Monday 29 December 2008

Bringing Type To Life

I've been thinking of my forgotten type project, and I thought it would be appropriate to present my work as a way of bringing the forgotten text back to life. I found alot of examples from a simple google image search (good old google).

This is called Tornado. The artist created large swirls of text outdoors in white so it looks like gusts of wind. It is appropriate that this sculpture was displayed outside as it's meant to be a tornado, and obviously they don't happen indoors.
Because it's white and the font is sans-serif it looks very clean and simplistic. I think it's very beautiful and if I was stood in front of it I think I would feel calmed by it


I adore this sculpture. It's very rough and gothic-looking. Its made from steel and it's pained in a rusty dark grey, so it has a cold, metalic feel. The text is bent and twisted and everything ends in points to give you an uncomfortable feel when you look at it.
Something like this would be appropriate to my project because the examples of forgotten type I found are all cold and hidden away. If I was to create a book or structure to display my work then using dark colours would be appropriate.

On the other hand, using bright colours and bold smooth fonts would be a way of rejuvinating type that has been forgotten.



I'm not sure how this one would have been made but I want to learn! It looks so fantastic, like the text is forcing its way through some cloth. It would look good against a wall so it appears to be growing out of the surface.

Tuesday 16 December 2008

Ripping My Hair Out!

For one of the units of my degree I had to create a website for a singer or band. I found this the most challenging project of the year so far, as I had no clue where to start. I chose one of my favourite artists, Ne-Yo, and decided to base the theme of the website on his new album Year Of The Gentleman.

With the release of this album, Ne-Yo has re-invented his image and his sound. The album has been reviewed as having a similar feeling to the Rat Pack and has 1950's vibes. Ne-Yo has altered his image and usually wears suits & hats.

Alot of his advertising and imagery is 50's themed. For example see his new television promo for the album here.

My Home Page

The colour scheme for my website is simple: black backgrounds and sepia tones for images. I've gone for soft colours instead of bold ones to give it an old-fashioned look. My research into 1950's advertising helped me greatly. I focused on advertising for media such as televisions and radios because the music industry needs them to advertise and get the artists/music out to their audience.

I've chosen to use sans-serif bold fonts for my site because these are the fonts that were popular in 1950's advertising. Also, most of Ne-Yo's logos and CD covers used fonts similar to the ones I chose for my website because they suit the feel of his music.

My Shop Page
My shop page is slightly different. I've kept the navigation in the same position so that the site is easy to get around. On every page Ne-Yo's logo is in the same position so that there is some coherence within the site. I used a purely black background so that the images of Ne-Yo's CD's stand out more, as they are colourful.

My Tour Page
When you hover the mouse over the televisions to navigate through the site, the screens glow a faded blue colour. This is to give the appearance of static on the screen and to make the link stand out by giving it some colour. I chose blue because it is calming, and the rest of the site is softly coloured.

Thursday 11 December 2008

More on Type






My Neglected Typography has grown! I've been out taking more photos, as you can see;
 
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