The prompt for this project was to portray our names (whether our full name, real name, nick name, initials, what have you) in relation to a future job ambition.
I wanted to use my initials ‘A.G.’ so I explored that, with the jobs that I had in mind. Initially, I wanted to be a zoologist, a criminal, a fisherman, and an astronomer, but eventually as I started sketching out and planning the way my deliverables would look, I ended up with these 4 jobs as the finals:
- Fisherman
- Astronaut
- Herpetologist
- Architect
For all of these jobs, I will use only AG and try and explore different ways that I can incorporate it into the job-type to see if it can be expanded to be used as an actual font.
RESEARCH
First of all, I started out researching the type of visual aids that are related to the jobs that I picked.
Fishermen are often associated with nets and fish (obviously!) and so I thought it would be best to look at photos of nets and see what kind of ideas I could come up with.
Often with these photos of fishermen, there isn’t much in the background except the sky and the water. I thought this contrast in detail (the cluttered texturing of the net vs the clear and vast sky) could be an important part of my composition. Symbols of the boats would also help.
Astronauts are obviously associated with space, planets, asteroids, and rockets. Since planets and asteroids come in different shapes, I thought maybe I could use these to create the letters “A, G”. I came across cute clipart/cartoon pictures of astronauts on the internet and liked the way they looked.
For this one, I especially like the colours of yellow and red for the planet and the rocket. They work well together to stand out against the dark background.
Herpetologists are experts in the study of reptiles and snakes. I actually initially wanted to do something with snakes because I am a big fan of some artists on instagram that do insane art with snakes. (e.g @christinamrozikart).
I think snakes are a fun, organic way to make letters, and I was into the idea of making a cursive font in the midst of all the other blockish fonts I was visualising. Herpetologist’s diagrams are also often pictured on sepia-type backgrounds – a kind of vintage scientist vibe that I wanted to capture.
Architects work with blueprints. I like the look of a strictly white and blue colourscheme, with all the little lines and details in places that outline a building. I looked at a few blueprints (like the ones below) to give me some reference for my own piece.