2D Foundation 2 Project 1: Will I Be Pretty

During the first lesson, we investigated means of representing aspects of our personality through typefaces. We’ll be applying these techniques in this assignment. These are five occupations I’ve narrowed my list down to, as well as mood boards and aspects of the profession that I hope to communicate.

Starting with what I’m most passionate about:

Entomologist

A scientist who studies insects, arachnids and other arthropods.

I chose this occupation because although I’m scared of bugs, I think they are fascinating creatures and watch quite a lot of documentaries on them. And I know many people are entomophobes, so hopefully I can showcase the best parts of these fantastic (if tiny) beasts.

More antique prints, focusing on the legs.

I’ve always enjoyed those vintage bug anatomical plates drawn up by entomologists themselves. The profession definitely involves the cataloguing of a diverse array of creepy-crawlies.

Near the end of last sem, I saw an ADM student’s installation on the wall just outside a second floor corridor. It’s since been taken down, but fortunately I have a habit of photographing interesting students’ works around school.

It’s composed of clumps of hair, plastic bugs like centipedes, beetles and cockroaches, as well as other household pests like lizards.

In this video, someone tried (unsuccessfully) to do so with real insects.

Methinks they should have used pheromones or honey to ensure the bugs didn’t move around too much.

My initial ideas were along similar lines: the bug swarm forming letters. In print however, not only would it be difficult to render such a level of detail in a compact space, but it also occurs to me that I should avoid the pitfall of merely clustering elements together and hoping it looks nice. There needs to be unity.

For starters, I went to look at some bug-inspired fonts and custom wingdings:

sandradmc-insecttypeface-2015 — What I initially envisioned.

Another early idea. — Another possibility, though this only showcases stick insects.

bugeater — Really, really like the mesh netting texture; I hadn’t even considered that. There’s only one beetle but the theme is still evident.

This is cute and assimilates the bugs well. — This is simple, cute and assimilates a variety of bugs well. I’ll have to try using negative space like this. A bit too rounded and cartoonish for my taste, however.

ad46ddfe524f217f1dd969155a5827b7 — This is nice.

I noticed that from the body to the limbs to the antennae, insects are characterised by segmentation.

Optician

A technician trained to design, verify and fit eyeglass lenses and frames, contact lenses, and other devices to correct eyesight. I chose this occupation because I’ve worn spectacles for since I was six or seven, and I was thinking about how difficult life would be without good vision and how I might not have even started making art if the world was just a homogeneous blur.

“Not only is there not one letterform design or font used for eye charts; the letterform designs are more appropriately called optotypes, of which there are several versions. There is a science to the design of optotypes and their legibility at specific distances.” Source

frear_figure4 — Snellen’s 5×5 grid optotype. Optotypes are designed using a simple geometry in which the weight of the lines is equal to the negative space between lines. The height and width of an optotype is five times the thickness of the line weight. These design considerations create inconsistently and oddly proportioned letters.

frear_figure9 — For testing patients who cannot read or are unfamiliar with the Latin alphabet, the Tumbling E Eye Chart is used. Professor Taylor, using the Snellen proportions, designed a shape which he arranged in four directions in progressively smaller sizes.

I’ll likely do something with the eye chart.

Paleontologist

A scientist who studies fossils. I chose this occupation because I’m quite interested in the piecing together of biological history. By all accounts, dinosaurs are amazing creatures and discovering more about them is a worthwhile pursuit.

As usual, I went searching for inspiration:

Greater emphasis on the environment in the dino era.

images — The crumbly dirt you can find fossils in.

This is more dissection-related, but I wonder if I could do something similar with the act of excavation. — This is more dissection-related, but I wonder if I could do something like this to depict the act of excavation. Andreas Scheiger has a nice collection of these designs for branches of biology.

I tried to use bones of dinosaurs in a similar way, flexing and curling them to form letters.

Stunt Performer

A person involved in the performance of stunts for television, film and other productions. I chose this occupation because it’s the antithesis of the type of person I am. I’m an unadventurous, physically lacking, uncoordinated couch potato who takes very few risks. Naturally I admire people who put their bodies and lives on a line just to provide us with quality entertainment.

Lots of danger and explosions. If I were to do this, I’d emphasise the physicality of the job by using the performer himself as a letter. I’d use the letters as something of a backdrop/scaffolding for the performer to interact with.

Confectioner

A person whose trade is making or selling sweets.

I was inspired by a Russian confectioner I follow, Olga Noskova, who makes cakes that gleam like mirrored marble. Also sugar is the best.

This is what I was considering: gathering large quantities of sweets and sticking them together to make an installation. However, there are practical concerns like expenses, disposal and food wastage.

So I began searching for cleaner, simpler typography.

To be honest, I’m at a loss for how to do something original with this. I’ll stick a pin in it for now.

Well, these are just some early thoughts. More brainstorming and developments will be documented in my journal.