and apply styles
01:50 - Converting outlined text to editable text
02:39 - Creating fonts from images of text
03:54 - Visualizing the font on real world items with AI lens
Like us on Facebook to be notified when Fontphoria is available for download.
Share this post with a designer friend and voice your views in the comments below.

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Adobe Fontphoria Can Capture Text In Images And Convert Them To Fonts

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How many times have you wanted to know the name of a font used in a particular design or artwork? In some cases, the letters have been hand-drawn and the font doesn't actually exist. But imagine if there was a technology that could scan the text in an image and create an entire font out [...]

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Thank you for coming on this journey with me...

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Thank you for coming on this journey with me...

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This week I have shown every part of my process, from letter ideas to typeface to positioned letters to word forms to overworking. Here is my final piece: The type is blue and flowing to represent the waterways that established Walthamstow.

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This piece was created in response to the weathering of the 19th Century grave-stones, that inhabit the grounds of the Priory.

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Final design blog detailing the process of making and some reflections
https://ashleighsmithdesign.wordpress.com/2020/02/07/2-2-output/

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Blog post detailing the research and thinking my output is grounded in this week.

https://ashleighsmithdesign.wordpress.com/2020/02/07/2-2-research-development/

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Hybrid letterforms designed to highlight the symbiotic but also conflicting relationship that Southampton has with it's universities.

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Hand-made type inspired by the black and white Tudor architecture, that populates much of Leominster.

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Playing with a moving type that incorporates the different materials I have used and represents the developing industry of Redditch 😊 I won’t be able to make the webinar later as I’m out and about celebrating my birthday today! Sounds like a great one so looking forward to catching up tomorrow.

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As the word starts and ends with a W, I've incorporated the type into a ring. I need to work on the connections (now I feel it makes sense to have it all connected.

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A bit ropey overall I think, but there's some nice touches where one letter influences the shape of the next…

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A bit ropey overall I think, but there's some nice touches where one letter influences the shape of the next…

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Maybe…

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elements I'm trying to consider: a nod to the stencil from my research, a strong grid reference for an industrial/functional feel, non intrusive or overbearing 'frill' but still with a subtle 'fun' queue to acknowledge the present day residence of Penryn... lots more to follow in the blog. x

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So here is my outcome this week, as well as the blog post about why I chose this style. :)

https://rachelwise240483.wordpress.com/2020/02/06/workshop-challenge-week-two/

Why handwriting style? https://rachelwise240483.wordpress.com/2020/02/04/bracknell-typeface-development/

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I'm happy with the letter shapes, and can now go on to work on stroke endings, stroke contrast etc.
This shows more of my working. https://wp.me/p9On5J-r0

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I know I've been quiet... I've been doing a heck of a lot of reading. I like when the work I do has a solid reasoning and so in pursuit of a logical line of reasoning for my lettering I have been reading a lot this week. My inspiration and style guides for the Penryn title are coming from Josef Albers, and Letraset and some others. I've established what I want to capture in idea form and now I'm basically drawing grid after grid after grid, as I like to do ideation by hand before the screen comes in.

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Typophile Film Festival 5 Opening Titles

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Handcrafted with love by BYU design students and faculty, for the 5th Typophile Film Festival. A visual typographic feast about the five senses, and how they contribute to and enhance our creativity. Everything in the film is real—no CG effects!

Shot with a RED One, a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, a Canon EOS 40D, and a Nikon D80.
Stop motion created with Dragon Stop Motion.

Creative Director & Faculty Mentor:
Brent Barson

Writing & Storyboarding:
Brent Barson, Jessica Blackham, Analisa Estrada, Meg Gallagher, John Jensen, Regan Fred Johnson, Colin “The Pin” Pinegar

Construction, Paint & Glue: 
Brent Barson, Wynn Burton, Analisa Estrada, Meg Gallagher, Olivia Juarez Knudsen, Casey Lewis, Reeding Roberts, Deven Stephens, Brian Christensen (Brain Sculpture)

Animators:
Brent Barson, Wynn Burton, Analisa Estrada, Meg Gallagher, Olivia Juarez Knudsen, Reeding Roberts, Deven Stephens

Cinematographer:
Wynn Burton

Editing:
Brent Barson, Wynn Burton, Analisa Estrada, Meg Gallagher, Reeding Roberts

Hand Models:
Analisa Estrada, Meg Gallagher, Olivia Juarez Knudsen, Deven Stephens, Michelle Stephens

Original Music:
micah dahl anderson
www.micahdahl.com

Special thanks to Joe, Jared, Zara, and the Punchut/Typophile crew for enabling this!

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Think heritage destruction here and you think of the Market Hall. An abhorrent monstrosity in its day but now greatly loved – it’s the stand-out building of the regeneration by more than just its size.The image shows detail from the building, this feature wraps around half of the building. The strong verticals could be something to explore for the typeface to contrast the script?

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David McKendrick (director of B.A.M) shares his 20-year infatuation with Pam (who works in his local laundrette) and her handwritten notes. He took inspiration from her hand writing and created a typeface from it. Here's the Instagram account.

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Tried distorting the scrawls even further by dragging them across a photocopier whilst it was scanning - it's created a mirror image from somewhere

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In response to the very helpful and varied feedback i've recieved here i've been experimenting with different cut-outs and transparencies etc. Thoughts? Are there any characters that are working better than others? I'm happiest with no. 7 but I think the N could be tweaked still.

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using the pen tool in illustrator to draw some glyphs in different forms. I seem to have settled into combining curved and very straight lines together to form the letters, in the same way that Panjabi, Tamil and Bengali do. These are basic forms – i'd like to mix serifs and ball ends to the mix, and optically alter the stroke contrast.

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So far…

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Lecture introduction

Last week we asked you to research and document the role type and lettering have to play in revealing meaning and identity. This week we want you to reflect on your findings in order to create something new.

Watch Stuart Tolley in conversation with Colophon Foundry to discuss the logistical and creative complications when designing a typeface for the Welsh Government;

Examine how contemporary design practice has engaged with provenancial and historical issues when portraying national and global identity;

Identify a link between historical reference and cultural development, in contrast to more strategic alignment to a design's positioning;

Identify case studies of modern type design that relate to place and location.

We also looked at research methodologies in Module 1 - please revisit this topic to refresh your memory.

After the lecture, take some time to explore the given resources. Make notes and reflect upon these ideas, and use them as a springboard into your own investigations. Use the Ideas Wall freely to discuss, ask questions and share ideas.

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Last week we asked you to research and document the role type and lettering have to play in revealing meaning and identity. This week we want you to reflect on your findings in order to create something new.

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Scratchy dip pen and indian ink. Not so much copying a face but thinking of it whilst scribbling…

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A bit late in the week for the first punt, I'm thinking of two views of the town's history; the  mediaeval/tudor/timber frame visitors seen all over versus the 60's modernisation, the most obvious contrasts looking around.
Looking at combining styles from two periods maybe, but avoiding the default Old English type and the Scooby Doo 60's bubble fonts.
I've found a lot of overprinting in 60's design - book covers, posters, etc. this might be a way to combine styles?
Both era's have small detail and flourishes re: the Welsh typeface lecture…

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Fewer words.

http://schokotrunk.com/2020/02/06/week-two-to-live-and-type-in-la/

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I have a lot of ideas that could all be possibles in creating a typeface for Toronto, as I've listed and reasoned in my blog, so now my problem is narrowing it down. I think I am on to something, but it's just a mater of imagining it, then creating it.
https://jazzstew.wordpress.com/2020/02/05/typographically-defining-toronto-exploration/

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but this is the result from my work this week. Inspired by the geometry and the outlines of the letterforms researched last week, I have been developing my idea based on the form of the Tyne Bridge. I think it looks modern whilst referencing the history of the city (the bridge and the connected history of industry around the river) I have kept it in black and white for clarity but also because of the significance of Newcastle United to the city.

I have done two different weights of typeface as I liked Colophon Foundry's notion of maxing/microing a typeface out depending on the occasion so it would be interesting to ramp the thickness of the type and see what effect it would have.

I have written a blog post about my process this week which you can read here

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If you liked the Fiona Banner typeface....

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If you liked the Fiona Banner typeface....

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... You'll love the design work of Fraser Muggeridge Studio, who collaborated on the Font Type project.

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Some of you have mentioned distorting type to create erosion, imperfections, degrading etc etc... In my opinion the best way to do this is by hand. More fun too. Check out these trailer videos for Sohne typeface, released by Klim Foundry. The typeface was manipulated, by hand, by DIA.

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According to Klim Type Foundry's director and lead designer Kris Sowerby, their new typeface Söhne is "the memory of Akzidenz-Grotesk framed through the reality of Helvetica." It captures the analogue materiality of 'Standard Medium', the original typeface used in Unimark's legendary wayfinding system for the New York Subway.

As a collection, the typeface is comprised of four families: Söhne, Söhne Schmal (Condensed), Söhne Breit (Wide) and Söhne Mono, each with sixteen different styles. While the Söhne collection provides almost infinite opportunities for display and text presentation, Sowersby has an affinity for two specific weights, Halbfett and Fett, which have "solid, confident, poster-like qualities that resonate with my personal concept of Azkidenz-Grotesk".

To mark the release of Söhne, Klim teamed up with New York and Geneva-based branding agency DIA, known for their innovative use of kinetic typography. They created a series of films that were developed as 'grotesque accidents', but evolved to capture a sense of materiality and memory.

DIA's Meg Donohoe states that the collaboration was extremely ambitious for them: "We've done a handful of kinetic type specimens and did not want to repeat or replicate any techniques that we've explored before. Most of our work is produced digitally through animation or code. For Söhne, we stepped into uncharted territories. We created custom analogue processes using a variety of printing techniques and headache-inducing chemicals (in some cases even fire) to produce a wide range of improvised films. We then adjusted the timing in-post to bend reality further. The final films are a curated selection of over 100 tests."

Alongside the launch of Söhne, Klim has relaunched its website in collaboration with web design and development company Springload. They have worked together since 2013 to refine and redefine approaches to UX that put the needs of designers at the heart of the experience. As a result of this work, the website's traffic has doubled and seen an increase of 180% in customer accounts. The new site extends the popular features of the existing site and introduces new features that give designers more options to test and research fonts prior to purchase.

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Klim Type Foundry launches new typeface collection Söhne with kinetic films by DIA - The Brand Identity

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According to Klim Type Foundry's director and lead designer Kris Sowerby, their new typeface Söhne is "the memory of Akzidenz-Grotesk framed through the reality of Helvetica." It captures the analogue materiality of 'Standard Medium', the original typeface used in Unimark's legendary wayfinding system for the New York Subway.

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Abstract (Netflix Series) episode with Jonathan Hoefler  

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Abstract (Netflix Series) episode with Jonathan Hoefler  

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For all those interested in typography and type design. This great episode offers excellent advice about how to start designing a typeface.

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Type Design Comes to Netflix | Fonts by Hoefler&Co.

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Abstract: The Art of Design returns for a second season, featuring an episode about Jonathan Hoefler and the typeface designers at H&Co.

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This week, I have been primarily concerned with exploring the relationship between the materials that had been used in the construction of the selected signage and the letterforms that can be observed within the town.

The example below was developed with the idea of recreating the effect of moisture on the surface of the hand-made signage, that is on display in and around the grounds of the Priory.
The consequence of this interaction results in a partial degradation of the surface of the sign, with certain areas of the type becoming completely illegible.

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Good morning all. Hope everyone is having a good week.

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Good morning all. Hope everyone is having a good week.

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Thank you everyone for sharing your process work on here. Really inspiring stuff.

This popped up on my Instagram this morning. Thought you might be interested...

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For once my clumsiness paid off...

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I’ve been having some creative block this week so I tried to organise my thoughts and key themes in the attached PDF. The 4 main strands that jumped out were

Bold sans serifs (almost definitely Helvetica)

Corrugation (I don’t really know what to do with this though- maybe I can bring that in later?)

Adaptation (the prioritisation of function, regardless of how this looks)

Distortion (twisting, tearing, stretching)

I’ve had fun this evening poking holes in Helvetica Bold and filling in the gaps. I’m not sure where this is going but it’s quite satisfying to take a typeface that is renowned for being so clean and ‘perfect’ and ruining it.

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Experimenting with introducing some different materials this evening, just seeing which ones work best. Handy having a friend who works at a spring factory!

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I bought some fancy isometric paper and thought, yeah this is easy enough I've seen people do this before - WRONG.

I've never laughed so much at myself because it looked so much better in my head and then this came out - I feel like it's the equivalent of the recorder Jurassic Park theme overlaid on a video. Haha!

So, here's a little preview of what I've done so far, I'm not a fan of paper anymore...

And the blog post to go with it that I just posted :)

https://rachelwise240483.wordpress.com/2020/02/04/bracknell-typeface-development/

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Please do have a read John & Richard! I'd really appreciate any further advice, opinions etc. I would agree that the colour needs further consideration, working through that still though. Click here

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GDE720: Week 2 - Story Told

Designing a typographic identity for a modern city

Bringing together the multitude of different voices that exist within Southampton is no easy task. The city exists as a smorgasbord of variable cultures and communities each with their own unique typographic language. I want to build upon the research I started last week that looked at the city's marginal typography and further explore the relationships between different socioeconomic groups and areas of Southampton. My hope is to build up a picture of contemporary ' Southamptonness ' which will inform my own typographic experimentation.

My research this week has been primarily focussed on conducting interviews and gathering information to try and identify an interesting perspective through which the contemporary city can be understood. I realised early on that in order to do justice to this week's task I would need to seek a wider contextual understanding of the city as I myself have only lived here for four years.

Research

I started by interviewing two friends that have lived here for much longer than myself. Both have an interesting perspective as they have been in Southampton for around ten years. They first came here for university but then decided to stay on as permanent residents in the years that followed and so I wanted to understand their experiences of both student and local life.

We talked at length about lots of different aspects of the city and how it has changed in the years that they've been here. The whole recorded conversation lasted around 40 minutes and we covered a lot of stuff. Some of the things we touched upon are as follows:

The prevalence of the University of Southampton/Solent University branding within the city and how visible these institutions make themselves

The sleek & modern typography used by the universities and other companies that advertise to students and how it differs from the jumble of mismatched typography in non-student areas of the city

The distinct separation that exists between student and non-student areas and the gradual ghettoization of students (especially non-EU international students who mostly live in high-end purpose-built student accommodation)

The roads that act as borders between student areas and local residential areas of the city and how the typography found there reflects the conflicting interests of two distinct and separate communities

Historic city centre buildings that have been repurposed and adapted to meet contemporary needs and how this clouds our understanding of their original civic contexts

The changing physical landscape of the city and how large parts of the contemporary city centre are constructed atop what was once part of the Solent river

The different ways that students experience the city compared to non-students of the same age. The fact that there are many bars and clubs that despite being open to anybody are only populated by either students or locals (but not both)

How student areas become desolate and empty during the summer months and how profit driven local landlords have eroded local communities over time by exclusively marketing their properties as shared occupancy student HMOs. Also the effect that this has had on student integration with local city residents

How heavily local businesses rely on students to turn a profit and the fact that local people can often lose out in the summer months as many businesses close entirely when students aren't here.

Talking with the girls has made me realise just how significant the impact that the increasing student population has had in shaping contemporary Southampton. For better or worse the ways in which students are changing the landscape of Southampton are undeniable. It's certainly something that I'd like to explore further.

A tale of two cities

The city exists in a kind of uneasy symbiosis with it's HE institutions. As two of the largest employers within the city and the main driving force behind an influx of young consumers to the local economy; the livelihoods of local people are intrinsically tied to their success. In much the same way that northern factory towns were once tied to industries such as Cotton & Steel, it could be argued that modern Southampton is tied to it's universities.

Campuses & buildings owned by each university (Not including bus network)

Dependence on these institutions runs far deeper than the need for steady work however, as the Universities also play a vital role in the supply of the city's infrastructure. The University of Southampton for example manages both the city's main bus service (Unilink) as well as some of its major cultural hubs such as the John Hansard Gallery & Nuffield Theatre.

Good for the private sector?

One positive is that the increasing student population arguably brings prosperity for many small local businesses. The common belief is that students are a net good in what they contribute towards the local economy. Personally however, I question how valid an arguement this is as most of the businesses that students interact with are national or even international players that take money out from the local economy, investing very little back here.

Increased numbers of students does however mean an increased demand for student housing and a handful of private sector landlords are more than happy to provide. There exists a housing oligarchy within Southampton with a few extremely wealthy local landlords that are systematically buying up entire roads worth of houses to rent out as HMOs. A knock-on effect from this is that the value of other nearby properties is gradually reducing forcing many families to move away. Their actions are slowly eroding long established communities in a lot of central Southampton.

Area of Southampton that houses the majority of university students

Let's also talk about the purpose-built boom

The plethora of 'purpose-built student accommodation'* is another way that the increasing student population is transforming Southampton.

* basically buildings that are useless for anybody other than students because they're made up of ' cluster flats ' - four or five bedrooms, usually connected to a shared kitchen. Considered undesirable to anybody other than students.

In the last ten years at least 18 of these new halls have been constructed in the city. They litter the city's skyline and some of the city centre ones are massive. Apart from the fact that each new development gradually pushes families and local people away from whole sections of the inner city, they're problematic in that they tend to advertise almost exclusively at the international (largely Chinese) student market.

Many new developments include facilities such as karaoke bars and promote their buildings using chinese language advertisements. In theory this is great, the students get luxury rooms with facilities to help them feel at home in a foreign country but the reality can be quite different.

The main concern is the self-segragation of certain ethnic groups of students who as a result increasingly find it hard to integrate and socialise with students outside of their community. Another is the propensity that private halls seem to have for taking advantage of students with poor english comprehension.

There have been 18 private purpose-built student accommodation sites built over the past 10 years in Southampton.

It's worth noting that the rate at which affordable housing is constructed here pales in comparison to the rate at which new student rooms are being created. With over 10 new purpose-built schemes being erected in the past four years compared to zero affordable housing schemes. Supply now vastly outstrips demand for student housing and yet short-sighted investors hoping to make money from wealthy international students continue to build them.

Why is this important?

As far as I can see, any story told of modern Southampton must at some point make reference to the impact that students are having here both on the physical landscape of the city and on the lives of the people that are from here. These tensions and issues are what I'm going to attempt to reference in the new typeface for Southampton that I construct this week.

Designing around these issues & ideas

The friction between Southampton's student and non-student communities can be experienced in the very different typography found in the areas that each group chooses to live.

From my walks around non-student areas like Shirley High Street I've found a much more diverse range of fonts & typefaces employed by a range of small local businesses. In contrast, the universities and the businesses that cater to their students tend to employ much more unified, clean looking typography.

Shirley High Street is often referred to as 'the mutant mile' by students. It is a derogatory name which serves to ridicule local people as being lesser or inferior to the students themselves.

The High Street is actually really diverse and is one of the most well-established communities of native Southamptoners in the city. It suffers from neglect and poor transport links however as no Unilink service serves the area.

The universities each have a strong brand identity which are the same no matter where you find it within the city. The University of Southampton uses a variant of the DIN typeface in their comms

I'm going to play around with overlaying and juxtaposing these two very contrasting typographic styles on top of each other to try and communicate the complicated and deeply interconnected relationship the universities have with the native people of Southampton.

Design, iteration & testing

Some experiments with combining and overlaying characters & parts of characters together.

Moving to digital collage & construction

I decided to limit the colour scheme and concentrate on the way that each letterform competed for attention. I employed the colours of the Southampton football team as they're generally considered to be the recognised colours of the city.

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Designing a typographic identity for a modern city Bringing together the multitude of different voices that exist within Southampton is no easy task. The city exists as a smorgasbord of variable cultures and communities each with their own unique typographic language.

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Still experimenting with the overlapping letterforms, have used the Southampton football club colour scheme as that's one of the most prevalent within the city. Not sure if it's becoming too illegible now, it's certainly more uncomfortable to look at!

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Here's a link to an article showcasing a project where graffiti / lettering found on the Berlin Wall was transformed into a typeface.

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Heimat Berlin has developed the Voice of the Wall typeface for non-profit art association The Cultural Heirs, based on letterforms graffitied on the Berlin Wall. It marks the 30th anniversary of the Wall's fall back in November 1989 and uses the occasion to warn world leaders of the "threat walls of all kinds can pose to society and freedoms".

The typeface is free to use in an online tool, developed by visualtech, wherein you can type your text and download the graphic for use on social media. The project aims to encourage people to use it to make their own "statements of freedom," which will be collected and turned into a book to be sent to world leaders. "The starting point was the question: if walls could talk, what would the Berlin Wall say today?" says a statement from Heimat. "In this way, the typeset allows the Wall a voice and the ability to make a statement about freedom in our world today."

Each of the letterforms was drawn from photographs of graffiti on the Wall, which became a canvas for artists and activists during its existence, yet only on the West Berlin side as people were not permitted close enough to the Wall on the East. French street artist Thierry Noir is believed to be the first graffiti artist to begin painting on the Wall in 1984, though it was already covered in largely racist and anti-American comments. His work kickstarted the Wall as a platform for artistic expression and in turn, Keith Haring painted a 300-metre mural on the Wall in 1986, depicting people linked by their hands and feet to signify unity, though this had been painted over by the time the Wall was torn down.

Today, remnants of the Wall and its art are on show at the East Side Gallery in Berlin, including murals painted on a 1,316-metre preserved section.

The project is launched with a film depicting the "the suffering the Wall witnessed" and ends with the warning: "Division is freedom's biggest threat". The Cultural Heirs association, which commissioned the work, is committed to integration and violence prevention as well as the prevention of discrimination and inequalities in society.

Matthias Storath, CCO at Heimat, said in a statement about the work: "Street art and iconic design can have a dramatic impact on culture, and creating a campaign to celebrate freedom and warn about division to mark this important anniversary was very meaningful to us. We hope that this project will help remind audiences of our hard-won freedoms, which we must cherish and enjoy."

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Berlin Wall graffiti is made into a typeface to warn how "division is freedom's biggest threat"

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The Voice of the Wall project by Heimat Berlin marks 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and will form a book sent to world leaders campaigning around "the threat walls can pose to society and freedoms".

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Taking inspiration from the work of Chris Ashworth, specifically his work on Ray Gun magazine in the early 90's, I have been experimenting with hand-made type, Glyphs, and the layering of letterforms.

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As a few of you are considering hybrid amalgamations of letterforms, here's an interesting reference. https://www.ikon-gallery.org/event/fiona-banner/ The below is a diagram of how it was conceived. I'm afraid its not the best quality image but hopefully still communicates the approach.

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https://www.designboom.com/design/bic-unifies-world-handwriting-a-single-typeface-06-16-2014/

Not sure if this relevant. if anything it makes me think that if you take an average you get nothing, that a strong focus might be a better approach than trying too much

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http://schokotrunk.com/2020/02/04/week-two-typograrchitecture/

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Continuing with the work I was doing on graph paper i've played around with overlaying typography from different places. I'm interested in creating a sense of unease and tension. Still needs a lot of work though I think.

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This evening i've been playing around using my home made lightbox

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A fun little reference for Monday evening

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A fun little reference for Monday evening

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https://vimeo.com/50080784

Karloff explores the idea how two extremes could be combined into a coherent whole. Karloff connects the high contrast Modern type of Bodoni and Didot with the monstrous Italians. The difference between the attractive and repulsive forms lies in a single design parameter, the contrast between the thick and the thin.
typotheque.com/blog/beauty_and_ugliness

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which is a few posts previous to this - this was the route I was going down. I was using some letterforms that I had picked up from some signs as inspiration and was then trying to develop a serif based on the coat of arms of the city. I think they're looking a little too fussy now and not as nearly as interesting.

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I wasn’t going to post this until it was more finished but Susanna’s e-mail today inspired me - ‘be brave to share your whole project including the undeveloped ideas without fear’ – so that’s what I’m doing! Would love to hear your feedback 😊

My blog post so far explains how I got to this point, and I’m now looking to experiment with how I can utilise the fact that I physically have these letters and can hold them in my hand, to come up with a more tangible, 3D outcome. I’ll be updating the post throughout the week with my experiments.

https://alicemarlow.home.blog/2020/02/03/week-2-story-told/

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How can you distill the historical and unique facets from your collected type to create a new series of letterforms that defines the true spirit of your town or city identity?

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How can you distill the historical and unique facets from your collected type to create a new series of letterforms that defines the true spirit of your town or city identity?

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Thats a hook question to grapple with! I think for sure we have seen from last weeks examples from the various cities presented in everyone's work, that there is such distinction, such identity present in the individual catalogues. Factors I am looking at in review of my sample are aspects of heritage: which I would consider (and forgive my lack of appropriate jargon, I am not a trained graphic designer!) are the presence of serif, the capitalisation (there are lots of all caps in my sample), the overall weight of the lettering, almost none of my samples are light. The newness of the pieces themselves: in my sample almost none of the signage is new, although there is a certain amount of refreshing in the town by the nature of its small but very present student population. I think the 'true spirit' of a town identity might be slightly in accurate if one is to base it on current typeface alone, though there is much of the aesthetic to be found there. How are others cataloguing or analysing their collected sample from last week?

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https://ashleighsmithdesign.wordpress.com/2020/02/03/2-2-workshop-challenge-approach/

a short blog outlining how I'd like to go about this weeks project.

Exceprt:
The letterform examples I collected last week all have a commercial or utilitarian function. This is the nature of type in the public forum of course. Penryn also has its own residential community who express their kind of visible style onto the street through their homefronts. Some of these doorways are bright and vibrant, words you would find hard to use in description of the public letter forms I found. I would like to design a type face/title for Penryn that captures some of this desire for vibrancy, in combination with the heritage apparent in the type faces collected last week. I wish for the type to represent the more recent influx of youth, of fun and moderate affluence afforded by the presence of the University campus.
...

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I have been sketching some ideas based on a few of the fonts I really liked from last week and some shapes from the architecture of the city - so far all of my ideas are still very legible and veering towards more the 'lettering' category.  But I'm at work trying to create a really simple icon of the Tyne Bridge. I reckon you can get the shape purely with an arch and a line and I'm wondering if I can apply this to a type face... This is what I have so far

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Hi All, happy Monday!

Here's a few references to get you thinking about methods, processes, techniques. You may have heard of some or most, but its always worth revisiting in light of new insight or a new project.

You may chose to sketch / redraft your letterforms either manually, digitally or a mixture of both. Consider how you might create certain distinct shapes / motifs that can be built upon or replicated. In manual drafting, Si Scott has a great insight into his working method as a You Tube video. However, there are many other methods to experiment with depending on your intentions. Here's a few suggestions, which is by no means exhaustive...

If you're thinking about ornate letterforms, have a look at Ben Eine. Eine's work is interesting for crossing the boundaries of type forms in graffiti and Fine Art. His use of stencil work is also something to consider as a process.

Leading on. If you are thinking about deconstruction, or certainly the degrading qualities of texture and materiality, then I would suggest following up Stuart's reference to Chris Ashworth, David Carson, and alike. The use of the stencil here could be possible but with very different aims. Also, the use of Letraset or using Acetone with basic black/white laser photocopies is a great way of working.

You may have a very different approach if you are thinking about very modular forms. You could look at Wim Crouwel, or even Josef Albers (Bauhaus) Stencil Lettering System. This is a great example if compared to the architectural features of the Bauhaus Archive Berlin.

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Julia Design Studio + Wallpaper Magazine

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Julia Design Studio + Wallpaper Magazine

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Julia (design studio, London) were commissioned by Wallpaper magazine to design a bespoke typeface for their Brazilian special. Read about the case study here.

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Wallpaper magazine first contacted us when preparing the Brazilian issue of their BRIC series (Brazil, Russia, India, China). They were interested in the fact one of us is Brazilian, and looking for a guest typeface to feature in the magazine.

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Wallpaper magazine first contacted us when preparing the Brazilian issue of their BRIC series (Brazil, Russia, India, China). They were interested in the fact one of us is Brazilian, and looking for a guest typeface to feature in the magazine.

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I’ve done some research and recorded a conversation with some friends to kick off this week. 

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I’ve done some research and recorded a conversation with some friends to kick off this week. 

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I wanted to talk to some people who had lived here for much longer than I had in the hope that their insights would help widen my perspective and so I chose to chat with two friends that have lived here for about ten years each.

I wanted to talk to them as they both originally came here to study but have then remained here as local residents for several years since. Their dual perspective is important I think as Southampton is a city with two distinct faces.

Because of it’s huge student population, there exists almost two very separate worlds with the city which you can see reflected in all aspects of local life. From the ways in which different areas of the city vote to the kinds of amenities that are available and more, modern Southampton can be understood by the divide between student and non-student areas.

The conversation was really interesting and will form the basis for any further research this week. I’ll write up a lot of what we discussed on my blog too. What kinds of things are you guys looking at this week?

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I ♥ New York, Stockholm and Chattanooga: how to brand a city

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I ♥ New York, Stockholm and Chattanooga: how to brand a city

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Interesting article covering 'City Identities', an exhibition at London Festival of Architecture.

https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/25-june-1-july-2018/i-new-york-stockholm-chattanooga-how-brand-city/

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A few apt articles from this weeks Design Week round-up:

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A few apt articles from this weeks Design Week round-up:

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Camberwell adopts “distinct, relevant” new identity

https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/27-january-2-february-2020/camberwell-new-identity/?cmpid=dwnews_11378748&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=dw_daily&adg=481153ED-7DAE-48DE-90EA-059B1D3E7B1E

The Netherlands reveals new identity and drops “Holland” for good

https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/11-17-november-2019/the-netherlands-rebrand/?cmpid=dwnews_11378748&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=dw_daily&adg=481153ED-7DAE-48DE-90EA-059B1D3E7B1E

The UAE reveals new logo but will it work?

https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/13-19-january-2020/the-uae-reveals-new-logo-but-will-it-work/?cmpid=dwnews_11378748&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=dw_daily&adg=481153ED-7DAE-48DE-90EA-059B1D3E7B1E

Limerick reveals new logo as part of “global” branding bid

https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/27-january-2-february-2020/limerick-reveals-new-logo-as-part-of-global-branding-bid/?cmpid=dwnews_11378748&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=dw_daily&adg=481153ED-7DAE-48DE-90EA-059B1D3E7B1E

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Hey, you beat me to the first post this week.

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Hey, you beat me to the first post this week.

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Here's the hook question for this week:
How can you distill the historical and unique facets from your collected type to create a new series of letterforms that defines the true spirit of your town or city identity?

The Challenge for this week:

This week we want you to use your initial visual research from Week 1 to create a new and unique title typeface. Do not forget to document your visual developments, and be experimental with form and legibility to create something entirely new.

Use the DNA of your initial visual research from Week 1 to create a new and unique title typeface that spells out the name of your town or city.

Your new title lettering should reflect the identity of your town or city.

Consider the interplay between provenance and historical story, in contrast to more strategic alignment to a design’s positioning.

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Really getting into the content this module so far - loving it! My town is 'Bracknell' and it's image has changed so much over the years. If I had to use a style of font that already existed to tie it to the image of Bracknell then it would be a serif style font.

However with all of the regeneration of the town centre and new, modern looking houses being built, I would probably assign a sans serif, at a push a slab serif. Both styles give off different voices, as does the town itself.

Blog posts this week so far:
Colophon Foundry
Ryman Eco

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Here's the story behind a typeface that was inspired by a very specific area of Newcastle - the Byker Wall. A product of a the attempt to turn Newcastle into the 'Brasilia of the North', the area featured strong colours and geometric shapes. Interesting to read about the process behind it all...

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Local Characters: Jimmy Turrell creates a bespoke typeface inspired by Newcastle's Byker Wall

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"The next step was adding the second layer of geometric shapes, and adding the ragged edges to all outlines, again to keep in line with Jimmy's visuals," Krista tells It's Nice That. "The texture is also slightly different across the whole typeface - some characters are rougher at the edges than others."