Typo Docs
Advanced Typography}
Assignment: Periodic Table and Grid
(PDF of the Assignment is here for download)
This assignment is designed to test your skills in the realm of grid and uniform information design, but it also intended to stretch your imagination. In this exercise you will take a movie and analyze its component parts to create a synopsis or summary for someone to understand the characters and plot-line of the story without expressing it literally.
You will create at least 20 original icons to represent the essence of the movie in a fashion similar to the information conveyed in the Periodic Table of elements. Plus the typeface that represent each of the individual elements.
Each element must be represented by only one or two letters. (though some below have three) Below the letters or above or on the side or however you wish you must place the name of the element in an informational typeface which conveys the energy and mood of your storyline.
Periodic Table
Here is an example:
One student chose the movie “The Big Lebowski” by the Coen Brothers
Synopsis: Jeff Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), known as the Dude, is a laid-back, easygoing burnout who happens to have the same name as a millionaire whose wife owes a lot of dangerous people a whole bunch of money--resulting in the Dude having his rug soiled, sending him spiraling into the Los Angeles underworld.
Much of the story takes place in a bowling alley, so the student used the language and visual feel that those austere environs usually convey. For instance: There is a certain Las Vegas kitsch associated with the traditional American Bowling alley. How that evolved is not at issue but there was a language that was evidently “universally” accepted.
Bowling Alley operators consistently use this language to appeal to a certain demographic or feel compelled by a certain sense of tradition… I suppose. So the student tried to recreate that in her piece.
The same sense of quiet, tongue in cheek quality of comedy that was present in the movie is evident here.The sense of grid and a minimalist approach is maintained to convey the movie’s essence and the icons are decidedly illustrative…but the same balance of line and proportion in the typeface appears as a stylistic abbreviation in the icons.
As a student you are allowed to begin with an existing typeface but you must create a “new” one that is based and feels as if it conveys the essence of the narrative you have chosen.
Assignment Worth: 200 pts
Time Allotted: 2 WeeksFinal Product must be no smaller than 24 inches in height or width. The other dimension is an option which may be based on the student’s vision. How it is created is up to the student, but rules of geometric consistency and grid which are the basis for typography should be observed while producing the final piece.
In other words you can do this by hand …or you may screen print, or you may do it via computer, and print it large format. Printing arrangements and materials are the responsibility of the student.
{please bear With Me}