Best Use of Typography by Me!

Date: December 16th, 2009

Time: 12:00

Place: My Brain

Well, here goes my last post. I think my best use of type this semester was my set of type specimen posters, but the middle one especially. I tried to make the text interlock and work together on the page, and with a lot of fiddling around, I think I made it work. I think I managed to make a cool poster that really catches peoples' attention. This was definitely my favorite project of the semester.

Interesting Typography Found in Sharadin

Date: December 11th, 2009

Time: 1:30 AM

Place: My Room

So, I had this in my room, but I originally found it in Sharadin (last year). It's a student-designed flyer for Tom Warburton's "semi-triumphant" return to Kutztown. I really like this flyer as a whole, but I feel that the type really pulls it together. The bright fill color and obvious stroke help to contribute to the cartoon theme, which is appropriate for the cartoonist, Warburton. The font, which seems to be some sort of stylized brush display font, adds a sense of urgency and excitement, heightened by the lightning in the background. Although I don't usually like this style of design, I feel that this is flyer is very effective and relevant to its purpose. However, without the unique headline, it would be much less interesting.

Most Interesting Type From a Package Containing Food

Date: November 29th, 2009

Time: 9:00

Place: My fridge

I didn't really notice anything interesting about this V8 bottle when I first looked at it, but when I examined it more, I noticed how well designed it is. I especially like "V-Fusion"; the way it is portrayed reflects characteristics of the juice. V8 is organic and healthy, and the font has a flowing, clean, organic style (almost like it was formed by a thick brush). I think, though, that the "s" is the most clever. It is formed out of two curved shapes, which swirl and "fuse" together, evoking the very word that the letters are creating. The "s" reminds me of a Ying-Yang symbol, which I usually associate with organic and natural ideas. Also, I don't know if this is intentional, but its negative space seems to form the silhouette of a branch with a leaf. All of these aspects combine to create an incredibly subtle but very effective logo.

Type as Art

Date: November 29th, 2009

Time: 7:00

Place: "History of Graphic Design" pg. 392

This is a clever example of "type as art" I found in my historical survey book. It is a double page advertisement from Woman's Day magazine, encouraging the the reader to "Go out to get Woman's Day." To emphasize this action, it uses the two perfectly round Futura o's to form the tires of a bike. It is a simple but clever idea that helps to make the ad very effective.

Rebus/Icon Incorporated into the Type

Date: November 19th, 2009

Time: 9:00

Place: "History of Graphic Design" pg. 344

I found this excellent example of a rebus in my Historical Survey book. It is a poster for the Office of Emergency Management. It has strong visuals that tie in very well with the headline: "America's Answer! Production." The "o" in Production is represented by a bolt that the giant productive American hand is screwing in.

Inspirational Typography

Date: November 12th, 2009

Time: 9:00

Place: My room

This interesting chunk of type is taken from a Trader Joe's brown paper bag, which my Grandma gave me. I really wish I could make something like this. It seems like they are trying to evoke the late 1800s, but also try to include the warmth of Christmas. I also really enjoy how well all of the phrases fit together in the space.

Good Type Gone Bad

Date: November 5th, 2009

Time: 11 PM

Place: Dixon Hall, 2nd floor

I found this mousepad at my friends room in Dixon. Although Trajan is a beautiful and well-designed font, it is misused here. Trajan implies that the subject is ancient, Roman, or somewhat epic. A mousepad about recycling is definitely none of these things. This just seems like a desperate attempt to make recycling more exciting. Also, Trajan is already overused, so that just makes this situation worse.