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:

Pick Me Up

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

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!

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

(by ShareSomeCandy)

Typographic tattoo

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

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: