Inspired by fountain-based architecture, I've created my first fontstruction for the start of my UWE Graphic Design course. For this, I poured water onto different surfaces/objects with varying shapes to capture the cascading effect as reference images. Originally, I was first inspired by watercolour strokes to make a gradient effect, which developed into the idea of water fountains used in contemporary architecture.
Working under the theme of 'Rebirth', I have focused my first font on the idea of post-war architecture, or otherwise commonly known as modernist/brutalist architecture. Buildings constructed following the Second World War were built using new technologies of construction. These types of designs were known for their use of modern materials such as concrete and steel as well as their interesting geometrical forms. I was heavily influenced by the architecture featured in Owen Hopkins' book 'Lost Futures' which looks at the disappearing architecture of post-war Britain and how changing external contexts played a role in the subsequent destruction of these buildings.
Kowloon Condensed is based of of the word Lurid. After breaking down the word and it's different possible meanings, I decided to try to create something that is not only exaggeratory, but also creepy in appearence. After looking into the idea of a creepy font, I came across an article on the Kolwoon Walled City, in China. This city was a very condenced hgih rise place which was abundant with crime, and was the stomping ground for the Triads in China for many years. The concept of this grimy and clostrafobic place teeming with crime is what led to the creation of Kowloon Condenced. The hgh rise appearence and cluttered detailed little houses is quite uncomfortable to look at, or even possibly put the viewer on edge, which i think easily relates back to my theme word of 'lurid.'
THEME: PROTECT
A display font inspired by one of the UK's first and most influential free-party sound systems- Spiral Tribe. They helped create a culture of freedom and expression through art and music which was heavily (and still continues to be) suppressed by the Police. They used tribal patterns frequently in their artwork, which is the reasoning behind the spiral shapes within the letters.
The weights are varied throughout the letters to make it more playful and psycholdelic, as the rave culture is against agression and force used frequently against them by the police. New age travellers embrace harmony- which is why the letters are sized so that they work together in words to create a wider pattern.
This font explores the theme of anger. I took inspiration from heavy metal/rock album covers and tried to recreate the same irregular/jarring lettering they do. To do this I painted letters quickly on varying sizes of paper and translated this onto fontstruct to get a rough/rushed look.
Black Duck is a typeface that is inspired from modern-blackletter typeface and duck characteristics combined. Duck meat's crispiness and strong taste, and the duck figure itself are the main characters inserted in the making of this typeface. The slanted figure shows its timeless and versatile characteristics.
This is a font inspired by the word 'systematic'. My main influence when creating this font was archiecture and the form of buildings. I focused strongly on lines and the grid system as I felt this really fit the theme of 'systematic' and archiecture as both remind me of acting according to a fixed plan or system; methodical.
This is a cloneI developed this typeface in response to the theme of 'dangerous', my inspiration was barbed wire and fencing. I associate dangerous with restricted areas and confinement so I felt that creating a typeface reflecting wires and sharp points would accurately represent my theme. The straight, angular lines are similar to metal bars and so I believe give the feeling of a prison.
My first fonstruction is based around the theme of malnutrition, but focuses on lesser acknowledged end of the spectrum, over-nutrition. I took inspiration from nature of skin and fat on overweight or obese bodies, putting emphasis on the folds and bulges you might typically see on the skin of a larger frame.
My first typeface was inspired by the theme “gang community”. A large element of my research was the analysis of the most commonly forged bank notes. This typeface is the development of the contrasting typography that feature on notes. One type of typography is clear and concise, and the opposite typography is increasingly complex and hard to read to the naked eye. This is to make it extremely hard for criminals to counterfeit.
My typeface currently encapsulates the verb “protect” through two opposing connotations; one of them being to self protect; this phrase is conventionally associated with weapons, and I have illustrated this through sharp edged strokes to imitate knife-like objects. The other being is to hide; this is inferred the personification of the fact that elements of my letters are hiding themselves.
This san serif font is inspired by the concept of ‘Community’. I explored the idea of unhealthy, anti-communities and real life examples of them, which lead me to Hollywood. Hollywood, beneath all the glamour, proves to often be a toxic community, considering the examples of misogyny, racism and sexual abuse that has taken place within the community. I wanted to recreate the iconic Hollywood sign and modify it to have cracks appearing, representing the real-life cracks appearing in Hollywood’s community. These cracks will represent examples such as Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement.