As a start to this exercise it is informative to research the history of writing. Writing is a form of abstract signs representing speech. It developed from pictures (cave paintings) to symbols over many centuries in the context of the change of civilisation.
Although writing evolved with changing times there are notable landmarks in its development eg. from about 3000 BC the Egyptians used a form of picture writing known at Hieroglyphics. Papyrus (flexible fabric) replaced use of stones, clay/wood as a writing surface with the use of inks instead of pressing designs into soft clay with sticks or reed stylus. The Egyptians were the first to have known scribes.
These quotes and examples of writing by William Addison Dwiggins demonstrate the skills, dedication and practice of scribes:-
Another major development came with the Roman alphabet in the 1st century AD (based on some characters of the Greek alphabet) . It is from these letter forms perfected by the Romans that the 26 letter alphabet of Western society is constructed which is being discussed here.
The Roman cursive writing greatly contributed to the emergence of uncial, half uncial and other anglo-saxon scripts used in the dark ages of 5th to 7th centuries. Examples of these are the Lindisfarne Gospels (written in the northern English monastery of Lindisfarne) and the Irish Book of Kells (probably written by monks on the Island of Iona at the end of the 8th century but never completed).
Here is an example of uncial lettering :-
Significant other developments can be listed:-
10th century round hand (an English development from French Carolingian minuscule).
Architectural trends and patterns of round Norman arches of 9th and 10th century followed by pointed gothic of 11th and 14th centuries were also reflected in writings of the times eg compressed angular scripts of Blackletter and Gothic cursive.
Interestingly the term Gothic was applied to products of the late medieval times by the Renaissance scholars as an intention to display their dislike of the style.
The Italian Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries brought a revival of the classical past of Roman lettering. The scribe Niccolo Niccoli (1363 – 1437) derived an angular cursive from the informal Gothic cursive. This was the basis of the Italic script.
Cursive italic (a very lively style):-
Gradually printing replaced the task of scribes and writing became a functional purpose rather than a specialised skill. Copperplate and lithography became fashionable. By the 19th century books, pamphlets were being produced with printing from metallic typefaces.
The revival of skills of writing and illumination was instigated in the late 19th century by the designer William Morris (1834 -96). He felt Victorian design had become too influenced by industrialisation and manufacturing so he led a renewal of interest in hand crafted products (with particular attention to the form and standards of pre-renaissance workmanship). In 1890 he founded the Kelman Press and began to produce printed books in which every feature of the design and decoration was informed by a much earlier tradition. At this time Edward Johnston (1872 – 1944) was also involved in the revival of penmanship to the medieval era. He studied the early manuscripts to rediscover proper techniques and their rendering. thus becoming responsible to sharing the basic practices of modern calligraphy. In 1921 the Society of Scribes and Illuminators was established with Johnston as its first Honorary Member.
Calligraphy is the art of beautiful writing and is related to typography and book production today. The forms of modern typography have been influenced by the expertise of the scribes and also the designers of mechanical lettering. Today there are professional calligraphers, sign-writers and stone masons. It may appear that with the use of computers and voice recognition technology that handwriting may no longer be the basis of future communication. However paradoxically calligraphy is becoming popular as a reaction to perceived impersonal qualities of modern day living .
In certain cultures calligraphy has been recognised as form of self-expression and a process through which to centre and balance the mind and body. A wonderful antidote to a digital world. From this has formed “Mindful Calligraphy” fusing the art of beautiful writing with meditation, allowing for reflection, peace and insight. “Callimantra” founded by Elena Albertoni and Luci Bendandi in Berlin in 2018 is based on the principle of mindfulness through writing achieving a mental state by concentrating on the script, while calmly acknowledging and accepting feelings, thoughts and sensations, thus creating meaning as a result, not as an intention.
It is for this reason that I am looking forward to being in the moment with this exercise. In addition there is an element of constraint. This is explained in “Graphic Design – the new basics” – designers are constantly making decisions about placement, materials, imagery, style which can occasionally feel over-whelming . So when a few factors are decided in advance it can free up the thought process by having some decisions off the table. In creating pages of typography a designer can choose to work with the set refines, exploring different combinations within the boundaries. It is good to be provided with the words in the exercise and have the limits of the alphabetic recognisable forms as a starting point.
These letters can be written in many different ways (capital, script, rounded, angular, slanted) There are numerous variations of hand-written and printed forms. However the basic structure of the letter form must exist (whether it is written, carved, painted or modeled, plain or elaborate) for the letter to function effectively as a component of language.
Letters consisting of furniture parts, however still identifiable as letters ((Yushi Luo Design Language Studio, USA):-
Turning now to the task of writing pairs of words in my own handwriting following the course exercise:-
Then experimenting on the computer to find lettering in keeping with the nature of each word.
The German Bauhaus text provides a solid Big and the Wide Latin has G-shaped arrow arrow almost indicating growth.
For small I like the curl of the Gabriola style and the Edwardian Script as it reminds of the tiny circles on snail shells.
The typefaces for “Fat” are especially expressive of the word itself, eg Broadway & Goudy Strout giving strength in support of the vocabulary. In Broadway the thin horizontal lines give emphasis to the broad vertical ones. However I prefer the Goudy Stout as a generous and fun depiction of the word.
Again the names of the typefaces echo the words eg Arial narrow and High Tower Text.
I like the Niagara Engraved with condensed stripes and the T folded over at the top.
With Fast it has to be the Harlow Solid or Kunstler Script with the rapid lead in and easily connected lettering:-
Again with experimentation on the computer the Old English Text seems suitable to depict Slow. Such elaborate detail would take time to scribe. The letters are independent and carefully “drawn”.
Fun seems best described by the Gigi script as bouncy lettering:-
Any of these plain and even letterings are suitable for the word Boring. :-
Consolas text is a lovely name to use for the word calm and gives spacing and uniformity to the letters:-
Finally the word Mad in the form of enraged can be seen especially in the Matura MT script where the letters curve in on the M as if in an angry fashion.
Here are the words in chosen typefaces from the computer experimentation:-
So far typeface has been examined and selected however other factors can also be considered in giving the word meaning eg letter spacing, size, 3 D, colour, capitals etc.
Applying colour (with my new felt-tip paints!):-
Reasons for colour choice:-
Big (black/bold), Small (brown/snail like), Fat (pink/generous), Thin (dark blue/cold), fast (speed of light/bright yellow), Slow (green/relaxing nature), Fun (colourful/jolly), Boring (grey/disengaging/distant), Calm (light blue/serene), Mad (red/energy).
Now for a mood board, divided up into segments for each word:-
And here are the words interpreted by their meaning into an art form of expression. These are all hand drawn and painted as directed.
Big – in capitals however rather than a solid colour, this is an architectural slant influenced by the mood board – a high airy glass house effect. It is a bit more Bik than Big so if I were to do this again it would be with a more flat ended G. However I like the way the G is larger than the B as if the Big is growing:-
Small curling round like a snail shell:-
Fat – completed in acrylics – the pink, white, yellow of cream in buns andstrawberry ice-cream that melts and moves about:-
Thin – the orange material on the mood board proves inspirational rather than the initial decision of using blue. The word is elongated to provide a stick like thin:-
Fast – cyclists and speed of light. Completed in pen, felt tip and watered acrylics:-
Slow – Green “ivy” twines and curled shell. Perhaps the letters could have been spaced further apart with a snail trail linking them. However I like the overall gentle pace effect by associating with nature:-
Fun in polka dot (felt tip and poskar pens) :-
Calm (blue water graduating from deep to light blues):-
Boring. With experimentation “Boring” proves to be the most interesting. Rather than do all the letters the same in a “boring fashion” I find in boring the element of freedom to just doodle and this actually leads to choice. First of all a “laid back” boring with the B facing upwards:-
Then “Bored to tears” letting the paint flow down the page:-
And this has to be my favourite of all these lettering – A “g” looking towards an adult “B” for direction as if to say “what shall I do?” It is understood today that it is good for “B” to allow “g” to sometimes find for themselves the creativity in the space of a “perceived boring” situation, as opposed to always solving it for them.
Finally an enraged “Mad”. The letters are not in order so there is some loss of control moving to a D in the form of a boot ( *putting the boot in”). However aligning the vertical D with the M means there is some containment in the anger. Hopefully there is a sense of fun in the image too with the almost squinting M who may be misreading an event and calms down when matters are explained. If I were to do the word “Mad” again, I could have pushed the image further by drawing the “d” at an angle so it is “taping at” the M however this might have appeared too out of control.
For a textured effect I am using a sponge to apply the paint, then drawing lines in felt tip:-
This exercise has required far more thought than I originally anticipated. With the given text and boundaries of the alphabet it appeared fairly straight forward. Whilst this has reduced the decision making, the mood board then provided plenty of material to work with and became particularly influential in the formation of the lettering.
I did consider using different background paper for each word but decided not to deviate from the emphasis on the typography as the central theme.
Through doing this exercise I have gained a much better understanding of typography and appreciation of the forms of lettering development throughout history. This understanding will help in future when linking words to design appropriately.
30th November – I have since discovered another book about typography by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris mentioned during the on-line “Introduction to Adobe Illustrator”.
It gives the definition of typography as “the setting of letters within a design for print or screen” and goes on to say”The variety of typefaces and ways they can be used within a design, can enhance or alter the meaning of the words that type creates . The style in which letters are formed and presented alters our perceptions of the ideas they portray.” It reminds that Johannes Gutenburg invented the printing press in 1439 and how graphic design developed in the second half of the twentienth century.
It covers: looking at Type (Type classification), choosing Type, Setting Type, Type Generation and Type Realization. It is very clearly set out and readable so I shall enjoy examining it.
References
Martin, J, (1985), The complete guide to Calligraphy, Quill Publishing Ltd. London
Goffe, G, (1994), Calligraphy made easy, A Complete Beginner’s Guide, Parragon Book Services Ltd. London
Lupton, E, & Cole Phillips, E, (2015), Graphic Design The New Basics, Princeton Architectural Press. London
Bendandi, L, & Albertoni, E, (2019), Mindful Calligraphy (Callimantra), Batsford Publishing, London.
Ambrose, G & Harris P, (2017), Typography (2nd Edition), Bloomsbury, London .
Adelaide Art 