FMP (BA): "Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost"

Final Outcome

The Process

I went back to the ideas I already have in my sketchpad and I realised that my idea might not necessarily be good for my target audience as the message isn't clear enough. Even though I know that the quote is based around Aragorn (after extensive research) other Lord of the Rings fans might not know about this.

This led me back to my idea of drawing out a map, having been inspired by the map of Middle Earth. I wanted to use the same type style but it was just the illustration that would have to change. What I wanted to do is put all of the words as if they are running along a path apart from the word "wander" which will be surrounded by mountains and trees. This design will still link to Aragorn as it would relate to his life as a Ranger where he lived in the wild and travelled around Middle Earth.

Celtic Typography 

After I drew my sketch I then went back to concentrate solely on the type. This time I used black ink instead of blue because I felt that it would work better against the coffee/tea paper and would resemble the map. 

In order to make my letters as accurate as possible I measured out each letter across the curved lines I wanted them to sit upon, referencing from what I had learnt the previous day. This took me quite a while to do but once done I was able to start inking. The inking process went a lot smoother than I thought, although the o in Not looked a bit strange. This can be easily fixed, however, through Photoshop.

Photoshop

Once the ink had dried I scanned it into Photoshop in order to fix the type and make it appear more like my sketch. I first isolated each line on a new layer so I could focus on them one by one before using the Magic Wand tool to select Similar areas of white and deleting them. Then it was just a case of rearranging everything and enlarging "wander". To replace the awkward o I just copied and pasted one of the other os and deleted the awkward one. 

I printed what I had out to draw drawing the map illustration. I wanted to imitate the little illustrations that Tolkien did in his map although I didn't want to copy the map itself. I did everything in pencil first just to see how each of the elements would work before inking it with microns pens (005 & 01 thickness). 

Back to Photoshop - Adding the Coffee/Tea Paper

Once this was done I scanned it in again, increased the contrast so that it looked darker, and scanned in my coffee & tea papers. I first started with the tea version so placed that in a new layer beneath the type and deleted all of the white areas on the type layer. I went back to the type layer just to decrease the saturation to make it even more black than it was before scanning in my coffee paper and placed it beneath it in order to compare the two paper types. 

Feedback

To make it easier for me to decide on which paper to go for I printed both versions out and went around to ask my classmates to place a tick next to the ones they preferred. As you can see, there's a bit of a draw between the two styles however I feel that the one that looks more appropriate would be the darker shade because it makes the type appear darker and blacker. It also has a similar shade to the map of Middle Earth which is a bonus.

I was really happy when I showed my design to my classmates because even those that didn't know what I was working on instantly recognised the Lord of the Rings theme I was going for. 

Reflective & Critical Thinking

I have more confidence in this design idea than my previous one because I feel that the illustration relates more to the subject matter of this quote. It is also more recognisable - as shown in my feedback session where my classmates instantly recognised it was something Lord-of-the-Rings-y - and I feel that people would understand it a bit more. The quote itself works better in the way that "wander" is place off-track to the other words.

I am really pleased with how the Celtic lettering turned out, especially because one of my classmates was surprised that I had done it by hand (he thought it was an existing typeface). I think that practice certainly does make perfect and I am glad that I did just spend a day drafting each letter and studying the character widths. 

As mentioned before, there was a bit of a draw between the two paper types but I think that the coffee paper works a lot better because the shade is very similar to the map of Middle Earth. It also brings out the type more and makes it look darker.

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

[5] Developed skills of independent study, resource utilisation, problem-solving and decision-taking.

[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.