Studio Brief 2: typeface development process

The image above shows the process of which I undertook for the letter 'Q' in particular, but it was the same for each of the letters in the alphabet. I started by using the scanned in sketch of my initial idea so I could trace over it using illustrator. I then had to spend time playing around with the composition and trying to figure out which parts would best represent the letters identity. Throughout this process, I gathered feedback from those around me to help decide the best way to represent each of the individual letters.

To then workout if the typeface could work in any combination, I started to put the letters together to spell out words. This word is completely legible, but the first attempt with the 'x' did not work as well as I would have liked. To solve this problem, I look at another way of visually representing the 'X' in a similar way to the rest of the letters in the alphabet. The second attempt is made up of the negative spacing in the 'x', rather than trying to represent the actual structure of the letter. 

As the typeface was to be used for creative event posters, I decided to create some mockup and see how the typeface works in context. The first poster is for a carnival party. I think the typeface works well on this poster as it matches the type of music that is playing and also the visual design of the graphics. The typeface almost fits in with the design too well. This doesn't allow the audience to realise that this is the title of the event. 

The next set of mockup poster designs are for the 'Lumiere' light event in London. To create the visuals for this poster I took a photo of on of the light displays at the event and created a 16 colour vector of this. This left me with a suitable background to work with. The process of creating mockups was useful because it allowed me to see that this typeface does not work well in isolation or for the intended purpose.

The first few letters of the alphabet were the most successful in my opinion, but I feel like the same visual appearance did not carry on throughout the rest of my design. I think that although the typeface is based upon the negatives of each individual letter, this is not a strong enough rule for it to work as a whole alphabet. The typeface does not represent the word 'unorthodox' in a professional way.