Sunday 1 November 2009

Alphabet Soup - Brady Alphabet Evaluation



SELF EVALUATION OF INITAL IDEAS

How are the four words selected to represent the typeface being explored?

My four words are: EXTRAVAGANT, GIRLY, FLORAL, MESSY.

The font I have chosen is Chopin Script - I will only use the capital letters:


For the words 'extravagant' and 'messy' I will look into the works of Linda Zacks, one of Brady's favourite artists. Her style is very messy and extravagant. The font I have chosen already is very extravagant and elaborate in its design. For the word 'girly' I will experiment with colours and the way they change the overall look. I will look into floral designs for the word 'floral', mainly roses because Brady has a tattoo of a rose on her back, so it will communicate and relate to her more. At the moment I wouldn't say I am a very confident flower drawer, so I will experiment with styles and techniques to best use my abilities in the time available. Maybe tracing or simplifying of the flower design.

Why is the existing typeface an in/appropriate choice?
Brady said her friend is the person she most admires because she is crazy and doesn't care what people think, so I chose a swirly expressive font to demonstrate this. It is already quite elaborate and girly, I plan to work into and around the letters using the style of one of Brady's favourite artists Linda Zacks. Her style is very messy and bold, so I plan to work in designs of roses and introduce colours like pinks and yellows. Only using the capital letters could produce some problems because the letters have a lot of swirly flicks and could distract the eye from the actual letter form when I add my designs to it.

What are the reasons behind your design decisions made for your typeface so far?
At the moment I am just experimenting with ideas in my sketchbook. I plan to make the typeface more messy and stylized. I am experimenting with different media and colours because I want to see which colours go together well and represent Brady best. I feel experimenting is the best way to manipulate the font in this case because the final piece is all going to be free hand and a one of design. Because I will be using paint splodges and slap dash brush strokes, creating as many visual ideas before hand will give me a better idea of how to create the final piece and what I want it to look like, because it will have to come from the imagination for the final piece respectively.

Other issues raised / action to be taken
Carry on experimentation and reach decision over colours and techniques to be used. Make sure letters are not to elaborate to begin with, maybe shorten swirls on letters?

5 tasks to complete brief to full potential:

1. Experiment with media
2. Experiment with colour
3. Experiment with styles and techniques
4. Make sure all letters are legible.
5. Keep reverting back to brief to make sure I am meeting the criteria.


GROUP EVALUATION OF FINAL DESIGN AND SKETCHBOOK

Strengths
1. Good amount of research and relevant to the work.
2. Lots of experimentation with different colours and medias.
3. Direct responses to other artists work.

Weaknesses
1. No annotations/ self evaluation in sketchbook.
2. Development to the final idea isn't clear from the sketchbook.
3. No developments of one idea.
4. What you think worked and what didn't not indicated.

Actions
1. More development of one idea, push things further.
2. Clearer self evaluation, what you think works and why.
3. How font relates to partner and why.
4. More self evaluation/ reflection.


TUTORS EVALUATION OF FINAL PIECE FROM PRESENTATION

Strengths
1. Well crafted.
2. Beautiful letterforms.

Weaknesses
1. How can I rework the letters so there is a logic?
2. At this point some of the colour placement seems random.

Actions
1. Draw out letters separate.
2. Full black and white.


SELF EVALUATION OF PROJECT

Strengths
On a whole I am pleased with the project. I think visually it looks as I set out for it to look. Elaborate, girly, messy and floral. I think the subtle injection of colour brings it to life and gives it a character, of which reflects Brady. I have visually represented all the four words initially chosen and kept to the style of Linda Zacks. I like the fact that none of the letters are the same which gives it character.

Weaknesses
Because of the randomness of the letters design some of the letterforms were a bit disjointed and didn't look like a family. Some of the swirls coming off the letterforms were quite extravagant and made the letters slightly illegible. When I made the name tag for Brady because the letters were al capital they didn't read very well. It was hard to make out what it said from a distance. I designed the '£' sign my self because it wasn't already in the Chopin Script typeface. I could have made it more elabourate because it doesn't fit in with the rest of the font quite as well as I would of liked it to.

To do:
1. Reduce the size of some of the swirls on the letterforms.
2. Try to create more of a flow between the letters, in respect of creating a logic and putting the same thing on every letter.
3. See what the letters look like separated from each other and in black and white.

No comments:

Post a Comment