Let’s talk about text, baby

I love type, but I find that most days, I don’t get much of a chance to really play with it like I like to. I miss the luxury of school (any­thing that costs more than a pair of Louboutins is a luxury), where we’d be given typo­graphy assign­ments that let us play around with let­ters and words, cre­ating inter­esting pat­terns with them.

Typo­graph­ical arrange­ment for the NSLC’s annual report. I made up this fact. They tell me that the number is totally insane.

I’ve been wanting to get back into doing things like this, mostly as cre­ative exer­cises to keep me inter­ested in design. Of course, cre­ative exer­cises in and of them­selves are also some­thing of a luxury; it seems like that pesky work keeps get­ting in the way.

Part of a news­letter for the Wicker Emporium

Lately I’ve found, how­ever, that there’ve been some oppor­tun­ities to incor­porate some more inter­esting typo­graph­ical arrange­ments into my work, and as a result I’ve been paying better atten­tion to the shapes that let­ters form and how they fit together. It’s a bit more time and effort, but I’m enjoying it, and I think it lends a cer­tainly live­li­ness to pieces that might oth­er­wise be a little tame.

But­terfly tag for a line of jewelry

So, while I’m still hoping to get into doing more self-assigned cre­ative exer­cises, it’s redeeming to be able to find oppor­tun­ities in my work in which to pay more atten­tion to type. I seem to be crazy-busy these days, which is great, but it means that if I’ve got some down-time, I’m not exactly in the mood to stare at my computer.

Part of a print ad, again for the Wicker Emporium. Their branding allows for three fonts, so I’m rather familiar with the pecu­li­ar­ities of each. Luckily, this one (Fontin) is a rather well-made typeface. I love its G.

Playing with type is a great way to indulge my more detail-oriented side (that would prob­ably be all of my sides, actu­ally). I’ve got a lot to learn, but the more I do it, the more I start noti­cing minute details—which, really, is what makes for good typo­graphic arrangements.

Another piece from the NSLC’s annual report. We’re going for a magazine-style look, and the whole thing will have a heavy focus on typo­graphy in order to give it some visual interest.

Of course, this isn’t likely to make me more enjoy­able to be around in a social con­text. (“Look at that gap between those let­ters! Who­ever kerned that ought to be shot!” doesn’t make for the most scin­til­lating cocktail-party con­ver­sa­tion. I think my friends are tired enough of my con­stant run­ning com­mentary on menus, posters, and the like.)

But it’ll make me a better designer.

Tags: design, projects, typography