While creating the stamps I also created a selection of stencils created from the various components I have made. I grouped these together by style and provided multiple widths and lengths.
Reflection
The use of stencils to explorer the creations of letterforms could definitely be an inexpensive way of interacting with the shapes in a physical way. These stencils were cut from 3mm clear acrylic, the transparency was helpful as it allows you to line up you next shape with the previous one but I think the fact that it’s completely clear makes it harder to see the forms on the stencil. A transparent coloured acrylic may be more helpful here. As I have found in some of my earlier experiments, it is the odder shapes that push you to explore the concept much more that having a full set of every shape in every available size and width. I think one stencil of multiple, related but still distinct forms will be more useful than a series of stencils based on each style of component. The benefit of the stencil over the stamps and blocks is that the user can choose to draw only part of a shape, so in fact presenting one shape in many different lengths and widths isn’t needed.
Refinement
Based on the above reflection I have produced my final stencil that combines various different shapes. I have laser cut it out of transparent orange acrylic as well as mylar, a thin but strong plastic that is used in the creation of stencils. This allows me to offer two price points as the mylar is only £1 per sheet in comparison to acrylic which is £6.
