In my reflection at the start of this journal I stated my aim is to “Explore randomness, legibility and process in typographic design through the expansion of the Odd Foundry website and the creation of a new range of experimental typefaces informed by experimentation and modularity.“. One of the things I struggled with in my proposal was that I prepared myself with the knowledge of “how” to create a typeface but not the “why”. In retrospect my discussion with Chris Wilson at the start of the project was very helpful as it prompted me to look further into methods of teaching and the “why” of the project is begging to centre on the creation of a typeface as a tool for learning about typography and graphic design.
My initial explorations into the construction of a collection of shapes to be used as a modular typeface were limited to the elementary shapes, the square, triangle and circle, as I felt I required a simple baseline from which to construct further shapes from. These simple shapes served the dual purpose of being simple enough to learn the 3D software required to create the blocks as well as being complex enough, being made of corners, curves and lines, to test how these different elements printed on a printing press.
It is not my aim to create a tool that teaches students about the history of specific typographic movements. I believe, as Paul Shaw in Steven Hellers book, The Education of a Typographer, states that in order to understand the subject it is best to “put practice first” and then allow “history to place current typographic practice” in contemporary context (p.12 2004).
Printing with these blocks was enjoyable and taught me much about the complexities of their use and the various forms preparation I needed to go through in order to print with them. When presenting these images to my classmates I showed them the compositions without introducing them as letterforms and their reactions were interesting, some saw houses, some saw toy blocks and some saw a letterform once I had show repeated variations of the same letter. This has prompted me to consider the further designs of the component shapes I should create for my modular type so I endeavoured to research into the ways in which we perceive shapes and forms.
If I want to create tools to understand typography I should in fact be looking at tools that first help to explore the concepts of how a shape is perceived as a letter by the viewer as that provides a strong foundation for then creating a successful typeface.
After this period of experimentation with 3D printing, discussions with other designers and research into learning I realise that the connections between randomness, legibility and letterforms has a connection with the theory of gestalt and how it affects our perception of letterforms.
With this in mind, whereas I had originally conceived of a finished typeface of conventional recognisable letterforms, the typeface I will produce for this project will be a selection of components that can then be reconfigured via various tools to help understand how a letter is formed.
References
- BRADLEY, S., 2014. Design Principles: Visual Perception And The Principles Of Gestalt [viewed May 19, 2021]. Available from: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/03/design-principles-visual-perception-and-the-principles-of-gestalt/
- GKOGKA, E., 2018. Gestalt principles in UI design. [viewed May 19, 2021]. Available from: https://medium.muz.li/gestalt-principles-in-ui-design-6b75a41e9965
- HELLER, S., 2004. The Education of a Typographer. New York: Allworth Press