quitedesignerlyandcurious-blog

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A short Pecha Kucha on typography.

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Typographic Non-Fiction:

“Anyone who would letterspace black letter would steal sheep.”-Frederick Goudy

“Not every typeface is suited for every language...” -Erik Spiekermann

“...except for Helvetica.” -Annie Garcia

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AIGA, Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, Indiana. I think one of my favorite AIGA memories from this semester would have to be getting to work on Design Nights and receive feedback from upperclassmen. Not kinky was I able to get to know some, I believe my work was impacted as well. And that extra bit of encouragement when the 300 Project got tough was very much needed!

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TYPOGRAPHIC HERO: Perhaps a reoccurring theme but I truly enjoy and admire women within the field of design. Cipe Pineles happens to be one of the first historic, woman designers I’ve discovered.

Although an editorial designer, I find her to be fascinating. Despite being a largely editorial designer, the heart behind Pineles’s work is loud and all encompassing. After graduating Pratt University in 1929, Pineles received a designer position at Vogue with Dr. M.F. Agha.

The way Pineles maneuvers this newly established world of design marked by “boys club” attitudes (still, sorely that stains our world today), is truly a testament to how intentionally she chose to work and live her life; she truly believed in the trail she was blazing for future female designers.

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TYPOGRAPHIC HERO: I stumbled across Corita Kent’s work one day while scrolling through the AIGA website. I didn’t much of following the link to her work but little did I know what would be waiting for me on the other side.

Sister Mary Corita Kent I couldn’t help but be drawn in by her mind-blowing typographic manipulation. Her infusion of screen-printing and typography gave the depicted words a body of their own. There’s a tangibility to her pieces that envelopes viewers with the messages these works try to say.

It’s no doubt Kent is no stranger to breaking typographic rules which I find utterly beautiful. The paradox found between and the nature of the pieces she produced and who she was as a person is nothing less than noteworthy. Even within the disparities, the similarities between the the maker and the made is uncanny and each speaks so much of the other.

A personal favorite of mine would have to be her piece, “Who Came Out of the Water.” The amount of mobility and depth she in able to capture in a rather seemingly simple composition blows me away. As one who enjoys cleaner, simpler works, there’s something about this particular work that seems to hit every nail on the head and then some. It has just the right amount of crisp and edge to make it a highly effective piece. Perhaps our admiration for advertisement design binds us both together.

It’s no surprise she’d be elected as a 2016 AIGA medalist.

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This video in particular feels rather catalytic for me this semester. While also gaining factual knowledge on how to distort type in this way, looking back, I believe it alludes to much of the future work I would come to produce and was unexpectedly drawn to.

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This TED Talk was very pleasant to watch! To know that designers share the common blessing of a curse that is noticing ALL type EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME was quite comforting to experience. As a newbie within the profession, in a weird way, I felt it had tethered me to the design community a bit more.

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For me, the film “Helvetica” was quite revolutionary. My biggest take-away was not so much found in the nature of the typeface itself as the film introduces as much as what this film introduced me too. I was able to be exposed to designers, foundaries, concepts, and language about design that I had not known of before experiencing this film.

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Relative Designers: While my range of experience with and knowledge of professional designers still has room to grow, those I’ve come to encounter though Social Media instill me with a certain hope that keeps me going.

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Event: John Mark McMillan, Marion, Indiana.

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Wabash Histroic Downtown, Wabash, Indiana. The typography found throughout Wabash’s downtown area works to emphasis the historic nature it preserves.

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Marion Public Library Museum, Marion, Indiana. From the get-go, it doesn’t take much to note how the type found in this space knows exactly what it intends to do. It’s engaging nature activates the space in a way that mirrors the cohesion found in the artifacts and the story they tell.