I'm Patrycja & I love type

Type Player 2

2011-07-29T21:58:00.002+01:00

My copy of Type Player 2 by Gingko Press has arrived recently. I was really really excited to receive this book as it features one of my final projects at uni, typographic Mr Foster. There are a few shots below,
more here.

High Arctic

2011-07-25T21:24:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I went to visit High Arctic exhibition at National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. The installation consists of 3000 columns, each of them has got a name of Svalbard Glacier which is expected to disappear as an effect of climate change. "It’s 2100 AD and the Arctic landscape has changed forever. Set in one of many possible futures High Arctic conveys the scale, beauty and fragility of our unique arctic environment through an immersive installation which fills the entire 820m² gallery space." (more on NMM website). Visitors get UV torches and are encouraged to discover on their own – I found it very interesting but was expecting more interaction. Anyway, definitely worth visiting! Here are a few shots, more on my Flickr page.

Exhibition in Prague

2011-07-17T16:13:00.002+01:00

Another exhibition from Graduation Projects 09/10 series is currently showing at DOX – Centre of Contemporary Art in Prague.

I've found a photo featuring my Foster project (photo by Mirek Lédl) on the show's official website:

I'd love to visit the exhibition, but seems I won't have a chance as it ends just before my holiday starts. Has anyone been there?

Coca Cola Exhibition

2011-07-03T23:03:00.000+01:00

I went to see a mini exhibition celebrating 123 years of Coca Cola held at Design Museum, London. I love those old Coke brand guidelines books! More photos here.

Personal Logo

2011-03-20T13:46:00.003Z

Just a little post to share my personal logo I've been working on recently.

I always struggled to combine my initials – "P" and "Z" seem not to work very well together. I'm pleased with this option, but still trying to refine and improve it and finish other options.

What do you think about it? Looking forward to your feedback!

Graduation Projects 2009/2010

2011-03-13T23:46:00.001Z

It's a review of Graduation Projects from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. The review runs annually for last nine years and since 2005 it's accompanied by an exhibition of the chosen projects.
I submitted on of my Final Projects (Mr. Foster) and it got accepted!
Here are the results of this year's edition and more details about the review (looks like there is no English version unfortunately).
Yesterday I received a copy of the catalogue, I took a few shots of the spread featuring my project.

Crocheted camera case

2011-02-27T14:31:00.001Z

I've always loved little crocheted things like jewellery and other accessories and wanted to create my own. So here is my first masterpiece – crocheted camera case! It's far from perfect, but this is what I like about real handmade things. Thank you granny for the crochet lessons and tools :-)

Pinteresting!

2011-02-23T23:09:00.004Z

I've started using Pinterest recently to catalog inspirational images
and I absolutely love it. Works well & looks good – it's my favourite image bookmarking site so far! Follow my pins & moodboards here:
pinterest.com/patrycja.

Letterpress card

2011-01-31T21:25:00.000Z

A little letterpress inspiration for today: a lovely card I got at Reverting To Type exhibition (see my previous post). It's printed on a metallic paper, unfortunately the photo doesn't show that nice shine which goes really well with those bits of dried ink. Not sure who is the author of this one, but it's a really beautiful piece of letterpress print!

Reverting To Type

2011-01-30T21:05:00.004Z

Last weekend I visited Reverting To Type exhibition which showcased posters from different letterpress practitioners around the world. It was held in Standpoint Gallery, London (it's finished now, but click here for more info about the participants). I absolutely loved the exhibition, it was a great source of letterpress inspiration. I wish could head to some letterpress workshop soon! Here are some of my favourite bits:

It's baking time

2010-12-21T22:10:00.001Z

This time of the year means baking gingerbread biscuits. Mine are almost ready, time for icing!

Happy baking and Wesołych Świąt [Merry Christmas] everyone!

Christmas cards for sale

2010-12-02T17:44:00.002Z

You can now buy my Christmas cards here & here.

Christmas time soon!

2010-11-29T10:42:00.003Z

'Merry Christmas' made of photographed beads & turned into christmas tree lights version.

With the weather getting more and more wintery it's difficult not to get into Christmas mood! I'm really looking forward to lots of snow when I'm back home on my Christmas break. I'm working on this year's Christmas card and in the meantime I'm posting my last year's typographic/calligraphic designs. See more here.

Expo Baetulona

2010-11-29T09:27:00.002Z

Here's a little update to my previous post about Baetulona project.

The entire exhibition is now online: www.baetulona.cat.

Baetulona Exhibition Lanuched

2010-11-20T15:09:00.003Z

Back in September I wrote a post about Baetulona project and showed my contribution which was a poster about Franco.

The exhibition showcasing the entire project was launched this week in Barcelona. I'm really glad to take part in this project. I'd love to go there and visit this 100 meter long piece, it looks very impressive! You can see my Franco poster at 1:01 and 1:17.

Baetulona en TV from brrothers_matias on Vimeo.

Well done Brrothers team! Check out Baetulona blog for more info.

Mr. Foster

2010-11-19T17:05:00.007Z

I was very happy today to find out the release date of the film that inspired one of my final projects at uni "How much does your building weigh,
Mr. Foster?" (click here to see my project). According to IMDB website it's 28 January 2011 in the UK. I'm really looking forward to it after watching the official trailer:

It's funny how my posters mix with the film's official images in Google image search :)

New portfolio site

2010-11-01T21:56:00.004Z

I've just finished creating my new portfolio site. I wanted it to be clean & simple, with the focus on the content. Hope you like it.

Visit www.patrycjazywert.com and let me know what you think!

Gastrotypographicalassemblage

2010-10-23T13:17:00.008+01:00

Last Thursday I visited this nice little exhibition at London's Kemistry Gallery. It presents the designs of Lou Dorfsman with the main part being a photo of "Gastrotypographicalassemblage". It's an amazing 11 meters long and 2.5 meters high typographic mural that Lou created in 1965 for CBS cafeteria in New York. The idea was to spell out all the food on offer in cafeteria. Visit my Flickr page for more photos I took at this exhibition.

The exhibition is on till 30 October, go to Kemistry Gallery's website for more info.

Typo/graphic posters

2010-09-27T13:16:00.010+01:00

Check out my profile on typo/graphic posters!
http://www.typographicposters.com/#/patrycja-zywert/

Piccsy

2010-09-22T14:56:00.009+01:00

I've recently been using this image bookmarking site and I really love it. Lots of good images, perfect place for finding daily inspiration. Looks nice and clean and it's also very simple to bookmark and share images there. Piccsy is my no 1 visual diary at the moment.

Go to http://patrycja.piccsy.com/ to see my recent typographic inspirations.

Baetulona Project

2010-09-11T11:58:00.002+01:00

Baetulona is a project by Brrothers who invited 100 studios and artists to take part in celebrating the history of Badalona city. The idea is to create a printed canvas 100 meters long and a book that will tell a graphic story by showing 100 most important moments in the history of Badalona.

"The project was launched to Badalonas city hall within the framework of Catalan Culture Capital which the city hosts during 2010. We meant to create a 100 meters canvas in which the most important hundred historical moments of the city would be represented. We also wanted 100 main studios in graphic design and illustration from all around the world to perform that work."

[more info at blog.baetulona.cat]

My brief was to illustrate the arrival of Franco's troops to Badalona in January 1939, which was the beginning of Franco's regime.
I decided on a simple idea of creating a typographic image - marching soldiers forming the name of the dictator:

Before I decided on the final version (above) I've done some tests with colour selection and composition:

Check Baetulona website for details and updates about the display of the project and publishing of the book.

Don't forget me! Souvenirs from Poland

2010-09-10T14:44:00.016+01:00

When I was home back in Poland I visited an interesting exhibition in Torun, titled 'Nie zapomnij o mnie!' (Don't forget me!).

It was about modern souvenirs from Poland, created by young designers who came up with new and innovative ideas for promotion of Polish culture. As the curators say:

"Projects presented at the exhibition — keepsakes and objects that can serve as traditional souvenirs — demonstrate a modern approach to the concept of locality. They advertise small or big communities with no pomposity, deconstructing the national ethos. They are often ‘meta-souvenirs’, full of irony, questioning the newest history."

[More info]

Here are some of my favourites:

Fotel Kluska Śląska (Silesia Dumpling Armchair)

Ą Ę Spinki do Mankietów (Cufflinks with difficult Polish letters)

Stamps with Golonka Lux - a font inspired by Warsaw city space

To see more photos from this exhibition visit my flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/patty_z/sets/72157624923222098/

Officially Graduated!

2010-09-09T21:00:00.003+01:00

I'm back after a long summer break! I went home, back in Poland, for over a month and had an amazing time with friends and family. And just when I came back I had my graduation ceremony, so now I'm officially a Bachelor of Arts!

Time to look for a proper job now! :)

I am hand made

2010-08-02T21:01:00.004+01:00

And another Hand Made Wallpaper*, this time got to the gallery :)

Design a Swatch

2010-07-18T15:23:00.008+01:00

I had a little play at Swatch MTV Playground last week :)

Click here to see it bigger. Design a Swatch competition:

http://www.swatchmtvplayground.com/gb/

IT IS HAND MADE

2010-07-18T15:03:00.001+01:00

This is my design, somehow it didn't make it to the Wallpaper* Custom Covers gallery... yet. ;)

HAND made with Create your own Wallpaper* cover application:http://www.wallpaper.com/custom-covers/app

My Final Project on Typography Served

2010-07-17T13:53:00.004+01:00

Saturday morning surprise: my Final Project 'How much does your building weigh, Mr. Foster?' got featured on Typography Served: http://www.typographyserved.com/Gallery/How-much-does-your-building-weigh-Mr_-Foster/571002 Yay!

'How much does your building weigh, Mr. Foster?'

2010-07-08T12:16:00.001+01:00

And the second of my final projects, a typographic installation and

a poster inspired by Norman Foster. More details here:

http://www.behance.net/gallery/How-much-does-your-building-weigh-Mr_-Foster/571002

In Case of Packaging

2010-07-07T14:37:00.005+01:00

This is one of my final year projects. I've just published it on my portfolio site - take a look!

D&AD New Blood

2010-06-29T22:45:00.012+01:00

I went to New Blood on last Saturday, this year as an exhibitor :) Here are some shots of our uni's stand:

Some of my work was there too - a poster from my final project about Norman Foster:

'In Case Of Packaging' book:

And my 'Perfume' project in a portfolio:

The exhibition was in Old Truman Brewery, London.

See more photos on my flickr page.

Penguin Design Award Results

2010-06-29T21:18:00.013+01:00

And the winnners are...

http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/minisites/penguindesignaward/penguin_2010winners.php

Got the 2nd Prize! :)

Judges' comments on Penguin website: http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/minisites/penguindesignaward/pda2010_pzywert.php

See my earlier posts for details of my 'Perfume' book cover entry: http://patrycjazywert.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-update-to-perfume-post-my-entry.html

Show Time!

2010-06-16T22:50:00.011+01:00

Our Degree Show opened last Friday.

Still can't believe that the course is finished. Will miss uni times!

I displayed my two final projects:

Norman Foster Film Promo

(more at http://www.startshow.co.uk/zywert.html)

and In Case of Packaging:

(more at http://www.startshow.co.uk/zywert.html)

I'll post more images from the show soon!

Penguin update

2010-06-16T21:17:00.007+01:00

A little update to the 'Perfume' post - my entry was shortlisted and I had a chance to resubmit the design with some little changes. I made the lettering more hairy and messy and changed the colours slightly.

Now looking forward to the ceremony next week, can't wait to see other shortlisted designs and the results! :)

Penguin Design Award entry

2010-05-02T18:17:00.012+01:00

This is my final design of 'Perfume' book cover for Penguin Design Award 2010. Full jacket:

Just front cover:

Photos of the model:

And this is my explanation of the concept:

My concept is based on creating mixed feelings. The title lettering looks nice at first sight but after taking a closer look the reader can see it is made of hair. Beautiful, long and nicely scented hair is undoubtedly a feature of a woman. If it is cut, it immediately brings the thought that something bad has happened to her. By using real hair I wanted to emphasise the human aspect in a subtle way and it links to the story, the pursuit of the perfect scent - innocence. The lettering style is inspired by eighteenth-century French alphabets.

Go to my previous post to see the development & tests: http://patrycjazywert.blogspot.com/2010/05/perfume-book-cover-development.html.

'Perfume' book cover: development

2010-05-02T16:02:00.018+01:00

Last week I submitted my entry for Penguin Design Award. The brief was to design a new cover for "Perfume" by Patrick Süskind. The project was a part of uni assignments, so I had a lot of time to test and experiment with different concepts for the cover.

My initial idea was to focus on the concept of smell and try to express it typographically, adding a subtle image of a woman's body. This is my first sketch and a rough visual:

Then, after talking to my tutors I decided to use typography as main element, but make it more experimental. I used meat to highlight the dark and murder side of the story. I wanted the lettering to look nice at first sight, but then after inspection the viewer can see it's made of meat. These are my two tests of meat calligraphy (front & spine):

Cutting pork loin and bacon to create letters felt a bit weird...

Next stage was etching tests, to see results go to my previous post: http://patrycjazywert.blogspot.com/2010/04/etching.html.

Then, I decided to use hair as a theme for the cover. This is first sketch:

Then I thought I could use real hair. So, I had fun times putting my head on a scanner and trying to reach the keyboard :) This is my real hair version:

I'll publish the final entry for Penguin competition in my next post.

Etching

2010-04-26T13:00:00.012+01:00

Just before Easter break we had two introduction to etching classes at uni. This was first time I was doing etching and wanted to see how it works with typographic image. I took one of the designs from the project that I was working on at that time. It's the lettering for Patrick Süskind's "Perfume" cover (Penguin Design Award). This is the original image, a hand drawn lettering that I used for my etching:

The lettering is very detailed, I wasn't sure how this would work with soft-ground etching:

I did soft-ground first:

And then hard ground (swirls and ornaments):

And after that, I added tones using aquatint. I did two prints with different amount of ink on the plate:

I didn't know how this would come out and each print was a surprise. But this was all about just learning the techniques and I really enjoyed it! Here are the shots from the making of and the plate:

I found it very interesting, but didn't use any of these for the final version of the cover. Anyway, definitely want to play with etching again!

Typographic Trees

2010-04-25T13:03:00.007+01:00

I've visited Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2010 at Design Museum recently. The exhibition is excellent, but there was one piece that drew my attention particularly- Typographic Trees by Gordan Young and Why Not Associates.

Here is the explanation of the project:

"When artist Gordon Young was asked by architects Penoyre and Prasard to design a site-specific work of art for their new library in Crawley, West Sussex, he suggested a ‘forest’ of typographic oak columns installed floor to ceiling like supporting pillars.

Fellow artist Anna Sandberg held workshops with library users, to gather information on people’s favourite books, places and memories. Young then worked with typographers Why Not Associates to design columns from this user-generated content. Each of the 14 solid oak ‘trees’ reflects a different subject – from the opening line of the first Harry Potter novel to the gothic text of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

The final designs were sandblasted into green unseasoned oak by long time collaborator Russell Coleman. This material – with all its cracks and shakes – was deliberately chosen to contrast with the perfection of the new building’s interior. Finally, the finished columns were installed in relevant specific locations throughout the library." (http://www.designsoftheyear.com/2010/02/14/gordan-young-and-why-not-associates-typographic-trees-crawley-library-uk/#more-2602)

I really like this concept and I think typographic trees look amazing! Here are some photos I took:

Pick Me Up

2010-04-24T12:34:00.017+01:00

I went to Pick Me Up exhibition at London's Somerset House yesterday. The fair brings together different graphic artists working today, ranging from well-known designers and illustrators to emerging talents in the industry. It's the first contemporary graphic art fair in the UK. Well worth visiting - lots of interesting stuff to see, buy and do! Apart from the exhibition part, there are some events and activities. Here are some shots from the fair:

See more photos from Pick Me Up on my Flickr page.

B for Alphabattle

2010-03-27T15:36:00.006Z

It's time to catch up with Alphabattle project!

So, here is my letter B submission and some of the sketches as well:

Share Your Work!

2010-03-25T14:57:00.015Z

Go to http://www.sharesomecandy.com/ to show your work!

(by ShareSomeCandy)

Typographic tattoo

2010-03-25T11:46:00.020Z

A few days ago I was asked to create a simple Roman style lettering saying Carpe Noctem ("seize the night"). It was for a friend who was going to get this as a tattoo the next day. So I started quick sketches with slightly different styles, making them simple and a bit ornamental. Here is what I designed in my sketchbook:

This is the choice of designs I offered:

And the final version he chose:

That was a quick project! It was nice to see my lettering in the sketchbook, then in Illustrator and the next day - on the skin :)

And here is the actual tattoo!

Hope you enjoy wearing it Ross! ;)

Veer Transfers

2010-03-17T15:38:00.007Z

Last week I received this beautiful set of type transfers from Veer. The set was given for free to anyone who registered on Veer website (and probably still is). The pack contains six typefaces:

Compendium

Grant Avenue Bold

Hooligan

Mellotron

Pilo Regular

Sugar Pie

Can't wait to play with them! :)

A for Alphabattle

2010-02-27T14:36:00.006Z

AlphaBattle by LetterCult is about making letters and having fun. They've started with letter A and will do a new letter every two weeks. The project will finish around February next year.

Here is my submission and some sketches of letter A I've done for it:

In Other Words

2010-02-21T23:31:00.013Z

Self-written project

Outline

Textspeak is destroying the language. Some of the abbreviations are overused and have become meaningless. This seems to make communication pointless, shallow, mundane and flat. And this makes people become lazy about the proper use of the language. Also, it is scary when we look at teenagers and kids who are exposed to textspeak from early ages and start having problems with proper language.

Another point is that more and more people use textspeak abbreviations in real life communication. Saying “LOL” instead of actually laughing is ridiculous. Have sincerity and real expression of emotions been lost? If this does not change we might become ‘textspeak zombies’ soon.

Brief

We want to make people see how limiting the textspeak is. We will try to express that in a series of posters encouraging people to use their actual language and a palette of words instead of just shouting “LOL” or “OMG”. We want to suggest that it can be a good idea to stop LOL-ing and start articulating emotions in a more human way.

Outcome

A series of four posters on four selected abbreviations: LOL, OMG, BTW and IMO. Each one of these contains a selection of words to use instead of textspeak. By leaving a blank space in the shape of textspeak words we want to highlight that when we take them out of the language, there are plenty of more interesting and suitable words and phrases left around.

The posters are silk-screen printed and letter pressed to show the beauty of pure and ‘analogue’ language (as opposed to digital). Textspeak abbreviations are kept in digital/pixel style font and all the words around are made of wood type fonts and therefore look more traditional. Our lives are becoming digital yet traditional ways seem to always work well and appear more human.

Posters are folded into booklets and put together in a package to create a complete unit. Booklet format makes the form of posters more practical. It is easier to use them when they all fit into A5 ‘envelope’.

CV Project

2010-02-20T16:50:00.003Z

I've created my CV recently as part of uni projects. Although my initial idea was different to what I produced in the end and I still want to get back to it, I enjoyed this project. I wanted my cv to be a simple and finished piece, showing my eye for detail. The book I created contains samples of my work and comes in a hand made envelope. The form of the outcome shows what interests me most: typography, especially letterpress and hand lettering and packaging design. So here is what I send to a couple of design studios:

More Ampersands!

2010-02-18T15:19:00.006Z

These beautiful ampersand earrings arrived a few days ago. I love earrings and I love ampersands so this seems to a perfect kind of jewellery for me!

I got them from Etsy.

"Coming Together" font at FontShop

2010-02-17T13:23:00.024Z

SOTA Type Foundry | FontShop

Font Aid IV: Ampersand

2010-02-17T00:51:00.014Z

"The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA) is proud to announce the release of “Coming Together”, a font created exclusively for Font Aid IV to benefit the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. The font consists entirely of ampersands, to represent the idea of people coming together to help one another. Type designers, graphic designers, and other artists from around the world contributed artwork to the font." (and more about where to get the font from: http://www.typesociety.org/fontaid.html)

I submitted three ampersands and I must say it feels really good to be a part of a project like this.

Here is my contribution:

I love ampersands, so I couldn't resist to create just one. I spend half a day drawing different forms that would incorporate the shape of heart in a very subtle way. That's what I ended up with:

You can find first sketches and full sized versions of my chosen ampersands here:

http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Ampersand-Love/405328

My Manifesto featured in a design magazine

2010-02-17T00:35:00.016Z

(Original size)

My MANIFESTO was featured in 31 January 2010 issue of Turkish newspaper's monthly design supplement.

This a scan I got from the author of this article. It will be published in pdf version on the magazine's website soon. Unfortunately I don't understand Turkish. But the lady who wrote it said it was about different kind of design manifestos, starting from the Futurist Manifesto and ending with today's contemporary manifesto projects.

Sending my Manifesto!

2010-02-17T00:16:00.007Z

First copy of my manifesto posters ready to pack! These photos were taken two weeks ago so hopefully they arrive safely soon.

This is my Good Design Manifesto project

2010-01-26T18:30:00.006Z

My design beliefs manifesto project.

It's a list of 9 things I think good design is about/involves. Each letter of the word MANIFESTO is formed from one short sentence. Letterpress, wood type.

Hello!

2010-01-26T17:20:00.009Z

I'm Patrycja & I love type. I'd like to share my work and inspirational things with you!