DIY Alphabet
Brief
Create your own alphabet including numerals and punctuation.
Research
To start my research I began by finding some typography alphabets I thought were interesting on Pinterest and creating a board so that I can look at them for inspiration when creating my own alphabet. Below is a link to my Pinterest board and some examples of what I found interesting.
Artist Research
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Farhad Moshiri
Moshiri is an artist that caught my eye as I found it really intriguing how he managed to create typography from sticking knives into the wall. I love his he used the word comfort with the knives. |
Fred Eerdekens
I really liked Eerdekens light and shadow play as his metal coils mean nothing when you first look at them but when you place them in the light they reveal a word. I thought this was a very clever and creative idea. |
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Sabeena Karnik
Sabeena Karnik combines both typography and paper quilling together. Her work is so beautiful so I decided to do some more research on her. I might also try her technique myself when creating my own alphabet. |
Stefan Sagmeister
Stefan Sagmeister is one of my favourite designers lately and I found his work so creative! I really love how he used the octopus tentacles in the photo below. I did some research on him because his work gets me excited every time and I feel like it could help me a lot with this project. |
Exploration
Before working on my final design I wanted to explore different techniques and ideas to see what I enjoyed the most when creating a typeface. I want to experiment with different materials before choosing my final one.
Nature:
Here I tried to create an alphabet with some fake vines I had in my room. I liked how it turned out but for some letters I feel like it is hard to read.
Here I tried to create an alphabet with some fake vines I had in my room. I liked how it turned out but for some letters I feel like it is hard to read.
Development:
This was one of my experimentations that I liked the most so I decided to try and develop this idea. I started by taking away the background and then I turned the image black.
This was one of my experimentations that I liked the most so I decided to try and develop this idea. I started by taking away the background and then I turned the image black.
Food:
Here I experimented with some popcorn and tried to create an alphabet by moving the popcorn around a piece of paper. I'm not really a fan of the outcome of this as the popcorn doesn't really stand out. I think it would maybe work better with a different background.
Here I experimented with some popcorn and tried to create an alphabet by moving the popcorn around a piece of paper. I'm not really a fan of the outcome of this as the popcorn doesn't really stand out. I think it would maybe work better with a different background.
Ink splatter:
I came up with these designs when messing about on illustrator I like how the a and the c turned out as they remind me of those ink blot tests however the other letters don't look as good.
I came up with these designs when messing about on illustrator I like how the a and the c turned out as they remind me of those ink blot tests however the other letters don't look as good.
Development:
I tried to create some new ink splatters however I used watercolour instead. I played around and let it spread across the paper. I really like how this looks but I don't think you can see the letters very well. You can only really see letters if u look hard at the photos.
(the letters below from right to left are: A,M,E and B
I tried to create some new ink splatters however I used watercolour instead. I played around and let it spread across the paper. I really like how this looks but I don't think you can see the letters very well. You can only really see letters if u look hard at the photos.
(the letters below from right to left are: A,M,E and B
Speech Bubble:
Here I tried experimenting with speech bubbles on illustrator. I liked how these turned out but it was difficult to produce all the letters.
Here I tried experimenting with speech bubbles on illustrator. I liked how these turned out but it was difficult to produce all the letters.
Arrows:
Again I played with illustrator brushes and created these arrow typefaces. I actually like how these turned out. Maybe I could try and use the arrow heads and turn them into serifs.
Again I played with illustrator brushes and created these arrow typefaces. I actually like how these turned out. Maybe I could try and use the arrow heads and turn them into serifs.
Scribbles:
Im not really a fan of how these turned out. I wanted to play with serifs but I didn't like the final result.
Im not really a fan of how these turned out. I wanted to play with serifs but I didn't like the final result.
Developing:
I wasn't a fan of how the serifs turned out while experimenting with this so I went back and tried to improve the look with them however I still didn't end up liking the result so I decided to make the type face sans serif which I think looks a lot better.
I wasn't a fan of how the serifs turned out while experimenting with this so I went back and tried to improve the look with them however I still didn't end up liking the result so I decided to make the type face sans serif which I think looks a lot better.
Clay:
I had a go at making an octopus tentacle with clay so that I could play around and make a typeface using the tentacle. I then took photos of what I created and tried to edit them to make them look better. I'm not the best at using clay but it was interesting having a go at something new.
I had a go at making an octopus tentacle with clay so that I could play around and make a typeface using the tentacle. I then took photos of what I created and tried to edit them to make them look better. I'm not the best at using clay but it was interesting having a go at something new.
Sewing:
I had a go at using thread to create my own alphabet.
I had a go at using thread to create my own alphabet.
Handprints:
I painted my hand with acrylic paint to see if I could make a type face with my hands. I then started to play around with these scanned images on photoshop. I liked this idea and some letters came out interesting but im not sure if it would work for every letter.
I painted my hand with acrylic paint to see if I could make a type face with my hands. I then started to play around with these scanned images on photoshop. I liked this idea and some letters came out interesting but im not sure if it would work for every letter.
Bubbles:
I used some photos I took when doing the ampersand task and decided to play around with them on photoshop. I used the font Baskerville to see what I could do with the pattern. I really liked how it came out as it looks similar to the moon and I think it would be a good idea to use and create my own typeface.
I used some photos I took when doing the ampersand task and decided to play around with them on photoshop. I used the font Baskerville to see what I could do with the pattern. I really liked how it came out as it looks similar to the moon and I think it would be a good idea to use and create my own typeface.
After looking at different themes and ideas I started to think about what I wanted my final designs theme to be. I wanted to make sure it was a theme I connected to so that I enjoy the process when making it and eventually I remembered a story I heard about the loneliest whale which calls at a frequency of 52 hz which is a much higher frequency than other whales. I made a quick mind map to show some ideas I was having.
Lonely whale:
I had a go at doing quick sketches of whales to see how they would look as a typeface. For some letters such as the 'A' I really like how it looks however I think for some of the others it's hard to tell what the letter actually Is so this typeface would definitely need more improvement.
I had a go at doing quick sketches of whales to see how they would look as a typeface. For some letters such as the 'A' I really like how it looks however I think for some of the others it's hard to tell what the letter actually Is so this typeface would definitely need more improvement.
Developing: I decided to develop this idea by getting rid of the background and making it less detailed.
Sand:
I decided to go to the beach as it was one of my ideas on my mind map and I took photos of letters written in the sand. I think this would be a boring typeface however I think it would be more interesting if I used the sand as a texture for a typeface.
I decided to go to the beach as it was one of my ideas on my mind map and I took photos of letters written in the sand. I think this would be a boring typeface however I think it would be more interesting if I used the sand as a texture for a typeface.
Shells:
When I went to the seaside I found some shells and took photos of them some already looked like letters such as the 'B' and the 'O' but with some I had to make letters by placing shells together. I really liked the shells as I thought they were pretty I think they would look nice as a watercolour.
When I went to the seaside I found some shells and took photos of them some already looked like letters such as the 'B' and the 'O' but with some I had to make letters by placing shells together. I really liked the shells as I thought they were pretty I think they would look nice as a watercolour.
Developing:
First I started to develop this idea by getting rid of the background. After that I played around on photoshop to make the shells look black so that you could mostly just see the shape. I really liked the result of doing this and I will probably play around with this idea more.
First I started to develop this idea by getting rid of the background. After that I played around on photoshop to make the shells look black so that you could mostly just see the shape. I really liked the result of doing this and I will probably play around with this idea more.
I then started to create more letters and play around with the saturation of the shells.
Rocks:
The beach I went to had a lot of pebbles so I decided to take some photos of them looking like letters on the sand and on a white piece of paper. I wasn't really interested with the end result though.
The beach I went to had a lot of pebbles so I decided to take some photos of them looking like letters on the sand and on a white piece of paper. I wasn't really interested with the end result though.
Fish type:
I played around on illustrator with the Lust font and some shapes I found on some letters with the font and started to create a fish looking type. I think some of the letters ended up looking really interesting but I found it hard to make the letters still readable. It's really hard to tell which is the 'C' and which is the 'E' with this typeface. I think in the end it just got a bit too complicated.
I played around on illustrator with the Lust font and some shapes I found on some letters with the font and started to create a fish looking type. I think some of the letters ended up looking really interesting but I found it hard to make the letters still readable. It's really hard to tell which is the 'C' and which is the 'E' with this typeface. I think in the end it just got a bit too complicated.
Dragon type: On photoshop I tried to make a dragon type. I think this idea could be better if I used different dragons instead of using the same dragon as it gets a bit boring.
Final
For my final poster I decided to go with the shell idea. I named it Aspene which means the shell goddess.
