1. Inclass Glitch Art Workshop

    Glitch art is an experimental type of art where digital or analog errors are intentionally made by either corrupting digital code/data or by physically manipulating electronic devices. The term is thought to derive from the German glitschig, meaning ‘slippery.’

    In our inclass workshop, we manipulated a scanner to create glitch art from typography. We also filmed short videos using datamoshing.

    What movement of your paper on the scanner produced the best result?

    What other experimental glitch art techniques have you tried?

    Why is glitch art an important experimental tool?

  2. Final Type Specimen Posters

    The final type specimen posters are a solid proof that great typography skills is all about patience and refining your letterforms. Looking back at how these typefaces began and where they ended up today, it’s rewarding to see everyone’s progress. Great job all around.

    What did you learn about creating a typeface?

    What would you do differently?

  3. Type Specimen Sheets

    The Type Specimen Sheets were due on Thursday. The type specimen sheet layout should be printed on a single piece of paper and contain your typeface Title, all letters, numbers and punctuation. The design needs to be simple and minimal. The PESTO sheet was beautiful! Gashinamu came out great as well, and could be simplified by removing extraneous design elements.

    The Type Specimen Posters are due tomorrow 7/20 (print it out on 11x17 paper). Remember to use color to make the posters beautiful and use contrast of size/direction/etc., to create a focal point.

    Is your type specimen sheet and poster set up on a grid?

    Check the blog for ideas for inspiration of existing type specimen posters. See everyone tomorrow!

    What makes a successful type specimen poster?

    Do you have any favorite type specimen sheets or posters we can share here?

  4. Light Painting Typography Workshop

    Have you ever worked with long exposures on your camera? Long exposure photos allow you to get really creative if you have the right ideas. One of the coolest ideas is to make light graffiti. Steven Smith lead the light type workshop where we used different sources of light, a dark room and our camera set to a long exposure ranging from 5sec-30sec. The results are stellar!

    We played with different options and created a whole alphabet. I also made a type specimen sheet from everyone’s letters. Here are a few of the pics from the light workshop.

    What other examples of experimental typography can you name?

  5. With the final type specimen sheets being due on Tuesday, here are a few notes to consider from Thursday’s crit:

    - Ask a friend to look over your typeface to help you identify inconsistencies. Every letter, number and punctuation needs to be cohesive and feel like a seamless continuation of the typeface family.

    - You may want to consider offering several versions of specific letters. For example, maybe your typeface offers 3 versions of the capital “A”: one standard, one slightly flourished, and one highly decorative (like a drop cap).

    - How will you name your typeface? A name can leave a strong impression, so choose wisely.

    - Be ready to tell your story that talks about the meaning, inspiration, process, etc., of your typeface. A personal narrative will always make your presentation engaging and compelling.

    - Document your progress!

    Good luck! See you tue!

  6. Today’s exercise was to use transform letterforms using tracing paper, pencil and your imagination. To understand the complexity and small details of typefaces, this seemingly simple exercise gets your hand used to drawing the shapes and curves, thicks and thins of letterforms that will help you create your own typeface.

    The results are magical! Look at these beautiful examples that were done in only 1 hour. Always keep in mind that the principles of basic design applies equally to typography, so focus on proportion, scale, contrast, balance and unity.

    There is no better self-teaching method in typeface design than to spend time tracing letterforms from existing typefaces. It’s important to learn the rules before you break them!