Type Player 2

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.

Letterpress card

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!

Baetulona Project

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.
  
  

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

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

Penguin update

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

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

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

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

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:

B for Alphabattle

It's time to catch up with Alphabattle project!

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

Veer Transfers

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

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: