I've mentioned in my last post that I was going to tackle each chosen quote as a separate project, so my first "project" will be a quote by Dr. Seuss which is: "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."
This quote really caught my eye as it's really fun and joyful, and I suddenly started thinking back to those funny little illustrations in his books and had ideas of doing multiple type styles all scattered across one page. I highlighted this quote and wrote down some notes of the connotations produced when I looked at it:
Once this was done I wrote that I would research into Dr. Seuss' illustrations for inspiration as well as some typographic pieces that are 'fun' and are combined with illustrations.
Dr. Seuss
The first thing I did after writing my list of connotations was to take a look at some of the book cover art done for Dr. Seuss' work, and have collected everything on my Pinterest board "FMP Inspiration". I'm going to keep everything on this board throughout the whole project so that it'll be easier for me to flick through if I'm in need of inspiration.
To make it easier for me to talk about them I've created a mood board (shown below) of some of his cover art.
I've noticed that the type on a lot of his book covers are done in uppercase sans-serif and don't sit on a straight baseline. This is perhaps why I immediately thought of a 'fun' aspect; nothing on the page is constricted to a set structure, but dances around on the page. To play on this 'fun' appearance, they've adjusted the sizes of some of the letters so that each word appears as if they've bunched some letters together like a jigsaw. This could bring connotations of childhood when we play board games or try out writing ourselves.
This 'fun' aspect within these pieces creates a connection to childhood, as mentioned above, as these are children's books. This could explain why they've used really vibrant and contrasting colours to attract the child's attention, as it's said that "colour selection could influence mood and behaviour." [Colour Psychology] Also, "children under the age of eight are attracted to warm colours... Children over eight preferred blue and greens..." (Colour Theory) If this was the case, then Dr. Seuss had been clever to choose both warm and 'cold' colours to attract children of all ages.
There is a strong focus on illustration because the characters are extremely unusual. Even the cat looks strange and has almost human-like features, and this style is carried across all of his characters. This is perhaps what makes his books more memorable; even I remembered these funny little characters and it's been well over ten years since I've read his books.
(References at the bottom of this post)
Conclusion:
The main focal points within his pieces that I could possibly carry across to my design are: vibrant colours, sans serif type that 'dance', and funny looking illustrations. The reason why I want to include aspects of his cover art into my design is to create a very obvious connection to him so that people would be able to recognise where it's from without glancing at his name at the bottom.
Inspirational Designs
The main things I'm looking for for inspiration are 'fun' type and illustrations, and maybe some vibrant colours as well.
Pattern Daily - http://patterndaily.com/
This piece is a perfect example of what I'm looking for as it hits all of the points made above; it has vibrant and contrasting colours, and an unusual type form which would link in with an unusual illustration as well.
One of the first things I noticed were the colours in this piece because, as I've mentioned above, they were very vibrant and involves a mixture of both warm and cool colours. A similar technique is used by Dr. Seuss in his book covers, and it could be because the designer is trying to appeal to a wider audience.
All of these colours produce contrasting emotions which was what confused me because I couldn't really pinpoint it's "voice". It's as if the designer wanted to choose all of the colours of the colour wheel, and I can't decide if it was supposed to be joyful, fun, daring or calm. If it wasn't for the words I would've been left even more confused, but I think they are trying to be fun to bring out this side in the dad.
They were probably bring out the daring side of their dad as well through the use of red in "hell of a". This is a somewhat stereotypical colour to use for 'hell' because it could bring up connotations of fire, danger, warning signs... And the yellow shadow only reminds me of flames flickering around the surface of hell. So maybe this highlights the devilish side of the dad and what he used to be like when he was younger? This word is also highlighted by the fact that the designer has drawn lines that burst out behind it, creating a perspective.
"Dad", in contrast, has cooler colours which dampens the devilish side a little bit as there's only a hint of red. This could show that he is more cool than lively, more responsible than daring. This could show the importance of having a father figure in their lives as he is both their friend as well as their carer.
The font styles are quite unusual and plays on the 3D appearance/Western style. This is probably a recent trend because it isn't the first time I've seen this style used. I need to take this into account as I need to produce something that is 'in fashion' to attract typographers (even though my target market is mainly literature enthusiasts). It looks quite fun and exciting, and they've definitely experimented with different ways to shade everything in - take "dad", for example - which only makes me want to experiment with type more!
Conclusion:
This has an overall fun and exciting appearance thanks to the multi-coloured type and highly contrasting styles. Each sentence has been done differently, and it's clear that it's been done by hand because it looks so unusual.
All of these colours produce contrasting emotions which was what confused me because I couldn't really pinpoint it's "voice". It's as if the designer wanted to choose all of the colours of the colour wheel, and I can't decide if it was supposed to be joyful, fun, daring or calm. If it wasn't for the words I would've been left even more confused, but I think they are trying to be fun to bring out this side in the dad.
They were probably bring out the daring side of their dad as well through the use of red in "hell of a". This is a somewhat stereotypical colour to use for 'hell' because it could bring up connotations of fire, danger, warning signs... And the yellow shadow only reminds me of flames flickering around the surface of hell. So maybe this highlights the devilish side of the dad and what he used to be like when he was younger? This word is also highlighted by the fact that the designer has drawn lines that burst out behind it, creating a perspective.
"Dad", in contrast, has cooler colours which dampens the devilish side a little bit as there's only a hint of red. This could show that he is more cool than lively, more responsible than daring. This could show the importance of having a father figure in their lives as he is both their friend as well as their carer.
The font styles are quite unusual and plays on the 3D appearance/Western style. This is probably a recent trend because it isn't the first time I've seen this style used. I need to take this into account as I need to produce something that is 'in fashion' to attract typographers (even though my target market is mainly literature enthusiasts). It looks quite fun and exciting, and they've definitely experimented with different ways to shade everything in - take "dad", for example - which only makes me want to experiment with type more!
Conclusion:
This has an overall fun and exciting appearance thanks to the multi-coloured type and highly contrasting styles. Each sentence has been done differently, and it's clear that it's been done by hand because it looks so unusual.
Paperchase - http://www.paperchase.co.uk/invt/00519744/
This design is cuter and more subdued than the previous piece, with illustration as one of the main highlights. Even though the previous piece used illustration in a sense that the letterforms were decorative, this is more reliant on the character (the elephant).
This illustration reminds me of children's book illustrations because it has that simple appearance to it, and the colours are very soft. I immediately thought that it was done with watercolour paint because of the subdued background. However, despite these child-like connotations, this card is aimed at teenagers & adults and creates a fairy-tale aspect to the subject of love. The fact that they've used an elephant emphasises the subject of long-term memories. However it is strange to see a bow on the elephant's trunk... Maybe it could reflect the saying "tying the knot"?
The main focus of this product is on the type, and this is supported by the way that the designer has chosen muted colours and a simple illustrative style. It is quite fun and unusual as all of the bowls are filled in - something that I have rarely seen before - but the letters are sitting on a baseline to add a sense of normality. They have only 'jolted' this by making all of the letters at different heights and widths.
This could bring connotations of children's handwriting because it isn't perfect - the same probably applies to some adults - and with the combination of a very simple but stylised drawing it produces a very cartoon-y appearance. The bowls would then be areas where the child would've coloured it in like a colouring book.
Conclusion:
It has that overall cute, lovey-dovey fairytale appearance to it, and I'm really interested by the way they've filled in the bowls. I might try this out in one of my designs!
Mary Kate McDevitt - http://marykatemcdevitt.com/
When I first saw this piece I couldn't decide what attracted me the most between the colour palette and the typographic style, so I shall first talk about the colours.
The colours remind me of vintage, old books with yellow paper (possibly ruined by coffee stains) and because this creates a connection to Edgar Allan Poe's short stories as they were often 'dark' and mysterious. This quote isn't necessarily one from his books, but connotations of him are produced when I looked at this piece.
The illustrator had used bright flecks of red for the roses which instantly becomes one of the main focal points even though it is only a small part of the overall piece. The roses are quite beautiful even though it's surrounded by skulls, eyes and bats, which could show that there is beauty in death and the human body. There was quite a fascination with the 'other side' during the time of Edgar Allan Poe in the Victorian Era and quite a lot of people attended séances [Paranormal Investigators]. However around this time it was viewed more as a game rather than the 'real deal' and the illustrator could be playing with this fact by including very stylised elements such as the cartoon skull and eyes.
The fact that the illustrator had written "the eyes are windows to the skull my friend" is brought to my attention because it's just so strange and slightly off-putting because I can't help think that there's some sarcasm behind it. It strongly contrasts with the traditional saying, "the eyes are windows to the soul".
This could be because the person who said the quote - or the illustrator - doesn't believe in human souls and they probably are arguing with someone who has said the traditional version. The lack of belief in the human soul could also link in with the fact that they might not believe in God (or a god). This idea is supported by the presence of the human skull because it's empty, void of a soul.
Atheism grew towards the late 19th century due to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution so (if I go along with the theory that this design relates to Edgar Allan Poe) this could mark the beginning of the growth in atheism. [Types of Religion] What's also interesting is that "Atheists celebrate the life stages, like birth, marriage and death..." [Types of Religion] which further emphasises the fact that it might be an atheist that says this quote as there is a strong aspect of death within this piece.
Despite these dark and mysterious connotations the illustrator had used thick typefaces to create a fun side to it. This is an aspect that had been carried across other 'fun' pieces and so it lightens to mood slightly (even though the quote is gloomy). This strengthens my idea that the illustrator is playing with the fact that the Victorians viewed séances as parlour games.
Conclusion:
This piece is therefore inspirational because of the hidden links in with religion done in quite a comical manner, an aspect that I haven't really seen before. I could almost hear the sarcastic tone behind it!
I do like their illustrative style because it's quite fun yet slightly gloomy, which is perfect for the quote. This only shows that the way something is drawn does give the quote a 'voice', which is something I aim to do in my designs.
Bob and Roberta Smith - http://bobandrobertasmith.co.uk/
(image is from http://www.vonbartha.com/artists/bob-roberta-smith/)
There is a definite "fun" appearance to this piece which is mainly through the way that he has jumbled up some of the letters, yet despite this there aren't really many "mistakes" such as uneven mean lines and character widths. This gives me the idea to make some letters a bit jumbled up to express the type's individuality (therefore linking to the quote's message).
This fun and bold appearance reminds me of arcade and old carnival posters where they would be in bright colours in order to attract the general public. There were very little people who were literate in the Victorian times and so the printers/designers sometimes had to rely on vivid colours and images in order to attract attention. This is backed up by the V&A museum catalogue of theatre posters [here].
Conclusion:
Bob and Roberta Smith's work is very fun which sometimes heavily contrasts with the actual message behind the piece, however in terms of aesthetics it's very inspirational. It is clear that some hand-letterers take inspiration from his work as in some of his other pieces contain some characteristics that I have seen in more recent designs by other people. An example of this is a hashed line for shadow, uneven baselines, and jumbled up letters.
Other Inspirations
Here are some other inspirational pieces that I had collected on my Pinterest board:
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| http://www.behance.net/stevesimpson |
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| http://patterndaily.com/ |
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| https://share.okdothis.com/p/Xn9eIes |
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| http://goo.gl/7jzG6D |
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| http://www.linziehunter.co.uk/ |
Reflective Thinking - Summary:
Doing brief background research on Dr. Seuss has really helped me figure out his characteristics and draw up similarities within his work. I can tell through my moodboard that he uses fun, bold colours, and as I've already mentioned in my analysis I can then try to achieve a similar thing when it comes to designing my quote.
This shows the importance of analysing and looking further int the actual person behind the quote in order to produce something that strongly links to them. It does take up a lot of time but I think it would be totally worth it!
It actually brings childhood memories of when I used to read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and similar stories, especially because they were just so weird. I've never seen anyone draw like he does which shows the importance of having a "voice". I wish I could do something like this one day and find my own voice in illustration.
I feel that this process is a lot easier when it comes to going about my project, and I find that once I know a quote I can easily research and gather inspiration because I'm searching for whatever relates to that quote. Even though I might not know if what I gather for inspiration might actually be used for this particular quote I could always use it for future ones.
I hope that this process continues to be successful, but I guess I'll have to find out when I'm actually sketching and designing the quote (which will be my next step). The worst that could happen is that I don't use the quote, but nevertheless this research would still be necessary as I could always use it for another quote.
Learning Outcomes:
[4] Developed research skills in the area of contemporary professional practice.
[6] Developed skills of critical thinking, analysis and evaluation.
[8] Developed their ability to scan and organise data, abstract meaning from information and communicate knowledge in a variety of formats.
References: Colour Psychology: http://nursery.about.com/od/Color-Palettes/a/Color-Psychology.htm; Colour Theory: http://www.colourtheory.net/articles/colour_psychology.htm; Poe's Life http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php; Victorian Seance http://www.paranormalinvestigators.co.uk/Features/seance.htm; Types of Religion http://www.typesofreligion.com/atheism.html;
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