FMP (BA): Lettering Exercise - "You are You"

After gathering all of the necessary research for this little 'project' I started to draw up some sketches that was inspired from this research and from the list of connotations I had written down. This time I aimed more for the style of lettering I had stumbled upon in my last university project (APP Words) because I really enjoyed doing it, and it would match the 'fun' aspect of the quote. 

I wasn't too sure where to begin at first so I just wrote out the quote and put a circle around the words that really stood out before moving on to drafting my first layout. It was a bit all over the place at first as I tried out different layouts, working with one section at a time. I kept looking back at my inspirations before deciding that I should integrate my words with illustration to see if the process would be any easier. 

It was at this point that I wasn't too sure if my quote would be appropriate for the book, but then I realised... What if children were looking at it? After all, there would be children at the book festival, so I could try and create a product that appealed to the general audience. Thus I carried on sketching and drawing up ideas. 

Once I decided that I wanted the design to be more illustrative I tried out drawing up some crazy type styles with lots of decoration, much like the type shown in the pieces I gathered as inspiration [examples]. It was at this point where I wanted the type to be placed within the striped red-and-white hat that the cat wears in Dr. Seuss' books.
This type of placement was inspired by weareyawn where I analysed one of their pieces where it had the type within the shape of the Direwolf. [click here to see my analysis] 

I drew out this hat several times but I could never get the shape to be right, so on one of my sketches I rubbed out the outline of the hat in order to concentrate on the type. Once I was satisfied with this layout I then drew out the hat again and placed in the type. I continuously adjusted the hat to make it look more like the hat in the books.

Then it was time to add in some funky type styles, and here was where I drew influences from the list I had gathered in my research post. My main inspirations were Dr. Seuss, Steve Simpson and Paperchase.

With these adjustments made I could now outline everything in micron pen so that it would show up a bit more when it comes to scanning this in. This would then make it easier for me to put it up on Illustrator and draw around it.

Once I scanned it in I made some notes around it to think about when it comes to drawing it up on Illustrator. This way I wouldn't forget anything important!

Reflective Learning - Summary
(Once I was done with the scan I started doing work on Illustrator only to realise that it was going to be a very lengthy process, so I've decided to just cut this post short and do all of the digital stuff on another post.)

I went through this process of sketching and designing relatively slowly because I wanted to take my time with it and produce something that strongly ties in with Dr. Seuss' work. I'm quite excited to see how it turns out because I've strongly linked my type styles to the ones that Dr. Seuss uses as well as adding a hint of my own style. The hat looks very much alike to the one that the cat has, so hopefully other people would recognise it.

One of the things that really sped up this process slightly was that I wrote down my connotations list right at the beginning, carried out my research, then went back to sketching from what I knew. I enjoyed the part where I started to think of unusual type styles because I just went crazy and drew whatever I thought of, even if it looked quirky. I mean, that's what Dr. Seuss was all about, right?

My next step is to scan my design in and start working on Illustrator and take lots of screenshots. Yay, this is going to be fun. Haha I joke I joke, I quite enjoy it. I wish it didn't take me so long though...

Learning Outcomes:
[3] Developed written and oral skills of critical self-evaluation in relation to their design practice.

[6] Developed skills of critical thinking, analysis and evaluation.

[7] Developed their ability to learn through reflection on practice and experience.
[9] Developed their ability to work with complex material, analyse problems and identify appropriate solutions.