Typeface Tuesdays: Happy place

Everybody has a happy place. One of mine is traveling (not enroute but once at my destination). Another is the minute anything chocolate hits my lips. Blissful.

While in Miami this past weekend, my friend B, shared these type-tastic pictures she took while at an art event at Rubell’s warehouse-style gallery. It’s interesting how with this light installation the red electrical wires are actually part of the art itself, twisted into one another and drapping on the ground. I dig how choatic this peice is…it’s a little like my brain at many moments…very unlinear.

enjoy.

Typeface Tuesdays: Barbara Kruger

A week ago I stumbled upon the work of Barbara Kruger, the American conceptual artist, at the National Portrait Gallery as I was strolling through after work…

I immediately liked it. You see, I’ve always had a thing for artwork that is made up by multiple pieces, which tells a different story depending on the arrangement or if you deduct/add pieces. Beyond that I love how its dynamic and vibrant, and the way she incorporates type with the images is simply brilliant. It’s a little hard to see but the message here (with text on each picture) is “We will no longer be seen and no heard.” When Kruger refers to “we” she means women and anyone else who struggles to have power in society during the 1940s/50s. She is not to afraid to say what’s on her mind and raise a taboo topic, which I appreciate.

I did a little more research and was blown away by the career Kruger built focused around the use of type and beyond that her poignant and meaningful messaging. This lady had a powerful way with words.

For instance, check out this Helvetica wrap job she did on the Lever Building on New York City’s Park Ave. Go to this article to see more extraordinary images of this building’s text-y interior. (Yes, that way intended).

I like a lot of her work, including some of the following pieces…

Hilarious…this one has the tone of someecards.com…clearly ahead of her time

 

Typeface Tuesday: Deconstructed type

It’s a gorgeous, sunny Typeface Tuesday here in the District.

Overall, I like experimental design. I like it because I enjoy the rule breaking that can happen with unique and innovative designs. I also like the newness — or new perspective — of the work. You have to remember that it’s important to know the rules of design before you strategically break them. And certainly don’t break them for the sake of being a rebel (I’m afraid I’ve done this before — duh, I’m a Scorpio and need to test the boundaries). Do it because it works.

On my journey to learn more about typefaces, I’ve done some research on deconstructed type or using the forms of letters to create new shapes and meaning. I stumbled upon this fictional project by the International Society of Typographic Designers on Behance.com. The project involved creating a fictional typographic museum called Type Factory. 

To make it fun and different, the designers blocked out some of the type in the logo. Interesting fact — did you know that one can read text when the bottom half is cut off?  This has to be done carefully but as long as you can see enough of the letters you are good to go. In these designs the designers successfully cut off some of the bottoms and some of the tops of the letters while keeping others whole, so it reads well and is more dynamic/exciting for the eye. Plus, it gives you more negative space which is always a plus and far too rare — even in my own work! What is also neat about deconstructed type is that it causes you to more closely examine the letterforms, which translates well for this museum’s brand.

Go here to view the whole project.

As for general type guidance, remain in good standing with the Type Gods (and every good designer you know) by not commiting these crimes: http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/4111/TopTenTypeCrimes.htm

Typeface Tuesdays: knitted type installation

Hey ya’ll. Guess who just got back from Austin. Yours truly.

It was a great trip filled with friends (old & new), non-stop music, being one with the outdoors, delish eats, and just lots of good ol’ southern fun. We went to all three days of Austin City Limits (ACL) music festival which seriously rocked out for its 10th anniversary. And, we hit up two afterparties: Empire of the Sun & Foster the People DJ Set.

My ears are so happy.

My favorites were: Twin Shadow, Empire of the Sun, My Morning Jacket, Kanye West, Cut Copy, Ray LaMontagne, Mayor Hawthorne, Cold War Kids, and Foster the People. Glad I saw Arcade Fire but doesn’t make the top fav list for me.

So, let’s talk type. I found these colorful, knitted letters at ACL. They stand about 6 feet tall, and besides being a beautiful type installation, they are also functional. The little kiddies of ACL loved to rough house all over them. As you can see in this particular shot the little girl sitting is trying to slack the boy who is climbing. Something never change, right? Ha.

Mostly I love the concept and I think the patterns are pretty stunning in that granny-handywork-kind-of-way. The message is straight to the point: ART. Enough said!!

Typeface Tuesdays (only 2 days late): Typographic Installations

So kill me, I’m late on this one. But I figured better belated than never!

I must admit I took the hurricane as a chance to not only catch up on some house cleaning but also as an opportunity to overindulged a bit in the drinking and fun department (what else is there to do really?)…and I think it’s put me off my game a little bit this week, in addition to the fact it’s my first week back working full-time. I guess I’ll just have to treat myself to a vacay in Miami this weekend to continue the bender recover!

Well, this post is all about typographic installations. I’ve been inspired by this concept for awhile now, and am dying to construct my own at some point. I love the idea of type being constructed by actual, tangible materials…whether it be lights, food, dirt, hair, paint, wood, jelly beans, rocks, you name it…the list goes on. It’s particularly clever when the word speaks to the materials, such as using moss to spell out the word “grow” or actual cream writing “cream,” which you’ll see as examples below.

I found various articles on type installations where the type comes to life, and was really struck by this one from Design Taxi. Besides that I just did some google research to find the others. A great type site I stumbled upon is Hello Type, which you really should check out. And, Stefan Sagmesiter is among one of the best installation designers so if you don’t know who he is, get to know him right this very second.

Also, check out this great video clip (“Typography is Everywhere”) my design buddy, Nickolena, posted on her blog recently.

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(For the pictures below I gave credit to those designers and sites that I was aware of, if I missed anything just give me a shout)

French fries write “gold” by Juan Camilo Rojas  (via Design Taxi) — I wonder if the darker fries are just older or cooked longer, wanna take a bite to find out?

Cigarettes write “flavor” by Juan Camilo Rojas  (via Design Taxi)

Plastic pieces write “foster” — wonder if suppose to be a verb or a noun? I am going to guess it’s referring to fostering stability.

Bananas write “self-confidence produces fine results” by Stefan Sagmeister – this installation is so smart – it evolved over time as the bananas ripened. Think of how many bananas it took to assemble this?

Cream writes itself (via Comm Arts) — this is just gorgeous, but how did he/she do it? Photoshop magic?

Moss write “grow” — this is quite beautiful

Yarn write “the very existence of self is an illusion” — i love the way the yarn drapes and falls at the bottom, making the installation more dynamic

Metal letters write “bloom” — I love this because there’s a shadow blooming from behind the metal letters, it’s just so darn brilliant and it makes me happy

Unknown light installation — I can make out some of the letters but am not sure what it says, can you read it? Or, maybe it’s not suppose to say anything…how artsy.

Cocoa powder writes “sweet treats” (via Flickr Foods)

“Summer” carved out of a watermelon (via Hello Type)

French fries and sauce write “Stefan Sagmeister” — what an eye-catching and slightly repulsive self-promotion poster…. mmmm, delicious!

Unknown material write “still life comes to life” — need to find out who did this one and how they constructed it!

Stringed lights write “dogma” — again I like the lights draping at the ends, gives it character

3D type lights write “Christian Louboutin” — (via Design Nomad) talk about any eye-catching window display! I love this because of the versatility among the letters in terms of shape, color, and size… plus as a lover of designer shoes this designer ranks high in my books