Study Task 3

Modular Forms

Brief

Create a complete alphabet using three objects. This can be 2D or 3D, but you can not change the scale of the objects. Must be relative to your new word. 

Process 

Myself and my partner, Megan were given the word 'Stylish'. We thought about rules/patterns that we could implement to our type and I suggested that we focus on serifs. This was because I had previously done research into Serif's and Modern Serif's and found that Modern Serif's, in particular, are very often used in fashion magazines/brands such as Vogue, Zara etc. 

This was an interesting and not-to-obvious rule to use and it was effortless to put our three objects in numerous arrangements to create a cursive serif effect. Both the can opener and the bulldog-clip could also be manipulated and used in different ways, which created a more diverse range. 

If I were to try this task again I would try and include the coat hanger in its entirety as it was quite challenging to do so. In this instance, we used a piece of paper to cover up parts that we wanted to crop. 

Digital Development

Taking my modular font into Illustrator and creating a digital version was really enjoyable. I don't have a lot of Illustrator experience and so this task was really great at helping me learn all of the tools. 

My original idea was to use the scanned and image traced vectors of the items to make the glyphs as I liked the grunge, screenprinted effect. However, I felt that for the sake of legibility and to keep with the 'stylish' theme I should trace the structures and lines with pen tool. 

I like the final outcome of this alphabet as I think the serif idea really shines through, and I do believe that is unique. 

To push the design even further I wanted to strip back the shapes to their basic elements. I made them as simple as I could, reducing the bulldog clip to only a triangle. I like this, however, I wish that I had reduced the coathanger to the same extent and also played around with line weight - this is something that I really struggle with. 

Evaluation 

This modular type works a lot better than some of my past study task experiments (especially the digital work). This may be because I was working in a pair and I enjoy working collaboratively, or because I was simply in a better frame of mind. I think that it shows good development of interesting ideas. But once again, there are definitely elements that if I had the time I would take further and improve on.