A question of: Shape Vs Style

Transcription

1 A question of: Shape Vs Style

2 Dave Peterson AGD-2250 Typography Fall of 2014 Project 1* Scavenger Hunt Group 5: Angelica Payne Dave Peterson * Our version of Project 1 is a bit different than the original. We were still tasked with performing a scavenger hunt for characters we found from objects in our everyday surroundings, but with a slight twist. Rather than completing one full set of characters that fit into a shape or style, we set out to find matching characters from both a shape and a style category. We chose to look for examples of the Geometric (shape) and imal (style).

3 Step 1 We established rough, working definitions for our selected categories together before we began looking/shooting. Geometric (shape): Circles Squares Triangles imal (style): Basic Thin Fundamental

4 Step 2 We separately set out to find and photograph as many examples of Geometric or imal characters as we could. I took 383 photos in total (380 of these shown). Not all of these would make the cut to character forms.

5 Step 3 I then took the most fitting photos (per our working definitions) and used Photoshop to emphasize the character forms. This left 80 possible images (shown) of characters to work with. Some of them were clearly duplicates of the same category and character, but I wanted to leave options open.

6 Step 4 As a group we cemented our definitions (see next page), and decided on a final character set consisting of 20 character pairs from the Geometric and imal categories (see following pages for pictures of both sets respectively). Geometric (shape): Characters formed from recognizable shapes; such as circles, rectangles, squares, and triangles. imal (style): Characters formed from the most simplistic lines or forms possible.

7

8 Geo Geo These two images were among the first we choose. The very obvious geometric shapes and the simplistic implied lines worked perfectly. Here the box form of the geometric plays nicely against the line forms of the minimal image.

9 Geo This minimal C form was actually a photo I had to hunt for, ultimately finding it in my own laptop cord. The form of the geometric shape is made up of clear circular shapes alongside a rectangle, while the minimal comes from simple lines.

10 Geo Geo In the beginning we had a lot of great geometric pictures for this character, but had to really look for the appropriate minimal partner. Again we seemed to be flooded with geometric forms of the E, but after a little searching found a complimentary minimal match.

11 Geo One of the harder characters to find a good example of geometric shape, but this close-up portion of a piece of pottery did the trick. This minimal I was another quick selection we made because it just doesn t get much more basic.

12 Geo Geo The geometric form here fit perfectly into our definition, and works well alongside its counterpart from Angie s photos. Both these forms came from one of my later photo shoots where I had very specific images in mind, and they turned out well.

13 Geo Geo This geometric form fit our definition with bold strokes made up of rectangular vertical lines, and half-circle-like arches at the tops. This character was strangely entirely missing from our first session of photography, so when I shoot again I was looking for this pair.

14 Geo Geo When it came to the O we had more images to select from than any other character, and these two stood out among them. This was one of my favorite forms to find, and these two images fit our definitions equally as well as they fit with each other.

15 Geo The minimal T form is composed of the simple shapes and lines in the top of a bike pump from my house. Here we converted an earlier N for geometric, and found our minimal in a rack that was in the GD lab during a group meeting.

16 Geo Geo These images fit perfectly within our definitions and almost inversely reflect one another, so they were an easy choice too. This was one of the very first pairs I was able to find, and these final images were chosen for the way they work well together.

17 Geo This form was semi-illusive in the beginning, but we didn t give up on finding a good pair to complete our image selection. Recap: The photography and image editing produced a large library of possible characters to choose from. We were able to narrow down our final images to those which best fit our defections, after all the cropping/ editing was done and contact sheets were printed. We continued to tweak specific images and parts of images throughout the final selection process.

18 Step 5 Once we had the definitions and final pictures set, we turned to our presentation. The main purpose (and only specific instruction) being a slide show with side-by-side image pairs from Geometric (shape) and imal (style) used to show the distinctions between the two. Rather than just regurgitate what we had found, we thought it might be more fun (and hopefully more engaging) to create an activity to go along with our slide show. Slide Show: The majority of the work on the slide show was done by Angie Payne, but she did frequently send working versions over to me by for review, and occasional input. I in turn sent her any image edits and adjustments as soon as they were available. PROJECT I: SCAVENGER HUNT Angelica Payne & Dave Peterson AGD2250: Typography Fall 2014 Angie choose a simple style, with greyscale components that worked well alongside our images.

19 Activity: The idea for the accompanying activity was simple enough. We wanted our fellow classmates to have a partial view of the process that we went through, and coax them into become engaged with the presentation. A visual matching game was just a great fit for this purpose. For this I simply created large contact sheets in Photoshop, printed and cut them into cards. A sheet very similar to this would be the image source. Here you see an example of image that has been cut out (at actual size).

20 Reflection: For me this project was very interesting for a number of reasons. To begin with, having had the chance to watch as the original version of the Scavenger Hunt being presented gave me insight to what made up these categorical definitions in the minds of my classmates. The variance in our rendition of Project 1 actually allowed for further development of these very ideas. I personally have a truly clear mental image of what makes a Geometric Shape or a imal Style within letterforms. I wanted the class to also have a clear idea of our newly constructed definitions, and be able to put them to practical use by the end of our presentation. I believe our strategy of integrating an activity with the class into the presentation will both strengthen their engagement level and understanding of the concept, as well as allow us to see things from their perspective. Working on this assignment has been fun, stressful, at times overwhelming, and ultimately very fulfilling. I walk away with a much greater appreciation for what it is that gives form to characters. -Dave Peterson

21 Dave Peterson AGD-2250 Typography Project 1* Geometric Vs imal