Alphabet Soup Research

This is a lovely piece of video typography work created by Alessandro Novelli. 

Whilst obviously my work has to remain on paper, looking at something like this is really helpful for inspiration and also just looks really really cool. 

The best are D for Destruction, H for Homer - complete with the DOH! sound effect, and S for Sound. 

Out of these, I think sound is the most creative and effective one, because of its use of the vibrations from the sound system to animate the letter.

The only one I dislike is R for Red, which I think is a little boring, and they could have done so much more with it. 

Alphabet Soup Research

These are all pre existing fonts that I have been working from on my design sheets, and whilst I appreciate that the more complex and colourful fonts are probably a lot more visually interesting and pleasing to the eye, I feel like the simpler fonts, like Myriad Pro and Bebas Neue have been better to work with so far because they leave more to be done with the development of ideas, and the way I represent the various definitions of dissolve in my designs. 

I also wanted to look at some other hand drawn typography to give me some inspiration. 

These are some examples I have found of well executed hand drawn type that I feel can help inform my own designs. 

Capitan Burrito

SCSH Graphics Group

Maxwell Lord

Edgar Reyes

David Maclennan

Jen Mussari

James Gulliver Hancock

Rachael Anilyse

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/11/beautiful-hand-drawn-typography/

Out of these images, I think the most successful one, that will definitely help with my design ideas is the collection of hand drawn fonts by James Gulliver Hancock, because he is using black and white, like I have to, and the amount of variation within these is really interesting to me.
The use of white on black as opposed to black on white is something I also want to consider for my own work as a variant within my own designs.
The use of line and the detail within some of the fonts is also something I will explore within my own work, however I am less inclined to create very complicated fonts, as I feel like they will distract from the main statement of the work.

Another favourite is the David Maclennan piece, which from a distance I feel does portray the word dissolve. Although I think it is too complex for me to try and recreate something similar, it's nice to have it as a piece I can look to to motivate me and make it easier for me to produce ideas.

//BLOG GROUP COLLECTIVE RESEARCH//

Its all well and good just looking at mine, but if you want to go crazy then you can go and look at some more alternative/professional looking research.

Hannah Watt
Eve Warren
Michael Williams
Katie Winter

//HOW TO RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE//

As part of our research for the How To Brief, we'd be uber grateful for people to fill this out.

It basically asks people for their worst fashion faux pas, so that we can get a grip on how it feels when you get put in an awkward situation, such as the hypothetical awkward moment when you forget about Stripey Friday. 

The front page included Anna Wintour, icon of fashion judgement, to keep it light hearted for the student readers.

How To - Stripey Moodboard

A selection of our stripey inspirations so far, which will be translated into our fah-bulous teaser posters

...COMING SOON

//HOW TO. RESEARCH//

For our How To Brief, we've chosen to solve the issue of...

How to Avoid The Awkward Moment When You Forget to Wear Stripes on a Friday.

On our first day, Stripey Friday was explained to us. Basically, wear stripes on Friday. Neato. 

We also got told that Stripey Friday was just between us. A secret society. Like Fight Club. Except not dangerous. And with fewer mental health issues. 

And so in our group we started to look at how we could solve the problem. One such idea took the concept of the Fight Club, branding Stripey Friday as a secret society, using posters and other printed media to promote the day. 

Which got us thinking about a teaser poster style campaign that could lead you to a Stripey Friday blog.

We would promote it without giving anything away to those not in the know. 

The strongest platform for researching this style of promotion is Film. 

Teaser posters are the one thing that sparks the initial interest. By giving away very little information, you create a strong curiosity, that then leads them to another marketing platform, such as a website.

District 9

In The Loop

Walk The Line

The Social Network 

Many of these teaser posters are more visually interesting than their official counterparts released later in the marketing calendar. This could be due to the fact that the official poster usually has to include photos of the main stars, and a large amount of specific text, which leaves little creative leeway, particularly in mainstream film. 

There is a strong design approach to these posters. The image, composition, type, the select information printed contribute to a powerful statement which then compels the viewer to follow up their initial interest. 

The posters above all use imagery as their main tool, with the text complimenting it. From a graphical perspective, I feel like District 9 and The Social Network are the most successful. 

District 9's use of image, the sign, is a striking visual, whilst the simple design of the black creature clearly alludes to the sci fi genre in a subtle and provoking way.
The simple and bold colours make sense because of the use of the sign, with the red cross adding to a sense of threat.
The use of the sign also makes this feel realistic, despite the obvious science fiction underpinning, which will obviously attract an audience's attention.

In contrast to the subtle design elements of the District 9 poster, The Social Network's teaser is bold, and the information given to the audience with regards to the film sends a clear message of its forthcoming content. The image of Mark Zuckerberg has been composed as if it were a cross between a Facebook display picture and a mug shot, whilst the tag line 'You don't get to 500 friends without making a few enemies' is a provocative and intelligent statement that adds a darker aspect.
The image also complements this dark statement with its somber lighting. The Facebook tab on the side of the poster makes the plot of the film obvious. It's use of modern font, simple formatting and its affiliation with Facebook mark this out as a very current piece of design.

With regards to our own work, the District 9 poster is more useful as an influence, because the information given is styled in a subtle way, which correlates with the idea of Stripey Friday being a secret society.

All posters were taken from http://www.empireonline.com/features/stunning-movie-teaser-posters.

//ALPHABET SOUP//

The first brief, our summer alphabet, has been presented to our blogging groups and we have established certain things about our alphabets collectively, and our own. During feedback, we all agreed that Eve's work was the best crafted and presented piece, whilst our collective understanding of our work has been summarised into 10 easy breezy bullet points.

1/The majority of our alphabets were hand drawn, or at least crafted by hand first before being formatted digitally.

2/The majority used primary imagery to create the actual typefaces.

3/The majority were researched within the medium of the internet, or from magazines and photographs.

4/Everyone incorporated personal interests.

5/The majority used colour in the presentation.

6/Two of the five were created digitally, using photoshop as a main tool.

7/In several of the alphabets, a pre existing font has been used.

8/There is a uniform style, and most of our alphabets work cohesively and in sequence.

9/Everyone's alphabet linked together well as a small collective.

10/Everyone has incorporated imagery into the alphabet.